Saturday, December 20, 2008

We started my Birthday run at 5:30am, I met Joe at the parking lot of Mission Peak. Mylinh was suppose to join us but she got off from work at 2:30am, and decided to sleep instead of slogging through the mud. Carl was there to crew for us as we headed to Sunol. Climbing up Mission Peak was slow, cold and wet. I fell several times, which really aggrivated my Hamstring and neck that were already sore from the previous week. I went to the Chiropractor on Thursday and he got my neck back in place, he said my Levator Scapluae was really inflammed. Falling 4 times in a few hours did not help those muscles to relax at all.

The top of Mission Peak was cold, Foggy and really wet. As we headed down from the peak towards Sunol, i found it was less strain on my Hamstring to run that it was to walk. We we got to Sunol, i looked for Carl but he was not where he was supposed to be. I went over and met Ranger Neil a bit upset that Carl was not there. He got in his truck, drove to the end of the park and found Carl, asleep waiting for us to arrive. Once we got some food and a few pictures i decided that running 100k today was not in the cards. The falls had really made me sore and with H.U.R.T coming up we decided to head back to Mission Peak. 1.5 miles out of Sunol, we met Radu who came to run with me. 25 miles was to be the distance for the day. Since we were not going as far, we decided to explore some trails that we had nver been on. Joe had picked the route. Just beyond my favorite tree we went up a faint overgrown fire road, this lead us to a narrow cow trail, following a fenceline, up a steep ridge, we eventually had to climb through a barbed wire fence, it lead us to the Monument and Allison peak trails. We started up towards Mission peak but first I called Carl, so he could start to run up from the Mission Peak parking lot to meet us as we came down.

Cheicko, a friend of mine was coming out to take a photos of us, I had Carl call her to let her know the change of plans so she would be at the base of Mission Peak before he headed up to run with us. Carl met us at McClure Ranch so we could all run down together. This was a hard day for me. I wanted to run 100k but in my head i let myself down. But I also knew that heading out to the Remote areas of Del Valle would not be the best idea incase I ran into any problems. Cheicko and Brad met us on one of the final bends of the Mission Peak trail, snapping a ton of photos of us as we all ran down. Joe and I were happy to be back at the parking lot of Mission Peak, this gave Joe time to spend with his wife and me to hang out with my loving boyfriend Carl.
I was happy to have run the 25 miles but i'm still in pain. I've been taking vitamin I 800mg, Arnica and Zyflemend to help relive the pain but as of now I still have pain. lesson learned. its ok to change plans in the middle of your run to save yourself for another day.
Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.Marcus Aurelius

7 comments:

voodoo child said...

Congrats on the day! Sounds like yours went about like mine, I got in 27 miles of biking in ice and snow and fell short on the running coming in with 27k. Tendinitis in my knee caused the stop. But still a good day... nobody ever said challenges in Dec. were easy! :) Happy Birthday!

Steve Stenzel said...

What a great way to spend your birthday! I hope you had a good one!!

Neal Jamison said...

Sounds like a grand adventure, regardless of the distance. Glad you and Carl got to spend some time together off trail.

Happy b-day, and Merry Christmas to all.

mrjwhit~ said...

Super quote! I know you apply this to your life on a regular.

Hey you run so long and so strong all the time. I am so impressed with your dedication and commitment to your sport.

Rest well. We'll be reading.

Judi said...

happy belated bday catra!

Unknown said...

I often think the best runs are usually the ones that don't go to plan.

Shannon said...

Happy Birthday!

Sorry you didn't get the miles you wanted, but there is a reason for everything. Maybe if you had pushed it, you would of further injured yourself and be layed up in the bed for weeks. Now go enjoy your boyfriend.