30+ DRC Day 479

I'm not making ANY MORE PROMISES!

I keep saying I'm gonna stick regular to this blog and I never do. Oh well. I'll take it as I go.

So the last time I posted anything I gave a post-race report of the SVMH and mentioned something called the Tin Man Challenge that OldGuyRunning on Instagram posted up. I took up the challenge and completed it.

The challenge called for having completed 93.3 miles in a month.

I ran 104.56 miles in August. I'd say I did fairly well. September isn't looking too well right now, but I'm gonna see how well I do. I'm not trying the challenge again, but I am trying to keep my single mile runs to a minimum. I'm trying to get at least 20 miles in a week.

Week 1: 21.2
Week 2: 21.2
Week 3: 15.8 (story time in a bit)
Week 4: 12.1 . . .

If I just run 3 miles in the next couple of days, I'll make my goal. But I want to have at least a 6 mile run on Saturday, so that should push me over to 24 miles for this week . . . kinda making up what happened last week.

Speaking of which . . .

Last week was almost normal:
Monday, I wasn't feeling to well and kept it short hoping to make it up later in the week with a longer run.
Tuesday, I left work to go pick up the brat for her cheer coaching gig and went for my run (4 miles).
Wednesday, the same as Tuesday except I ran 3 miles.
Thursday, ditto, but ran 4 miles.
Friday . . . Friday . . .

Friday was an adventure, to say the least. One of my cousins was moving to Glendale in Southern California. Near Burbank and LA and all that fancy crap I can do without. I hate LA. It's a nice place to visit, but you better be a pedestrian or a cyclist if you want to get anywhere if you live there.

I woke up relatively early to get my run out of the way because I was gonna help him and his family move. I kept it short and ran 1.5 miles around the neighborhood. Jumped in the shower and headed out after to pick up the brat to drop her off at school. I grabbed bad food for breakfast (Carls Jr. Biscuit Sausage, Egg and Cheese sammich and an OJ) and headed out to my cuzzos.

He had already made arrangements to pick up a U-Haul and off we went in his little 2007 Chevy Aveo. He special ordered this thing stripped down to the basics. Manual everything . . . except the transmission. I wish I'd known the history of this car before agreeing to driving this beater. He'd done all the fluid changes and he said it was ready to go . . . ugh.

The car felt a bit weird and loose, but I just figured it was just me noticing the differences between this car and mine.  We got back to his pad with the truck and loaded her up in about 3 hours (with a LOT of nagging from my aunt on how to load it). We stuck around for a bit and had lunch and then we rolled out.

He had asked if I had two-way radios to use for the trip. A bit better than cell phones and cheaper for him because he is weird and has one of those AT&T pay as you go phones. The radios would end up being a godsend.

We left Salinas around noon or so and drove the stinkin' speed limit. We made it to Paso Robles then took the 46 to Lost Hills. In Lost Hills, we made a pit stop and grabbed some refreshments. I smelled something, but I figured it was all the trucks driving around. We left there and jumped onto Interstate 5 and were still driving the stinkin speed limit.

And did you know that in the state of California you have to go through the state weigh stations? I didn't, but my cousin asked the U Haul guy. I followed him through the exit thinking that there would be a bypass or something for cars . . . nope. I had to follow him through sheepishly. I had the windows rolled down and still smelled something weird. But I was surrounded by monster trucks and pushed it out of my nagging mind.

Once we passed the weigh station, we began the climb up the I5 Grapevine. I kept smelling something, but it smelled sweet, like radiator fluid. Then I'd get that weird fishy smell, too. Again, I thought it was all the trucks making the climb or going into the valleys of the mountain. It wasn't strong because I was driving with the window open.

About 15 miles before Castaic . . . it happened. The transmission took a dump . . . literally. I was cruising along just fine, then the engine red-lined. I let go of the gas, shifted into neutral and it slowed to about 30 (luckily not much traffic and moved to the truck lane) and tried to put it in Drive again. No go. I radioed my cousin and let him know the car dropped it's transmission or something. I still had enough momentum to pull off to the side of the road and park.

He pulled off about a quarter mile in front of me and asked if the car would move at ALL. I tried it and it caught. I was able to drive to him. At that moment a tow truck pulled up. Apparently it's a state provided tow truck to pull cars off the dangerous highway. We popped the hood and checked the transmission dipstick.

Bone dry.

I looked under the car and it was greasy, but nothing was pouring or dripping out. I figured all the shit I was smelling was the transmission fluid spilling out. The tow truck driver kindly got us to the next rest stop (that was closed to remodeling, lucky us) and let us know the next town over was Castaic and about a 15 minute drive.

We pondered getting a trailer hitch for the U Haul to tow the car on, but he wanted to try getting some fluid into the car first. I was a bit peeved, but okay. We headed out to Castaic and along the way he proceeds to inform me that the replacement transmission appears to be faulty . . . that luckily he has a warranty on it and that he just needs to find out how to get it serviced.

Both him and his wife were oblivious to my seething, silent anger. If I'd known about the transmission, I would've been checking every so often along the way.

We got to an AutoZone in Castaic and got 3 quarts of fluid and a quart of some transmission stop-leak stuff. Didn't work, but may have helped some. After pouring one in, the stick still read bone dry. Loaded another, and it was just hitting the tip. One more and just a bit more on the stick. Started her up and tried her out.

She lost 4th gear. We drove ALL THE WAY TO GLENDALE AT 50 MILES PER HOUR!

She was at 5000 RPM's all the way til we got off the highway. By the time we got to a gas station there, we looked under the car and she looked like a stuck pig. Tranny fluid rapidly dripping out. We hurried to his new apartment.

Anger inducing moment number 2: He found an old apartment in great neighborhood . . . with no parking garage. Parking literally is at a premium. People that have driveway or something will rent out their spot to people that will pay! We found a spot for his tiny car, but the U Haul we had to park at the local college about a 10 minute walk away from his new home.

Oh! And did I tell you he mentioned NOTHING about getting a second story apartment?! His door is on the ground floor and I was like "Cool! It won't be so bad!"

Then he opened the door.

There is a stairway/hall directly in front of the door going to the rest of his apartment. How fun!

Anyway. What should have been a nice 5 hour and change drive ended us arriving at his pad at around 9:30 at night! So almost twice as long as it should'a.

One thing I'll say is that his neighborhood is NICE! Something you won't see in Salinas is people walking their dogs or having an evening stroll with all the family. It was odd, but comforting.

But this might explain everything:

I felt much safer when I realized BA would be watching my back!

Once we got a late BK dinner and parked the truck, we headed back at some and then made plans for the next day. I asked him what time he wanted to get started. I had already mapped out a route around his neighborhood for a 3 mile run in the morning. He said he wanted to start at 6am . . .

There went my plans for the run. I didn't think I'd be able to sleep right away as I was still a bit jazzed from the drive. But once I changed into some shorts and curled myself around the blankets we brought in, I was out! I woke up around 5:45 and got ready to begin the move. I stepped out the room and I heard not a peep from his room. Dammit.

I debated changing into my running gear and heading out. Once decided, I changed and as I was about to head out he stepped out of the room and went to the bathroom. Crap. I went back and changed again and waited . . .

and waited . . .

and waited.

He was in there a half hour or so! It was nearly 7 when he finally stepped out and went back to his room. I expected him to step out again to get started. Nope. He went back to sleep. Fuck.

I didn't get to run in Glendale. He finally got up around 8am and we headed out to the truck and grabbed some breakfast. Here's a weird thing about this part of Glendale, Starbucks are few and far between. You want coffee? Go to a fast food joint or a doughnut shop. Umm, no. I wanted a COFFEE shop. Nobody we asked knew one close by. I Googled one, but it was 10 minutes away. I made do without coffee.

The whole moving thing was okay. One thing I learned is that I am awesome! Whereas my cousin and his wife were dying going up and down the stairs, I was practically running with all the crap we were unloading. All that running he was making fun of me for was paying off . . . or he was taking advantage of me . . . bastard!

No, he WAS dying. Everytime we moved something big and cumbersome and we finally got to the top step, he needed a breather. He was red as fuck and sweating up a storm. I was sweating, but I was doing okay. I guess this made up for not running . . . not really. I really wanted to run.

In total, I think we got everything off the truck in a couple of hours. It's easier to destroy than make. We hydrated, showered and waited for his sister to arrive with his OTHER car. We headed out from his apartment around 1, dropped off the truck at the local U Haul place and went to a pizza place we hadn't seen since our childhood when Salinas used to have one, Shakey's Pizza Parlour.

That's where it should'a stayed. The pizza was edible, like Chuck E. Cheese's pizza, but the Mojo's haven't changed. Those were still great. The thing they've added is the fried chicken. Greasy as fuck! But tasty.

Hey, I was hungry!

We left Glendale around 3 and made it to Salinas by 8:30. I got home and went for my run after taking care of some stuff, showered and crashed out.

Sunday was football for the brats cheer squad. Luckily, it was just her game and part of the Midgets. My Browns won, so it was a good Sunday.

The rest of this week has been relatively uneventful aside from my runs.

I think that's all for now. I'm tired and I need a nap. Just reliving those two days got me tired.

I make no promises, but maybe I'll be more up to date with this blog . . . HA!

GD

p.s.
to beat to check. run smiley :)