I signed up for a 185 mile relay race in Seattle that will take place in July.  I can bring Webber with me.  That dog likes to run, and I had asked JMo before I even came here if I can bring the dog on road trips, “Sure… if he’s safe, I’m cool!”  So why did I say yes to the race? It all started with Radio Shack!

I had announced that I’m releasing 100 photos a day from my million or so photos. In order to do that, I needed access to them, but the hard drive I have just spent 3 days copying all of my images to, so I can prooeprly catalogue them, etc… apparently was not only made for use in the USA.  You see, it has these round prongs for the plug… it’s a european thing.  It did however come with all sorts of little adapters to make it fit US (and other country) plugs.  This little adapter (the one for the USA) seems to have been misplaced on my 1,500 mile trip to La Jolla.

It can really take the wind out of your sail when you go somewhere to do a specific task, and are missing a tiny piece… I’ll admit it, “Ironic” by Alanis Morissette started playing in my head…. “It’s like a million images on a hard drive, when you lost the power cord… now isn’t that ironic?  Don’t you think?  Why are you singing this song, didn’t you originally say it stinks?”  *sigh*  Something had to be done!

I called Fry’s Electronics.  If you’ve never been to a Frys, and you’re an electronics nut, I highly recommend it.  The ones out in Los Angeles are extra cool, as they are thematic… i.e. Alice in Wonderland, Alien Invasion, etc… how can you tell the theme? Well.. Alien Invasion has a giant UFO sticking out the side of the building   They have everything! Oscilators, resistors, capacitors… it’s like the drunken love child of Radio Shack and Best Buy.  A giant warehouse filled with electronics goodness…. and they sold me a 2 TB SimpleTech Harddrive in September.

A little Googling revealed there’s one near here! Yes! I’ll call, get the part, and get my images done!

I told them the story, got transferred to the right department, told them the story, and was informed that they don’t sell the part nor that harddrive.  The piece of advice the man was able to give me that came in useful was that SimpleTech is really Hitachi.

I contacted Hitachi, got transferred around, and finally spoke to someone in Harddrives.  I told him my sob story, but they don’t sell the part either, nor cover it under warranty.  I asked if he had any advice for me, or wanted to tell me the specs so I could build one myself.  He did better!

The man gave me a Radio Shack part number!

I went to Radio Shack’s website, looked up the part, had no idea if it is the right one, and looked up the nearest one. Here’s where attention to details can come in useful. Google maps gives you time and distance.  It lets you select your method of transportation.  Since it was – like all days out here – a beautiul day out, I thought I’d take my Vibram 5-finger shoes, and go for a 50 minute jog, as it seemed that I was only 2 miles away from Radio Shack.

Running is something you generally want to do with as few things shaking around as possible, so my wallet got left at home.  The residents of my wallet that came with me in my pocket were my Citibank credit card, my Paypal Debit card, and my Drivers License.   They did not weigh me down at all.  What did add to my bulk was my cell phone, my iPod Touch (1st Generation), and the power adapter for the harddrive.  If I’m going to jog 2 miles there, I might as well make sure it fits.

I studied the map one more time, and left.  It seemed simple enough, make a right, then make a right on La Jolla Village drive, and you’re there!

I made a right….  something didn’t feel right after about a mile…. There was no freeway entrance, in fact, I was in a residential area.  What gives?  Guess I’ll make a U-turn, and check out the map again.

I made a U-turn, went back in the house, decided to bring a water bottle, and took off again.

Observation: Google Maps doe not really tell you the elevation of things, or the difficulty of your course. The whole “Back when I was your age” speech came to mind, as it seemed I was going “Uphill, both ways” — well.. at least this way. It was 70 degrees, and La Jolla is beautiful with its hill-top homes, and its landscaping!  Flowers are everywhere, not just to be seen, but also to be smelled. I was enjoying this run, but then I realized that while I brought water, I forgot the actual adapter.  Another U-turn would be made.

That was another 3 miles (1.5 miles each way) wasted.  So, I’m at 5 miles, and I haven’t even left the house.  Good thing I drank a lot of fluids!  This time I made sure I had the adapter.

I passed the area that I had made it to before, and kept going.  At the top of Torrey Pines and La Jolla Village drive (a street that I was very happy to see, as it meant I finally went the right way), I saw a field, and in that field was all this wild grass…. and a television.  I must go back there and photograph!  That TV was there for a while… it’s an old school tv, you know.. back before everything was flat-screen.  I looked at it for a tiny while, and a rabbit hopped by it.  THAT would have made a great photo.  Mental note made.

I made a right onto La Jolla Village Drive, and knew that I’d see Radio Shack any minute.

My most recent Couch, Jared Lazaro had texted me to try and convince me to go on a relay run with them “Don’t know if you’re unplugged yet. But want to know if you want to run the Ragnar. Seattle. July 21-23.  24 hours. 180+ miles. 12 people. 1 smelly van.”

I replied “Might be available to… Lemme google it. May need some1 to watch the dog.”

“Bring Webber! It will make smellier! Team Mascott!”

I was jogging, so I said I’d contact back…

Well… perhaps not any minute!  It didn’t seem there were any stores!  I had to keep running, and running… the occasional crosswalk would force me to cross the street.  The terrain kept shifting from smooth sidewalk, to broken up sidewalk, to running on the road, to running in the grass (when I could!).  I kept thinking I should see something, but I didn’t.  The encouraging thing was that the street numbers on buildings did keep going up.  I was looking for 8849 La Jolla Village Drive.

After a while I knew that I had gone further than 2 miles.  I may be getting tired, or feeling the heat, but I know that I passed 2 miles!  I called my friend Kathryn, and she confirmed that I was a mere 7/10th of a mile away from my destination.  I can’t quite say that that is a number that I can easily visualize, but it did not sound far.

I kept going, with restored vigor. My feet were starting to get tender.  I heard a strange sound, looked, and saw combat jets fly behind a building.  At least there would be some entertainment on this route.

The entire right side of the street had become a fence, for authorized persons only to cross, of course.  More jets went overhead, performing various maneuvers.  There were some helicopters too.  This was clearly some government airforce base or something.

Where the fuck is Radio Shack?  Geez?  The street numbers kept going up! I would be there soon enough!

I am very excited to share with you this discovery:   The Flying Leatherneck Museum – an airplane/jet/helicopter museum that has free entry, and amazing flying machines! It was on the right hand side, after the transition from restricted military base to golf course.

Excitement gave me another dose of fast-running as I finally broke the 6,000 and again 7,000 into 8,000.  I think I’ll buy a pair of ear phones when I’m there…. I accidentally shorted out the pair of ear phones I had now.  This is not the first time that’s happened.  If you use ear phones often, put them in your pocket, drive around with them, etc… after a while, the base will short. I really do run faster when I have the noise bouncing around my skull, as compared to coming out of only one ear, and occasionally jumping into both.

8,700…. 8,940…. What the hell?  This can’t be right!  U-turn… There is no 8849!  In fact… There is no La Jolla Village Drive… I’m on a road named Miramar, even though I never turned!

“I’d like to use my lifeline.  Can you look up another address for me?”

It seems that I overshot Radio Shack by 4.7 miles! My feet were already starting to go from Tender to plain “in pain”.

I think it was at this point that I searched my pockets, and could not find my credit cards.  They would come in really handy to get a new – and cold- bottle of water.  I was completely out, and just running with an empty bottle for a while.  I had been on the road for about 4 hours now.

Kathryn had told me that it looked like Radio Shack was in some plaza… She also said that I would pass the 805 freeway (she warned me about it earlier, I just didn’t realize what she meant by “You passed the freeway”).

Upon passing the 805, I saw what looked like a mall.  I’ve been frequenting Radio Shacks at the mall since I was 9 years old…. it made perfect sense.  But, this time I would call for directions… I had their number all along.

The guy told me that it’s near the UC or USC Mall, off of Genesee Ave.  Using Google Maps, I now realize that that added an extra .8 miles to my trip– so I had actually passed Radio Shack by 5.5 miles, and had to go 5.5 miles back.  This time, I was asking pedestrians if they knew where Radio Shack was.  They pointed me the right way.

Why the fuck do they have an address of 8849 La Jolla Village Drive if they are located off of Genesee Ave?  Even Google Maps shows it at the freeway, which is not at all where it is!  Note to Google Maps– I am not happy with you!  And show elevation!

I put on my shirt, which I’ve had off this entire time, as I finally found Radio Shack.  My feet were on fire now.

I limped into the store, and Lisa helped me.  She found me the right part, explained power-conversion to me in a way that I knew I had the right part… and even answered my questions about earphones.   I could not buy the ear phones, as much as I wanted to.  I had them hold the EU-US adapter behind the counter.  It was 7pm, and The Shack would be open till 9.

I was walking slowly now.  Fight Club came to mind… thinking of the cave, with the spirit animal… and then of course, Tyler Durden pouring acid on the hand saying to forget that hippy shit, and appreciate the moment.. the pain.  Tyler Durden is so cool    Well, I certainly felt the pain.  I did not have enough music volume to distract me from it.

It didn’t hurt as much when I walked in the grass.  In fact, I could run when I was in the grass… that was interesting.  The problem was that there wasn’t that much grass.

I was headed back to La Jolla Village drive, so I could get home, get my license and credit cards, drive, and get the damn part before the day ended! Now, where was that La Jolla Village Drive?  I should’ve found it already!

This gorgeous Asian girl running my way looked like she would know.  I picked up the pace, ran next to her, and asked.  She reminded me of the white rabbit from Alice in Wonderland, as she immediately looked at her clock… I did not want to slow her down, since her pace seemed important… I was running full speed with her.  She said it’s a few lights that way… which is not the way I was going.  Great!

I fell back, as I got the information I needed.  Perhaps following someone else would be a good way to maintain speed.  Watching her ass bounce along was not a bad sight to behold….  Nope… I just didn’t have enough juice!  I had not really eaten anything but some Flax cereal that morning, a lot of water, and I think I had a glass or two of Chocolate Bliss.  I certainly hadn’t eaten or drank anything in 6 hours, and have been in the sun.  This would not work.

I  made it back to the right street.  Wonderful, extra distance.

I was not a happy camper, but I quickly became one, as I got a call from Nevada.  It’s not that I love Nevada or anything… in fact, I wasn’t going to pick up, as I had a gut feeling that it was a friend I had written off…. but it wasn’t.

It was CitiBank…. calling to tell me that someone had called them to tell them that they found my credit card, paypal card, and driver’s license!

I had a feeling that I had lost them, but I had certainly hoped that I had just forgotten them at the house.

“Did they leave a contact number?”

They sure did!  Her name is Kathy, and she gives me hope for humanity!  I called Kathy, and told her who I am.  It turns out that she found the license pretty close to the house.  I lost it early on.  She said they live near there, and would be able to bring it by later.  I informed her of my situation, and said I’d be a little while.

Wow! Someone actually calling to report a found credit card (2), and license.  I must’ve done somehting right!

I tried running again… my body said “yeah right!”

When I got back on Torrey Pines, I was headed downhill now, so thought I could take advantage of gravity, and run downhill…. that didn’t work so well either.  I now have a small hole on my big toe of my right foot in the Vibrams…. they scuff more easily than I had thought   I’d have to keep lifting my feet.  Argh!

I called Kathy when I was near.  They were still out to dinner, but would be back shortly.

I got home at 8:20.  I could still make it to Radio Shack!

With no license, and a different credit card, I took a swig of Odwalla Naked Green juice, grabbed a bag of GoRaw pumkin seeds, and jumped in my car.  I was devouring the pumkin seeds like they were the last meal on earth.  They were falling all over me.  They were sticking to my fingers, and I was about ready to gnaw off my fingers.  I wasn’t even feeling hungry… I just wanted some nutrition.

At Radio Shack – which took mere minutes to get to by car – I had to wait in line.  Lisa knew her shit, but was helping someone, and the girl behind the counter didn’t know shit.  She didn’t know how to process the transactions that the people were purchasing.  I had to watch and wait.  Standing still was not working out so well for me!

I was in pain.  My feet were on fire, and my quads wanted to give out.  I had this weird limpy-bouncy thing going on.  Maybe they thought I was doing a retarded version of the pee-pee dance.

I bought my part and I bought a pair of Skull Candy ear buds, and I hauled ass home.

Kathryn had texted that I should take a bath with some Epsom Salts.  That didn’t happen.  I passed the fuck out!  I did not even shower!  I just fell down on my bed, and went to dreamland.

I had basically run a marathon, on asphalt, in my Vibrams….  You’re sort of supposed to build up to that. jet

On my drive to Radio Shack, I called Jared Up, and told him that despite not having had a chance to Google the Ragnar, I am signing up.  It was another one of those decisions that are based on serindipity.  Jared texted me to go on a relay race while I was in the middle of accidentally running a marathon.

Looking up Marathons on Google, I see that Olympic Marathon runners have completed 26 miles in a little over 2 hours.  I’m sure they trained, and weren’t carrying a power cord with them. They probably use running shoes too!  I would not have minded my New Ballances for this run!

I slept for 12 hours. That is a rarity for me.  I generally sleep for 4 to 5 hours… sometimes less.  Lately, while doing the cleanse, I’ve been trying to get a full 8 hours.  12, that’s just unheard of.  My body needed to heal.

I had a little bit of a friction rash, but that was mostly gone by the time I awoke.  My feet did not hurt when I woke, but they did when I walked…. barely.  “This too shall pass” — one more sleep, and I’d be fine.

So, if I have any takeaways from this, it’s that good people still exist, that incredible things can be found when we get lost (like airplane museums), that I may want to get a running pouch to carry my license and credit cards in, that Vibrams are supposed to emulate natural running… which means you run differently… but you’re also supposed to run on natural surfaces- grass, dirt, etc… 20+ miles of asphalt will mess you up!

My big take aways though are that being unplugged is cool (it was quite refreshing to be stranded, and know that I’m not going to receive any calls about where’s this/ that, — I had nowhere to be!), but it’s still smart to have a cell phone with you anyways.  Additionally, it’s amazing what we can do when we just do it, as compared to think about it and plan it out.  You see, I’m not sure that I would have been mentally ready to go for a 26 mile run/walk… but since I was already out there and doing it, and wanted my part, I did it anyways. It hurt, but I did it. I wonder what else in my life I can just apply this to?

My feet are fine.  It’s now 2 days later, and I ran to the beach to meditate on some goals today.  No pain.  I am officially running the relay in July!  Wish me luck- I’ve never run a relay race, and I’ve never been to Seattle (but have wanted to go, ever since Nirvana put it on the map).