I am a terrible blogger. :)
Oh well.
So, Friday I headed over to do the Race Around the Lake...a race I love to hate. I love it because I have done it twice before and placed both times. The first year I did it it was my very first ultra ever and the best year I have run it. Everything went well, and I came in first with 54 miles. I skipped a year, and went back last year and came in second with 48 miles. It was brutally humid last year with lots of drops and slow runs. I did not have the best race and wanted to drop mysef but a friend of mine came out and paced me to the finish, saving my race. This year I was actually kind of excited, as I had a few friends going and 3 of them were going for 24 hours. I had grandiose plans of hitting 100k...I am certinaly in shape for it...but...yeah, didn't happen.
I got there with plenty of time to relax, set up and have a snack. I ate a great lunch of *safe* foods, and I had my own aid food and drink of things I had successfully used in training. I was really all set. I took off easy, knowing it would take me a few laps to get into a groove as the marathon and ultras go off all at once and its sort of a clusterf*ck to get a place at that point. I was getting into my groove and I hit the first hour and my time to eat/take salt. I try to eat and do salt every hour so I remember and again, that is what I do in training and it works. Ran through and grabbed a bar and scaps and took off. Ate through the next loop and drank and then...something happened. Somewhere around mile 10 I got a WAVE of nausea and puked...and the nausea never left for the rest of the night. Sometimes it was worse than others but I was stuck. I knew this was going to suck royally and I knew, at mile 12 that if I could not eat, there was NO way I could do 100k on no food. I tried EVERYthing...I could chew but not swallow past my gag reflex. Not good. I switched to plain water, and could only drink that if it was mostly ice...as soon as the ice melted I couldn't drink it. At that point I figured I would just keep going until I ran out of fuel, which I figured would be somewhere around 30 miles.
I had to slow WAY down, probaby doing 12min/miles at best, with walk breaks when the nausea got too bad. My pacers showed up around 11pm and I explained what was going on. I was able to run a lap with them, and then I sent them to run on their own as they came to run and I wasn't doing more than a slog, lol. We ran again at some point during the night for a few but overall, they didn't get to do much pacing...I ran with my friend Bill too, or walked, and he actually walks SO fast it made me MORE nauseous! I had to ask him to slow down, lol. I started setting mini goals- first to get to 20 miles, then 30, then 40...when I hit what I thought was 35 though I had pretty much hit my limit though. I wasn't able to drink anything at that point and had walked the entire last lap so I knew I was out of fuel and I could feel it...I did not want to continue and do damage...been there done that, and I'm all set. I must have miscounted somewhere as I had done more laps than I thought and was actually at what I thought was 38m(turned out to be 39) and thought I should go out for one more lap to make it 40...and my stomach did a roll letting me know I was indeed, done. :)
I hung out and watched the rest of the 12 hr finish, chatted with some friends and got to see my pal Steve, which I do believe was the highlight of my night :) Snoozed for a bit and then packed it in and headed home. I was still struggling to eat/drink so I wanted to get home where I had more options and I REALLY wanted to sleep. I was finally able to eat some crackers and flat coke(not the best choice but I needed something to settle my stomach!) and then later on had a big fruit salad, OJ, and the best green smoothie ever :) Slept off and on all day and actually slept through the night and slept IN until 8:30 this morning!!! NEVER HAPPENS! I was so excited to SLEEP! I feel great today, and am heading out for a run a little later :)
So...I have no idea what happened. It was EXTREMELY humid, but I can't blame that as I have run training runs in humidity before and to be sick by 10m...I run 10m several times a week. I did nothing new, nothing wrong...it just wasn't my night. I *think* I know what is going on...
I tend to be a stubborn one and do not always make good choices. I think trying to run multiple long runs/races at this point in my training is just dumb. It wasn't that long ago that I had my relapse and what I seem to forget is though I crash hard and fast, the climb out of that pit is long and slow. I am not 100% and won't be for a bit longer. I still feel off, tired, and...well not 100% and I really need to honor that and give myself the time to get back, which I will. I look at my race this past Spring where I PR's at the 50k coming off a good winter of training where I had been healthy and feeling good. I *know* it is possible, I simply need to allow myself the time to get back to that place...and I will. I am dialing in my diet and feeling better with that- a mix of raw and vegan is working well as I am finding I do need *some* cooked grains in my diet. I am ramping up my miles and recovering well from that, getting ready to add some cross training...but I still need to remember that I have a chronic illness and I am not *like everyone else*...as much as I would LIKE to ignore the fact that I have a crappy immune system, I have a crappy immune system. Between the Lyme and the Hashi's...I hate excuses, and I hate using them but...the fact is these things DO affect my training and performance. Period. I simply have to do the best I can with what I have to deal with.
Plus, the way I look at it, everything I do from this point until the end of next Mat is prep for Peak. Running 30+miles wanting to puke the whole time is actually good mental training, lol. Running THAT much over 10 days you KNOW I am not going to feel like farting rainbows the whole time. So, I think of this as having been a training run for Peak. Plus, aside from a wee bit of soreness in my legs, I feel totally fine, which tells me if I could have eaten at the race I would have done well. Oh, well. Still a good training run, and another ultra on the books.
I do think I need to start making better choices though. No more back-to-back weekend races, I am actually going to do some tapering before I go to CO to pace my pal KZ at Leadville...I need to treat that like a race. Even though we won't be going super fast when I hook up with him, the climbs and altitude WILL be an issue. I want to go into that well rested and prepared. :) After that, I am looking at one race a month. VT50 in September, Ghost Train in October(which might be 100k not 100m) then Stone Cat in November...which is a week after GT...eek! But by then I should be able to do that. After that I am only doing one race betw. Nov. and Peak at the end of May(unless I jump into the Spring TARC which I might) and just focus on my training for Peak. I can't afford to do a bunch of races and go into Peak tired. So, no racing for me in 2013 until AFTER Peak. As in MAYBE I will do Stone Cat...and then? I am looking ahead, down the road and knowing that Peak will be life changing I am thinking beyond that I may go back to just running to run...sticking to the low key club races. I am just about over the big races with all the people and hoopla...I want to just meet up with people and run to run...no pressure, no fanfare...just a few people going out and doing their thing. :)
For now...everything is for Peak. That is my main focus at this point and I am pretty excited about seeing what I can do. :) Speaking of which...its time for that run... :)
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Frosty First Frozen Fat Ass 50k...or so.
So....The Frosty First Frozen Fat Ass 50k had one returning participant other than me, and 2 newbies. The weather turned out to be nice running weather...if you didn't count the ice. And fog. Holy horror movie Batman. But let me back up...
I had a whopping 3 runners for this event, 2 of which I never met outside of the internet, yet they were crazy enough to come out and run with me. Cool. :) We started at exactly midnight, with the intention of doing 4 8m loops. The guys set off in a CCW direction and I went CW as I enjoy running up the 1.5m hill :). The roads were slightly slick, but I figured we'd be fine. I was feeling a little off...not sure what was up at that point, but by around mile 4 I was in full on nausea mode. Kind of early for that to hit, and I was trying to figure out if I ate something or did something to bring it on...I tend to get more nauseous at night when I run, not sure if its an equilibrium thing from the tunnel vision caused by my headlamp, or what...but I wasn't loving it. I really wanted to get in a full 50k and do well time-wise...I was hopeful I would rally.
One of the runners decided to bail after a rather speedy 2 loops, which was probably wise at it was starting to get more icy out...actually with each passing lap it got increasingly icy. The other 2 dudes soldiered on...then things got hairy...
During what was my 3rd loop it got really icy. And in one low section through the woods on the dirt road it got SO foggy you literally could not see where you were going. I *almost* paniced, but knowing where I was I figured I would come out of it at some point...but it was definitely freaky. Come to find out later, the guys were a bit freaked out as well, as they DIDN'T know where they were and the fog messed with them. Eventually once you got out of the woods section and back on tar, the fog lifted...but then there was the ice...
Coming down the one big hill with about 2m left in my loop is when it happened. I hit a bad patch of ice and down I went. Couldn't have caught myself if I tried. Smashed my elbow, hip and knee which are sporting lovely colors as we speak. That pretty much solidified that this was it for me. I never felt better, the nausea never went away so I couldn't eat, could barely drink and had been toying with just making it a marathon or something anyways...but after the fall I decided I was just simply done. 24 miles it was.
The last 2 guys ran the whole thing, which is awesome. Pretty quick too. :) I am sure they would have been faster had it not been for the ice. I have decided though that next year I am going to do a morning start. And, I may even move it to the woods :) We'll see...the staying up all night thing...its one thing if I am pacing someone, its another if I am trying to run something myself. I don't know why that is, but I can stay up all night and run WITH someone to pace them, but when I am alone...eh. That could be part of it too, as I was running alone. Even if I had gone CCW, I never could have kept up with those guys. 8min/miles? Uh, no. :)
So, it wasn't my best run but it got done and its all good. :)
My stomach issues during the run, I believe, were due to 2 things: one, I had a cup of cocoa before the run. I never really drink cocoa, and this particular brand had malodextrin in it. I don't do well with artifical sugars, or wierd chemicals and I (bad me) didn't look at the ingredients before I drank it, as I assumed Ghiardelli would not be full of crap. Two, I have gone up in my dose of LDN which always sparks some sort of shift in my body either in the form of me being hyper sensitive to things for a while, or having wierd reactions to things. I am thinking it was a bit of both, plus my gut hasn't been quite right lately anyways. Needless to say, it was 2 DAYS before I could get any real food into me without being sick. Not great. :(
So, I started back on my peppermint oil pills, along with digestive enzymes to see if that helps. Even several days later I do not feel 100% and have been sticking to mostly green smoothies to be safe. I will try some other stuff today and see how it goes, as I cannot afford to not eat enough at this point.
Speaking of what to eat...I got into some trouble this morning already on one of the raw food sites...it makes me crazy when I see someone promoting their way of eating as the ONLY way. Really? Then they get SO defensive when you comment. My feeling is if you are ok with your choices, why get defensive? I simply made a comment about raw fooders eating a BALANCED diet of fruits AND greens (and veggies if you choose...this was a hard-core raw foodie) and there was knickers in a bunch, oh yes there was. The problem I have is a lot of people who are new to this style of eating, and/or looking for quick fixes can go down a very dangerous and unhealthy path if they are mis-informed! MOST people who eat only or predominantly raw, did not go all rigid/strict overnight. Some do, and can get through the detox, etc and come out the other side ust fine, and some peope who were already strict veg/vegan do not have a far jump. But, peope who are eating a SAD diet and/or are unhealthy to begin with and may/may not have a good handle on what nutritious eating even is can get into a world of hurt. Don't get me wrong, I think fruititarianism is awesome, I think low fat raw is awesome, and both are pretty strict, hard-core eating styles. That would be my goal, and IS my goal, with the exception that I am going to follow what my body *needs* and if that means I eat a sweet potato or some sort of grain that is, gasp, cooked...well so be it.
I have friends who are die hard carnivores. Not sure they would know a fruit if it bit them in the ass. I don't agree with that diet *for me* but they feel it is working for them. OK. Would my diet work for them too? Quite possibly, but that isn't what *they* choose. You have to choose it, or you won't do it. That being said, *I* choose what my kids eat, for the most part. Hypocritical? Maybe. I do allow some choosing within certian parameters, as in, they can make food choices based on what foods we have available. We ALWAYS have fresh fruit and veggies availabe, along with other healthy snack options. There are times I give them choices and they chose to not eat, as opposed to eating what I offer. That's fine with me. No child will NOT eat if they are truly hungry. I do not impose my strict eating choices on my kids, bc I don't believe its fair. They know why I eat the way I do, and we talk about healthy food choices all the time- organic, GMO, why we are veg., etc. We do *make* them vegetarian, as that is a moral issue for us. Beyond that...I try to let them have some freedoms. I will say though...there are definitely some *food addictions* in this house, and there will be some changes made in the near future for the well being of all of us, but 2 members of my family in particular...but that is another post.
In the mean time...I will tease you and let you know I am about to read Wheat Belly...which should get me back on my soapbox in a few days... :)
I had a whopping 3 runners for this event, 2 of which I never met outside of the internet, yet they were crazy enough to come out and run with me. Cool. :) We started at exactly midnight, with the intention of doing 4 8m loops. The guys set off in a CCW direction and I went CW as I enjoy running up the 1.5m hill :). The roads were slightly slick, but I figured we'd be fine. I was feeling a little off...not sure what was up at that point, but by around mile 4 I was in full on nausea mode. Kind of early for that to hit, and I was trying to figure out if I ate something or did something to bring it on...I tend to get more nauseous at night when I run, not sure if its an equilibrium thing from the tunnel vision caused by my headlamp, or what...but I wasn't loving it. I really wanted to get in a full 50k and do well time-wise...I was hopeful I would rally.
One of the runners decided to bail after a rather speedy 2 loops, which was probably wise at it was starting to get more icy out...actually with each passing lap it got increasingly icy. The other 2 dudes soldiered on...then things got hairy...
During what was my 3rd loop it got really icy. And in one low section through the woods on the dirt road it got SO foggy you literally could not see where you were going. I *almost* paniced, but knowing where I was I figured I would come out of it at some point...but it was definitely freaky. Come to find out later, the guys were a bit freaked out as well, as they DIDN'T know where they were and the fog messed with them. Eventually once you got out of the woods section and back on tar, the fog lifted...but then there was the ice...
Coming down the one big hill with about 2m left in my loop is when it happened. I hit a bad patch of ice and down I went. Couldn't have caught myself if I tried. Smashed my elbow, hip and knee which are sporting lovely colors as we speak. That pretty much solidified that this was it for me. I never felt better, the nausea never went away so I couldn't eat, could barely drink and had been toying with just making it a marathon or something anyways...but after the fall I decided I was just simply done. 24 miles it was.
The last 2 guys ran the whole thing, which is awesome. Pretty quick too. :) I am sure they would have been faster had it not been for the ice. I have decided though that next year I am going to do a morning start. And, I may even move it to the woods :) We'll see...the staying up all night thing...its one thing if I am pacing someone, its another if I am trying to run something myself. I don't know why that is, but I can stay up all night and run WITH someone to pace them, but when I am alone...eh. That could be part of it too, as I was running alone. Even if I had gone CCW, I never could have kept up with those guys. 8min/miles? Uh, no. :)
So, it wasn't my best run but it got done and its all good. :)
My stomach issues during the run, I believe, were due to 2 things: one, I had a cup of cocoa before the run. I never really drink cocoa, and this particular brand had malodextrin in it. I don't do well with artifical sugars, or wierd chemicals and I (bad me) didn't look at the ingredients before I drank it, as I assumed Ghiardelli would not be full of crap. Two, I have gone up in my dose of LDN which always sparks some sort of shift in my body either in the form of me being hyper sensitive to things for a while, or having wierd reactions to things. I am thinking it was a bit of both, plus my gut hasn't been quite right lately anyways. Needless to say, it was 2 DAYS before I could get any real food into me without being sick. Not great. :(
So, I started back on my peppermint oil pills, along with digestive enzymes to see if that helps. Even several days later I do not feel 100% and have been sticking to mostly green smoothies to be safe. I will try some other stuff today and see how it goes, as I cannot afford to not eat enough at this point.
Speaking of what to eat...I got into some trouble this morning already on one of the raw food sites...it makes me crazy when I see someone promoting their way of eating as the ONLY way. Really? Then they get SO defensive when you comment. My feeling is if you are ok with your choices, why get defensive? I simply made a comment about raw fooders eating a BALANCED diet of fruits AND greens (and veggies if you choose...this was a hard-core raw foodie) and there was knickers in a bunch, oh yes there was. The problem I have is a lot of people who are new to this style of eating, and/or looking for quick fixes can go down a very dangerous and unhealthy path if they are mis-informed! MOST people who eat only or predominantly raw, did not go all rigid/strict overnight. Some do, and can get through the detox, etc and come out the other side ust fine, and some peope who were already strict veg/vegan do not have a far jump. But, peope who are eating a SAD diet and/or are unhealthy to begin with and may/may not have a good handle on what nutritious eating even is can get into a world of hurt. Don't get me wrong, I think fruititarianism is awesome, I think low fat raw is awesome, and both are pretty strict, hard-core eating styles. That would be my goal, and IS my goal, with the exception that I am going to follow what my body *needs* and if that means I eat a sweet potato or some sort of grain that is, gasp, cooked...well so be it.
I have friends who are die hard carnivores. Not sure they would know a fruit if it bit them in the ass. I don't agree with that diet *for me* but they feel it is working for them. OK. Would my diet work for them too? Quite possibly, but that isn't what *they* choose. You have to choose it, or you won't do it. That being said, *I* choose what my kids eat, for the most part. Hypocritical? Maybe. I do allow some choosing within certian parameters, as in, they can make food choices based on what foods we have available. We ALWAYS have fresh fruit and veggies availabe, along with other healthy snack options. There are times I give them choices and they chose to not eat, as opposed to eating what I offer. That's fine with me. No child will NOT eat if they are truly hungry. I do not impose my strict eating choices on my kids, bc I don't believe its fair. They know why I eat the way I do, and we talk about healthy food choices all the time- organic, GMO, why we are veg., etc. We do *make* them vegetarian, as that is a moral issue for us. Beyond that...I try to let them have some freedoms. I will say though...there are definitely some *food addictions* in this house, and there will be some changes made in the near future for the well being of all of us, but 2 members of my family in particular...but that is another post.
In the mean time...I will tease you and let you know I am about to read Wheat Belly...which should get me back on my soapbox in a few days... :)
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