Monday, May 19, 2014

Ugly Race Report

J's surgery and my new job ate my training.

I just didn't have time to train and my schedule changed enough that I couldn't go as early in the morning as I am used to. The truth is that this happens - you have to roll with the punches in training and once you have a family and a career you cannot plan your life around training.

The worst was I just lost steam. I didn't just miss training I just stopped running. Even though my body wasn't tired I just felt burned out on running. It is true that I was having some foot issues (something I still haven't sorted out) and my muscles are TIGHT (stretching and rolling help but seriously, I do not understand WHY I am so tight, I am ridiculous). But mostly I just lost momentum. For me, and I suspect a lot of people, running is this habit that builds on itself. I run and I feel great so I want to run more. I run more and I have endorphins and my body looks better and I eat better and I feel even better. I sleep great, I am more relaxed and calmer and that habit is cemented. The reverse is also true. I stop running and I feel my aches and pains. I start to eat like absolute shit. I am more stressed. And I am out of the habit. I think my running routine can survive a little ebb and flow but it is amazing how quickly progress can be lost.

My race was yesterday. It did not go well. In fact, I cannot imagine many scenarios where it could have gone worse.

To start - the good. The race I ran was the Snohomish Women's Run and it was a gorgeous race. Beautifully organized, so many volunteers, great aid stations and the medals and t-shirts were beautiful. This is my first race where I had a personalized bib which was a fun touch (and people were great about cheering my name when I came by). The course was beautiful (though it featured one switch back at the end that was AWFUL because I hate that feeling of it going on and on and on) and flat. If I had put the training in that I had originally planned this is a great course to PR on. The great news is that I registered for the sister race - the Snohomish River Run - this fall (they offered a great package) so I am trying to view this as a preview run.

So the bad. First, my training was not there. My muscles were so tight and I just didn't have it. Not a bit. This was a fairly flat course and I should have been able to get into a nice rythym but I honestly felt draggy almost from the beginning. Being a long event I had a couple of miles in there that felt good. I tried to enjoy them while they were happening - but there were just a few. There was a long out and back section and normally I hate this in a course but I liked it here because it was fun to cheer on the super speedy 10Kers and later the half marathoners (I was back of the pack all the way). That made the miles click by in a nice way. Everyone on the course was supportive of each other and even though I was much slower than I should have been and clearly struggling I never felt anything but supportive by the volunteers, race officials and the other racers. Unfortunately I had GI distress beginning at mile 3. I have NEVER had to so much as pee during a race (though hats off to a women's only race because all the porta potties even at the start were SO CLEAN. even after the race they were hardly even smelling, never at a race has a toilet been so nice) but I was in a lot of pain and discomfort very early on. That set the tone because the cramping never fully eased and I never really got hydrated correctly.

The drag about that is that my positive attitude really didn't hold after that. I tried several fuel sources - including bloks, chews and even GU. Nothing sat well in my stomach and I didn't fuel well (one of many downsides to being so slow is that fueling because weirdly out there so long means you need fuel even more than the speedsters - it is easy to bonk when you run for three hours). I didn't want the fuel but I felt so awful I kept trying it. The weather was supposed to be cold and rainy and we were lucky to get bright sun and warmer temps. I personally loathe running in the heat (this is relative heat I mean I think it was 65) and I actually got a little burned. The sun was nice but I think I didn't manage the salt intake well and with the GI issues things went pear shaped. I threw up a couple of times - mostly just water - but it didn't help my discomfort.

I was lucky and met a really nice woman on the course. She was running a much slower pace than I meant to do but she had the best attitude and kept me going. Towards the end she basically was dragging me to the finish. Since we didn't know each other she didn't know that I am stubborn and cheap so I wasn't quitting unless I had no choice so she kept worrying that I was going to quit. It is true that when we hit the 10K turnaround and I had already hit the porta potty twice that I considered downgrading myself to the 10K. But after that I really didn't consider quitting. Though I really wanted to quit so many damn times. I have always wanted to find my running tribe and a buddy and I enjoyed her so much. Best part of the race for me - I am hoping that she and I can do some training runs together.

The last couple of meals were rough. I bonked badly, I was so tired. I sent my buddy ahead because she had a shot at a PR (which she got) but I had no ability to help her. But J and my daughter had come and R ran me in. I didn't want her to see me struggling like that (I always want her to see me as strong) but maybe it is great for her to see that sometimes the things we want are not easy and you just have to keep going.

Today I am sore but it isn't as bad as I expected. I am plotting my summer and how to get back into the groove again. I am thinking of going for a 5K PR as I haven't really run one in a long time and my PR is slow so I could pick it up with a little hustle.