Monday:
Rest day
Tuesday:
Seriously, I couldn't make this shit up. I woke up and my eye felt crusty. Like when your eye has run so much that it crusts closed. I just wiped at my eye and got up. I was sitting in the den enjoying my coffee when Norm came into the den.
Norm: Your eye is red
Me: Like I have pink eye?
Norm: No like it’s bloody.
Me: Like it’s blood shot or bloody (thinking in my head that he is dumb and my eye is clearly not bloody!)
Norm: Both
I go to the bathroom to look at my eye. OMG! It is definitely bloody. Time to Google this situation and text my mommy! It seems like nothing to worry about, just a busted blood vessel. These normally happen from straining or hitting your head. I didn’t have either of these problems. I was just sleeping. I talked to my friend Tara who is an eye doctor. She agrees that is a broken blood vessel. And most importantly, I am cleared to run.
Wednesday:
Because I am not teaching this afternoon and I am thinking maybe I will get a small run in the afternoon. Or not. Had to get some errands done and after I took a long nap. We are going to Sukkah at my friend Mindy’s house tonight. (Good thing I took a nap because we were there until 11:30pm. But her food is delicious and we always have a good time. I did eat a bit of gluten and my stomach was hurting before dinner ever ended. By the time we got home my stomach was really hurting me. This means that racing this weekend will be a little different for me. I usually just eat off the table. PB&J, a bean roll up, a quesadilla if it’s available. But there will be no gluten for me at this race. I will be fueling with peanut m&m’s and soda, with maybe some salty chips added in when the sweet gets to be too much. This will be an interesting test of how to handle fueling now that the gluten is causing serious stomach issues.
Thursday:
Exhausted! I could not fall asleep after we got home and was up until 12:30am or so. I was getting ready to leave for an easy 5 mile run when Hank started biting on his leash. We hang his leash on the back of the door and when he needs to go out he bites and pulls on the leash. Norm wasn’t home so I took Hank out. As soon as we left he it was clear this was going to be a run and not a walk. Ok, fine, I will count this as one of miles for today. Coming back home Norm was in the yard and Hank got very excited. About 6 feet or so away from Norm I let go of the leash to let Hank run to Norm thinking Norm would catch him. That is not what happened. Hank ran past Norm and when he turned to run back to Norm he suddenly made a turn and dashed across the street. Thank G-D there were no cars! We get held up from crossing the street due to cars and finally get over to the next street calling for Hank. Eventually we catch him. By the time we are inside I am hungry. I decided to eat and after go for my run. But while I am eating I am realizing how badly my house needs to be cleaned. I end up cleaning instead of running. But now I feel much better about my house so it was worth it.
Hank and nap in the afternoon. He sleeps with his face resting on my feet so I forgive him running away in the morning.
Friday:
I did a short run with some easy hill repeats. I didn't mean to taper this much for the race this week. The race is meant to be a training run. I have in no way been training for the climbing required in a sky race. And of all the sky races that I have run, Flagstaff is by far the hardest. The plan was rest my legs a bit to give myself a chance at doing well, but it’s really a training run and not a race for me. That doesn’t mean that I don't want to do well. For me it means I hope I do well, I will try to do well, but I am just not planning to go in on rested legs and after a big training block. A lot of people like to tell me I race too much, but I disagree. Racing is a great way to make myself practice running a certain pace. I also know I am more likely to complete the distance. And it’s a great way to work out kinks for the A race. Aside from all of that, I really like to race.
Hayley picked me up and we headed to Flagstaff a little after lunchtime. She dropped me at the house while she went off to work. I lazed around reading my book. I had gluten free gnocchi for dinner. I slept like crap the night before so I had no problem going to sleep early, but my stomach was hurting before I went to bed. Norm came in after I had gone to sleep but I got to discuss what time we needed to leave. My stomach was still hurting. I am pretty sure I am going to start my period in the middle of this race.
Rest day
Tuesday:
Seriously, I couldn't make this shit up. I woke up and my eye felt crusty. Like when your eye has run so much that it crusts closed. I just wiped at my eye and got up. I was sitting in the den enjoying my coffee when Norm came into the den.
Norm: Your eye is red
Me: Like I have pink eye?
Norm: No like it’s bloody.
Me: Like it’s blood shot or bloody (thinking in my head that he is dumb and my eye is clearly not bloody!)
Norm: Both
I go to the bathroom to look at my eye. OMG! It is definitely bloody. Time to Google this situation and text my mommy! It seems like nothing to worry about, just a busted blood vessel. These normally happen from straining or hitting your head. I didn’t have either of these problems. I was just sleeping. I talked to my friend Tara who is an eye doctor. She agrees that is a broken blood vessel. And most importantly, I am cleared to run.
Wednesday:
Because I am not teaching this afternoon and I am thinking maybe I will get a small run in the afternoon. Or not. Had to get some errands done and after I took a long nap. We are going to Sukkah at my friend Mindy’s house tonight. (Good thing I took a nap because we were there until 11:30pm. But her food is delicious and we always have a good time. I did eat a bit of gluten and my stomach was hurting before dinner ever ended. By the time we got home my stomach was really hurting me. This means that racing this weekend will be a little different for me. I usually just eat off the table. PB&J, a bean roll up, a quesadilla if it’s available. But there will be no gluten for me at this race. I will be fueling with peanut m&m’s and soda, with maybe some salty chips added in when the sweet gets to be too much. This will be an interesting test of how to handle fueling now that the gluten is causing serious stomach issues.
Thursday:
Exhausted! I could not fall asleep after we got home and was up until 12:30am or so. I was getting ready to leave for an easy 5 mile run when Hank started biting on his leash. We hang his leash on the back of the door and when he needs to go out he bites and pulls on the leash. Norm wasn’t home so I took Hank out. As soon as we left he it was clear this was going to be a run and not a walk. Ok, fine, I will count this as one of miles for today. Coming back home Norm was in the yard and Hank got very excited. About 6 feet or so away from Norm I let go of the leash to let Hank run to Norm thinking Norm would catch him. That is not what happened. Hank ran past Norm and when he turned to run back to Norm he suddenly made a turn and dashed across the street. Thank G-D there were no cars! We get held up from crossing the street due to cars and finally get over to the next street calling for Hank. Eventually we catch him. By the time we are inside I am hungry. I decided to eat and after go for my run. But while I am eating I am realizing how badly my house needs to be cleaned. I end up cleaning instead of running. But now I feel much better about my house so it was worth it.
Hank and nap in the afternoon. He sleeps with his face resting on my feet so I forgive him running away in the morning.
Friday:
I did a short run with some easy hill repeats. I didn't mean to taper this much for the race this week. The race is meant to be a training run. I have in no way been training for the climbing required in a sky race. And of all the sky races that I have run, Flagstaff is by far the hardest. The plan was rest my legs a bit to give myself a chance at doing well, but it’s really a training run and not a race for me. That doesn’t mean that I don't want to do well. For me it means I hope I do well, I will try to do well, but I am just not planning to go in on rested legs and after a big training block. A lot of people like to tell me I race too much, but I disagree. Racing is a great way to make myself practice running a certain pace. I also know I am more likely to complete the distance. And it’s a great way to work out kinks for the A race. Aside from all of that, I really like to race.
Hayley picked me up and we headed to Flagstaff a little after lunchtime. She dropped me at the house while she went off to work. I lazed around reading my book. I had gluten free gnocchi for dinner. I slept like crap the night before so I had no problem going to sleep early, but my stomach was hurting before I went to bed. Norm came in after I had gone to sleep but I got to discuss what time we needed to leave. My stomach was still hurting. I am pretty sure I am going to start my period in the middle of this race.
Hank hates it when I pack my bag.
Reading my book in Flagstaff.
Bunk Beds! Notice the wine in a coffee glass goes everywhere with me.
Saturday:
We got up and had coffee. We were at the start line in plenty of time, but man it was freezing! We sat in the car waiting. Too bad I didn't pay better attention to the time. When the bus arrived to drop off runners I looked at the time. Crap! It’s 5:45am and the race start is at 6am and I need to get in the line for the potty. I still hadn't checked in or put my race bib on. What is wrong with me? I ended up running to the start line as they were counting down from about 8 seconds. I didn't get as close to the start as I wanted. The start is in that twilight period where it isn't light but it isn't dark. I have a really hard time seeing during this period. I was okay with taking it a little slow. We start up Elden and I am telling myself to take it easy because I have to do this again. My stomach is already bothering me. Still hurting from the night before. At the first aid station I grab some plain m&m’s in throw them in the pocket of my pack. I am not hungry now but I might get hungry during my next climb up Elden. Second trip up Elden I fall. There are rocks that are like steps, but some of them are really large steps. I ended up not getting my foot up all the way and feel right on my shin. HARD! I was trying to decide if I had done actual bone damage when Alicia (Shay) Vargo came by me. She asked if I was okay. I am not sure what I said. I told myself to get moving and watched her disappear ahead of me. My shin was really hurting, but I always have trouble deciding if I am catastrophizing it because I am worried. When I got to where Melissa was taking pictures I asked how long she would be around. She told me she was headed to Snowbowl when the last of the 39K came through. I let her know I might need a ride. I hadn’t run on my shin yet and was worried that might not be possible. The first bit of downhill running was painful but it got better. I stopped by Melissa’s truck to make a final decision. My shin hurt, my stomach hurt, my back was hurting and I had a headache that was getting worse. But I decided to press on. After the aid station the running is beautiful. Mostly a slight down on beautiful trail. But I was just not moving as fast I wanted. My back not only hurt but felt like it was sporadically seizing up on me. All that downhill felt like a jackhammer in my back. And my head was starting to pound. I pulled off the course to fish out my Advil. It was about 2 miles to the next aid station. If my head and back didn't feel better I would quit there. I get to the next aid station and try to figure out how far I am behind the lead women, but no one is sure. Although this is just a training I run I had had hoped to podium because I need the money to travel to Oklahoma for the Master’s 15K Championships. No money at this race means no travel to Oklahoma.
John and Albert try to coax me into leaving the aid station with them. When I tell them I am starting my period and I feel like shit they leave without me. I guess they don't want to talk about my period. Ha!
I stand around trying to make a decision and eventually decide to keep moving. I doubt I will do as well as I wanted time wise and a podium finish is unlikely, but it’s still a decent training run. Off I go and almost immediately I fall hard. The kind of fall where you didn't even know it was coming. My left hip took the brut of the fall. A runner in front of me stops to ask if I am okay. “Yes, go ahead, I’m okay, “ I say. I slowly get up and start to walk back to the aid station. This is clearly a message that says you are done for today. Some dogs come up and give me some love and I wonder back to the aid station. I don't what I was doing or how long I was there when I see the guy who stopped to check on me sitting in a chair. “What are you doing here?” I ask. Turns out he had some stomach trouble and after he stopped to check on me decided to go back to the bathroom. Once back at the bathroom he decided he was done.
Although I wasn’t thrilled to be dropping it was one of the best times I have ever had dropping from a race. I met some really interesting people and we talked about anthropology and linguistics. It’s not often I get to talk about my favorite anthropologist and linguist! We talked about postmodernism in literature and art. So fun!
What was not fun was waiting for Norm to come get us. Thank G-d Erin loaned me her jacket. When Norm finally showed up I asked, “When they told you two runners dropped at Schultz did they tell you one was your wife!” He informed that they did and that was why he hurried to get there. I should have known that was his hurry speed.
We were pretty close to the finish line when we see a runner walking on the side of the road. He had to have gotten lost on course. I recognized him from Schultz Aid Station where he was having his hand worked on. We stopped the car and I ran back to see if he wanted a ride. I felt so bad because he was crying. We get in the car and Norm starts asking him questions. I cut Norm off and say “he doesn’t want to talk about it!” Norm couldn't see how upset this poor kid was so I wanted to intervene.
I had to wait for Norm to finish working before we could leave. My head was still pounding. I took more Advil. My headache never went away. I did get to watch some friends finish, chat with some other friends, and visit with people I didn't know who had finished the race.
While I am not disappointed that I dropped, I am disappointed that I felt so terrible. It feels like lately I always feel terrible during a race. My training runs are going great, but my racing is a disaster. I feel like I am grasping at straws.
As if I hadn't had a bad enough day I came home to find the kids hadn't taken my puppy out enough and there was pee all over the floor and under two bookshelves.
We got up and had coffee. We were at the start line in plenty of time, but man it was freezing! We sat in the car waiting. Too bad I didn't pay better attention to the time. When the bus arrived to drop off runners I looked at the time. Crap! It’s 5:45am and the race start is at 6am and I need to get in the line for the potty. I still hadn't checked in or put my race bib on. What is wrong with me? I ended up running to the start line as they were counting down from about 8 seconds. I didn't get as close to the start as I wanted. The start is in that twilight period where it isn't light but it isn't dark. I have a really hard time seeing during this period. I was okay with taking it a little slow. We start up Elden and I am telling myself to take it easy because I have to do this again. My stomach is already bothering me. Still hurting from the night before. At the first aid station I grab some plain m&m’s in throw them in the pocket of my pack. I am not hungry now but I might get hungry during my next climb up Elden. Second trip up Elden I fall. There are rocks that are like steps, but some of them are really large steps. I ended up not getting my foot up all the way and feel right on my shin. HARD! I was trying to decide if I had done actual bone damage when Alicia (Shay) Vargo came by me. She asked if I was okay. I am not sure what I said. I told myself to get moving and watched her disappear ahead of me. My shin was really hurting, but I always have trouble deciding if I am catastrophizing it because I am worried. When I got to where Melissa was taking pictures I asked how long she would be around. She told me she was headed to Snowbowl when the last of the 39K came through. I let her know I might need a ride. I hadn’t run on my shin yet and was worried that might not be possible. The first bit of downhill running was painful but it got better. I stopped by Melissa’s truck to make a final decision. My shin hurt, my stomach hurt, my back was hurting and I had a headache that was getting worse. But I decided to press on. After the aid station the running is beautiful. Mostly a slight down on beautiful trail. But I was just not moving as fast I wanted. My back not only hurt but felt like it was sporadically seizing up on me. All that downhill felt like a jackhammer in my back. And my head was starting to pound. I pulled off the course to fish out my Advil. It was about 2 miles to the next aid station. If my head and back didn't feel better I would quit there. I get to the next aid station and try to figure out how far I am behind the lead women, but no one is sure. Although this is just a training I run I had had hoped to podium because I need the money to travel to Oklahoma for the Master’s 15K Championships. No money at this race means no travel to Oklahoma.
John and Albert try to coax me into leaving the aid station with them. When I tell them I am starting my period and I feel like shit they leave without me. I guess they don't want to talk about my period. Ha!
I stand around trying to make a decision and eventually decide to keep moving. I doubt I will do as well as I wanted time wise and a podium finish is unlikely, but it’s still a decent training run. Off I go and almost immediately I fall hard. The kind of fall where you didn't even know it was coming. My left hip took the brut of the fall. A runner in front of me stops to ask if I am okay. “Yes, go ahead, I’m okay, “ I say. I slowly get up and start to walk back to the aid station. This is clearly a message that says you are done for today. Some dogs come up and give me some love and I wonder back to the aid station. I don't what I was doing or how long I was there when I see the guy who stopped to check on me sitting in a chair. “What are you doing here?” I ask. Turns out he had some stomach trouble and after he stopped to check on me decided to go back to the bathroom. Once back at the bathroom he decided he was done.
Although I wasn’t thrilled to be dropping it was one of the best times I have ever had dropping from a race. I met some really interesting people and we talked about anthropology and linguistics. It’s not often I get to talk about my favorite anthropologist and linguist! We talked about postmodernism in literature and art. So fun!
What was not fun was waiting for Norm to come get us. Thank G-d Erin loaned me her jacket. When Norm finally showed up I asked, “When they told you two runners dropped at Schultz did they tell you one was your wife!” He informed that they did and that was why he hurried to get there. I should have known that was his hurry speed.
We were pretty close to the finish line when we see a runner walking on the side of the road. He had to have gotten lost on course. I recognized him from Schultz Aid Station where he was having his hand worked on. We stopped the car and I ran back to see if he wanted a ride. I felt so bad because he was crying. We get in the car and Norm starts asking him questions. I cut Norm off and say “he doesn’t want to talk about it!” Norm couldn't see how upset this poor kid was so I wanted to intervene.
I had to wait for Norm to finish working before we could leave. My head was still pounding. I took more Advil. My headache never went away. I did get to watch some friends finish, chat with some other friends, and visit with people I didn't know who had finished the race.
While I am not disappointed that I dropped, I am disappointed that I felt so terrible. It feels like lately I always feel terrible during a race. My training runs are going great, but my racing is a disaster. I feel like I am grasping at straws.
As if I hadn't had a bad enough day I came home to find the kids hadn't taken my puppy out enough and there was pee all over the floor and under two bookshelves.
Beautiful fall colors!
Sunday:
I decided to just go out ad run some easy miles to move my legs. I threw in a fast mile just to prove a point to myself. I am looking forward to starting my training block for Black Canyon. I haven’t done any serious training since the spring and I miss it.
Little did I know a massive head cold was looming. But you’ll have to read next weeks blog to hear me whine and complain and about that.
I decided to just go out ad run some easy miles to move my legs. I threw in a fast mile just to prove a point to myself. I am looking forward to starting my training block for Black Canyon. I haven’t done any serious training since the spring and I miss it.
Little did I know a massive head cold was looming. But you’ll have to read next weeks blog to hear me whine and complain and about that.
I took Norm to Shake Shack to reward him for putting up with my nonsense.
