Tag: GI disorder

Ghosted-Rambling Style

Oops…. Didn’t mean to stay away so long but then life just kept on rolling. I wrote a post in my head almost every day but never followed through on the typing part. Slacker.

So let’s catch up, rambling style.

Went on the grossest run of my life a couple of Saturday’s ago. Smoke and humidity in the air? Levels of hell. I was walking by the end and wheezing. Felt so nasty from the sticky humidity it’s the first time I’ve ever hosed myself off post run. 🤣

Went for a trail run and lost my pops. In the first quarter mile. How the what?? Turns out he took a different junction and between my waiting to see if he caught up (like we usually do) and running out and back the junctions meant he beat me to the top of mountain! I passed 2 hikers and asked if they had seen a man in a bucket hat with hiking poles- “oh, yeah, he’s way up the trail!”. I said what the hell out loud and they laughed as I starting booking it up the hillside.

My GI disorder decided it had been too behaved in the last few months and flared. Big time. I ended up actually missing most of a day of work and trying to sleep it better. Grrr. It’s leveled a bit but not much. This took me out of even thinking about running for most of a week.

Which, timing wise wasn’t horrible as we hit a week of 110 degree temps with wildfire smoke thrown in. Which might have added to a ridiculous migraine that rolled in too.

Said goodbye to my boss at work. Which even though I’ve known it was coming since June, it still feels like a blindside. I wish him all the best, it’s just odd. New boss is good too but it’s still odd.

I went to a concert! One of my top 3 favorite bands is on tour and they came to my town!! What are the odds? I never thought one of my bands would come to town, both due to the nature of the bands and the size of the town. Not to frown on my town though, I’ve learned that we have a couple of great concert venues. Which is why I got to see Rise Against at our outdoor amphitheater! And it was amazing. Totally worth the late night with work the next day. Although wearing heals to work the next day was a very bad idea, ha!

Oh and I have a half marathon in 10 days. Oops.

Whenever

You know I used to pretty good about posting weekly recaps on Mondays. Then Tuesdays… and now? Whenever, wherever… Oops, Shakira moment.

Yeah, my tendency to turn everything into a song lyric has been working overdrive lately. A new way to deal with stress? Throw some levity into life? Who knows.

Any who.

The previous week saw one bike session and sadly only one running session. Boo. I had plans for more, I really did. I can’t seem to get myself running after work again. It’s not a dark thing- night running is kind of fun but I also can’t put my finger on what it is. But I really need to work on it.

I went out for my first virtual race of the year on Saturday- Oakland 5000. It went about as well as I could have expected considering my lack of running lately. Granted it was also an unseasonably warm day but maybe I should stop making excuses? My pace is what it is now and it will remain that way until I decide to make it something different.

I had plans for a nice trail run but things went off the rails Saturday night. I took the Pops to urgent care in the evening- for a tick! Ok, there are some downsides to trails. He’s fine but we picked up dinner at a burger place and eating later than normal and a burger at that sent my damn GI system into a tailspin. I was a mess for the next 72 hours. Yay, me. I probably need to up one of my meds but I really don’t want to. The top drawer in my bedside table resembles a drug store. Grrr.

Which also hammered home my last dr’s appointment. So now I am watching my carbs, cutting back on artificial sugars which is a pain. Hell, even my toothpaste has been swapped out.

Tell me something good!

Napa Valley Marathon- Half Recap

Disclaimer: I received a VIP entry into Napa Valley Half Marathon as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!

I knew Napa Valley was going to be interesting, I just had no idea how much that was true.

In other words- a new personal worst! And a PR for port-a-potty stops.

Race morning dawned early and a little chilly. I dressed and headed off for the start line. My stomach literally spasmed the moment I got out of the car. Um, what?

I headed to the tasting room at Conn Creek Winery which was the VIP area. People- a warm room and real bathrooms are so worth it. However my stomach felt ok again. Hmmm.

I met up with Stephanie from Run Strong Run and we headed to the start. Actually a little late- most runners had already started- we crossed the start line with the 3:00 hour pacers. We soon separated but it was nice ststarting with someone.

There’s a really tiny balloon in this pic

Miles 1-2 11:35, 12:16
I was feeling ok, but I knew I was out of shape so after about half a mile, I turned on my run/ walk intervals. I was enjoying the perfect cloudy weather and watching hot air balloons rise with the sun over pretty vineyards. Exactly what I had hoped for.

Mile 3 12:49
We had reached the first aid station, water bathroom and electrolytes- but I was fine. Half a mile later I was not fine. Not at all.

Miles 4-6 12:45, 12:27, 17:20
Oh dear lord- where is next aid station?!?? This is a problem. Oh look pretty views, oh, ow, stomach bad. Just before mile 6- oh, hallelujah- an aid station.

Miles 7-8 12:45, 16:45
Ok, that was rough and I’m still not feeling great but let’s keep moving. Nope. Stomach doesn’t agree and now I’m worried there’s not another station until mile 9. Oh lord. Except, wait! Another station just before 8!

Miles 9- 11 12:50, 13:09, 13:51
Again I tried to run on. Nope- mostly walking. Stomach cramped again, badly a little after mile 10. And yes there was a station, but I decided to try and walk it out. I think I walked for 10 minutes straight somewhere in there.

Miles 12-13 13:07, 13:37
I am so close! Oh, here come the first and second marathon runners- ok that was kind of cool. Wouldn’t have seen them if I wasn’t having issues, right??? Trying to find the bright side here. The weather was still good, and I still loved looking at the scenery around me even if we were in town now. Oh— there’s the high school!! The finish!

Finish- 2:58:15

So yeah, that was not my best showing. Oddly enough, as rough as it was, I never once thought about quitting. I knew I was going to finish- eventually- it was just taking more energy than I thought. More energy to move slower but I just kept putting one foot in front of the other and kept moving forward.

The course was so pretty, I really do love running by vineyards, I really do. Also this course is very PR-able- flat in a way that didn’t feel flat to me. I kind of feel like I need vindication- this is definitely a race I will run again. There were also VIP perks I missed out on post race- my stomach was not cooperating at all. Boo.

Napa Valley- I will run you again.

Ever had your body completely rebel during a race?

Week 38-Sundown

Think I am going to make my motto for the rest of the year to just roll with it. And roll and roll. And now I’m singing that song from Clueless.

Monday- 3 miles
I headed out after work to get in some miles. I was still feeling a little bit of the migraine fog. By the time I felt like I was finally warmed up and moving my legs, I was already done. Maybe I should have run more but I also didn’t want to push it.

Tuesday- Thursday- Rough
I knew I had off site training for work so I knew running was going to be tricky. I was hoping to get in a run or 2 in a new town but what I didn’t anticipate was the massive flare up my GI disorder. That was fun. Food and I were enemies. Even taking myself to Jamba the last day of training didn’t work. I was also starting to rethink my weekend plans.

*See, I thought I needed incentive to run 10 miles this weekend. So I looked online and guess what? There was a race in Huntington Beach! Nothing like drive 5 hours to run 10 miles. 😂

But I also was accepting that I was not ok. So I dropped to the 10k.

Oh-I did hop on the bike on Tuesday for a few miles.

Friday- Rest
I felt a tiny bit better but still felt like I had made the right choice downgrading.

Saturday- Surf City 10! Recap to come.

Sunday- Shopping
That counts as cardio right? I stopped at an outlet mall that I ‘ve driven past for years. It was amazing! I walked all over and shopped til I dropped. I bought running pants so fall weather, come on out!

11.7 ish miles for the week. I am winning at under trained. Ha!

How was your week?