Tag: stomach issues

2017 City to the Sea 13.1 Recap

What do you do when need to run a long run and need the motivation to get up early? Sign up for a race!

Let’s count the things that did not go like planned-

Had stomach issues on Saturday but hoped they would go away by race morning.
It didn’t, it was even worse. To the point where I had a complete change in wardrobe plans. If I could have run in a dress I would have. I needed the least amount of pressure possible.
Ran in a skirt I haven’t worn in 2 years, probably qualified as something new on race day. Ditto to the Camelbak I decided to use.
I was late leaving the house, then spent too much time at a Chevron station using the facilities due to above mentioned GI issue.
Lost one of the zip ties for the timing chip. Found it again after tearing apart car.
Strolled up to the start with 3 minutes to spare.
Ran the race on Zero calories.
With my back issues, I was thinking this would be slower than long run pace. My parents were meeting me at the finish line- I told them over a 2:30 finish.

And yet-

Miles 1-4 9:38, 9:39, 9:44, 9:58

The race starts off downhill so I figured the first few miles would be my fastest but I had been thinking high 10’s. Mile 1 clocked in and I remember thinking “what the hell legs? We can’t maintain that”. Then mile 2 took freakin’ forever. I’ve run this course 5 times and I couldn’t figure why the hell it was taking so long so I finally looked at my watch. Mile 2.86. Oh I missed the mile marker, good to know I am not crazy. I was trying to not look at my watch but I knew my legs were still running a pace they had no business running. My friend Bix came up behind a little after mile 3. We chatted a bit before she pulled ahead a little after mile 4. I had to crash soon right?

Miles 5-8 10:20, 10:44, 11:13, 9:34

Mile 5 starts a long slow climb which I like as it loosens up any leg tightness I may have. I also took my first walk break as my back gave a tiny twinge. Mile 6 saw lots of walking as those stupid stomach issues came rearing back. Are you kidding me?!?! The last aid station at mile 4 and the next one wasn’t until past mile 7. I also was suddenly surrounded by people. What the hell? It was the 2:15 pace group. Wait, I was in front of the 2:15 pace group for 6 miles? What year is this? 2015? 😛 They pulled ahead but I kept them in my sights until the bigger hill on mile 7- more walking thanks to a cranky back. I wasn’t worried as I knew there was a downhill coming and I love downhills. As you can see by that mile 8 up there.

Miles 9-11 10:48, 12:34, 10:26

Catching up to the pace group was short lived. I lost them on the Bob Jones Trail. I was slowing down but what else do you expect when your longest run in 2 months has been 8 miles? I ran on the dirt on the side of the trail hoping it would lessen some of the pavement pounding but by mile 10- the biggest hill- my back was very not happy. I walked a lot and it shows in my mile time. I tried to stretch it out as I walked. Mile 11 was pretty good actually but I felt like I was crawling.

Miles 12-13.1 10:51, 11:40

Come on back, I’m so close! 2 miles to go! Run til I feel a twinge, walk it out, repeat. Ran alongside a woman for a bit, we commiserated over pains. She was having Plantar issues. She pulled ahead. Finally I hit mile 13 and all I had left was the longest .1 ever. Seriously- I swear this .1 is longer than any other race I have other run.

Finish- 2:18:59

How, now? Under trained, messed up back, hot mess of a morning and I finish my fastest race in 2 years? In fact, my fastest race since City to the Sea 2015? How does that even make sense? I just decided to let my legs and back fight it out. I took my head out of the equation.

Maybe I need to try that more often? 😛🙂

2016 City to the Sea Recap

Disclaimer: Do I even need this? I won entry into this race via a Facebook contest. I would have registered for it anyways but winning is better. 😛

I love this race but it also stresses me out. Why? This race is still my half marathon PR…from 2013. Sometimes I feel like I am getting farther and farther away from that race. I knew going in this year that I was no where near PR shape and that was fine, I was just hoping for a solid race. Coach Jenny with Ekiden Coaching and I had discussed using the race as a training run for the Harvest Marathon half and we were both on the same page of aiming for a 2:10. It sounded a little ambitious as most of my 13.1’s this year have been plagued by a variety of issues but I was hopeful. While my marathon training had little speed work I was hopeful the distance training would help.

Then HOB Fun Run happened and I hurt like hell after. Missed 2 runs due to leg pain, stopped sleeping because well, life and received bad family news. I chucked all time thoughts out the window and just hoped to finish. When my mom dropped me off at the race start I told her to not even look for me before the 2:30 point. City to the Sea is a point to point so logistics can be a little tricky. This year my mom decided she would just drop me off, kill time, pick me up and then we would go to lunch. Thanks mom!

Pet peeve- the race had a 7AM start time. I got like 2 hours of sleep the night before and was feeling a little nauseous. The dang thing started 10 minutes late!

The beginning-

Miles 1-5- 10:04, 10:40, 10:23, 10:00, 10:19

And we were off! I had placed myself near the 2:30 pace group but I lost them fairly quickly. Oops. I tried to just keep it steady but it was only mile 1! Miles 1-5 are fairly flat to downhill so I tried to not be crazy. I felt something flapping about .75 in and looked down to see my left shoelace was undone. Again?! I pulled off to the side to tie and once again it was like I forgot how to tie my shoes. Once fixed I ran on. Damn, my calves were getting super tight. Just keep running…wait, now my other shoe was untied. What?!! Again, I pulled to the side to tie my shoes. Then I ran on. Until I pulled to the side to stretch out my calves. Less than 2.5 miles in and I had stopped 3 times. Probably not a good sign. 😞 I kept going but my lower legs were getting super tight. I hate flat routes. I took my first walk break at 3.5 miles trying to shake the tightness out. Between the slight downhill and the slant of the road, my legs were screaming. I knew there was a hill coming soon and I needed it.

The middle-

Miles 6-10- 10:05, 11:01, 9:58, 10:26, 11:53

We were off the main strip in SLO, under the freeway and onto a side road. Hills!! I never thought I would be so excited to hit the hilly portion. But the first hill did exactly what I wanted it to do- the calf tightness loosened almost completely and I didn’t really notice it the rest of the race. Woo hoo! My stomach cramped in a very bad way partway through mile 7- walk break! Bummer was the slant- the road was super slanted and something about it aggravated a muscle high up in my right butt. I have no other way to describe it. That in turn tweaked my right knee. While things didn’t hurt, they sure didn’t feel comfortable.

The calm before the big hill…oh and cars.

There was a decent downhill in mile 8 as we ran into Avila and I was feeling good so I picked up a tiny bit of pace. Then we rounded onto the Bob Jones trail and I just told myself to enjoy running through the trees. I also ran in the dirt alongside the path to take some of the pounding off my legs. I had felt a slight twinge from the troublesome left shin area and the butt issue was still around. 😛 Once out the trail we headed for Avila Bay drive which thanks to last year I knew to expect a good size hill. I told myself I could take a walk break if I ran halfway up. Success! So much better than last year. Rounded to the corner to another hill and we were into Pismo! And the temp jumped about 20 degrees. Ouch.

The Sea!!!! Really there was a mile+ to go.

The End-

Miles 11-13- 11:11, 10:58, 11:33

I wanted to be singing the I’m almost done song but instead I was having some GI issues. My stomach had decided to be pissed off- seriously?! From then on it was run until I cramped then walk until it eased. Grrr. During one of my walk breaks I noticed someone familiar pass me. I wasn’t sure but I hollered Bix anyways- it was! Bix was my very first race buddy- we ran a few races together years ago. Until I convinced her to run Firehouse 5K with me without knowing how brutal it was- she never ran with me again. 😛 This was her fist half marathon! We chatted a bit, discussed how the slanted roads were killing us and I warned her another hill was coming around mile 12. We separated then but it was cool seeing her. I did my run/ walk thing until the very end. I swear this race has the longest last .25 mile. Every single time I run it, it drags on forever! But finally, the finish line was in sight!

Finish- 2:20:35

Well, that’s not too bad! Actually it is my fastest half marathon finish this year! There are a couple of points where I know I lost time but who’s to say I wouldn’t have lost it somewhere else. The shoelaces thing drives me crazy though. I never have that problem but now I have at the last two races! Grrr.

Once I crossed the finish I was given my medal and then a tumbler and then a sticker. Hey, that’s new! Kind of helps make up for the tiny shirt. 😛 I got out of the chute but hung around as I wanted to see Bix finish. Woo hoo!

I was still feeling a little green so I met up with my mom and we just got ourselves out of everyone’s way. I got myself under control and we headed out to find a yummy lunch.

All in all, I would say this was a solid race. I was way more consistent than I thought I would be. I won’t complain about being faster than I figured- neither would my mom- she’d waited long enough. That said, I believe I ran the best I could for where I was at the time- both mentally and physically. I wanted to run a good race, one to clear away the lingering issues with my other halves this year. I wanted to run a race that would help me dust the cobwebs in my head.

Mission accomplished-✅ Can’t wait til next year.

Mid Week Musings 11

I know it’s Thursday but it’s the halfway point of a short week that’s midweek right?

The fans are gone! The silence is glorious, it really is. Now we don’t have hot water as they start the repairs but small victories right? 😛

I drove home on auto pilot. Which I am sure happens to all of us at some point but I drove the scenic route home. A portion of which is essentially a speed limit free roller coaster of a road you drive for 14 miles. Not the road to go on autopilot on. Instead of watching the hairpins, I was contemplating life. I’m feel like I am sliding into a funk and I can’t seem to swerve away. I have a couple posts I am sitting on but not sure about sharing yet.

The Chimney Fire is 100% contained!! Woo hoo! Thank you firefighters!!! Though I will miss seeing you all around town. 😉

I was so small! Also thoughts for another post

I thought about driving to Ventura this weekend to run a 5K. Just because I really like the medal. But I decided that wasn’t exactly fiscally responsible. Boo. Then Timehop showed me pics from the Ventura half in 2014. Just rub it in Dino.

Instead of racing, it’s that time again- Avocado Margarita Festival!! The format has changed a bit so I am only volunteering for a few hours one day. What will I do with the rest of my time??? Well, run of course. 🙂

Someone found my blog last week by searching “gastroparesis pants”. I get that. I may not have talked about my asshat stomach in awhile but it’s still an asshat. I actually have my quarterly appointment with my gastro next week. I think I’ve run out of diets to try. Grr.

While I am looking forward to fall weather, the sun is setting so much quicker already. I will have to make the transition to the treadmill sooner than I would like if I want my runs to be longer than 4 miles. Or I need to get hella’ fast. Hmmm.

Oh- I won 25 bucks on a scratcher ticket! I’ve never done that before! I was stoked.

I am reading a book where the main character’s name is Fallon. Mind trip! It’s kind of odd.

Remember when I said I randomly gave myself bangs? Apparently I should have done it sooner- customers keep complimenting me. Which makes me wonder- did I look that bad before??!? I am also very blonde right now (summer sun!) and one customer told an employee that I look so much better au naturel and should stop dying my hair dark. Say what? You keep those thoughts to yourself! Haha, she doesn’t know I was looking at hair dye the other day. A purple shade was really speaking to me. 😛 Too bad work wouldn’t approve.

Thanks for letting me ramble!

Share something random?

Ever dye your hair? Would you have said that?

What are you reading?

San Francisco Marathon Training Week 8

Name Change!!

Let’s be real, who was I lying to? As if calling it “Week 21 Training Recap” meant I could bury my head in the sand a little longer? So, let’s rip the band-aid off. There should be an emoji for that.

If you’ve read my whiny, ranting post from Friday, you know that last week went a little sideways. After such a great week 7, I was hoping to keep the momentum going. But, well, life happens right?

Monday- Rest I had a doctor’s appointment where I had 3 excisions done. Why I thought I was going to follow through with running after that, I am not sure. One was even under my sports bra band so it’s not like I really wanted to put one on after that. Combine that with my car battery dying in the office parking lot and the day was shot. It was surprisingly hard to find a place that sold the battery to my car. My very common Nissan. Grrr.

Tuesday- Rest/ furniture moving I had what I called severe allergies start after my run on Saturday but by Tuesday, it was full blown head cold status. I could barely see out of my eyes and spent most of my time sneezing. I ended up leaving work early and went home. I treated myself to my go-to sick meal- In n Out- on the way home and then took a 3 hour nap. On the floor. 😝 Once I woke up, the rest of the evening was spent moving furniture in preparation for new carpet the next day.

Wednesday- Rest This time planned but I felt guilty. I should have been running. I still wasn’t feeling well but I made it through the full day at work before heading home to move furniture back into place. Apparently, I am not as strong as I once was. Some of that crap was hard to move!

Thursday- 3.4 miles Aborted tempo. What’s that saying about good intentions? I headed to the lake path to get in what was supposed to my last 5 mile tempo. Next week they jump to 8 miles. Holy crap! Anyways, back to this week. Let’s just say I should put my phone on Do Not Disturb when I run from now on. Of those 3.4 miles, 2 were at tempo pace. What was not cool was how hard they felt. So much harder than the week before. Had I finished my run I am not sure I could have held that for another 3 miles. That worried me. Ok, it freaked me out. Hence Friday’s post.

Friday- Rest Oddly enough, one of the excisions was really bothering me . Of course it was the one on my butt. Maybe it was just trying to make me sit less? Oh and the morning started with finding out that my debit card had been compromised. Not my main one but the one linked to my race account. Double Grrrr.

Saturday- 12 miles- I worked in the morning so I knew this would be an afternoon run. Luckily the temp was predicted for the mid 60’s so I wasn’t too worried about that. I used the timing as a training exercise, sort of. I’ve been trying to figure out what I can eat before long runs and races that my system will tolerate. I’m testing out various protein shakes as I seem to tolerate liquids better. So I had 2 pieces of sausage for breakfast and a protein shake at 11:30. The poor choice might have been the cookie I ate as well. 😝

That said, I headed out around 2 PM for my run. Overall, I kept my head down and just kept running. I was feeling ok and didn’t need any walk breaks through mile 5, I met with my mom halfway through mile 6 so I walked with her for 1/2 a mile. Then I ran on and just kept trucking. It was so windy, my hat was almost ripped off my head 3 times. My stomach cramped in bad way at mile 10. I stopped for a moment and breathed it out. I was only 2 miles from being done so I kept my break short and ran on. My stomach cramped again around mile 11.3 but this time I walked it out. Stupid stomach. I then ran on to finish my run. Other than the cramping issues, the run was pretty good. My pace was right in the middle of my long run range and it would have been even better without the the little break in the middle. Obviously I need to work on the fueling thing some more.

Sunday- 6.2 miles – The plan called for 6 but I wanted 8. Seriously, this was one of the slowest 10K’s of my life. Smash Run tells me it was my 47th slowest- yay! I don’t know what it was but I could not get it into gear. My legs felt fine but the rest of me just wasn’t out there. My pace was all over the place and by the end I was glad the plan only called for 6. I felt fine when I was done so maybe it was all in my head?

So yeah, 21.6 miles. About 15 short of where I had hoped to be. I am trying to find the shiny here and say that 21 miles is still pretty good for a Slacker right? We live and we learn and we plan for the week to come. Right? Right. #justkeeprunning I am still on the fence about Saturday’s half- partly due to indecision and partly because that account was cleaned out. Boo. I will get the money back and I will make a decision but right now I am playing it by ear. I also want to give the protein shakes another try. Any recommendations?

How was your week/ weekend?

Ever been hit by fraud? Someone had fun at a bar with mine. And tried to buy a suit. Weird.

2016 SLO Marathon

Last post I shared that I was lucky enough to be offered the chance to be an Ambassador for the SLO Marathon again. Which is freakin’ awesome and I am looking forward to not only the race but all the awesome runners I get to see again. As with most ambassadorships, it comes with some challenges along the way. The first one was dropped last week- to share our resolutions/ goals for the 2016 race. Hmmm, there’s that word again.

I’ve spent some time thinking about it for the last week. How do I share a goal but stay true to my year of being goal free? Well, I am still goal free. That said, I feel like I have unfinished business with the SLO half. Let’s recap.

In 2014 I was looking forward to running a race that I had been trying to run for years but never made it happen. It was also my first ambassadorship so I was super stoked on that. I was excited on race morning but mentally I just wasn’t there. It wasn’t my fitness level, it wasn’t the hills; it was all in my head. Mentally, I blew up around mile 8. I finished the race in 2:10:32 which wasn’t bad but I felt like my legs had more in them, I just couldn’t stop the mind games. Not sure if you can tell by my smirk/smile but I was very irritated with myself post race.

I swear I was trying to smile not smirk

The Ambassadors!!!!

2015 rolled around and I was able to train with a custom McMillan training plan. The race fell in the middle of all my stomach issues so I knew breaking 2:00 was unlikely but I felt strong and ready to go. Even though I had felt sick prior to race start, I felt great for the first 5 miles. I was beginning to entertain thoughts of a new PR. Then I went down, hard. As clumsy as I am on a daily basis, I had never fallen while running before. There’s a first time for everything right? Thanks to some helpful runners I was back on my feet quickly and running on. Maybe it was a delayed reaction from the fall or just my stupid stomach but mile 7 started with my stomach cramping in a very bad way. I pretty much walked the entire mile taking deep, slow breathes. Mile 8 saw another first for me- a port a potty stop. Despite all that, I was still mentally on point. I had reassessed that a PR wasn’t going to happen but even with all that drama I knew I could still beat the previous year’s time. But my stomach fought back and miles 11-13 were all survival mode. I was also cursing that there are no porta-potties at mile 12. Cuz who needs one with only 1 mile left?! I crossed the finish line in 2:15:06 and I was damn proud of that. It may not have been the time I was hoping for but for everything that day threw at me, I stayed strong and positive the entire race.

Half smile/ half grimace

raceSLO Ambassadors!!

So while I have no plans of setting a goal for SLO 2016, I do see it as a redemption race. Both years I felt like I had more to give and I would like to see that happen this year. I love the course- hills and all- and I can’t wait to see what I can do this year. 🙂

What about you? Do you have a race that haunts you?

Ever fallen while running?

Happy Friday!!!