Knocked Out At the Starting Line
If you’re into trail running you probably know what a “Fat Ass” race is. If not or you’re just getting into the trail running scene, I suggest you check out this page which explains about the unofficial, laid back fun runs meant to just build the trail running community. Anyway, I was invited and accepted an invitation to run a Fat Ass 50K Race on New Year’s Day in a wooded nature reserve 3 miles from my house.
I took this right before leaving for the New Year’s Day run.
For me this was going to be the kick off the a great year of hard training. The night before I signed up for my two marathons and my ultra – the ones I had to lock in. I already have another race in February and August and more to come I am sure. But with an ultra and two marathons on the calendar I was ready to break out of the gate galloping.
Signs and ribbons kept us going the right directions on several connecting trails.
The nice thing with this laid back Fat Ass was that if I wasn’t doing the whole 50K, I could start a little later in the day after my coffee and raisin english muffins with sunflower butter and a leisure time dressing and checking my gear. For a while I waited around to see if my husband was joining me. He occasionally runs and he’s a natural all around athlete but snow blowing the driveway was more exciting to him than the run in the woods, so I left him and took off with our dog, Samba.
I put one of my fleece zip ups on Samba to keep her warmer.
Beforehand I studied a map of the course. This Fat Ass run had three parts, road and trail. I decided to stick to the trail so my goal was part of the 9 mile loop. The pink and green ribbons they placed on the course made it easy to navigate without the map. I cut off 1.5 miles of the road portion. It was cold, 32 degrees and I layered my running clothes properly, I brought some water (more than I needed actually), Chapstick, my phone (I took the photos with my phone). I felt a little chilly until I ran a 20 minutes and then I was sweating. I took off my hat but never my gloves or anything else.
Most of the time it was cloudy and not windy, I ran and hiked for 2 1/2 hours in the woods, up and down hills. I saw some other runners but there weren’t a lot of us in there, maybe 20-30? The whole course was designed for a 50K so we were pretty spread out. I could have kept going another hour I thought as I was making the decision to keep on going or stop. Mostly what made me stop was that I didn’t want to be late for the after party at my friend’s house. If I stopped at 2 1/2 hours I could have a little over an hour to get home, shower, change, rest and finish the potluck dish.
When I got home, I realized how wet I was. Technical fabrics and running clothes are meant to keep you warm and feeling dry. When I took off my shoes and the double layer of socks I had on, I could wring out water. Same with my hair. In the hot shower I squeezed ice cold water out of my hair onto my back. I’d been wet most of the time I was out there. But I still felt okay except the chills never went away. Even after bundling up in warm clothes, a blanket sweater and a pair of boots. I felt cold inside all day and night.
Well, the sad thing is that with my appetite for challenge and endurance overreached a bit. I was sneezing a night ago and though I didn’t feel a cold coming on, it was an early warning sign I chose to ignore.
So for the past two days instead of starting my training regimen I’ve been in bed and on the couch mostly with cold medicine, tissues and cups of hot tea. A bit miffed too about missing my workouts. Next week I am going to have to be cautious about how long and how hard to go and make sure I am in good health before I push longer.
That looks awesome…and cold!
I’ve run in colder weather but I just wasn’t paying attention to the fact I was already a little run down. In the first photo of me, before I left home, I noticed my eyes were already a little red. Tell tale sign I was coming down with something. I’m recuperating and frustrated because today and yesterday were great days to be out running and hiking.
If I lived closer to you, I’d make you some soup! Rest up.
Thanks! I had no energy to do anything in the kitchen so that would have been awesome! I am going to cook some pozole today.
pozole?
It’s a Mexican pork stew. I make it light, a little more like tortilla soup with shredded roasted pork, blackened poblano peppers, hominy, onions, tomatos, black beans cilantro, tortilla chips and it’s brothy when I make it. You can make it vegetarian too.
cool!
Now I am doing Somer’s cleanse from her Vedged Out blog though. Actually I am cheating a little because I am training so much I need a little extra calories but I lost 3 lbs. in the last couple days.
That’s fantastic!!!!
Not a great way to start the year! Get well soon!
Not a great way to start training!! I get a little anxious that my enthusiasm will dampen if I don’t get out there. I have to keep 50K written on my hand or something for the next few months. I don’t want to let it sneak up on me. But I learned you might have a few bad sessions here and there but what counts is overall consistency.
Easy does it, but do it! Don’t overextend, and listen to your body.
Consistency can mean many things. If you can manage a few 2 – 5 mile slow runs, or any type of workout, to stay loose and maintain conditioning until you feel better go for it, but again don’t overdo it.
Better to lose a couple of long runs over a couple of weeks in order to get healthy than to insist on a training regimen that does not allow your immune system to catch up.
thanks! I thought I’d sweat it out a little on the elliptical today for 20 minutes. Still feeling weak but I usually get past any illnesses quickly. This is the first in two year! I read some of your blog. I am glad to hear from other trail runners. I have so much work to do but I have been looking forward to this goal for so long!