Day 3,832 —Moon Lens Flare and Part One of the Farmdale Trail Run—

 

Today,

More cold air and there was actual frost on my window. I wore my pants and my gray running hoody. I want to buy at least 5 more hoodies like this one and wear them every day of the week and wash them on Sunday.

It felt rejuvenating to run in the cold. I love the fall and thinking about what this tree is going to look like when the leaves are brown and it is bare, and I will still be here taking pictures. This tree canopy in the Archdiocese and the one in Blackburn park are my favorites.

Day 3,827 —the Farmdale Trail Race—

         The drive down went by quickly, and we went to pick up the bib around 5 p.m. We got the tent set up and then headed out to find some food. I couldn’t find any places that seemed decent, so I figured why not just go to the grocery store? I also didn’t feel like I had enough food for tomorrow, so I figured this was a good plan.

         I ended up buying more stuff than I needed and started looking for a frozen vegan meal that I had before. I bought two of the impossible meals, but I remember getting a bad feeling about the broccoli and beef imitation one, so I bought something else with it and just had a few bites of that broccoli one because it tasted off.

         I stretched and took a bath and a shower and noticed that the water looked yellow. I told myself that water often looked like this in smaller towns, but it was disconcerting looking at that still yellow water.

         I woke up feeling okay, but my robe was damp, so I was confused as to why I would be sweating so much.

 

The start of the race

         It was nice because I was able to fully get ready at the Farmdale, so we got there with plenty of time before the start and I had time to use the bathroom and put on Vaseline. I was a little annoyed that I had already used the bathroom 3 times this morning. I didn’t know why, but I figured maybe I was nervous? I don’t know.

The first lap, 0–10 miles

         It was still dark , and there was a woman who started in the front that was yelling and screaming. She said something like “WE’RE GOING TO DO SOME STUFF TODAY!” I was sleepy and ran ahead of everyone at the first opportunity and had a pleasant and really fun first 10 miles. By the time I made the first aid station around 6 a.m., I was talking to a guy named Dave who was running his first one. He was nice and good to talk to. He was telling me about someone in his family asked him, “Why would you want to do that?” when he told them about the race.

         We finished the first lap a little under 2 hours, and we were in first place. I needed to change shoes because one of my shoes had a huge hole and my right toe was coming out which made me trip. When I made it to the aid station, I saw the guy who I had run the start of the Shawnee Hill with. He remembered me and said “Hi,” he was working at the aid station. He commented on how much I was sweating, but he wasn’t the first to notice. Multiple people had commented on how wet I looked, and I didn’t think too much about it at the time. I knew I was sweating more than usual, but I always sweat a lot, so it is going to be okay.

         I was annoyed that the aid station only had Tailwind as the hydration drink. It is not like I have anything personal against any drink, but it is beyond frustrating that the main hydration that is offered at some races is the kind that makes me feel sick.

I tried to see if my dad could help me fix my shoe, but after searching for some tape that would work, we gave up and I changed into my road shoes. I was still annoyed that the kind of hydration I had been using “The Right Stuff” was supposed to arrive at my house on Thursday but never came. Also, my daughter’s present never came, so there were multiple reasons to be annoyed, but I was still trying to be optimistic. The temperature was in the 60s, and there were plenty of regular stops, and the course was the easiest trail I had ever attempted. 

The second lap, 10–20 miles

         I took a longer break than I had meant to, but I was trying to be smart. I knew I was losing a lot of water and wanted to make a real effort to slow down, so I did. I let people pass me and focused on staying hydrated and drinking water, but I kept sweating profusely. The sweat was in my eyes stingy, and I forgot to put my visor on, so I was trying to focus on running and staying present, but it was hard when I was starting to freak out about what my body was doing.

         I ended up talking to this guy who said, “I am going to have movie quotes for you the whole time.”

         I was running past but when he said that I started a conversation with him and his buddy, “Now I am curious about the movie quotes!”

         I said to the guy, Hunter. I asked him his favorite movies, and it took him a minute, but he told me he liked the Lord of the Rings movies and his buddy kept making other suggestions. They were the kind of friends that I liked because they complimented each other so well. One was a cop, the other an EMT driver, both put me in a better mood talking about movies and later on the likelihood we would give CPR on someone. Part of me thought about what a trio of public servants the three of us made, a teacher, an ambulance driver, and a cop. What problems could we not solve together? They're probably a little more useful than me in the wilderness. 

 

At first it was awkward because when Hunter started to tell me about the Mission Impossible movies, I assumed he was around my age, so I said “Oh, I would have thought you were older.”

         “He gets that a lot.” His buddy immediately said. I didn’t respond, but then he continued, “He has celiac disease and—”

         “—You don’t. I am sorry. I am facing away from you both. I was just thinking about the years those movies came out.”

His buddy mentioned it again, and I felt awful for seemingly being so insensitive. I thought it spoke volumes how quick his buddy was to facilitate the situation for his friend. What a good friend, but I am not the kind of person who is ever going to make someone talk about something they don’t want to. Maybe that’s why people tell me things? 

         Listening to myself talk, I realized how unmotivated I was becoming for this race. I didn’t have a time I wanted to finish in. I wasn’t even thinking too much about a long-term game plan, but I was still confident I was going to finish and hoping this sweating issue would go away soon.

What happened at the aid station

         My dad (the crew) was commenting on my shirts being so wet, he was ringing them out and hanging them up between laps

 The third lap, 20–30 miles

         At least I wasn’t tripping now and when I started going I felt okay, but I knew I wasn’t getting any better, just maintaining. I hadn’t peed the entire run so far, and the only food I had was some chips.

         I did have a decent amount of coconut water during each aid station stop, but it wasn’t enough, I still wasn’t feeling better. I wasn’t throwing up, but I was starting to feel the need to cough and dry heave. Still, I had plenty of energy and my legs and body felt fine. It was just my stomach and dehydration issues bothering me, but I wasn’t even sore yet, and my heart rate was between 90-120.

         I remember doing the marathon update and feeling that I would be okay and that I had plenty of time to recover. I was still moving relatively fast and hadn’t completely shut down and started walking, but I was getting close. I suddenly had to use the bathroom, which was frustrating because there was not a lot in my stomach, but I ended up stopping at the end of this loop and the next two.

The fourth lap, 30–40 miles

         I couldn’t believe how late it was and how little I had done. I was starting to get frustrated with my body because I thought I was putting in the work by slowing down and being patient, but I still wasn’t getting hydrated and just continued to sweat. I ran into a guy at the aid station who was more miserable than me, but he probably finished. He was telling me he didn’t train hills like this and as much as I wanted to sympathize I responded with. There are only two real hills on this trail, but I guess when you have such a short loop you see those two hills 10 times, so maybe a little more significant than they might be in a different course.

         Still, this wasn’t over yet, but I was just getting to the point where I was so sad and upset that my body was failing me, and I was getting frustrated to continue to look for solutions.

When I moved past the aid station, I saw a guy literally lying in the path with cramps. He had been screaming and now he was waiting for a ride or to try again, but he was struggling. I stepped over him and continued after saying something like, “Yeah, cramps can be so painful sometimes.”

I walked a huge chunk of this lap, but once I got to the end, I ran into this guy with two kids my age, and we started talking about being a parent and running and how difficult it was. Before I knew it, I was distracted and moving faster again, feeling better for the first time. Perhaps I would be okay after all?