I am a firm believer in the words “There is no try, only do,
or do not”. Thanks Yoda. I am also a firm believer in this nugget of
wisdom from the gentleman scholar Ron White, “You can’t fix stupid”. Right now I
feel both apply very well to me. Shortly
after finishing (barely) the Psycho Wyco 20 miler I signed up for the North ShoreTrail Run Half Marathon. The intent was to really push the “no try only do”
quote but as I found out, I was really testing the “stupid” quote the whole
time and only working my way up to Yoda.
For those unaware, Kansas in the summer is insane at best.
We may have 80 degree highs or 80 degree lows. I was very fortunate to have
gorgeous weather for my first trail race. The second one, not so much. I knew it could be iffy signing up for a race
in Sept., so I signed up for 2 anyways (more on the other later). Come race
day, I realized I should have known better. Highs around 100, 9 AM start, it
was time to SWEAT.
So before we get to the flame kissed Sasquatch, let’s talk
about the course and other pertinent stuff. I got some decent trail running in
before the race. However, this trail was a wee bit different. Very rocky
compared to what I had been running. Not devastating, just different footing.
Next, it was a bit more flat, except the stairs of impending doom. Those were
less than pleasant and thankfully few. Course itself was nice. It ended up
being a 2 loop out and back due to some park snafus which may have been a
blessing in disguise as people were dropping due to the heat. The race was put
on by the local Trail Nerds, and Ben’s races are top notch. The volunteers did
a fantastic job tending to the numerous “casualties” from the heat and rocks. I
know one person got ambulanced off and I also know runners, a ranger and
volunteers did an excellent job helping that person. A gentleman that was in
front of me as I came to the finish had a particularly nasty gash on his chin
from falling on one of the rocky sections. We helped him up to the line. The day took its
toll.
I was no exception. I started off strong and made it through
the first loop strong. There, however, things started to deteriorate. It was
@#$%^&* hot out. Before I said I signed up for a second race. One week
after this one I signed up to run a marathon on the same trail. Remember that
fixing stupid line? That’s me. But it sounded like fun. So as I went through
the gate and back down for the second loop I started thinking should I slow down
and save a little something-something for next weekend. I tried to run-walk-run
for a while and it just kept getting hotter. Then I slowed down even further. I
pretty much walked the last mile and half and that alone was a bear. And not a Winnie
the Pooh bear, but a bear-shark from syfy wreaking havoc all over. Finally I
got to the finish line pretty much crawling across. I was done. I got my medal,
got a drink, and promptly crumpled like a wet towel dropped to the floor.
Generally this is where the race recap would end, but let’s
go a bit further, overtime recap if you will. I sat in the shade and watched
the walking wounded stagger in for a few minutes. I was legitimately scared for
a few minutes. I hadn’t felt this bad for a long long time. And seeing others miserable
wasn’t helping. I still had to heft my deflated self up off the shady grass and
walk what seemed like 20 miles (.25) back to my car. Got there, poured myself
in, and then felt REALLY bad. At Wyco I had drank too much. Not enough
electrolytes to balance it out and gotten to feeling miserable. Here, I drank
too little and surprise surprise, was feeling miserable. On the way home I had
to stop at convenience store to grab some cold water and a Gatorade cause I was
shaking so hard. Suffice it to say, I learned another hard lesson. Hopefully
next week would be better.
