Recovery and thoughts: Rockin K trail marathon

A blogger i follow and love always does a recap of the good, the bad, and the ugly a few days after her big races. I love it because she really picks apart everything and I would like to do that here more for me for future reference.  I did my race recap here, but I need to get a few other details down on paper, plus I need somewhere to put my beautiful pictures that Mile 90 and John took pre-race, during the race, and post race!

John took this right before the start.  She was wired up and ready to go.  Okay, let's start with the good because it was mostly that, Good.

Good:  Gear.  Everything was on point.  I layered in the morning with my favorite light weight Brooks jacket, a tech T from target, my Brooks Juno bra, and my gypsy runner shorts.  I wore my Dirty Girl gaiters over my Hoka Stinsons with some Balega socks.  I did not wear any compression socks this time, and I didn't feel like I needed them other than the fact that i got scratched pretty bad a couple of times on my legs.  The gaiters were AMAZING at keeping dirt, sand, and rocks out of my shoes and I am going to buy some more today because I am so impressed!  My gypsy runner shorts did not chafe and came in handy with those big ass pockets because my pack was full of Tailwind baggies and Honey Stinger Waffles so no more room for storage.  I had my iPhone and case shoved in one pocket and I had Stella's collapsible bowl in the other.  Then those pockets also became trash storage as I emptied out baggies with TailWind into my bottles.  I shed my jacket probably a mile in but at the start and waiting around, it was needed.  The only chaffing I had was around my shoulders where my pack sits and I had lube on, so not sure what that happened.  I also had a little bit on my back from my bra, but I also had lube there but maybe not in the exact spot since I can't see my back to put it on correctly.  I used deodorant for under my bra in the front and it worked perfectly.  I think I need to buy something small to either put in a drop bag or carry in my pack for reapplying because I was totally fine for quite a while.  

Good:  I felt like my Stinsons were perfect for this trail.  They gave me enough grip on the ups and downs and helped me navigate the sand and rocks.  I felt like they had enough cushion to help me deal with running on the thatch that was at the tops of the ruts.  I have no blisters that I can see yet on my feet and we did multiple water crossings.  I feel like my shoes and socks dried out very quickly and that I am thankful for.  I do have a toe nail that looks like I might loose it and I have never had that happen in all of my years of running, but I am not sure if that is the shoe or the terrain that did that.  I still at some point would like to try maybe the Saucony Peregrines or the Hoka Speed goats or the Topo UltraVenture shoes.  

Mostly Good:  Nutrition.  I am still doing my 200 calories of TailWind per hour in one of my 17 oz bottles.  Yes, since I am slow that means lots of powder in Ziplocs in my pack.  I found that ripping a hole in the bottom edge of the baggy helped me fill my bottles the easiest.  I had no problem getting through those bottles till the last bottle, and then it was a little tough.  We had unmanned aid at mile 7ish and then full aid and aid station workers at mile 13ish and 15ish and then that same unmanned aid again around mile 18ish.  I say ish because I got a little lost so my watch did not match up with where things were suppose to be.  I also carried some Honey Stinger waffles that Stella and I did plan to munch on for the the final hour instead of drinking TailWind.  I forgot though and left an open waffle in my shorts pocket, so that when we went through the big water crossing, it got drowned in my pocket.  No worries, Stella got the rest of it and I had more, just wasn't feeling like eating anymore.

Good/Bad: I did feel very full of water the entire race and a few times felt too full and sloshy and felt like burping.  I had consulted with the TailWind people prior to this training cycle to make sure I was doing this whole fueling thing right with their product.  They assured me I was and in fact recommended even more water be mixed in with the 200 calories of powder, but these bottles (17 oz) fit my pack so it is what it is.  I did have to pee several times on course, but that could have been due to nervousness about getting lost.  I noticed when it got hot that I sweated pretty salty.  I was under the assumption that everything i needed in the way of electrolytes and fuel was in the TailWind so that should have covered me. I didn't bonk, so I think everything worked,cbut I did have some issues post race that I will talk about in the bad.  I also had two big tortilla wraps with nutella smeared in them that I shared with Stella.  I didn't get any mid race coke and I wished that I had.

Bad:   My teeth.  I have had this happen before when using TailWind.  Afterwards at the post race meal, I could not chew on one side as my teeth were so sensitive.  This happened at a winter race and i just assumed it was due to the cold and or me clinching my jaws.  This time there was no jaw clinching and it was quite a bit warmer.  I also tried to really drink quickly and not hold it in my mouth for long so who knows.  I had bought some sensitive toothpaste the last time this happened so I was able to get back to chewing a ton quicker this time thanks to some brushing!

Bad:  This again is just the nature of the trail, but long time between aid stations is kind of scary!  We hit our last unmanned aid station at mile 20ish and then had 7-8 more miles to cover in direct sun and heat and there is NO cover.  I use just two 17 oz bottles for Stella and I and maybe we need to get a bladder for just plain water just in case.  There were several water crossings for her to drink from, so I wasn't as worried about her, but I was down to my last bottle of water period and really had to conserve it just in case we needed it.  I don't know where they would have put another aid station on the course and it really is up to me to have enough stuff on me to take care of both us anyway, but it was kind of scary for a little bit.  

Bad:  Again this is just the nature of the beast, but I really can not do trail races that have ruts.  This is the second trial race that had tons of sections of ruts and my feet just do NOT fit down in them. I am not long enough in the leg department to straddle the ruts and running on the topsides of the ruts really wasn't fun due to the thatch and shrubbery that usually was there.  Don't get me wrong, I am SO glad I ran this race, but probably won't be able to again due the unnatural way I had to force myself to run or the struggle I had running on top of those ruts.  You can really see how my feet track out in these pictures of me going to the finish line.

And now the only UGLY really:  Post race.  As soon as I stopped running, I felt HORRIBLE.  I immediately got a Mountain Dew full strength to try and ward off the headache that i felt coming and ate a burger.  I am still not sure why I got such a horrible headache. I have had this happen once before post race, but it was a long time ago (also a trail race, also had some heat and was exposed).  I felt like my hydration was spot on. I was taking in one 17 oz bottle of water plus TW every hour.  I felt full and I was peeing regularly, so I know I was well hydrated.  The sun and heat did come out full force for maybe an hour our so, but then the clouds came back.  I do feel like the nausea and puking was more from the headache and the pressure, because once I had one good round, I felt better.  I just don't want this to happen during my 50 miler.  I am also concerned about taking liquid fuel.  When it is warm and I need hydration, it seems to work well as my body is using that fluid, but when it is cold and I am not needing as much liquid, drinking that much water is kind of pain. Plus, even though I am using the "naked" version, it is still sweet enough that I get sick of it after a while. I really had to choke down that 7th bottle and then post that, I couldn't do anymore.  I would still need to consume for my 50 miler at least 4 more bottles to stay on my 200 calories per hour (probably 10-12 bottles total, EEEK).  I also get this way with the sweetness of waffles as that is what I used for the Chicago marathon, so I need to figure out something else and try it this summer.  I went to TW to try and not overload my stomach.  The idea of putting a little bit at a time in my stomach seemed so much better than eating all of my calories at once and then my tummy not being happy.  I may try cutting up my waffles into four pieces and then slowly eating those throughout the hour, so I get a little bit at a time.  I would love to experiment with real foods too but how does one take that many uncrustables or fig bars whatever when they are slow like me? I would have needed at least 7 in my pack, so how does that work if that is what i went with? I do have a lot of time this summer to play around with this and again, I am not sure if the TW consumption gave me a headache (like the idea of too much water) or what.  It is possible that lack of caffeine may have done something as I usually get a sip of coke or Mt Dew during a race and this time I got none.  

And one last good, aren't these photographs amazing????  I just LOVE Mile 90 and all that they do at the races I run.  I could frame all of these!  They really capture the beauty of this course and the difficulty of it as well.

I just can't even say how much I love these!  My iphone photos did it NO justice!

my phone photo, pathetic isn't it!

The last last good is that I do feel like this training cycle was spot on.  I arrived at the start injury free, which I attribute to regular Cross Fit and massage.  I didn't do much speed work per se this time around and I think that and the 4 minute run, 1 minute walk cycles helped.  I am past the day for PRs in time, but I can go for PRs in distance and so I shall.  I liked the 12 week cycle as I never really felt totally beat up and mentally out of it.  I think that is also noticeable in the fact that i never got really sick and any little illnesses that crept up were quickly taken care of by my immune system.  I am looking forward to some down time before I start my 50 mile training in July.  I will still run and try and get on trails as much as possible so that Stella and I keep a nice base going.  On to the next race!!!  Thanks for reading my Good, bad, and a little bit of ugly recap!