All week, I was looking forward to racing the Fort to Fort 10K. After months of following specific heart rate zones and run paces, my coach gave me free reign to test my fitness and leave it all out on the course to attempt a personal best for the distance. Although I was six years older, I was confident I could beat my previous best pace of 9:27 based upon my training, as long as I didn’t have any G.I. issues.
If you’re in the camp of some info is just too much to share, you should STOP READING and know that I achieved my goal and ran a 9:03 with a bathroom stop and severe G.I. problems. My coach, Jeremy calculates an 8:47 pace excluding the very fast, but unnerving pit stop.
THIS IS YOUR FINAL WARNING. TMI AHEAD.
When I woke up, I was excited and ready to race. To minimize the risk of G.I. issues which often plague me during training runs, I ate a very light breakfast and ensured that I was well hydrated. For me, runner’s trots are unpredictable and seem to be unrelated to what I eat. Sometimes dairy is a problem. Sometimes it isn’t. Sometimes a high heart rate triggers a dash to the bathroom. Other times, I can red line it without any concern. So, before a race, I just try to keep it simple and pray.
When I got to the race, I had a nice surprise. My Trinity teammate, Andrea, had texted me that she would help pace me if I wanted a rabbit to chase. Little did I know then
My Rabbit Andrea
how much her presence would just get me through the race. I told her my plan was to run 9ish early and then start dropping the pace as I warmed up. I wanted to dance right on the line of threshold without blowing up to see how fast I could run.
The first mile was fast (8:46) because of the downhill. Then, we settled into a 9:00 for the 2nd mile. Fueled by adrenaline, I had a false sense of security for the first 2 miles and then my stomach started the familiar gurgle. Andrea reminded me to breathe and not think about it so mile 3 was an 8:45. But, the discomfort and anxiety of having an accident was growing. I was expending a fair amount of mental energy just keeping my gut in check.
As we ran through Fort Stanwix, I noticed the bathroom and made an emergent pit stop that lasted less than a minute. But, it was a very unnerving stop because my runner’s trots were accompanied by bright red blood which I had never experienced before. I did a quick self assessment. No nausea. No vomiting. No abdominal tenderness. And decided to keep going and just keep monitoring it. And in full confession, I didn’t tell Andrea what had just happened because I didn’t want her to worry, be complicit in my decision (or stop me from running.)
In hindsight, I should have stopped and not taken the unnecessary risk. But, I was so focused on the goal.
Typically, I experience one bout of trots and then can move on. But, today wasn’t a normal day. Less than five minutes after we resumed running, I was ready to call it quits because I had another bout of cramping but couldn’t get to a bathroom or tree soon enough.
Still in the dark and not knowing if she should offer encouragement to keep going, Andrea let me call the shots. I certainly didn’t want to walk all the way back to the finish in that condition. It’d take too long. The cramping had resolved and I was already a mess. So once again, I decided to just suck it up and run.
For the second half of the race, we settled back into that 8:45ish pace and my heart rate stabilized and danced right on the line. Andrea pulled me along the course, adjusting the pace ever so slightly to keep me chasing, but in control. With no further cramping until the final hill at the finish, I was able to complete the race in 56:13, about 2.5 minutes faster than my best 10K time.
Although my average race pace was 9:03 because of the pit stop, I was very excited to see my splits. The results confirmed that I’ve made significant fitness gains over the last several months of training. Earlier in the season, my pace for my 5K test was 8:47 and now that pace is sustainable for twice the distance at a lower heart rate.
- Mile 1 – 8:46
- Mile 2 – 8:58
- Mile 3 – 8:45
- Mile 4 – 9:38 (pit stop)
- Mile 5 – 8:49
- Mile 6 – 8:44
After dancing on the line for the rest of the race, I did report to the ER because today’s G.I. issues were certainly atypical and the blood gave me cause for concern. Although I had no symptoms before the race, I apparently had been running with colitis. Hopefully, after a couple of days of rest and antibiotics, it’ll be time to chase the next goal of going sub two-hours for the Erie Canal Half Marathon in May.
Update: The bought of colitis did require me to downshift to let my body recover from what was likely a bacterial infection. Other than a little walking and yoga, I took 3 days completely off, skipped my runs until my PCP released me and limited the rest of my workouts to Zone 2. When the body is fighting its own battles, I didn’t want to layer on any extra stress.
Krazy4Kona 