Run for the Toad 50K - October 4th, 2008

First 50K trail race...
7 hour and 11 minutes...
Tears almost shed in the 3rd leg of the race...
Accomplishing my 2nd dream running goal injury-free...

PRICELESS!!!!!

I did it! I am so proud!

I recall my first running clinic at the Pickering Running Room; it was a 10K Clinic. On the first day the instructor asked his group of eager students to think of one short-term, long-term, and dream running goal. The dream goal was to be something very challenging--something we could not fathom accomplishing at that point in time, but was attainable. My dream goal was to run a full marathon. I never thought I would ever strive for a distance longer than 21K, but I was confident I could attain it because other's had paved that road of possibility. On December 10th, 2006, I achieved my dream goal running the Honolulu Marathon in Oahu. In January of 2007, I set my sights on two other dream goals that had crossed my mind a few times over the last three years: a distance beyond a full-marathon (preferably off-road) and Walt Disney World's Goofy Challenge. I was fortunate enough to sign up early enough for each before registration was closed. With one of the goals finally achieved, I can now look forward to maintaining my base training for Goofy in January 2009.

It feels surreal to be thinking about Goofy so quickly after The Toad. It was during the 3rd leg I recall saying out loud that I never wanted to see my running shoes again. I was trying to maintain my sense of humour on the route; I spoke to anyone, cracking jokes and sharing motivational quips. A few runners within my proximity would chuckle in agreement with my idea of banning our running shoes from sight after the race. We all knew we would never have the balls to do such a terrible thing; it was just the hypoglycemia talking.

The first two legs of the race felt great. I was conservative with my pacing because I was new to this distance. I could not tell if the other runners sprinting by were doing the 25K or were competitive athletes with their own goals to beat doing the 50K. Only 100 of the 1100 people started the race with the objective of finishing the 50K. Eleven of those never finished the race. I was so proud that I was not one of them. The thought of quitting, I admit, entered my mind only in the context that it was possible, but not in the context of being something I would ever do. I ran the first 12.5K leg with an incredible woman from Hamilton who suffered from Multiple Sclerosis. We shared our experiences of running and its beneficial effect on each of our autoimmune diseases. I was so distracted by her inspirational stories that the first leg seemed to fly by. The third leg was the most challenging because I was not taking in as much fuel as I should have been. I risked gastrointestinal issues by agreeing to drink some flat Coke and ingesting two spoonfuls of Hammer Gel at the third aid station (products I had never ingested during training). I felt re-energized enough once my body greedily and desperately soaked up the carbohydrates, and I knew I had to keep downing Coke and gels at each aid station to pull me through. Gummies, pretzels, Gatorade of any colour...I was stomaching what I could...trusting that my body would be fuelled enough without getting gastrointestinal distress. I was lucky; I tend to have a stomach of lead and experienced no discomfort. My only suffering came each time I planted my foot on the ground. I swore I would see blood when I removed my shoes due to the pounding, but that didn't happen. I did feel a toenail bend backward when I kicked a tree root that ran across my path, so I anticipate it falling off in a few weeks, but for now, it's look quite pretty covered in pink nail polish from my pre-race pedicure.

Recovery has consisted of mentally resting and hydrating. I did some slow cycling on my recumbent bicycle on Sunday while playing a strategy game on the Playstation 3. It was relaxing allowing myself that time to do nothing, when normally I would be reading or gardening. I'm only sore at the hips today; my colleagues are ribbing me with implications as to the cause for my waddling gait. My lower back feels great (I injected Enbrel the night before the race), and I have not experienced any symptoms indicating an impending flare. I recognize that 50K was very strenuous on my body. I will be carefully considering distances beyond a half marathon once Goofy is over; I think my body needs a rest from intense training for a few months. In the interim, I'll just bask in this warm glow.