For Women Only… 14 miles -Silvia September 2, 2008

Yup, I did it.  I ran 14 miles.  More than half the total distance of 26.2.

I started earlyish.  Around 9am.  Just me and my dog and my Garmin 405 (I don’t leave home without it).  I left the Ipod at home.  I didn’t feel like having it around my head, getting all sweaty and getting caught in the wires, and having the wires get yanked out the bottom and then it stops and I have to plug it back in.  I couldn’t be bothered today.  I was focused on finishing.  I had a goal of doing it in 10 minute miles.  BUT, I really didn’t care.

I didn’t have a running belt with water bottles (the next thing on my wish list – hey!  I thought all you needed was a pair of sneakers and shorts, nope, this running thing is getting mighty expensive)  so I planned my route around the known fountains. At mile 4, I ran right into the “Nike Race for Human Race.”  There were even little cups of water at a stand.  I was tempted to take a cup.  I mean I was racing, I love humans.  But,   I didn’t.   I went to the water fountain instead, took a gulp, gave water to my dog and moved on.

There was a male runner ahead of me at about mile 5 and we were waiting at the light.  (I love lights because you HAVE to stop and wait for traffic….yay!)  We started out when the light turned green and he was ahead of me-of course.  That’s not unusual.  What was unusual was that he kept looking back.  He looked as if to see whether I was catching up.  Ya OK.  Do I look like I am competing guy?  For about a minute I matched his steps with mine, and I noticed that when I did that I got even further behind him.  His stride was longer and I actually had to take more steps to keep up with him.  So in reality I am actually a better runner.  Ha, well I let myself think that anyway.  Soon, he was just a speck in the distance.

At around mile 10 I encountered a problem. Before that, I stopped 2 more times, once to get water and once to let my dog poop.  I don’t count the times I wait blissfully at the lights – those are just bonus stops.  All of a sudden, I had an incredible, I mean incredible urge to use the bathroom.  I thought I was going to pee my pants.  Seriously.  I knew where there was another restroom and I hoped to hold until there.  All of a sudden, I guess I wasn’t really paying attention and lost my bearings, and I ended up at the Nature Center, which was closed.  Now, where was I going to go?   I eventually had to run this way but I was going to wait until I was relieved.  So, I am stuck in no mans land and I had no choice but to run  to the park with the restrooms.  I felt like a ball was pressing down on my bladder.  I didn’t want to walk because of my time.  (Don’t ask me why I cared, I don’t know why.)  So, every step was agony, running, holding, running, holding, running, holding.  If you have ever done that, you know that how obsessed your mind becomes about just wanting to let it all go, and release that pent up fluid and be freeeeeeeee.  I was so tempted.  I wish I was a guy who could just whip it out behind a tree and be done with it.  I do not like crouching in the woods, especially since they are public.  And with my luck I would end up with poison ivy or something equally as undesirable. I finally reach my destination.

I didn’t even tie my dog up. No time.  I took him right in there with me.   I WAS DESPERATE!!!  I sat down.  Three drops came out.  NO KIDDING.  What the @%#&?  All that agony for three drops.  I wash up and the pressure was still there.

I had 2 miles left.  I tookmy dog to his favorite swimming hole and let him swim for a couple of minutes.  I had 1 mile left.  (As you can see I take a lot of breaks- my goal is to finish a  marathon, I didn’t say I wasn’t going to stop in between).  As I ran home, I was now thinking that I might  have cancer or something.  The pressure on my bladder was still intense   I was so thirsty ( I need a running belt).  My mind had no distractions but to focus on the fact that I had to go pee but I didn’t have to go pee.  I played tricks with myself and just said let it go.  But nothing happened.  Now I was convinced something’s wrong with me.  Running  jarred something loose in my body and now I was dying. Great.  I wouldn’t  even be able to finish this damn marathon before I croaked. Finally, the 14 miles showed up on my Garmin, and I thankfully stop the timer and walk the rest of the 3/4 of a mile home.

I got home.  I ran to the privacy of my commode. Perhaps it was just the anxiety of being in a public restroom.  You know what I am talking about don’t you?  It’s just not as comfortable.   everything just work sbetter in your own bathroom. And finally, in the comfort of home, I find the cause of my pain.  Let’s just say my next move was to the medicine cabinet for some Midol.

“Vacation” at Ace Adventure Resort in West Virginia August 9, 2008

This is Rams Head Cliff as seen from the mountain bike trail across the gorge.

My husband thought it would be fun to do an outdoor vacation this year. We packed up the car and drove about 6 leisurely miles south to Oak Hill, West Virginia for a fun-filled week of whitewater rafting on the Gauley and New Rivers, mountain biking, rockclimbing and rapelling, and horse back riding. Sounds like a blast, eh?

Well, for me, who has done none of these things before, it was one stomach in my throat activity after another. I was sacred to the point of tears every single day. I have to admit, the first day of rafting down the Lower New was exhilarating after the initial fear was over. I even jumped off the 25′ “Jumping Rock.” It was so scary, but I was wearing a PFD and after watching 20 other people do it, I had to. I jumped and plunged into the warm 75 degree water. It was thrilling to challenge my fear of heights. At the end of the day I thought this rafting business is not so bad.

http://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/River_detail_id_2378#rapid141

The second day was a different story. We went on the Upper Gauley in single man “duckies.” Duckies are like inflatable kayaks or rafts. I was terrified. The Upper Gauley was supposed to be the most difficult whitewater in the area. After just one day on the gentle Lower New River in a big 14′ boat with a guide on board I was not ready for such a difficult challenge. When we got in our duckies I thought, what the hell was I thinking. The water was 60 degrees, freezing compared to the New River. We rolled out of our duckies into the cold river to practice getting back in because “if you can’t do it in calm water how will you do it in the rapids.” (There was a comforting thought.) The guides were supportive, funny and helpful. Nonetheless, I “swam” (the rafting word for falling out of your raft) many times and I every time I got more and more scared. I would have been so happy just to leave my boat ashore and hike my way out. Unfortunately, once you start there is no turning back. When I fell into the Class V Iron Ring rapid, it felt like I was under for about 3 minutes, but the guides assure me it was only for a few seconds. I remember finally coming out of the water and one guy with bulging muscles was just hanging onto my PFD and I was so grateful that he had me. I grabbed his rope and then he said let go and grab the other guides rope and he will push me in the Flume (that was a chute of water, like a water slide made of rocks and emptying into churning whitewater, that take you away from the dangerous part of the rapid-we all jumped into that for practice as well). I didn’t want to let go of anything! But I did because they were yelling at me, and grabbed the other rope. The guide pulled me to the flume and away I went through the chute and saw my husband once i came up from under that water. He had my duckie and paddle which already floated down the rapid. From then on I was terrified and just got progressively worse. Fear is not something that helps you paddle through whitewater. Finally, the last rapid was more my speed – I forget what it was called, but it was actually fun, so I am sure it was a Class 1 or something. When we reached terra firma, I was relieved, especially since on the bus ride back, the guides told us someone actually died in the Iron Ring rapid the previous year.

The next day, we did Mountain Biking. I mistakenly thought it would be along a gravel path, with a few rolling hills. Oops, I forgot that my husband planned this vacation. We went up big hills, down steep hills filled with rocks and roots. We pedaled through mud and along paths that were about 3 feet wide with a huge gorge on one side. To make matters worse there was a huge thunderstorm that just stopped right before the ride. This was not the leisurely ride through abandoned towns that my husband promised me. Nonetheless, I biked that 19 miles through rocky terrain and although I was basically biking alone because my husband and the guide were so far ahead of me, after each mile, I gained more confidence in myself and my bike with its big fat tires.

The next day in hell consisted of rappelling off a 180 foot cliff called Ram’s Head. I remember looking up at it from the New River while rafting and also across at it when we were mountain biking. Rappelling off the cliff was so terrifying that I was in tears. Our guide, Josh, was so patient and encouraging and helped me go over the edge inch by inch. I am so scared of heights, that even going over a high bridge gives me the heebie jeebies in my legs. I can’t believe that I hung over the edge and went down, not once but I had to do it twice so I could get a picture of myself going down. After we went mountain climbing and my husband was a downright spider man scrambling up the cliffs. I was a slug and only made it part way, but I was Ok with that.

The last day was supposed to be relaxing. A nice horse back ride. I have never been on a horse and I had to stand on a picnic table to get on it becuase George was so big. We went over the rolling mountainous terrain and I marveled at how close the horses got to the edge of the gorge and yet they didn’t slip off the trail (Thank GOD!). They navigated over rock flides and huge logs over the road. By the middle of the 13 mile ride, I was more relaxed and actually enjoyed myself. The horses just walked, so my husband was not thrilled with the ride, but this day was about me!

This blog though was about running not my terrifying vacation. The two are analogous though. I did tings this week, which totally stretched me beyond my limits and yet I did them with a lot of people’s support and patience. All the guides at Ace were wonderful! I know i can run this marathin with the support of my friends and family who want to see me succeed at something else that seems impossible right now.

Running at Ace was awful. I ran 2 3 mile runs and one 5 mile run during this week. I was grateful for my Garmin 405, which told me that the first hill I had to climb was 0.6 miles long and when I inputted the data the elevation I ran ( if you want to call it that) was about 200 plus feet. By the time I reached the top I was exhausted. I ran it 3 times and each time my time was slower! Only the top was flat and during my five mile run (which I ran after the 19 mile mountain bike ride) I took advantage of it and zigzagged around campsites so I can get rid of 1.5 miles on flat terrain. After the mountain camp sites, I ran past the stables, and around the property going up and down and up and down and up and down (there is no flat in West Virginia). I loved looking at my Garmin to see how many miles I had left; I did not like seeing how slow I was going. My pace ranged from 9:30 to 18 minute miles. No Kidding! After each run I was exhausted, and although my average pace was about 11 minutes, I finished. And this week, just finishing was good enough for me.