Monday, December 15, 2008

There is a first for everything!

I had my first DNS (did not start) on Saturday for the Muir Beach 50K. I was pumped to do this event and felt like I was ready to have a stellar race. Friday Bill and I left early in morning for Oakland, CA where we would make our way to Mill Valley, CA. The race start is very close to the Golden Gate bridge and since I have done Miwok 100K I sort of knew the area. On Friday morning I woke up for boot camp at 5:15 and returned home at 7:30 a.m. and we immediately left for the airport. My stomach was a bit upset on the way to the airport and since I have an iron stomach it made me wonder what was up. To make a long story very short I found myself violently ill in the hotel room. As soon as we got into our room I was on the bed in a ball and a couple of hours later the puking and other bad stuff started. It went on until about 1:30 a.m. when I was finally able to make a full sentence. That sentence was, "I think I might be able to pull myself together by morning". Bill said, "No". Being the stubborn self driven person I ignored him rolled over and slept. At 5:30 a.m. I woke up shook Bill and said, "I feel better". I was able to get down 2 crackers and 1/2 of a banana and thought I was good to go. Bill just looked at me and said, "Okay, but I want you to think about it..you haven't eaten in 24 hours, your dehydrated and by the way...you look emaciated, I don't think it's wise". I got up and thought I was fine but when I went to walk up the stairs I had to stop and take a break. My heart rate raced and my hands were shaky. Hmmm, guess climbing 7,100 feet would not be a good idea. I made the right decision but it was hard. As I peered over to the race area I felt sad as the day was beautiful and I really wanted to be out there enjoying the trails not laying around in a sick room. By early afternoon I was at least getting water down but not easily. Food was not easy and still isn't but I am forcing calories. We spent Saturday afternoon walking slowly around San Francisco so not all was lost.

We came home early yesterday to the deep freeze. I-5 looked like a yard sale when we drove home from the airport. Bill can't be stopped during weather like this. He chained up his 4X4 and feels a sick sense of freedom as he plows around everywhere. He took the tractor and bladed our road so folks could be mobile. It's COLD! Now that I have had a solid 5 days off running I am itching like crazy to pile on miles. Good thing Christmas Camp is around the corner for a 100M week....yippee! Even though we are snowed in it's is an awesome sight we don't see to often. Even our husky wants to come indoors.....he's really not a cold weather guy. :)

6 comments:

  1. Ronda, wise, sad, but wise. Now you just have to get better! And spending time with your sweetie in SF is not time lost!!!

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  2. You made the right choice -- how heartbreaking though!!! I'm really sorry.

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  3. Bandit doesn't want to stay outside and play in the snow!? Sascha can't even comprehend that. It's 3 degrees and snowy in Sisters now and she LOVES it. Maybe she can teach Bandit the husky-ropes.

    Sorry about the pukey, sick fest. Those kind of days suck. DNS's suck, too. But now you'll be raring to go for Camp! And I'm so excited about the comeback of the 100 mile week...YAY!

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  4. DNS - Sorry to hear you were sick but some thing are just out of our control. As you know, I can relate to the emotional roller coaster of not racing because of being sick – Thinking just maybe I feel good enough to race when the reality of it we would suffer greatly, possible fail, and delay the recovery. You made the difficult right decision. Tell the competition they got their Christmas present early this year :-)
    Put this one behind you and focus on your next event and enjoying the holidays with your family.
    TAB

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  5. Hmmm, guess climbing 7,100 feet would not be a good idea
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    hmmmm I was thinking Damn this is going to be one crazy test today, where are my shoes - lol but then my psycho head would have said about 2 miles into it hmmm what is the first cutoff time? and I don't think crawling is going to get me there :-(

    SO Good move on the DNS that was a wise move, my younger brother and his twins got hit with the pukey, sick thing last week.

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  6. Sounds like you made the right choice- this event was not a good one for someone not at full strength. There's always Rodeo Beach on the 20th! I think it has the nicer trails anyway...

    Hope you are feeling better.

    Cynthia

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