mist & ice

Last weekend, I was in Alabama for my 3rd running of the Mountain Mist 50k.  The previous 2 times I had serious issues  -- got lost the 1st time & was still recovering from foot surgery in the other.  This year I was only worried about the unpredictable abdominal pain.  I had a relapse with worse than usual pain the week after I ran the LLTH solo "races", but I'm happy to report I did not encounter any problems during my race.

The course included a hand climb up a "cliff" and thru these caves/tunnels:



The most difficult part of the race, though, was the drive down Interstate 65:  I was on the brink of not going at all because during the week the forecast called for mid-twenties & I didn't want to deal with ice on the rocky trail there again.  Not until Thursday night did they change the forecast to the low 30's for race morning and it would be rain, not snow or freezing rain in Huntsville on Friday.  The course would be muddy again, but I've heard it's almost always muddy.  The real problem with the drive was handling the ice storm leaving Louisville (& then all thru Kentucky).  I left Friday morning.  If it's raining when it's 25 degrees, that's a bad sign!  Wrecks, road blocks, tow trucks & emergency vehicles everywhere . . . it took 2 1/2 hours longer for an already long drive.  It was nerve racking on me mentally & tough on my gut, but somehow I survived with no ill effects.




I am now satisfied with my performance at this venue as I believe, finally, the finish time closely reflected the condition I felt like going into the race.  I'm hoping my gut will continue to let me run.  Each night & each day the pain is a little different, so I can't take anything for granted.  Oh yes, I did have my 2 Drs. appts since my last blog entry:  The PT Dr. gave me some steroid shots around my xiphoid & some medications to help me sleep.  The shots were very painful & the short term benefit I received from them was not worth it -- I do not plan to attempt that again.  The medications that were to help me sleep made me feel so drugged & dizzy that I've discontinued them, at least for now.  The gastro Dr. performed another EGD (upper endoscopy) and he was surprised to find I still had some evidence of reflux, despite all the stomach meds I'm taking!  He did not think this was the source of my pain though.  So right now, I'm awaiting results of the biopsies and then I'll proceed (wander) from there.

Next up is Louisville's Lovin' The Hills 50k on Saturday.  I did not run last year as I was taking time off from running during a 3 month period to see if the abdominal pain got better (it got worse).  Cynthia (RD) and I will start flagging parts of the course & marking downed trees for removal tomorrow.  I do not plan on any running this week in my taper.  And that includes when marking the trails -- I'll just hike them.