It’s been almost three weeks since my double race weekend. I know a lot of my running friends do races on Saturday and Sunday on a regular basis, but I never have… until now.
Running at 9000 feet is never easy anyway. Add obstacles and ice water and mud and electric shock and you have Tough Mudder. My goal was to finish and keep something in the tank for my race the next day. There were some tough climbs and some really tough climbs. Going trough mud and over logs and up walls and ladders really worked my arms. I have very little in the way of upper body strength and I did not spend any time in the gym getting ready for the obstacles that I would face. I had to skip a couple of the later obstacles that required all arms and I also skipped the 20 foot jump into the 12 foot mud bath, since I’m not a strong swimmer. There were a couple of ladder wall climbs where I could use my legs to help my arms. The Arctic Enema and the Electro Shock Therapy obstacles were the biggest psychologically. Jumping into a giant ice bath and duking under water literally takes your breath away. Just when I thought I had done all I could, I’m faced with the 50 foot curtain of electric wires to run through. Just before running through, they spray you with ice cold water. Not all of the wires are the same voltage. The first shock was a twinge on my arm. The second made me dodge slightly left. The third threw me to the ground like a rag doll, slamming my face into the mud. When I stood up I couldn’t see, but I forced myself to stagger forward to the finish. I soon discovered that my contacts were somehow shriveled up by the 10,000 volts of electric current I had been zapped with.
I woke up early Sunday morning more sore than I could have imagined. We made the drive part way down the hill to Fresh Pond. I had signed up for the 20 mile run. I wanted to know if I was recovered enough from my injuries from the year before (Plantar Fasciitis, Achilles) and if I had worked my way back to ultra strength after taking time off to heal. My goal was to run the 20 mile course in 5-ish hours and then sign up for a 50 miler the end of September.
6 hours later I made my way across the finish line, pleased I had finished, but disappointed in my time and how tired my legs were.
I love the trails around Jenkinson Lake and the views that you get there, but the trail is tough and I now had to re-evaluate if i could be ready for a 50 miler in 6 weeks.
The Achilles was very sore and my legs were just dead. After taking an entire week off, I came to the disappointing decision to not sign up for the Sac River Trail Run 50 in Redding. I realized that I just wasn’t going to get enough miles in before then.
Unfortunately, I have not felt like running much since then. I have run a couple of 2-3 mile runs and a 7 mile run.
Truth be told, I don’t really feel like a runner right now. I’m starting to not look like one either. It seems my weight comes back at the same rate my motivation disappears. I hope I get the desire back soon… I feel like I’m losing my religion.
