- August 23rd, 2014
- Canby, Oregon
- Canby Dahlia Run
- Sharon: 2:46:41
- Tim: 2:26:08
5 down only 47 to go.
I realize that my blogs have not made running sound like a lot of fun. I have written about heat exhaustion, dust, cramping, nausea, dizziness, chafing, sore muscles, sore feet, sore knees, and blisters. Who wouldn’t think, “where do I sign up – I need to get me some of that.” So I want to make it clear that despite all of my complaining (I like to think of it as just reporting the facts) I’m loving this. It’s not like every week is just another sufferfest with different scenery. I find a lot of joy in running, even with the challenges of my heavier body. Even though I wish I wasn’t living in Elkton, I must admit that Oregon is a beautiful state. I do most of my training runs on a dead end road right outside our door. It is common to see hawks, wild turkey, and deer. I get the nature experience of a trail run but don’t have to worry that roots and rocks are competing to see which can trip me first.
These trips are educational as well as fun. Before last week I did not know that Canby was the Dahlia capital of the world. I didn’t even know what a dahlia looked like. I was also a bit iffy on the spelling. We are also getting a good lesson in Oregon geography.
Canby was a pretty run. Unfortunately, I was not able to enjoy it as much as I should have. Even though I seem to be recovering quicker after each successive race I showed up on the start line at Canby feeling tired and a bit stale. Tim wasn’t feeling his usual enthusiasm either. I felt so beat going into the race that I decided to only run once this week instead of my usual twice. You know you’re in trouble when you feel like you have bonked before even starting a race. For non-runners reading this, that last sentence was not a case of – Whoa, you did what before the race, too much information. Bonking, also known as hitting the wall, is technically that moment when your muscles and liver are depleted of glycogen. Not technically, it’s that moment in a run where it feels like aliens suddenly sucked every last drop of energy out of your body and replaced it with lead. It happens that fast. Do not let this happen to you. If you are going to be running for more then 2 hours you need calories in the form of quick digesting carbs. Experiment, so you know what works best for you.
The only brand and flavor of gel that doesn’t make me puke
I had a nice surprise this race. Tim ran with me all the way past the dahlia fie