Hitting the Brakes due to that Wall.

Well, not every race can go as planned. And unfortunately, yesterday's Baker Lake 50K was a day for personal disappointment. I had been feeling pretty worn down and began getting pretty bad autoimmune allergic reactions the week prior to this race. I didn't want to face the fact that my Lupus was beginning to flare and pushed through the week, training and tapering as usual before a big race. The last time I had a flare was in the spring at the beginning of my race season. My body completely shut down and after visiting my doctor, adrenal fatigue and rashes were the culprit. I didn't pay good enough attention this time around and just took a couple extra days to rest and get ready for Baker Lake -thinking I was just fighting a cold or virus. But dang it, cheers to my 2nd EVER “terrible race” in the books (my first, being the Lake Padden Trail 1/2 and first half marathon back in 2013). Now, I'm embracing it, sharing it, learning from it and mooooooving the heck along!

The race started off really great, no pains, no issues and I held strong at 3rd place female until the turnaround and 1/2 way point at mile 15.5. Unfortunately, my stomach and inner legs (abductors/psoas/gracilis muscles 😞 ) unexpectedly failed to continue working, seizing up in tight knots deep in my abdomen on both sides. I have never had pain like this nor this kind of issue before so I was really concerned and soon after my race turned into a painful nightmare after about mile 8 due to this happening. Muscle failure is NO JOKE!

Gratefully, I pushed through and was able to finish with a time of 5:18 and as 7th place female but maaannnnnn, it sure was a struggle, especially having to stop every few miles to not only pull off the trail for tummy issues but also to attempt to stretch the whole hip flexor/abdominal regions. 😩 Pretty bummed about it all but I was VERY THANKFUL God got me through it, super grateful for the volunteers, race crew, good buddies and the fact that soon after I was home and kicking back to recover. 🍀 I haven’t felt that terrible in YEARS!!

A big thanks to my buddy, Sabrina, for for driving and racing with me this fine morning and CoNgRaTuLaTioNs to all the other friends/runners out there battling the torrential rains and brisk temperatures today! A HUGE “shout out” and ThAnK YoU to Skagit Runners for putting on such a lovely race year after year!! 👣 It’s always so awesome to see so many friends out there! I didn’t get a lot of pictures since I was feeling so crap-tastic! 💩 But it is what it is... 😊 Until next time!