After my run on Wednesday, I decided to drop down from the half marathon to the 10k. For some reason I was really bummed about this. That is the incorrect emotion. The correct emotion should be pride = pride that I a.) listened to my body; and b.) still decided to participate rather than scrap it altogether. My goal for this particular race was to finish it in under an hour. I came in at 58:28 so I am very happy with that! Pre-race I did not eat anything, instead I drank a bottle of coconut water during the drive. I ran with 2 10 oz bottles of water with 1 1/2 tablets of Nuun dissolved in them (I only finished one bottle). I also had one packet of GU prior to the run and brought one with me; which I did not use. I felt great during the run, aside from a couple of vile acid burps... gawd... After the run I drank 32 oz of room temperature water mixed with 1 1/2 scoops of Max Muscle ARM recovery drink. I did not have any stomach cramps, headaches, dizziness or shortness of breath. When I got home I ate 3 scrambled eggs and 2 slices of whole grain toast - I didn't have any problem eating and so far I feel fine! (This is major - lately I haven't been able to eat very much and have been relying on a lot of protein shakes for nutrition. Gag.) I've come to dread meal time so any time I can eat a full meal without incident is a major win.
So... What comes next? Well, I have an appointment with the GI doc and one with a sports nutritionist next month. In reviewing my journals, I see a pattern of gastroparesis symptoms flaring up with super intense exercise. (With both skating and running.) My guess is that both doctors will probably tell me to lay off anything that causes these symptoms - and after a few weeks of absolute agony - I will be more than happy to comply. I have done a great deal of research so I understand what happens in my body to cause this and acknowledge that I am one of the unlucky people who doesn't bounce back from it right away. (During intense exercise, blood is shunted away from internal organs to focus on fueling muscles with oxygen. This can cause internal organs to slow down - gastroparesis; slow emptying stomach.) Generally my internal workings balance back out after a few weeks of moderate to zero exercise.
So what does this mean? For me it just means redefining my goals and what I expect from myself. I had a goal at the beginning of the year to run a half marathon. I've done that. I've actually done 2 and am registered for one more in October (so far I am planning on running it). But it will probably be my last half.
I love running, but what running IS is different for everyone. I'm not built for distance or endurance; I know that now. But I will still run. I love running, I love races, I will continue to participate in them; I just need to set my maximum distance at 10 miles instead of 13.1. I can still bounce back from a 10 mile run without too much discomfort. The 10k is my favorite distance though; it's just enough to max out and still feel like I did something without causing negative symptoms to flare up.
Now it's time for me to focus on skating. Skating is not nearly as hard on my body as running is and it takes a LOT more of it to induce the gastroparesis symptoms. When I start training hard for the marathons and am skating 50 - 75+ miles a week, that's usually what does it. But I don't have a full marathon until September. So I can cut back a little and work on getting my half marathon a bit faster since I'm doing the duathlon on Aug 3rd. My schedule will be to skate 3x per week (15 - 20 miles at a time) run 3x per week (3-4 miles 2x per week w/ a max distance of 8 miles for the Saturday long run) and lift weights 2x per week. My other priority is to get my nutrition under control and hopefully my body will balance back out.
As far as fitness goes - my intentions have always been about testing boundaries. Seeing how far I could go before I hit my limits; and respecting them once I did. I want to be healthy ALL over, not just my muscles but my internal organs as well. So I am okay with modifying what I do to make sure I achieve that. I feel great about what I have accomplished and hope that I will find more challenges in the future that won't upset my stomach...
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