A Bloody Surprise

I have been really pumped up since the Stinson 25K and continually find myself dreaming about future runs. I spent the first week after the race taking it easy with a few bike rides and easy runs. I have been following the general recovery method called the reverse taper, gradually increasing my duration and intensity. By the following Sunday I was feeling well rested and decided to do a fairly hilly run from my house. As the run progressed I decided to extend it to an hour and a half as well as push up my intensity up the hills for some LT intervals. I have a large assortment of hills to run near my house and enjoy the variation of the short and steep along with the long and gradual.



After I got home I paid a visit to the restroom and to my horror was peeing a darkish red/brown liquid. This was quite a shock having never seen anything like it before. I went to the computer and started searching the Internet and found a number of articles explaining this occurrence. Besides all the terrible sounding disease related explanations I saw that among runners it was not all that uncommon. Apparently an empty bladder can be irritated while running enough to cause the bleeding. Later that day everything was all clear again and continued to be so throughout the week.



The next Sunday, 11/18, I wanted to get back on schedule with my long runs keeping in my my goal of doing a 30K trail run in late December. I had a good block of free time because the kids were with their Umi so instead of running from my house I decided to head over to Phoenix Lake. I hadn't run there in a while and love the trails and variation a lot. My run was going so well I kept adding bits of extra distance along the way. The route I took was left of Phoenix Lake to the Tucker trail, then up to Eldridge. From there down towards Bon Tempe via Pilot Knob. At the parking lot between Bon Tempe and Lagunitas I filled my water, ate a power bar and then decided to run around Bon Tempe instead of taking the shorter route over to Shaver. I then took the Yolanda trail back to Phoenix. When I came to the fire road at Phoenix I was still feeling great and almost turned right for a detour around the lake. I opted not to go and instead headed back to my car. My time was 2:20 for 13.5 miles with a total elevation gain of 1700 ft.



I was pretty tired by the end but felt good that my leg strength and endurance were continuing to improve. Back at home, back in the bathroom, there it was again, that nasty looking dark liquid again. I was shocked again and this time decided to call the Dr. I made an appointment for the next day and went through the normal question/answer session and was instructed to go down to the lab to leave a sample. A few days later I received a call back from the Dr. who confirmed that there was blood in my urine. And now I have an appointment for a CT scan.

Very strange. It always goes away, at least visually very quickly. I did another long run this past weekend and sure enough, back again. Why is my body spitting out blood after every long run. It hasn't happened on any run less than two hours. Now that I am used to seeing it it doesn't bother me as much. As long as the scan comes out fine and something else isn't going one I am thinking I can live with a little blood like this. Especially if it is just an empty bladder being irritated which I read may be the issue. Hopefully it too will toughen up over time with a continual training overload.

Stinson Beack 25K

Heart Rate/Elevation Profile

I was actually a bit concerned listening to the weather report driving home from work Friday which said no morning fog and temperatures way above normal for the Bay Area. In fact it turned out to be a summer day in the fall.

Envirosports hosts a fun and casual event that enabled me to start feeling very relaxed. I followed my plan to take it easy for the first few minutes to warm-up because I opted not to do any warm-up running before the event. After the race director gave us our pre-race instructions and we sang God Bless America he had us head down onto the beach for the start. As I stood at the edge of the concrete just before the start of the sand I know I was thinking what everybody else had on their mind. Does he really want us all to start running on the sand? Are my shoes going to fill up with sand before I even start? We all seemed hesitant to head out there and would imagine thinking the same thing. What can I say? Everyone obliged his request and off we went starting at some random line which looked like a tire track which was named the officially certified starting line. I have to admit after we began I felt like I was tiptoeing across that sand.

Sticking to my plan I hit the course, all trail and all up for the first three miles at a comfortable pace, settling into a good rhythm. My legs felt strong so I had to hold back a bit to keep my heart rate below 80%. I know that I am comfortable below 80% for long periods of time at this heart rate and knew I should try to keep it there for the three mile climb up to Pantoll and the first aid station. I was carrying a 20 oz water bottle with the addition of an Elixir electrolyte tablet. At the aid station I refilled my bottle and added another tablet. There was nothing to eat at the first station and I didn’t bring anything else along which in hindsight was something I will change for my next race. I am not sure what I was thinking because this meant 11 miles, over 3500 feet of elevation gain, with no extra calories. In fact, I think that was my only week point in preparing for this race. More experience and miles will make me stronger over this distance but I think for a first race at this distance I came in with a great base level of fitness.

After the first aid station I was ready for the down hill to Muir Woods. I think I had a smile on my face the whole 4 miles. I had never been on the Ben Johnson trail before and was comfortably cruising along until I caught up with a small group who had left me behind near the top of the first climb. I decided to stick with them although my legs really wanted to keep going at a faster pace. I am glad I did cool it down because that party ended after we hit the bottom and started to climb again. It was a bit of a rude awakening adjusting to climbing pace again and my legs didn’t feel as strong any more. I also started to feel a hotspot on the bottom of my foot and began to think it was caused by a load of sand in my shoe. I was a little frustrated for a moment thinking that it might be sand so I decided to stop and take a look. After removing my shoe I discovered it was completely empty so I guess I couldn’t blame the beach start any more.

I was able to get into a good rhythm again and soon caught another small group. I stuck with them as we merged onto the Troop 80 trail and actually got my heart rate down to a comfortable 75% for a while. I got a little too comfortably and actually a bit antsy. We started the final climb back up to Pantoll and I used that slowdown as a launching pad, taking off. Well that didn’t last too long. It was quite a rookie move and about 50 yards later my legs just were drained. I was able to stay ahead of the group although it really didn’t make any sense. I realized that I was very low on energy and would need to stop for a bit to eat at the aid station.

I refilled with Gatorade this time and tried to get some food down. My stomach was not going for it though. I ate as much as I could and grabbed some energy bar bits to eat on the run. At that point I had been running a little under 2 hours. I was very happy with that pace so far but I soon realized I would just be surviving to the finish line. I didn’t have any reserves left to surge ahead and try to gain on anyone. I wasn’t really worried about that either. I just love running feeling strong and I was a bit disappointed that I still didn’t have it left inside. Thinking about that feeling, the race and distance occupied my mind for the run back down to Stinson. I have been consumed recently with thoughts of doing an ultra one day. During this race and in the aftermath it has dawned on me that I need to keep that goal in check. I just love running and want it always to be part of who I am. I want to stay fresh and set goals which will allow me to keep in balance all my work and family responsibilities. I want to continue to stay strong on the bike and don’t really have much more time to allocate to anything more than incremental increases in my endurance level. The thoughts that have stayed with me after this race are I love running strong and want to finish strong, charging all the way to the end.

I remember I had these very same thoughts during the final miles of the Marin Double Metric Century I did a few years back which also stayed with me in the days afterwards. When I sign-up for an event I usually go in with the confidence, experience, and training to know that I can finish and can hang with the stronger side of the crowd. The last few miles of this Double were excruciating. I couldn’t keep a respectable pace going at all and finished less than satisfied. I knew in the back of my head that I hadn’t put in enough training and promised myself I would be better prepared the next time. I need to stick with my gut

I had pretty much nailed this 25k. I knew I had room to improve but I was still having a lot of fun bounding down the Matt Davis trail. With about a mile to go I had my energy back, my thoughts were wondering and then all of a sudden I tripped. Not sure if it was a root or rock but I stumbled hard but was able to stay on my feet. As I screeched to a stop, the force that I used in my legs for braking triggered massive cramping all the way up and down both of my legs. At that point I couldn’t move my legs at all. After a minute of massaging and stretching I started back up again. Very gingerly with all my enthusiasm gone, continuing down the trail, while needing to stop every couple of minutes to relieve the cramping. I was passed by two other runners and then finally hit the bottom of the trail and then the road to the finish line.

Besides that one setback and then plan to bring along more calories next time the race was fantastic. I had thought going into the race that if I my ideal run would take me to the finish in 2:35. So the fact that I did it in 2:37:48 was great. I know that my training plan worked well and that I just need more experience racing a fueling at these longer distances. I am already looking forward to the next one.

Distance 25K
Time: 02:37:29.0
Zone Averages: Max HR 189; Max during 25K race 174.

91% + : 2:30 min

85-90%: 49:50 min

75-84%: 1:28:45 min

74 & below: 16:30 min

The Taper

After my long at China Camp I came to realize a few days later that it might have been just a bit too intense. I felt very good and felt inspired to keep a strong pace but my legs just felt sluggish for the next three days. I had an easy mountain bike ride on Monday followed by a bike commute on Tuesday. So it was not until Wednesday that I went for my first run. I felt a bit sluggish during the warm-up but at around 30 minutes the brakes just came on. I am not sure what happened but my energy level dropped so low that all I could do was walk. I tried to pick it up again about 5 minutes later but could only last another couple minutes before I had to stop again. I was able to finish out the run by the end but it was rather depressing. I decided to ride again on Thursday and then run on Friday. After that weird Wednesday run I was able to get my pacing and energy back again and can only speculate on what happened. It was probably that I had a bad nights sleep combined with fatigue from my long run.

I don’t really enjoy tapering but I decided to stick to my plan. I still recall how my Dipsea taper went awry back in June. Three weeks before the race I came down with a really bad cold. It lasted up until the week before. I was forced to miss all my planned workouts and on Sunday, 7 days before the race, decided to run the course from Mill Valley to the top of Cardiac and then back. My legs for fresh and I took off. It didn’t help that there were a lot of others out on the course as well. I met another guy who was also out preparing for the race and we ran harder than I would have on my own back from Cardiac to Muir Woods. Overall that run was great but my legs just didn’t have that freshness that I was hoping to feel. I improved my time by 2 minutes but I decided that the next race prep will be different.

Back to the plan for my 25K; I wanted to get in three runs, one Saturday and two more the next week. A light run Monday and then my last run on Wednesday. Saturday went just right. I ran a total of 55 minutes with about 20 minutes uphill at Tempo pace. Monday was a light but hilly 45 minutes and then another hilly 35 minute run Wednesday. I commuted on my bike Tuesday and Thursday. That route is 10.5 miles each way which takes me between 35 and 40 minutes. I think I am ready to go.