Waking up with a headache was concerning. I felt it come on the day before but thought it would be gone after a good night’s sleep. And I slept relatively well. Almost seven hours, which was more than I had slept the night before the last race. I distinctly remembered having a beautiful dream (though I don’t remember the details).
I was anxious and wide awake, so I decided to get up and make coffee, hoping to ease the headache and aid digestion. Unfortunately, it didn’t help either.
I panicked.
I took an Ibuprofen, put myself back to bed, and tried to meditate for a few minutes, telling myself, “Today’s gonna be a great day.” But somehow, I couldn’t shake the feeling that my body wasn’t ready to run well today. Despite the anger about my gut not working as it should and my head hurting, I tried to stay calm. It was supposed to be only a training run, after all.
I didn’t taper for the run—quite the contrary. I completed a standard training week and even spontaneously added in a kettlebell training session on Wednesday, which left me sore for the next three days. This was not a smart move and may be one of the reasons I felt so beat up today.
I thought back to the day before. The trip on the team bus was fun and filled with exciting stories about running, told by our oldest team member, who is 84 and the world record holder for the most marathons and ultramarathons run. A
fter we had checked into our hotels, I strolled through the small town with one of our team members before we all met for dinner again at a cozy Italian restaurant.
I didn’t feel any nervousness or tension about the race that evening. I thought I was simply exhausted from the long bus ride.
I fought from the moment the race started.
As usual, I didn’t order breakfast at the hotel. I was unsure what to do because of my non-cooperating digestive system. I decided to have a pack of nut butter and one Honeypower energy gel (use the code: “nicole20” to get 20% off your first order 😎) before I walked outside, hoping it would help ease my headache and move things around in my gut.
Unfortunately, I was wrong about both things. So I surrendered and accepted how beat up my body felt this morning and joined my team at the breakfast table for a few minutes. Then, it was time to check out and go to the race location. After I collected my race bib, there was a bit of time to stroll around, chit-chat with other runners, and observe. There were many familiar faces.
My head was still hurting, and I decided to not go out too hard but still give it my best.
I didn’t want to give up easily.
I put my 2 bottles of Tailwind mix and my Honeypower energy gels on our aid station table took one sip of the energy drink mix and went to the start line.
After the gun went off, I struggled to find my rhythm. The race course was narrow, and overtaking others was difficult. The crowded atmosphere made me anxious. However, a few kilometers into the race, the runners were spread out a little more, and I calmed down.
We had to complete a 2.8 km loop, which mostly led through the forests and the Mörfeld stadium. Unfortunately, runners turned around in the stadium. Hence, most of the way, we ran in two opposite groups. And since it was almost always crowded, I found it challenging to get into a flow state.
After a couple of rounds, I felt better mentally, but now my stomach started cramping.
I sipped on the bottles of Tailwind that I had brought with me. In each of the two 500 ml bottles, I mixed half of a stick pack of Tailwind, meaning I had 100 calories and 25g carbs in my drink mix. Of course, I planned to supplement with honey energy, but due to my stomach problems increasing, I didn’t eat a single gel. Or any other food, for that matter 😐.
Headache, stomach issues, and cramps I had never experienced before.
The heat was tiring. A lot of runners took walking breaks. I felt slow. However, I tried to talk myself into running faster and repeated mantras in my head.
I knew this was not a 24-hour race, and I couldn’t afford to relax. The mild headache didn’t get worse, which gave me confidence.
However, my gut now cramped badly. I was already familiar with these cramps, as I had experienced them in my first 24-hour race and during the 50 K just 3 weeks prior. I tried to relax, slowed down a little, and only had water for the next few rounds.
My stomach relaxed, but suddenly, another problem appeared.
One I had never experienced before.
My inner thigh started to cramp badly. A sharp pain ran through my leg from my groin area to my knee. I kept running. I don’t remember which round it was or how many kilometers I had completed by this point because I decided before the race not to look at my watch and count the rounds or kilometers completed.
However, it was after I had completed 30 kilometers that I told our two amazing supporters at the aid station that I was having bad cramps and that I didn’t know why.
Mentally, I felt good, and my headache didn’t worsen, but I still asked if we could organize a headache pill just in case.
Olive water, cold broth, and coffee power me through.
The cramps in my legs got worse. Both thighs were now hurting, and sharp pains sporadically shot through my left leg.
I stopped at our aid station, telling our supporter I would likely need to slow down now because my body was not cooperating. I told him about how badly my leg was hurting.
He thought it was an electrolyte issue and offered some salt pills, but I declined. I was incredibly thirsty and didn’t feel like I wanted salt. But I took his advice and had some olive water the next round.
This idea was golden as it helped my leg cramps and settle my stomach.
With 2 hours to go, I was exhausted but wanted to fight now. When cold broth was offered, I decided to take some. It tasted great, but not long after I had it, I felt I needed to throw up 🙈.
Then I asked for coffee. It was not because I was tired but because I thought it would help my mood.
And it did.
It also helped to ease my gut.
Some people can’t do coffee during a race because it bothers their stomachs. For me, it seems to have the opposite effect when I take it at the time my body asks for it.
I was grateful to have this amazing support team at our aid station and powered through the next round. Many runners were only walking now. The heat took a toll on them.
With half an hour to go, I decided to give it my all. I sped up and ran as hard as possible but suddenly felt dizzy 10 minutes before the clock stopped.
I stopped to walk. “Just walk,” I told myself. “Every step counts.” But again, I didn’t want to give up so quickly and settled back into a slow jog. “Slow running is better than walking.”
When the signal notifying us of the end of the race sounded, I sat by the trail and waited for the guys who took the measurements for the remaining meters.
After a few minutes, our oldest team member arrived and stayed with me. I enjoyed listening to her stories about how the remaining meters were measured in other races. Sometimes, runners would take a little flag or stick with the race bib number written on them. In this race, we had to take a little sand-filled balloon with us on the last lap, where our race number was written on. Unfortunately, the ink came off and spread on my hand. So I waited for the guys who measured how far the runners had gone on the last lap to avoid errors. Just before they arrived, another team member joined us in the wait. Once the measurement was taken, we walked back to the stadium.
A 2nd place age-group finish and feeling satisfied with my performance.
I was happy when the race was over.
Not so much because I was relieved from the pain of running through heat, headaches, and cramps.
No, I was happy because I achieved a decent result despite not resting before the race, not fueling correctly, and having to deal with a headache from the moment I opened my eyes that morning.
I was proud that I didn’t give up but told myself I would still try to do my best in the given circumstances. And I was proud that I did fight until the very end, resorting to walking only some 10 minutes before the end, when my vision suddenly turned black.
That race was a huge confidence booster, and I know that my body is capable of much more. And once more, I proved to myself that I can push through when I am struggling.
Despite all the adversity, I achieved a 2nd place finish in my age group and finished 17th woman out of 48.
I enjoyed the hot shower, knowing I had given it my all. But I also promised myself to change my approach and take the week before a race more easily, even if they are not A-races.
After all, I don’t race that often and want to give my best in every race. I am confident that I would have achieved a faster time in the 50 K championships and could have gone farther in this race if I hadn’t been so tired before each of these races.