Gödöllő Trail Half Marathon Review: Part I of II
Were I a better writer, I could perhaps find the words to describe the insanity that was the trail half marathon through the Hungarian forest that I ran this afternoon. Because I am not, perhaps the familiar image of cresting a slow and grueling uphill on a roller coaster only to look ahead and see nothing, nada, before it begins a stomach turning decent will help to paint the picture of the course that I ignorantly submitted myself to today. And that uphill/downhill experience happened over, and over, and over, and over again (yeah, it felt like that).
Well, I’m proud to have finished the race, even thought it was at a snail’s pace. At least I don’t have any broken bones or big blisters. My Vibram KSOTreks were champs and got me through mud puddles, deep sand, and tall grasses with no slipping around or tripping. I’m too tired right now to do a full review, but I will tomorrow once I’ve recovered a bit.
Until then, it’s off to town to see the day’s festivities. Apparently it is some holiday today that they call Freedom Day, so we’ll go until we crash :)
All Packed and Ready to Go…Almost
When we get up at 2:30 in the morning, and I pack the rest of the little odds and ends, then we’ll be ready to go to Hungary for 9 weeks to visit my in-laws. Flight leaves at 8am, and we’ll stop in New York and then London before the final leg to Budapest. I went running this morning about 7 miles (didn’t take the Garmin), and just tried to keep it slow based on paying attention to my breathing. Luckily I was able to run strong, as the last couple runs have been difficult. I think I ate too soon before the last long run last weekend.
Not having run a full 11 miles by this point only two weeks before the trail half marathon on June 25 makes me a little nervous. I will run about 9 this coming weekend in Hungary. Don’t want to overdo it though, as I want to rest a lot before the race.
Phew. What a crazy last two weeks—heck, year—this has been. A much-needed unplug from our life here is going to be so fun. My mother-in-law is a wonderful cook, and I look forward to spending time in the kitchen with her, but not having to be in charge of planning out all my meals, for a change!
That’s about all my sleepy brain can manage right now. Hungary, here we come!
Week 4: Great News!
I was able to donate blood today! This marks a major step forward in my health. I have tried to donate blood at least 3 times before, and have been turned away each time because I failed the hemoglobin/anemia fingerprick test that they give at the beginning. They send me away with a brochure on how to get more iron into my system, and I feel like a total loser reject. I do everything I can, from eating tons of spinach to taking prenatal vitamins. Nothing worked.
Then, I found the GAPS diet and realized that because my other symptoms indicated gut dysbyosis (allergies, candida overgrowth, etc.), the extra iron I was taking in wasn’t getting properly absorbed! My whole digestive system was off, and I needed to heal my intestines. Now seven months into the diet, I decided to try donating again today at our high school’s blood drive. The lowest hemoglobin count allowed is 12.5, and I scored a 12.6! Squeaked by, which tells me I still have a lot of work to do to get my iron count up, but it was good enough, and I felt “strong as an ox” throughout the whole donation process. No dizziness or extreme lethargy. Thank you GAPS diet and Nourashing Traditions! It is so satisfying to get such a concrete indication that my health is improving. I am proud that I can join the ranks of healthy and strong individuals who can afford to lose a pint of blood and save someone else’s life.
That said, here’s a brief update on my half marathon training: lately I manage 5-6 miles two times during the week after school, but my weekends have been very busy or I’ve been out of town, so I missed my 9 mile and 10 mile long slow distance runs that were scheduled. Instead of 9 I did 6 two weeks ago, and instead of 10 I did do a 6.5 mile hike on our camping trip last weekend in my KSO Treks (which worked well with the injinji socks; I decided not to return them). This weekend is another 10 miles scheduled for Memorial Day, which I’ll attempt. I’ve never jumped from 8-10 before, but I’ve been feeling pretty strong on my runs lately, so if I keep it slow it should work fine.
The end of the school year is approaching fast, and so is my trip to 9-week trip to Hungary this summer. My senior students are restless and so am I :) Lots of work to be done before graduation, so I’ll blog as often as I can manage. Once in Hungary I plan to do much more writing!
