a-fib

So last Sunday (12/14) I ventured out with my cousin on what is currently my longest run at 14.5 miles. It was a nice day, but bitterly cold since we ran right along the ocean. The wind coming off the ocean was just brutal. It didn't help that we were running two days after one of the worst ice storms I've ever seen making the conditions of the trails very tricky.

We set out to do two loops around the bay. After the first loop we'd stop at the car and refuel for the second loop. The first loop went well as we completed that in a little over an hour. We rehydrated and set out on our second seven-plus mile loop. For the second loop we decided to go in the opposite direction as the first loop to change up the run. A great idea at first, but once we got to a certain point on the trail, the wind was hitting us head on. Because of that we picked up the pace to get through that portion of the trail quicker. This may have been a mistake because once we got the wind at our backs, we both realized we were famished. Neither of us had anything to eat or drink so we trudged through the last 2.5 miles of the second loop. The last 2.5 miles of the run ended up being harder than the first 12 miles. I will never make that mistake again. Later that week I bought an amphipod fuel belt that I plan to use anytime I feel like a run will take longer than an hour.

The good news is that besides being ready to eat my left arm, I felt good after that run. I had no soreness the next day and my legs felt lively. The problems began that night. When I got home from work, I felt like I was experiencing heart palpatations. Nothing crazy and nothing weird, we've all had weird heartbeats at some point in our lives, so I shrugged it off and figured it would be gone in the morning. That didn't end up being the case and late on Tuesday I called my doc and he had me go to the local hospital for an ECG. The ECG showed that I was experiencing atrial fibrillation. In a nutshell, the upper part of the heart (the atrium) is quivering rather than pumping blood at a steady rate. If it lasts long enough this can lead to blood clots and a greater risk for stroke. Luckily for me my heart returned to normal on it's own late Tuesday night before bed.

My doc was rather concerned since at thirty years old, he said I am his youngest patient to experience afib. I've undergone additional tests and eargerly await the outcome. I hope that of all the causes of afib, I don't have any of the serious type. On top of all this, my doc has not cleared me to run putting my marathon in January in jeopardy. I have not run since that Sunday and can only hope that the results from my tests come back positive and I get cleared to run this week. I hope I haven't lost too much from a week off of running. I hope I have what it takes in January to finish the marathon. I hope....

yurt

This past weekend served up quite the running experience. My cousin Trevor and two of his friends and I decided to conquer some trails despite the wet/cold conditions. Earlier in the year, Trevor had competed in a 50K Trail race on some trails and wanted to revisit those same trails. We were all in agreement as it was all new to us and sounded like a great experience. Besides, with Trevor describing the trails as "mostly flat", it would be perfect for my long run.

We arrived at the trailhead to overcast skies and a light drizzle. The beginning of the trails were great as we all got excited to see what the trails had to offer. Soon, we realized and experienced that not only are there quite a few uphills, it's pretty much uphill the entire way. It seemed that no matter where we turned we were going uphill. To add to the difficulty, the trails were soaking wet. On numerous occasions running shoe after running shoe sank in and even below the surface only to emerge with a fesh coat of mud and water. All four of us had mud-caked legs before we even finished the first part of the trails: a 6 mile incline back to the vehicle to refuel for another 6 miles.

While this may seem like an awful experience, it wasn't. Running with my cousin and his friends was a great experience. Along the way we shared many running and college stories. We saw some incredible views of rolling hills and farmland and had quite a few laughs. We also discovered Yurt, one of the trails among the maze of trails at Pineland Farms. To make the first 6 miles even harder I think I stopped laughing for a total of 5 minutes the entire first hour.

The second half of the run was much easier. The trails were flatter, grass covered and not nearly as wet. We managed close to another 6 miles and ran for nearly 2 hours in total on these trails before heading back to the vehicle.

For me it was an amazing running experience. The first of, I hope, many more. This run will always be remembered as Yurt.