Fat Ass Trail Race

I've been registered for this race for a while.  My friend who was supposed to join me in the 25k distance was in a car accident and can't participate... so my lovely husband has offered to take her
place.  I'm thankful because I'm still not sure if I have what it takes to do it alone.

So, it's finally November 11th and time for the adventure to begin!  There are five of us: Leanne, Kristi, Emma, my husband Rémi and I.  We take 2 cars and drive to Trenton - about 3 hours away from home.  We meet up at the Tri and Run store to pick up our race kits.  Afterwards, we made our way to our hotel to chill a little before dinner. 

Before race time, it's always a good time to load up on carbs.  We decide to drive to Belleville -20km away- to go eat at East Side Marios.  That was quite an adventure!  Started with a 40 minute wait.  The women decided to walk a bit in the attached mall while Remi waited for our names to be called.  While he waited, some stranger gave him a $20 gift certificate - bonus!  This will be important for later.  We finally get seated for dinner.  Pretty uneventful - we order and wait.  The adventure then starts.
Things that went wrong:

• Emma orders a drink that takes forever to come -it sat at the bar for ever.  Manager comes by and tells her they will make a new one (I sure hope so! It's pretty much all melted by now!).
• The waitress brings us salad offers us cheese but no plates.
• Leanne doesn't have a fork.
• There is no meat sauce for the spaghetti.
• Dinner arrives - my noodles are way over cooked while Leanne's are undercooked.
• The server offers parmesan - spills it all over Leanne's legs.
• Manager tells Leanne her drink will be free and everyone will get a little discount on their bill.  When the bills came, the drink was on the bill.  The manager came back to fix the issue and gave everyone another discount because of the time wasted.

The best part - when it came time for Remi to pay, he handed over the "gift certificate". The manager was surprised and asked "Where did you get that?" to which Remi explained what had happened.  I said perhaps the man was from out of town and new he wouldn't be coming back -to which she replied -no, he wasn't happy - I guess this means he won't be coming back.  We all had a good laugh.

We headed back to our hotel to get some sleep and be ready for early in the morning.

Leanne and Kristi were doing the 50km, Remi and I the 25 and Emma the 10k.  We all had different start times and routes.

We started at 9:00 am.  Started with a steep uphill -up the ski hill, and right back down again.  Through the forest, lots of mud and water, things are going well.  Until we hit km 2.  I thought uh oh, the knee doesn't feel great - think of something else maybe it'll go away.  My IT band sometimes feels tight a little but then goes away... not this time!  By the time I reached the 3rd km, I was already in pain.  That's not good as we still have 22 km to go!  When we reached the first aid station, I decided to apply some topical cream to see if that would help.  I knew it couldn't really hurt.  I can tell you it did nothing. Zip. Nada.  

All in all, we probably ran about 5 km and walked 20.  It was quite the painful experience.  If you've

ever had ITB problems, you know what I'm talking about.  The feeling someone is digging a knife in your knee with each step you take.  The downhills are the worst - it's pure torture as the more you bend the knee, the worse the pain is.  During the 10k loop portion of the race, I thought I may have to quit when we finished that loop which would've been 17.5 k or so.  After some debate (in my head), a few tears, I thought no way.  I'm not quitting.  I can't run but I surely can walk the last 7.5km.  I've been walking for the past 10!  So off we continued to complete the last 7.5 loop.  

Let me tell you... that last loop was pure hell.  It's has at least 3 very steep hills.  Each uphill meant I had to suffer since what goes up must come down.  The last downhill was the worst.  I cried a little more as the pain was truly unbearable.  I got really nauseous from the pain and thought I was going to  vomit.  I managed to hold it together and got down that hill - running sideways -looking like an orangutan (it was the "easiest" and "painless" way to get down any hill).  The few people who saw me must have thought I was a weirdo!  Hey, you do what you have to... right?! 

It took us 4 hours and 40 minutes to complete the 25k - not too bad for having to walk 20 of those kilometers! 

This ITB problem is driving me crazy.  We completed 30km in September with no pain whatsoever.  This time around, couldn't even handle 5!  What's up with that?   On Monday morning, the stairs in my house were not fun.  Rolling was not fun.  Bending and straightening my leg - not fun either.  This will pass and get better -hopefully sooner rather than later!  Oh well, race season is done for the year.  I will focus on getting my right hip stronger and hopefully that will help solve this ongoing problem.  

The Fat Ass was fun nonetheless.  It was disappointing but you know what, every run can't be great!  You have to enjoy every moment no matter what.  I sure wasn't enjoying the pain, but I did enjoy the company, the volunteers, the beautiful nature surrounding me, cool crisp air, the treats at every aid station, the friendly and encouraging volunteers, the snow, the leaves, the mud, the other runners, just plain being alive and able to participate.