I raced the World Trail Championship on June 10th, 2017 in Italy. It did not go as planned, but that's how it goes in this sport some times.
I struggled to eat in the morning, but attributing it to nerves I wasn't worried and instead had a gel at the start line. Onwards and upwards as the race began with a large incline. I fell into a good climbing rhythm and things seemed okay at first. After the first few kilometers I started to feel it in my legs and my breathing was picking up so I relaxed a bit and took the first downhill section with some caution. Around this point I tried to start eating and drinking now that the first climb was done, but I couldn't stomach anything, and anything I forced down didn't want to stay down. More climbing and descending, and I continued even more cautiously, hoping that an easier pace would calm my stomach and slow my climbing heart rate, but then I started to get warm. The race temperature got up to 32C and I began to notice signs of dehydration. I had many interactions in the second half of the race with fellow cold weather country runners that were also suffering in the heat. On the uphills my heart was beating fast but seemed to only be sending blood to my exterior, skipping over my stomach. I wasn't able to catch my breath until the downhills which were just a little too steep and technical for me to show off my turnover. All these things fed into a pretty negative mindset that I didn't shake off until well after the race finished. As hard as I tried to flip things positively, it's really hard to ignore physical pain and it sucks to start falling backward throughout the race. Eventually I made it to the halfway point on the Ridracoli Dam. This was possibly the most beautiful part of the course, and the first and only time I got to see my crew. Unfortunately I was in a sour mood about how I was performing and with a mix up with at the aid station, I left in a fluster and didn't bring the fuel I had planned. Reflecting after the race of course I would have been better off stopping, taking on all the right food and resetting my mind, but in the moment I was trying to make up time wherever I could. I was able to keep down some coke which seemed to settle my stomach on the descent down the many steps to the bottom of the dam. With that I started eating and drinking more, but  that little high only lasted to about 32k when we started the last large climb. It was here that the lack of fuel and dehydration fully caught up to me. I went from moving forward well to hiking slowly uphill as I felt the sensation of my blood pressure lowering. Things steadily got worse despite my efforts play catch-up drinking and eating, and as we climbed into sun exposure I really started to overheat. I began to take breaks in whatever bits of shade I could find to try to catch my breath and stop the world from spinning. At one of the water stops I stumbled and fell to my knees, and as I regained my composure a monk came over to me looking concerned. My first thought was that I was hallucinating, but the race course was close to several monasteries so I was able to put two and two together in my foggy state. Not wanting to draw any attention from the course medics I quickly got to my feet, sponged off some water to cool down and then got back on the course. Nearing the final 5k of the race I was feeling better, but by then I was in too bad of a mood to really hammer in. I tried enjoying the sights and got my legs going on the final descent to the finish. An unrelenting painful 6 hours and 43 minutes after starting I was finally done and a couple hours later able to stomach some gelato. Now removed from the race I can speak to some of the positive outcomes. The first that comes to mind is that now I know that I can suffer for 7 hours and not drop out. Only through ultras was I able to understand what Bruce and Quenton were talking about after the 60x400m in Once a Runner. I'm capable of pushing myself through increasingly boundless and endless pain, but "it is a very hard thing to have to know". I'm not like the crazy triathletes I went to school with, I don't like pain. I run because it's enjoyable, and the good usually outweighs the bad. In this race I finished because I didn't finish at my last World Championship and I didn't want to let my team down, especially since I had no idea if we had a full team finish (3 score and we only started 4). This motivation to finish the race put me through a negatively weighted experience where even though I may be stronger for it, I'm certainly not happier because of it. It will be nice to be able to use this experience as evidence of what I can push through in future events where digging a little deeper will reward me more satisfaction (like pushing that final 10k to move up on the podium). Other positives from this event are that I raced with a backpack for the first time which was a good experience (although my back was ripped up and bloody all week afterwards), I covered more elevation in a race then I have before, I bounced back after having stomach issues, and I can say that I at least finished a race representing Team Canada. Thanks to my teammates and the crew for everything they did before and after the race! Thanks to Jordan for the waterproof jacket, and Arjun for the race pack. Strava Full Results Canada Running Results Article Canada Running Preview Article
I think some people might be interested, so here's some numbers about the race:
I would like to make a post about next steps, but honestly I have been so up and down I don't think I'll be able to stand by any claims I make. I've had injuries holding back my training for a while now, so I'm hoping to spend some time getting healthy and then I'll start to think about whether I'm going to do cross, a fall ultra, a fall marathon, or something completely different.
EDIT: Originally posted on http://jeremywalshsrunning.blogspot.ca/