The Bluenose and Cabot Trail....Nova Scotia is an Awesome Place to Run...

Last weekend I was registered to run the Bluenose Half Marathon in Halifax. I love this race - I've done the full twice and was happy to return this year. It is such a great race - awesome city, mega energy, community support, great volunteers and superb organization. What made it especially meaningful to me was that my daughter was running her first half marathon and I was really looking forward to that. Of course, the middle aged runner has a middle aged body. I had been struggling the entire week prior to the race with pain in my great toe of all places. Had a lot of pain and hoped that it would resolve prior to the race. Unfortunately, it did not. I finally went to the KV After Hours clinic the Friday before the race because I had been limping around all week. Thought maybe I had a fraction in my toe. "Well, doc, what do you think it is?" "Oh, you have quite an inflamed joint there....hmmm, osteoarthritis, I think"....I was happy to hear that there was no injury but very unhappy to hear it was something from which a middle aged person would suffer :o(



Long story short - I filled my naprosyn script, deferred my race to next year and cheered my daughter Siobhan in her very first race. She came in under 2 hours - awesome race. That's her with the great form on the right. She says she'll never do another one...hahahahaha...I said that too! She's hooked.

My good friend Claire ran her first full marathon in Halifax too. I so admire her choice for her first race. Halifax is challenging - it's not easy and it's not a walk in the park - Pt. Pleasant or otherwise. Here's to you and your gutsy decision Claire!

Cabot Trail is an Incredible Experience

I had an opportunity to join all all women's team - the Fredericton Femmes Fatales - to run in the Cabot Trail relay this past weekend. If you don't know anything about this race check out the website: http://www.cabottrailrelay.com/ This 24 hour, 17 leg relay takes you around the famous Cabot Trail in Cape Breton. Great fun, great scenery and fantastic athletes - it was an amazing experience and one that I hope to repeat next year if I am still living and able. I ran leg 8 which was quite an easy leg, certainly in comparison to the rest. Hope to challenge myself next year - maybe do 9 or 10. If you want an idea as to what the legs are like the website describes each of the legs and offers a graphic representation of the elevation of each but you cannot appreciate this until you actually see it and drive it and run it. What a blast! Kudos to the organizers!

We don't have to venture far from home to experience great races!

The Middle Aged Runner

Gastro Update and Other Unpleasant Consequences of Being a Living Organism.....

You may remember last week I thought I had my GI problem solved by cutting out dairy. But, dang, as luck would have it, I ate soup at lunchtime that contained, you guessed it, cream. Of course, this has plunged me into a frenzy of label reading all week, obsessed with not allowing dairy products to enter my colon. Today, my Wednesday running group, was the test! Ran tonight AND....drum roll please.....NO ISSUES! No cramps, no stopping, no "gotta go" sensation, no need to stop at Our Lady of Perpetual Help church or the Irving. Thank you DS! Sorry, yogurt, you're out!

My experience with sharing this rather intimate issue has been interesting. I noted previously that an estimated 20 - 50% of runners suffer from this yet very little is written about it and what is out there, is reiterative. I found most of what I read to be too general and lacking in enough specifics to really be helpful. But, you know what? This is something that runners do not typically talk about. There are few who are willing to say, yeah, I suffer from this. But, ironically, runners talk about black or missing toenails, injuries, toe fungus, bloody urine, noseblowing techniques and a whole host of other distasteful ailments. What's up with that? Not that I turn my nose up at these conversations...far from it. I do object to marginalizing some issues though like, yes, the trots. I have also found out in the last two weeks that many many of my fellow running partners suffer from runner's trots - many during races. Yet, not one comment on my blog. People have spoken to me and I've received emails but there is a reluctance to talk about this issue in the public domain! Collectively, we are a vast inventory of individual experiences - we have all faced similar challenges in our running. Can we be more open about sharing how we overcame those challenges? We just need to talk about them. Let's be honest folks. We are all human and basically no different from the bear who sh**s in the woods.

Sorry if this seems like a lecture. I guess, the moral of this story is: the next time someone you're running with says: "I gotta find a bathroom" do not silently wait for them or keep on going. Say "it's the dairy dummy!"

The Middle Aged Runner

omg MOM! "Runs" Part 2..

The title? Oh, that was the reaction of my daughter upon reading my last entry. Obviously, a youthful GI tract! I, quite frankly, was very surprised to see the lack of response to my last post considering that up to 50% of runners suffer from this condition. Apparently, they suffer in silence or they just don't give a sh** (lol) when they have to run into the bushes to, you know, sh**.

Shortly after that post I had a colleague send me and email. He said, "Dairy! That's the culprit!! Cut it out!" I honestly didn't think I consumed that much dairy. But then I started to think - cream in my coffee, milk in my cereal, yogurt always at lunch. Hmmm...maybe I'll try it - I had always thought my fibre intake was the bad guy. So, my two cups of coffee in the am - black. Breakfast - no cereal for this chick - toast with peanut butter. Lunch - NO YOGURT, NO CHEESE. OK colon - your move! Sunday run - morning - not my high risk time - no problem. Monday - 10 k run at 6pm - high risk time period and history of problems (Superstore stop!) NO PROBLEM - not even an inkling, not a rumble, not a twinge, not a thought that turned into something else!

OK maybe that was an aberrant day. Tuesday - track day - high risk time - 5:30pm - history of problems (but it was at the University so access was no issue). NO PROBLEM - no inkling, no rumbling, nada!

OK - the big test - my Wednesday running group!! Historically, my biggest challenge! Here was the test. Groooaaaan....started feeling that bloatiness before I went...waaahhhh, it's not dairy. But, I bucked up, I went out for my 8 k run with my club. As I pointed out last week, however, when you run with someone they become a little more familiar with your colon than you or they ever wanted to be. Cramps, etc. had to stop a few times!! Oh, I was so disappointed!!! But, because, you become so obsessed with this horrid feeling that is all you talk about on your run. My running partner asked me what I had for lunch. Well, I had Butternut Squash soup - it must have been the fibre! "Was it homemade?" "No, Knorr". "Anytime I ever made that soup I put cream in it"......"AHA!"...Of course, the soup was made with cream! How stupid was I to not check the label! Thanks Sharon!

So, my conclusion this week is the problem is, in fact, dairy. My true evaluation will be next Wednesday though. Will look forward to my ultimate test next week.

Here's to your colon - if you're over 50 and are of average risk for colon cancer talk to your doctor about a fecal occult blood test - it's a screening test for cancer, and, no, it's not a blood test. But it can a problem early!

The Middle Aged Runner