Camping and Cramping

The best part about traveling somewhere to participate in a race is when you can incorporate it into a family event.  This past weekend we went on a family camping trip to Lincoln State Park so that I could participate in the the Honest Abe Trail Marathon.  The trip was awesome, as I got some good training experience, the weather was perfect and the family got to spend a bunch of quality time together in the great outdoors.

We arrived on Saturday and spent the day playing outside on the playground and around the campsite.  We met Grammy, Gramps, Aunt Julie and cousin Christopher.  It was so much fun to watch Emry explore and analyze everything.  She was so excited to be outside that she didn't ever take a nap that day.  Late in the afternoon, we took a hike to the nature center where we met up with my nemesis... 

This is what I looked like before the attack...

This was my reaction, although you can't see the stain on
the back of my pants!

For dinner that night, everyone had the usual camping fare - chili, hot dogs and s'mores.  Normally I'd partake in the same meal, but I didn't want to try to run a marathon with that sitting in my stomach.  I settled for something a little "lighter."  Emry had a great time helping to start the fire and throwing sticks in it.  She also dug right into the s'mores... 

This is the obligatory messy-s'moreface picture

Meanwhile, Whitney just sat back and looked cute in her little hat

After a pretty sleepless night(Whitney did not sleep well in the pack 'n play and she kept everyone up all night. But seeing how much the girls enjoyed the outdoors was totally worth the price of one sleepless night), we woke up to a beautiful late-summer morning.  It was cool, and a thin fog covered the landscape.  I put in a couple of warmup miles by running from our campsite to the starting point for the race.  Right off the bat, I saw three dear off the side of the road, then the route took me took down by the lake.  The sun was just coming up, which illuminated a hazy fog covering the lake, and it made a breathtaking sight.  It was the perfect start to what would be a great day.

This was my first trail marathon, and I'm really glad I did it.  I learned a lot about trail running and it provided some great experience for the trail run I'm doing in October.  The course winded its way along the hiking trails around the entire park.  It was mostly shaded and had beautiful scenery the entire way.  One loop was 14k, and Aunt Julie participated in the 14k as part of her training for the Evansville Half Marathon.  All of the marathoners repeated the same 14k-loop three times, so were allowed to have a "drop bag" at the start/finish area.  We were able to store food/drinks in our drop bag if we wanted something in addition to what was offered at the aid stations. 

Toward the end of the first loop, I developed a cramp in my right foot.  I'd never gotten a cramp there before, and it had me concerned.  Running became more and more difficult, and the cramp started to become painful.  I stopped to stretch it out, which helped a little...but the pain was still persistent.  In my "drop bag" I had a bottle of pedialyte. I'd heard of endurance runners using it as quick way to replenish electrolytes.  When I finished the first loop, I chugged down some pedialyte, ate 1/2 a banana and did some more stretching.  Within half mile, the cramp had vanished!  Pedialyte is my new best friend! 

Getting some advice from my running coach while
refueling at my "drop bag"

About 1/2 way around the second loop, I caught up with a grizzly trail running/ultramarathoning veteran from Alabama named Tom.  Tom looked to be in his late 40's, had long stringy hair, and had a sweet tattoo on his shoulder of a wolf howling at the moon...which told me "this guy was legit."   Tom was training for the JFK 50mi Ultra in November.  His longest training run for the JFK at that point had only been 15mi.  He just happened to see this marathon online, so he entered it on a whim. 

Tom told some really cool stories about his ultramarthoning heyday in the 1980's.  He had run ultramarathon races all over the world, including a multiday race in Czechoslovakia where they ran the equivalent of one marathon a day for 10 straight days!  Tom kept me entertained with his running experiences for several miles and shared some great trail running tips with me.  But before long, I needed to press on to keep up with my goal pace.  I thanked Tom for all his tales and advice, and unfortunately had to scurry on ahead. 

Taking off down the trail for my last loop

Being a trail marathon, there wasn't any crowd to keep the runners motivated.  There were a couple of the runners family members and some volunteers at the aid stations, but that was all.  The lonesome course provided a perfect opportunity to connect with the nature that surrounded me.  While I endured the third loop, I tried to take in all the beauty and the gifts God has given us.  What a wonderful world He gave us to enjoy! 

Posing for some pictures while waiting for dad to finish

Coming around the last turn out of the woods,  I realized that my family made up about 1/2 of the "crowd."  How lucky I am to have such loving people in my life!  It was such a great opportunity to be able to incorporate this race into a fun family weekend.  Who needs a big crowd for motivation when you have this waiting for you at the finish line...

"Run daddy!  Faster!!"

I could have run the whole thing over just to see that sight at the finish again.  Who knows, maybe one day I just might try to do that...

Angry Birds

Before the age of cell phones, social media and the internet, there used to be a saying "The 3 quickest lines of communication are telegraph, telephone and tell-a-Maren."  By now, most of the people who read this blog have already heard the story of how I was attacked by an owl while on an early morning run last week.  I won't bother with all the details of the incident(if you haven't heard the story, contact me and I'll bring you up to speed).  Instead, I will share some helpful advice for anyone who may find themselves in the same situation. 

If you are like me, then the bulk of your knowledge of owls probably comes from 3rd grade science class and cartoons.  This is what I knew about owls prior to the attack: 

1. They live in holes in trees.
2. They usually wear glasses and graduation hats.
3. They hoot
4. They can rotate their heads like the girl from The Excorcist.
5. They are smart and typically make a living as college professors(which explains #2 above).

I figured if I would ever come face to face with an owl, it would be exactly like this commercial which aired on TV when I was a kid...

Needless to say, I was not prepared for an owl attack.  In a statistic I made up for the purpose of this post, a recent study found that 4 out of 5 people will be attacked by an owl during their lifetime.   Odds are this will happen to you or someone you love, so you need to know what to expect when you fall victim to an attack.

First you need to be mentally ready for an attack.  To give you a little insight, the following is a stream of consciousness that pierced through my head immediately after the razor sharp talons...

WTF is that burning sensation?  I've been shot! Run faster.  No blood...I'm ok!  Was that a bat?  I just got bit by a bat!  It really stings.  I need to blog about this.  Will I get rabies? What other diseases do bats carry? When was my last tetanus shot?  How do I sterilize the bite wound?  Damn...I knew I should have seen those Twilight movies.  My head freakin' hurts!

And after being told by some random dude that the culprit was actually an owl...

Thank you Lord for letting that random dude witness the attack.  Did he hear me scream like a little girl?  Oh well, at least it wasn't a bat.  What kinds of diseases do owls carry?  Is bird flu still a threat? My head still freakin' hurts!  Why did it attack me anyway?  I hope I didn't just blow my only chance at getting into Hogwarts.  Use that Hogwarts line on the blog.  That still really stings!  Just gotta get home.
 

The mental toll an owl attack has on you is subtle, but very real.  The morning after the incident, I decided to go for another run.  It was still dark outside, and I will admit that I was a little nervous.  Instead of running east from the house like I normally do, I ran west to avoid the scene of the attack.  The further I got from the house, the more paranoid I was of every little sound I heard.  I thought about the Alfred Hitchcock film The Birds.  When I first watched The Birds during my Film Literature class in high school, I didn't get what was scary about it.  But on the morning following the attack, I fully appreciated Hitchcock's mastery of taking an innocent everyday event, like taking a shower or seeing a flock of birds, and turning it into a terrifying experience. 

The Lord has a sense of humor sometimes.  When I got about a mile away from the house I was so anxious about being attacked again, I almost turned around to go back home.  I don't usually run the path that I was on that morning, and instead of going home I decided to turn the corner and saw this...

Please excuse the low quality photo.  I was obviously running
at the time, it was dark, it was a cell phone camera, blah blah... 

Seeing that big owl on the Hooters sign made me laugh, and I was finally able to relax and enjoy the run.  Had I not been pulled in that direction, I may have turned around and missed out on a great run. 

Now that you know what to expect from the mental aspect of an owl attack, you must also prepare yourself physically.  I had every intention of researching how to prevent future attacks and what you should do if you are attacked.  However, I got so many wonderful suggestions from my friends and family, that research seemed useless.  Here is what I've been told...

• Wear a bike helmet when you run.
• Punch the owl in the face if it attacks.
• Carry an umbrella to poke at it.
• Wear a red hat because owls don't like red.
• Run faster than they can fly.
• Run later in the day when there's light outside.
• Don't run at all.  Terrible Idea

Hopefully I've provided enough information and insight from my experience to prepare you for the next time you go out for a run.  If anyone has more suggestions about how to ward off unwanted bird attacks, please leave a comment!