First ... I did not finish the Sehgahunda Trail Marathon. I got farther than I did last year ... I got to Check Point 6 (CP6). Second ... I didn't jet to Dansville ... an ambulance took me. My Garmin must have caught a fix when I was unloaded.
I pushed myself to my limits. My memories are clouded and fuzzy but here is what I remember ...
A pre race kiss ...
I think we were listening to Boots ...
The start
Up to CP1, 6.1 miles ... I knew this part of the course well. The mud was not too deep and manageable. The creek crossings were swift at times but easily crossed. I passed a couple of solo women very close to where I was headed up to CP1. I would see a couple of them later around CP6 when they repassed me. The climb up to CP1 (and all the other climbs to other CPs) revealed the true nature of Sehgahunda ... lots of deep mud. By deep, I mean at least 6 inches of mud or more at points. The trail conditions were bad ... then got worse. At points one step in the mud equaled the exertion of one step plus half a step sideways. Sometimes the mud tried to take my shoe off. On the way up to CP1 from the trail I had crossed several mudfields. I was running well, I was in good spirits. I gave hand slaps to runners I knew as they were coming down from CP1. I didn't see CJ at CP1. I had a gel or two and headed back into the mix.
Coming up to CP2
Gelling at CP2
I think this is CP4 ...
Up to CP6, 21.9 miles ... I was still feeling OK as I went down from CP3. I vaguely remember going 2.3 miles to CP4 and and then 1.7 miles to CP5. I do remember that there was NOT an awful lot to eat at CP4 and CP5 that I wanted to eat. I just had my gels, water and Heed for nourishment. I just went on and on ... 2.5 more miles to CP6. I crossed creeks and streams when I had to, I slogged through mud fields, I stepped over logs, I was so very conscious of NOT falling and breaking anything like last year when I fell and broke a rib. I saw nice waterfalls along the trail. My running (probably walking is more accurate) was labored, my fingers were tingling. I knew I was in trouble. I willed myself onward. I told a fellow runner, Marilee, that I was having trouble. When I was walking up to CP6 I saw a volunteer coming down to me. She was a nurse and a wife of a fellow runner. She helped me up the long slope to CP6 and sat me down.
I really tried to collect myself and continue on, I really did. I had been on the trail for more than 6 hours. I knew I was so close ... just about a mile or two down the trail from CP6 was a dirt road and then a cinder trail to the finish, 4.4 miles total. If I had gone back out on the trail I would have collapsed in the mud somewhere. Luckily ... somehow I ended up on a gurney and then into an ambulance. I am a bit foggy on how it happened. I don't remember my timing chip being taken off. I took oxygen and tried to urinate which was hard to do with compression shorts on. I think I almost got more myself in the ambulance but then everything went south. I was in an ambulance on my way to the Dansville Hospital ... again. The ambulance attendants knew me from last year. CJ says that they drive pretty fast ... 70 in a 40 mph zone at one point.
The rest of the day is foggy. I knew I was in the Dansville Hospital ... again. CJ says the same ER nurse took care of me ... again. I was asked questions. I remember CJ having trouble getting my trail shoes off ... I helped her with one of them. I don't remember the mud on my legs being washed off. I don't remember getting stuck with an IV. CJ tells me that I was dehydrated ... that my sodium level was 123, normal was 139. I vaguely remember a chest X-Ray and a CT. I remember vomiting, trying to get it into a bag. I remember my bedding in the ER being changed ... I guess I was quite a mess. I remember being told I was being admitted. I vaguely remember an elevator ride up to my room. I definitely remember my muscles trembling uncontrollably for hours. I remember CJ being very concerned. She was certain that I was either having a heart attack or a stroke. She had never seen anyone exhibit the symptoms that I was displaying in all her years in the health field. I remember CJ rarely leaving my side. I remember being so very tired but being unable to let go of consciousness to let myself go to sleep ... I think I was afraid of not waking up. I got a shot to relax me and I finally got some sleep sometime in the middle of the Sunday morning.
Meanwhile, I don't know when ... CJ had told news of me on Facebook. My brother, sister, children and my fellow runners were concerned. My phone was somewhere so I couldn't call anyone ... not that I had the energy.
Also, let me congratulate the finishers of Sehgahunda ... results here. It would have been nice to have at least a DNF next to my name in the results down at the bottom. I am sure that the other 16 DNFs echo my thought. I salute your stamina and endurance ... you tested yourselves and conquered Sehgahunda!
Sun, 5/29/11: Dansville Hospital.
I woke up in a hospital bed with an IV hooked to my right arm. CJ had stayed the night next to my bed in a chair. I was on a clear liquid diet for breakfast ... it tasted good. CJ had to head back to Mount Morris around 9AM to check out of the hotel. We didn't spend the second night there at all. CJ got back by lunchtime ... I had a bit more to eat. By supper I was on a regular diet. I was told that my sodium was not up to normal yet plus one of my heart indicators was not normal. I would need an echo-cardiogram on Monday so I would need to stay another night. I got my echo-cardiogram later on Sunday, it was normal. It was kind of cool to see my heart valves opening and closing. CJ went home around 7PM ... I was going to get a roommate. Later that night, we got a free light show ... an intense line of thunderstorms moved through.
Mon, 5/30/11: Dansville hospital, then home.
One thing about hospitals ... you don't get much rest. I woke up around 4:30AM and then slept in bits between a blood draw and an IV bag being changed until breakfast around 8AM. I was told that my sodium level was back up to normal at 139. The nurse urged me to get up and walk around. I think she was pulling my leg when she told me that 18 times around the ward was a mile ... they wanted to look at my heart rate while I was exercised. So I got up and started walking around the ward while I rolled my IV alongside me. The doctor soon OKed my discharge. His instructions were clear ... NO running until I had been checked out by my primary doctor. He was said not to use the supplements that I took during the race again. I called CJ. She came down and picked me up.
The damage ... IV on the right arm, blood draw on the left arm
On our way home, we ate lunch at the North Shore Grill in Lakeville. It is quite a nice restaurant with a dock right on Conesus Lake. So much better that eating lunch at McDonald's which was our original intention. It was nice to be alive and looking out on the water. I texted that I was on my way home.
CJ and I were glad to be home. We promptly went to bed and slept for hours. Two of my kids called me. My daughter had DVD problems on her laptop and my youngest son was worried about me. He just got a job at Bryne's Dairy in Phelps!
We reconnected our laptops and reconnected with the Facebook world. I tried to look at all the Sehgahunda pictures and reply to all my comments of concern. I want to thank all who were concerned about me and sent me well wishes.
I am still evaluating my Sehgahunda experience. According to my data, I drank 158 oz of water from my Camelbak, about 5 quarts during 6 hours plus what water or Heed I drank from the CP tables. I consumed 4 2nd Surge Gels, 5 Roctane Gels, 4 Hammer Gels and 4 10 oz servings of EFS drink. I just can't see how I got dehydrated with not enough sodium. Did I over hydrate? Maybe I should have had a salt tablet? Maybe I had too much caffeine from the gels? I don't know.
EPILOGUE from 6/7/11: My primary doctor said that I overhyrdated, link from Wikipedia here, link from Wikipedia about Hyponatremia, here. I certainly had the symptoms: vomiting, confusion, lethargy, restlessness, and decreased consciousness.
Wrapping this saga up ... during the month of May I ran 118.75 miles, 13 runs out of 31 days with an average of 9.1 miles per run. So far this year I have run 508.9 miles, 80 runs out of 151 days with an average run of 6.4 miles per run.
What have I learned? Some people would tell you that I am stubborn and trying to kill myself. It seems that I can run well in races of 15 miles or less. Maybe I should concentrate on those races. There are plenty of them to keep me busy and maybe leave the extreme events to the young kids. A cost / benefit analysis would suggest that the cost of Sehgahunda for the past two years is not worth the benefit of being able to say I finished the race. It might be best to let the beast of Sehgahunda go ... it has bit me twice. But I do have a year to train for the next Sehgahunda.
