Another title for this post could be Why Training Malnourished is not Advised.
Those of you who have been following along on my training journey for the Wonderland Trail, know that I've had some struggles along the way, both mental and physical. I lost a big block of training to work, smoke and heatwave and struggled to keep positive and stay mentally focused. I've had some good runs but also some pretty hard ones. I've had moments of berating myself for letting myself get weak and slow.
Some time in April or May I started having some gut issues, feeling bloated with a low appetite. June came with a lot of work and some erratic eating. In July, my belly started behaving more strangely, continually rumbling and growling. I felt like there was an alien in my belly ready to rip it's way out and scream across the room. After long runs I could only eat tiny amounts before feeling overfull and I felt as though I wasn't absorbing any of the nutrients I was ingesting.
I knew something was wrong. After trying a holistic approach with changes to my diet and some herbal remedies nothing was changing so I went to my doctor.
After a slew of blood tests and a test where I had to breathe into a pouch, I got a message that my TSH (thyroid hormone) was wildly out of whack, I was hypothyroid, and she had called in a new prescription that should fix my problem right up. I've had low thyroid before and I've never had accompanying gut issues, so while I was happy to hear that the thyroid meds would help with my energy levels I still felt something else was wrong. And I was right. There was indeed AN ALIEN in my gut!
The breath test showed that I have h pylori, a bacteria that can come from unclean or improperly cooked food. (I'm loath to eat in restaurants now) It weakens the stomach lining causing gas and bloating and can cause an inability to absorb nutrients. I have basically been training malnourished for the last several months.
I'm so relieved to have an answer and to know that I haven't just been being wimpy. After the first week of antibiotics I am feeling SO much better. I have more energy, I'm less bloated and my appetite is back. I'm still not 100% but I'll have at least a fighting chance to put in some decent miles on the Wonderland. I depart for Mt. Rainier on Wednesday and start running on Thursday.
I have already decided to modify my run. The first day is 34 miles and almost 10,000 feet of elevation gain and although I have a Garmin InReach tracker for safety, I don't want to have to use the SOS on it. So I will ride the sag van to the first campsite and do an out-and-back run of however many miles feels safe. After that I will play days two and three by ear and do as much as I can without causing damage.
Stay tuned for the trip report!
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