Bubble Gut + Broken Back = Bad Running Combo

Well, my first official race was the this past Saturday, The Wurst 5 Miler.  I have been so jazzed for this race since when I first started running in June.  For the past couple of weeks, I have had some spotty nausea and GI issues.  Well, Thursday night started the weekend of Hell!  I came down that evening with what I now call "bubble gut."  Except, this was no normal bubble gut.  I'm pretty sure my bowels were on the verge of exploding.  I've never experienced this much activity down south before in my life.  I also started burping CONTINUOUSLY these hot, gaseous, burn the hair in your noise, vomit smelling burps.  It was beyond disgusting.  You can only imagine what the fate of every "exit" in my body was.  NOT pretty.

I'm not sure what the cause was, yet.  I've pinned it down to food poisoning from my salad dressing, detox, or Candida.  I honestly don't know, but my instincts are telling me it was my salad dressing, or something I was continuously eating, because I started feeling better Friday afternoon....and then I ate my usual daily salad, and immediately felt bad again.  I have no idea.  Nothing ever tasted spoiled, or rancid, so I'm baffled as to what it could have been.  I made a new dressing today containing only one of the same ingredients as the previous dressing, so if I get sick again I think I'll have to pin it on the raw apple cider vinegar.  But, doesn't the vinegar trump spoilage?  *ok, just called the company and they said their apple cider does not need to be refrigerated, and does not spoil*  What the hell?!  I'm really scared to eat my salad today....

So, even though the guts were sick I decided I still needed to attempt the Wurst Run.  Probably not the best idea, but hey, I ended up getting some kind of run in for the day by the time it was all said and done.  Convinced I'm going, I head to the bathroom, bend down to shave my legs, and *!BAM!*...pain shot through the back, down the legs, and brought me to my knees.  I have no logical explanation as to why, or how, this happened, but it did and it was bad.

At this point, my friend, Laurie, shows up and I have a bucket load of problems I spill on her, but we head out the door regardless.  During the run, my body and breathing was feeling great.  Runners...you know...like those days when your body is simply in tune and ready to run?!  I was not labored, and my legs were light....my the belly was bubblin' bad.  Needless to say, mile 3 brought us by the cross street with the hospital, and we opt to head off course and in that direction for the ER bathroom.  I knew I was going to blow at mile 2, so making it to a little past 3 miles was more than I expected to accomplish.  I started running a low-grade fever, so we walked back to where my car was, and got me home.  The rest of Saturday continued to get worse with the stomach/GI issues, my back completely went out, and that night was an AWFUL mixture of both. 

I was really bummed about my first official race being screwed by health issues, and didn't want to be perceived as this person who dishes out excuses for not being able to finish a goal, but they weren't empty excuses...they were real ones!  I felt better knowing I had run 5 miles three times previously with some friends, so there's proof I'm not a faker ;-)  Plus, I got the shirt from the race, and that's all that matters, right?!

In conclusion, I went for my first run this morning since Saturday and I felt great!  Rest days really aren't just for torture...they really do work!