The returning runner…

Act 49 – I can’t see clearly now (or my Halo is slipping)

Despite it being my second race of the day (and following a Mt Rose hike the night before) I was feeling surprisingly peppy in the Sunset & Cider 5 mile near Auburn, California. I had fairly quickly churned through the Junior High types who had sprinted out early. The leader was well out in front and clearly not someone I was going to catch but 2nd and 3rd place seemed like folks I might be able to reel in. The 88-degree temps made me nervous and I had pre-hydrated heavily – having downed 32 ounces in the 30 minutes preceding the start. I was pleased, no sloshing in the stomach and feeling good.

I rounded a bend shortly after entering the first part of the trail portion and found that I had quite suddenly reeled in 2nd and 3rd place (Jake Torres and Sarah Raitter) as they were completely stopped debating somewhat confusing course signage. We scratched our heads and picked the right fork. About 3/8 of a mile down the trail, we had seen no more of the promised orange streamers. Jake and I elected to turn around while Sarah continued on. Pulling into last place behind the runners who had gone the right way, Jake used the adrenaline generated by the realization of our error to “light it up” and took off (eventually working his way all the way back to a second-place finish).

I didn’t have quite the adrenaline rush that Jake got and, now I had another problem. Although I felt pretty strong, I simply couldn’t see well enough to continue to aggressively run the course. Sweat was pouring into my eyes! At first, I could go 100 yards or so without having to wipe my eyes but that quickly degenerated to something like 30 yards. It was crazy. I tried just ignoring the pain but even if I could do that, the rugged, rocky, trail required clear vision which I didn’t have. My race became just a workout “run” and that would have been the case even without the wrong turn. Having been running primarily 5ks and shorter track races, I had completely forgotten a critical piece of equipment!

I first realized how much of a problem I could have with sweat in my eyes at the Raleigh ½ Marathon a dozen years or so ago. In that race, I ended up intentionally under-hydrating at the aid stations just so I could run dry enough to not have the sweat pouring in my eyes. But, it is not a good idea to try to run dehydrated! The solution I found was the Halo sweatband. The Halo sweatband has a rubber strip which helps to seal on my forehead and direct most of the sweat around my eyes and has been my go-to since. So… find something that works for you and keep it handy for those hot, long, runs!

Photo: My well-worn Halo