Running with Venom

Texting Sam in July that I am going to be 20 minutes late from a family outing to meet him for our run.  I arrive at the house at 8:10 ready to run about 40 minutes later than I would have preferred to leave for a run up Cavanal Hill.  I ask Sam if we could run the 7 mile loop on the road and then I saw his Dog, knowing he wanted to run the trail.  I then implied for us to put the dog in the back yard or the garage.  Sam had previously done both of these things leading to great disaster and costly damages!  So Sam said, “I am running the hill!”  I didn’t hesitate, I love that mountain in my backyard the challenges it brings, I grabbed my head lamp and off we went!

Cavanal Hill- Worlds Largest Hill in my back yard and it is 3.5 miles to the top with a little 2,000 feet of elevation!  The first mile I blazed though the woods and over a couple rock drop cliff areas with about 800 feet of elevation gain of climbing.  We were climbing this first mile and I was about 8 minutes into the run and I was killing about 1 horsefly per minute of running wishing I had a shirt on and listening to Sam laugh as he bragged about putting on some Oil that was keeping the horseflies away from him.  I though to myself I need to stop worrying about the horseflies and watch the trail.  Hoping many rocks getting darker by the second.  I then scream grabbing at my ankle!  Sam yells, “Snake” I yell back, “it just BIT me, what kind is it.”  Next words Sam’s mouth were evil but true! “Stay Calm” knowing he was about to tell me it was a rattlesnake or copperhead.  He said, “it is a BIG Copperhead.”  I then scream louder and pretty sure I was jumping up and down!  Sam then goes CrossFit style on the copperhead dropping rocks on it as I was tying my headband around my ankle.  Next thing I know I look up and my dog is nose to nose with that Snake and Sam is yelling at her!

I then begin the long mile down the hill hurting more and more with every step, wishing Sam would speed up at times and wishing he would slow down at times. Our headlamps are on now and we can see the trail better than what we could see just minutes before when it was dusk.  I stopped at one point to feel my heart and it was beating threw the roof!  Not sure if it was from the snake or from the adrenaline going through my body.  We made it to the flatter area about 300 yards from the house and Sam took off to get my family warned and things ready to get me to the hospital.  I figured I would do what I normally do after a run, jump in the pool, figured at this point it was get rinsed off and cooled down a little and for sure lower my heart rate!  My wife comes running out and Sam is sprinting up the trail yelling for me!  I yell back that I am in the pool and they are shocked that I was taking a dip in the pool.

I jump in Sam’s truck and off we go to Poteau Hospital, my wife and kids are on there way to papa’s and glandma’s so she can drop the kids off.  Stihl my oldest is crying & my youngest Scarlett is laughing saying “daddy……. Snake….. bite….” I try to call a doctor friend and text him hoping to find out what to do.  Then I call another good friend, Dautis that was bit just 2 months previous. No luck from either friend, the pain now is starting to settle in the foot and it hurting pretty bad.  Arriving at the hospital I get to see a good friend, Brandy who is a nurse.  I then get the foot up and start the long process with Poteau on how they didn’t really know what to do with the snakebite.  They wanted to get me in an ambulance and take me to Fort Smith and I wouldn’t do it!  I then start throwing up every 5 to 10 minutes in extreme pain.  Get some more pain meds in me and K-Jo and I are off to Fort Smith.  They didn’t help much over there either. The Doctor tried to put me in the waiting room as I was filling a barf bag and the head nurse said I have a room we can get him in.  I finally held down an anti-nausea pill long enough that I stopped throwing up and now was moving out the other end every 20 minutes… Couldn’t believe that much fluid was in me!  I hit the famous 6 hour mark and they sent me home.  This is when the swelling started.  It was 3 in the morning now and I fell asleep for 3 hours.  Waking up to a wife that was worried sick about my leg as over the next 24 hours it would swell to the size of a 400 pound man’s leg would look.

Prayers and loving friends taking care of me kept me sane through the pain.  The next 3 days I would only get out of bed 7 times.  You will see me in the pool in extreme pain to get in there but probably the most relaxed at had been in 3 days and also my first half redneck bath!

I am writing this exactly 6 weeks later and wow what a 6 weeks it has been!  I have never been hurt very long over the past 7 years and if I had a running hurt I would fall to biking and always work through it. Would I go from fast to not as fast, yes but never was I not able to do what I love, running, biking and playing with the kids outside. 

A good friend of mine, Jason Waymire shared one of his struggles with me, “Josh I had to find who I was because I was a different person not being able to be active.”  This is so true to what I have been going through the past weeks.  I am still having trouble and pain. Swelling when I take off running or biking.  Not swelling when I am running.  So trying to find the medium is where I am at for now.

I hope that if you have been injured you are staying strong to get back at it and fight to do what you love!  I love the outdoors and hope to not be scared of the woods or snakes!  This 2015 year started out with a dream ride at Queenwillamena 105 miles and 16k of elevation, thinking I could go do anything!  Then down and out with a big surgery on my nose coming back to do another huge ride to my Grandmother’s House of 163 miles! To snake bitten and out for the rest of 2015 season!

DON’T GIVE UP!

Ouachita Switchbacks 50k – 2014

        Last Friday was another great, crazy night at the Snyder Home.  We had more company than usual, this time from the Northeast Corner of Oklahoma and from Tulsa.  Matt, Chandler and Kyler, my cousin, were three of the new guests, along with the normal crew of Kasey, Aaron O, and Jordo.  We ate an amazing spaghetti dinner prepared by my wife Kristin Jo.  We then headed out to the Snyder Rock Gym and started climbing and watching Sam Young show us how to climb!  We wore ourselves out climbing and finished the 4^th quarter with KD scoring 54 points!

Top of Winding Stair - (Pics - Jed Kirby)

My father-in-law had come down to watch the little ones and he looked on as Aaron and I mixed our bottles,  and Kasey and I traded our Gels and Shot Blocks.  I looked up at him and he had this crazy look on his face like, “What in the world are these guys doing?”  One of the joys of us all hanging out before the race is us trading stories, training, clothing, and always Strava GPS info!

We had an early start as always and a full car this go around.   Two weeks before at ABF Marathon, Aaron forgot his GPS watch and iPod and this week he left his sports drinks in the fridge.  So I had Kyler put them in his bag and off we went.  I saw Aaron turn around and I called him and he said, “I forgot my bottles,” and he was freaking out.  I told him I had them and he was mad.  Stihl ask what he said and I told Stihl that I couldn’t repeat it!  Always good laughs it seems when you get me and Aaron together! 

The course is a double out and back, head west and then back, then east then back. My dad was running the Aid Station at the top of Winding Stair Mountain, Chandler was running from Winding Stair to the start of the race, Stihl was running to the top of Winding Stair.  So trying to figure the logistics of people in places at the right time was fun planning!

Tom Brennan has been racing for years and he knows how to put on the best races!  Keep them cheap, give swag, beer, and find the crazy hard courses that will challenge you beyond your limits!  He had been cleaning on the trail for many weekends and for that Tom, I thank you so much!  I put in time on the trails and I truly appreciate your hard work on the trails, almost more than putting the race on!

My dad working the Top Aid Station (Pics by Jed Kirby)

We pulled into Pushubee Trail head and the sun was just rising.  I found a great place to take a dig and watch the sunrise and Kasey thought that was pretty funny so had to post it.  Sorry if you got a bad image of that!  We took off at 8am and I had been pumped about this race because Justin Franklin had been posting some crazy fast times and he had won a couple races coming into the race.   Add to that,  Tom Brennan running the race this year as well, and a long course you never know what is going to happen out there!  I jumped out in the front at a pace that felt a little slower than last year.  Ran through the Big Cedar Trail head aid station and Franklin stopped and ran down to the first creek crossing.  I crossed this last year dry, but that wasn’t going to happen this year so I busted into the cold water.  I dropped them somehow at the creek and used this time to talk to God for the next 2 miles.  I couldn’t help but think of His wonder as I ran past one of the most beautiful places on the Ouachita Trail with a creek below.  Then I came upon one of my favorite places on the Trail, the massive Rock Glacier that makes you feel like you are in Jackson Hole, WY and makes me think of God’s mystery and creativity! Franklin had caught me at this point and was amazed also.  We stopped and looked up and then down the glacier.

Franklin and I at the Top

Kristin my Beautiful Wife

Stihl 9-year-old Son at the Top

            This would end the gazing as we pressed the pace up the mountain and dropped Tom in this next mile stretch.  I knew Tom wouldn’t be far behind and figured he would catch us by the bottom of the mountain with his downhill speed.  Great to see my dad for all of 5 seconds at the top of the mountain as I turned to head back down the hill looking at the amazing view one last time as we were at the highest point of the entire OT.  Then I would soon see Tom and a crew of people behind him.  It was great seeing so many runners coming out to run, walk or crawl up the mountains.  Shortly I saw my wife and surprisingly, my 9 year-old son was with her.  She said he was doing awesome and I gave him a high five! I was so proud of him that he had made it this far into the race!  I dropped a Gu and Franklin would pass me and start dropping the hammer but it was all downhill so I didn’t think much about it and was glad to finally get a little bit of uphill to relief the pressure of my quads.  We would go through the next aid station and into a very hilly next 3 miles to the 28k mark.  Franklin really pressed down in this area.  I felt it was easy but hard at the same time, so I eased up on hill climbs.  Getting to the aid station was nice, but difficult because it would have been nice to call it a day right then! As we headed out I grabbed many gels and a new bottle.  I was hot, and this is when I notice Franklin pulled his shirt off and I took my gloves off!  Yes I took my gloves off; this is a sign for me that I will never run well if the gloves are off in a long distance race!  I then began feeling upset at my stomach as we started climbing a big climb and I watched as Franklin disappeared into the mountains.  I then remembered back to last year and remembered how this climb was so hard.  I tried to keep a good effort up and finally stopped to try to relieve some stomach issues and nothing, but my heart rate came down and I started feeling better so I started running again.  At this point in the race, on top of the east mountain, it is so rocky and very difficult to run.  Walking it is difficult also, so I figured I would try to run as much as I could.  Soon enough I see Franklin on a rock so I check on him and then head down the mountain feeling better and better with every downhill step!  I then head onto the new course and the change of dirt road as my feet say, “oh yeah!”  I then feel my muscles say “oh yeah,” as I crossed the Kiamichi River which was really astonishing.

Tatur Aid station is the best! Loud music, great food and Brian Hoover ask “You want a daiquiri?”  I did want one, but mainly I just wanted to set there.  But it was a race, and I was in 1^st place!  Brian you’re the best! Crossing the river the second time my toes were very cold, but it felt great and it was great running the road again.  I then saw a dog in the distance and Tom coming around the corner.  He and his dog Penny weren’t far behind.  He said, “Now is the time to go for a sub-5-hour run!”  I was thinking yeah!  Then I hit the next climb and was thinking yes, but my body was thinking no! But I pressed on with what I felt like was a good pace.  Another climb up the hill until where that darn top is so rocky!  Crazy thing is, if you were hiking you have a great view of a mountain to your North and to your South that you could really enjoy.  But with racing you are glued to staring at the trail in front of you so you don’t trip and fall on your face!  I continued to get over the rock null and down the backside, but I was out of liquids and asking another 50k guy for a drink!  He said I need credit for helping you, I should have said, “I just lightened your load and helped you!  But he did help me so much.  So thank you random 50k brother!  I then ran pretty well down the mountain and hit the last flat section and picked up the pace as I came to the last dry rocky creek crossings and the last little climb to the top. 

I heard a yell and I fought to hold in the tears as I remembered running last year with my favorite running buddy, Jesse my 8lbs Toy Fox Terrier.  She finished the full 50k!  She was amazing dog.  She unfortunately was hit by a car this fall.  I know she would have run again with me this year and she would have torn the trail up again! I will never forget her running so many miles with me, but especially at 2013 Ouachita Switchbacks! 

Finish Line

Would love to break 5 hours on this crazy hard course but will need some more training and need a colder day!

1^st Place & Course Record 5:17

(Sorry I didn’t give me course description)

http://ouachitaswitchbacks.blogspot.com/2012/10/course-description.html