Rethinking Woodstock

Beautiful morning for a run until it wasn't

Today I was planning on completing one loop of the Woodstock course (16ish miles) however things did not go as planned. First my navigational skills are lacking and with missing trail markers we took a few wrong turns (even before mile 3).  Second the trail has a good number of parts that have a soft beach sand texture making the run tougher then I thought.  Now these two things sucked but they were manageable.  The third issue and the one that sent me home early was the rash/hives I developed on all my exposed skin after running through some very tall grassy fields. This happened at mile 2.5ish so I toughed it out till mile 8 but the first chance I had to take a trail back to the ranch I took it! The hives kept getting worse as opposed to better and I was starting be overcome with anxiety since nothing like this has ever happened before, so safety first over sticking to a schedule.

Swollen bumpy hives on my legs and arms

Rachel & I after the fun run!

After returning to the ranch I took advantage of the campgrounds showers and washed off. (Having a fully stocked diaper bag with body wash and rash cream helped tremendously today) On the way back home I took stopped at Rite Aid and got Benadryl.  Combination of those things helped so by the time I arrived home my arms were almost normal, a 2nd shower and some more lotion my legs are on their way to looking normal again as well.

After this run I'm rethinking Woodstock, well at least rethinking my outfit to avoid exposing any skin and avoid the rash yet staying cool enough to run.  I also will carry cortisone cream with me along with Benadryl just in case (It makes me very drowsy so I do not want to take in race day unless I have too)  Right now I'm thinking capris tights would work.  I am thankful though I went to check out the course early enough and have time to adjust and figure this out.  If this would have happened on race day it would have been a huge disaster and disappointment.

Shoes covered in mud and probably horse poop

Do you always try to check out a course before race day? Ever had an experience where you wished you had?  Anyone have a pair of running tights/capris they love in the warmer weather that I should check out?