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Second marathon

D

DisgruntledVirus

Lifer
1 hour and 30 minutes until start. Can't wait. Time to beat is 3:34:09 with an 8:11/mi pace. Target today is <3:30.

It's freezing out, lets hope that screw things up. About 42 degrees right now, start will only be 44 degrees...

Akron marathon if anybody is interested
 
Well at 18 started cramping and my legs started giving out on me. Never had cramping in my calves and thighs on a run before. Had to stop at the 20 mile aid station to get massaged. That kind of helped, but not really. Up until that 18 mile marker was right on target with 7:58/mi pace. After that I dropped way back.

Sadly ended up 20 minutes slower than last year finishing at 3:55 from my 3:35 I did last year. A bit disappointed in myself, but I finished and with all the issues I was having for the last 8 miles I'll take it.
 
DV - great job. It's your 2nd marathon...to be honest, you learn something new with every one you run. I've done 9 and I'm still learning as I go. There's always intangibles at every race - sometimes you got it, sometimes you don't.

Based on your cramping comment - how was your hydration in the entire week leading up to the race? How much water were you drinking daily? What did you drink and eat during the race? From past experience, sounds as if your water intake wasn't high enough during the race, or you perhaps took too much Gu/Gatorade and not enough water to offset during the race. (Guessing, since I don't know what you actually did during the race)
 
RagingBITCH said:
DV - great job. It's your 2nd marathon...to be honest, you learn something new with every one you run. I've done 9 and I'm still learning as I go. There's always intangibles at every race - sometimes you got it, sometimes you don't.

Based on your cramping comment - how was your hydration in the entire week leading up to the race? How much water were you drinking daily? What did you drink and eat during the race? From past experience, sounds as if your water intake wasn't high enough during the race, or you perhaps took too much Gu/Gatorade and not enough water to offset during the race. (Guessing, since I don't know what you actually did during the race)
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Water intake the week leading up to it was fairly good, especially Wednesday-Friday night. Saturday morning was the same. I alternated water/powerade as I did last time. Training runs I only do powerade on the runs so my system is used to that+gu's.
 
DisgruntledVirus said:
Well at 18 started cramping and my legs started giving out on me. Never had cramping in my calves and thighs on a run before. Had to stop at the 20 mile aid station to get massaged. That kind of helped, but not really. Up until that 18 mile marker was right on target with 7:58/mi pace. After that I dropped way back.

Sadly ended up 20 minutes slower than last year finishing at 3:55 from my 3:35 I did last year. A bit disappointed in myself, but I finished and with all the issues I was having for the last 8 miles I'll take it.
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3:55 is still very respectable. Congratulations on getting out there and persevering.
 
xaeniac said:
do you piss yourself in a marathon?
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Wat?

DisgruntledVirus said:
Well at 18 started cramping and my legs started giving out on me. Never had cramping in my calves and thighs on a run before. Had to stop at the 20 mile aid station to get massaged. That kind of helped, but not really. Up until that 18 mile marker was right on target with 7:58/mi pace. After that I dropped way back.

Sadly ended up 20 minutes slower than last year finishing at 3:55 from my 3:35 I did last year. A bit disappointed in myself, but I finished and with all the issues I was having for the last 8 miles I'll take it.
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I tend to sputter around 16-18 miles myself, until my second wind kicks in. Did you do any gels or such during the course? Most people would have probably taken a couple by mile 20.

3:35 is a respectable time though, and definitely puts you well above average. Congrats on the finish. Pictures of the bling?
 
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Congrats on the finish DV. Like the others have said, you learn each time.

xaeniac, soiling yourself in a race is super rare. As stated, on road races they usually have portajohns. On trail races, you are surrounded by a portajohn. I've shit in the woods before. 😀
 
Congrats on finishing your second marathon.

A shame about your legs seizing up but it could have been worse; you did not develop a stress fracture.

I find the cold weather cramps me up so I tend to keep the really long runs for spring/summer/autumn.

Do you run in compression pants?
 
Bateluer said:
I tend to sputter around 16-18 miles myself, until my second wind kicks in. Did you do any gels or such during the course? Most people would have probably taken a couple by mile 20.

3:35 is a respectable time though, and definitely puts you well above average. Congrats on the finish. Pictures of the bling?
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Yeah nutrition wise I did the same as last year, and as my long training runs. Cinnamon raisin english muffin with PB and honey with a side of water for breakfast. Normally eat a banana as well, but forgot race morning (which could have been part of the cramping issue I don't know). This has worked for me on 16-18 mile runs without gus, just powerade, while training. During this marathon I did a gu at about mile 9, then second was about 20. I was going to do one at the top of the hill that is from ~16-18 but then cramps started in legs and I was just focusing on those.

I was 205/1400 last year overall. This year I was in the top 1/3 (forget specific place) which put me around 530/1600. I'll take a pic of the medal tonight.

Dkcode said:
Congrats on finishing your second marathon.

A shame about your legs seizing up but it could have been worse; you did not develop a stress fracture.

I find the cold weather cramps me up so I tend to keep the really long runs for spring/summer/autumn.

Do you run in compression pants?
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Thanks.

Yeah I'm looking at it as, well could have been worse. I still did just under 9 min/mile pace, and for 18 was under 8 min/mile. Oh and I finished 😛.

Start of race was high 40's (48/49), and when I finished just before 11 it was mid 60's. I had warmup clothes on until about 10 minutes before start, when I dropped to tech shirt and shorts. I have compression pants but only wear them in cold weather. I do however have compression shorts that I wear under my shorts, but they only go about half way down the thigh.

I will sometimes wear compression calf sleeves, but lately haven't thought those have done anything (positive or negative) so I've stopped wearing them.
 
Congrats on finishing anyway, dude! And I did whizz myself during my first marathon because I had to go so bad, there were no portapotties around, and I knew that if I stopped to take a leak, I wouldn't be able to start running again. So I dumped a cup of water on me at a water station, then just let it go a hundred meters later or so. It was glorious. Then I forgot that I did that and got a massage afterwards. Poor masseuse!
 
SWScorch said:
Congrats on finishing anyway, dude! And I did whizz myself during my first marathon because I had to go so bad, there were no portapotties around, and I knew that if I stopped to take a leak, I wouldn't be able to start running again. So I dumped a cup of water on me at a water station, then just let it go a hundred meters later or so. It was glorious. Then I forgot that I did that and got a massage afterwards. Poor masseuse!
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Wow . . . 😛

Last time I had to pee that badly on a road marathon and there were no PJs, I just peeled off and used the side of a building. Good to be a male.
 
DisgruntledVirus said:
Yeah nutrition wise I did the same as last year, and as my long training runs. Cinnamon raisin english muffin with PB and honey with a side of water for breakfast. Normally eat a banana as well, but forgot race morning (which could have been part of the cramping issue I don't know). This has worked for me on 16-18 mile runs without gus, just powerade, while training. During this marathon I did a gu at about mile 9, then second was about 20. I was going to do one at the top of the hill that is from ~16-18 but then cramps started in legs and I was just focusing on those.

Start of race was high 40's (48/49), and when I finished just before 11 it was mid 60's. I had warmup clothes on until about 10 minutes before start, when I dropped to tech shirt and shorts. I have compression pants but only wear them in cold weather. I do however have compression shorts that I wear under my shorts, but they only go about half way down the thigh.
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Might have just been dehydrated/lack of electrolytes then is what it sounds like. 50's during the race isn't very hot, but you're at least working up a sweat. Especially if the finish was mid-60's. I start sweating pretty heavy around mid '50's and it gets worse from there.

The difference b/t training runs and racing is your pace - the long runs you are trying to utilize fat as your main source of energy. When you're racing at a much faster pace, you're burning through carbs. Guessing lack of food/calories in during the race (2 Gu's through the race really won't cut it) might have attributed to it.

Everyone is different though - my fiancee is pretty minimalistic (same as you) when it comes to energy intake. I've hounded her to up her calorie intake but she won't listen to me. She runs Twin Cities on Sunday...we will see if she can pull through it or hit the wall.

Regardless - hoping you are taking this week off to relax and recover - the general rule of thumb is, for every mile you race, you need 1 day to recover. So approx a month to truly recover from the marathon. Doesn't mean you can't run, but ease back in slowly and lay off the quality stuff.
 
RagingBITCH said:
Regardless - hoping you are taking this week off to relax and recover - the general rule of thumb is, for every mile you race, you need 1 day to recover. So approx a month to truly recover from the marathon. Doesn't mean you can't run, but ease back in slowly and lay off the quality stuff.
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That seems like an exceedingly conservative rule, at least for non-elite athletes. I've only done a few 10+ mile races, but I pushed myself to my limit in all of them, and I always felt fine and ready to go again within 2-3 days. Admittedly, I've not yet done a full marathon (got two coming up though), so we'll see how long it takes to come back from that.
 
RagingBITCH said:
Might have just been dehydrated/lack of electrolytes then is what it sounds like. 50's during the race isn't very hot, but you're at least working up a sweat. Especially if the finish was mid-60's. I start sweating pretty heavy around mid '50's and it gets worse from there.

The difference b/t training runs and racing is your pace - the long runs you are trying to utilize fat as your main source of energy. When you're racing at a much faster pace, you're burning through carbs. Guessing lack of food/calories in during the race (2 Gu's through the race really won't cut it) might have attributed to it.

Everyone is different though - my fiancee is pretty minimalistic (same as you) when it comes to energy intake. I've hounded her to up her calorie intake but she won't listen to me. She runs Twin Cities on Sunday...we will see if she can pull through it or hit the wall.

Regardless - hoping you are taking this week off to relax and recover - the general rule of thumb is, for every mile you race, you need 1 day to recover. So approx a month to truly recover from the marathon. Doesn't mean you can't run, but ease back in slowly and lay off the quality stuff.
Click to expand...

Yeah that's pretty much what I was thinking as well. I think it was just a poorly fueled race is all. Live and learn right? Oh well. I'll do better next time.

Wish your fiancee good luck for me!

Mursilis said:
That seems like an exceedingly conservative rule, at least for non-elite athletes. I've only done a few 10+ mile races, but I pushed myself to my limit in all of them, and I always felt fine and ready to go again within 2-3 days. Admittedly, I've not yet done a full marathon (got two coming up though), so we'll see how long it takes to come back from that.
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Yeah I felt fine after 2-3 days. This week though has been hell for me. Physically from the marathon, went out with friends night of the marathon and had to deal with drama, then Sunday worked 12 hours (yay salaried positions!) and had an emotionally rough Sunday night, Monday was even worse emotionally/mentally, then the rest of the week has been crazy at work including not sleeping as much as I should. So this week I haven't run at all. And I'm ok with that right now.

As promised however, if a few days late.... pic of this years finisher medal next to last years:
IMG_20121005_192325.jpg
 
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