For everyone on the blog who said they would still like me even if I had a bad race, here is your chance. Executive summary: Just a hair under 4:30 finish time (hoped for 4:10), soaked by rain, painful abdominal cramps from mile 5 to finish.
This was a very rough race for me. I still feel like I was in at least 4:15 shape, if not the 4:10 I aimed for. I started to get crampy around mile 5 and was in pain for the entire remainder of the race. I now believe it was a feminine issue, as evidence to support that has, er, come forth. But yesterday during the race I really wasn't sure what was going on. I do not remember ever running a marathon where not even one mile of it was enjoyable, as this race turned out to be. After “doing everything right” it was quite the shock to feel it all slipping away.
I do think I made two mistakes. The first was to neglect to bring Motrin with me. I used to bring it on every long run and marathon, but it’s been a long time since I've needed it. The second mistake I made was running with a pace group before I had warmed up. I believed I was doing the right thing by picking a pace group slower than my goal pace, but there is a big hill at about mile 2-3 and it may have cost me too much to stay with them at this point.
Here is how the race went. I lined up with the 4:15 pacer before the start and felt fine at that point. We started out right on pace and, as always, I hated the first couple of miles. I would do workouts with no warm-up if I thought that needing to run slowly for 2 miles was something you could train out of yourself. I kept telling myself, “you will warm up, you will feel better; you’re going out slower than you did last year so don’t worry.” (Last year was my 4:17 PR on this course.) But on top of not feeling comfortable, staying with the pacer was extremely nerve racking: it was very crowded and all kinds of people who lined up in the wrong place (gr) were in the way and had to be run around. Furthermore, one woman who was obviously going with the pacer kept pushing me over, like she wanted to be right behind him, but then she would weave away and I naturally took back the spot. It was just too crowded.
We came to the first real hill at mile 2 and were corralled into an even narrower lane of traffic. The word "sardines" comes to mind. I sensed that the pace was too fast for me to run on an uphill before I had completed warming up, but I was so packed in I didn’t know how to slow down. Looking back I should have just let the people behind me fend for themselves and get around me, but I stayed with my group. Perhaps unwisely, since it was not long after that I began to feel unwell. But who knows? It may not have made any difference.
We finally came to the downhill at mile 3.5 and I decided to let myself have my “normal” downhill flight. I am particularly good at running downhill, with my short legs, my fast turnover, and my mid-foot strike style. I pulled away from the pace group and waited for the relief of downhill running to bring my sense of comfort back. It never did. At the bottom of the hill, I fell into the 4:10 pace, which may have been a mistake at that point, but it is the pace I’ve trained for. Somewhere between mile 5 and mile 6 I started to cramp up all through my lower abdomen. Miles 6-16 are normally my favorite miles, even in marathons where I didn’t do very well. But yesterday, by mile 7, I was wishing I could call a cab. Still, without consciously pushing myself, my pace kept right on the speed I have been training for. (Yay for MP pace training.) Every time I ran over a timing mat I thought, “well, this is bad, DH will see this on the internet and be out there in the rain waiting for me at 4:10.” (He did catch my fall from grace by mile 20, so at least that was saved.) Oh yes, the rain. Our forecast was for a 10 percent chance of light rain; it started to come down at mile 7 and never did stop (and heavy at times!).
Somewhere around mile 14 I decided to do some walking and see if I could make the pains stop. They were now shooting down my legs. I would have paid my only little $5 bill for a couple of Motrin by then. During the walking, I noticed the 4:15 pace group catching up with me and fell in with them again. Even now, I believe I had the fitness to stay with them or overtake them even, but I lost my will to do so. I was in so much pain, I just didn’t care. After weeks of caring about this race so much that I was getting nightmares, I felt I didn’t care at all. The St. John’s bridge came up, and I ran most of the hill but walked parts of it too. Running up the hill, I could feel my leg strength, still springy and fresh, I just couldn’t fight the pain. The 4:15 runners drifted ahead.
The aid stations are not allowed to give out Motrin, I learned. Pride set aside, I actually asked several runners and volunteers for some as well, to no avail. Walking brought no relief, so I ran most of the time, albeit slower and slower. I was soaked through and in a lot of pain, but it was like I could feel the basic fitness underneath -- I just couldn't tap into it. There was nothing left to do but tough it out. It’s a good thing I love running, and that I know how much more positive a marathon can be. I'm used to the pain of the last miles, but this was ridiculous.
Not to end on such a depressing note, I’ll review whatever highlights I can think of and Lessons Learned. Highlights: 1) At the expo, I got to meet and talk to Bart Yasso! 2) I had an almost totally positive experience with pre-race preparations – the “almost” referring to my lack of Motrin. But I was wearing and carrying all the right stuff. 3) I managed to force myself to eat the gels I brought. That has always been a challenge for me. 4) Two years ago I would have considered sub 4:30 to be a minor miracle. Lessons Learned: 1) OK, needless to say, the Motrin thing. 2) Warm-up considerations may need to go further for me. This would mean that time goals may need 2-3 minutes added to allow for a slower and less nerve racking start. Although I've now complete 15 marathons, this was only my 4th attempt at a real time goal, so I'm still trying to figure out whose advice to take about pace and warm-up and whose to ignore, lol. 3) Nerves: My higher level of training this summer left me with some high expectations and I did not handle that well, especially during my taper. I don’t know how much my nerves affected me but it may have interfered with some overall well-being issues. I'd like to learn to relax before future races. 4) Rain has never been a big problem for me but I believe I should take its effects more seriously. In some small part of my brain I may have known that the wetness was making me chafe badly though I didn’t feel it until later. It may have been wise to abandon time goals once I was soaked with rain.
I can hardly wait to get my legs back and start training again for CIM in December. It's nice to know that this really is a fun sport and that yesterday's race was not typical. I know I'll get to my goals eventually. As long as I keep learning and getting stronger I have no regrets. Except forgetting the Motrin...
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