Lesson Learned
Well coach the marathon was a suffer fest.
By all calculations of training and fueling I could have would have should have been a ball park 4hr 15.
My best guess to the suffer fest is that it was 61 degrees with 70-80 humidity unseasonably warm. I knew this going into race week as a warm front was coming. I was not wearing a HR strap the last month as it was 40ish but with the warm front coming in I raced wearing one.
My best guess to the suffer fest is that it was 61 degrees with 70-80 humidity unseasonably warm. I knew this going into race week as a warm front was coming. I was not wearing a HR strap the last month as it was 40ish but with the warm front coming in I raced wearing one.
The race to my surprise was a trail race run mostly on the side of a canal that horses used to pull barges on around the Delaware river. So the footing was unsteady too, crushed red clay and rail road grade grey rocks worn into the ground poking sharp edges up, not street as I was use to.
My marathon HR needs to be 145 tops according to my 5K Vdot test with a LTHR of 162.
45 min into the run at my reduced 15 sec per mile pace I was sub 150 HR, the next 2 hours 45 min my HR was 160 + and I was running my 20 sec reduction during this time.
I figure I could handle top end HR, don't know why, however during that 2hr 45 min listed above my pace was gradually slowing down until my legs starting cramping. I was covered in white salt stains. I did not have salt tabs the gels, shot blocks or Gatorade were not cutting it.
Finally the last 1hr 15min I was reduced to a walk. I pushed for a walk/run of 3 min on 1 min off but 15 min of that the cramping and knots in my legs revolted and I just walked. I thought my feet were going to curl up on me. I was not the only one, an ultra girl was walking too her Sherpa husband rode his bike to the finish to get salt from the food folks. They didn't have salt either as I later found out while eating post race food. Others were asking for the salt for people still racing and cramping up.
As I spent the year working on my run doing only duathlons in the summer hitting core work building myself strong with durability and losing 13 lbs I thought to hit a PR. I can't remember the last time I was so beat up during a race. Today I'm sore but not busted up, I took the day off anyway.
Your thoughts?
I will post this for the team as lesson learned and input from them.
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Comments
I had three friends running it (Bucks's county right?) And two of them had a good steady run but ran way below their ability. One friend ended up with a similar day like yours, as he put it "it was a good pace for a twenty miler". Just not good marathon weather. And that crushed gravel can be tough on the legs if you are not used to it.
Recover well