First Marathon done... Not a very pleasant experience.
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brentb71
Posts: 41 Member
Yesterday I completed the Zydeco Marathon in Lafayette, LA... my first full marathon. The race itself was very well done for an inaugural event. Temps were in the upper 40s at the start but quickly climbed into the 70s by the time I finished.
I trained & did not stray at all from Hal Higdon's Intermediate 2 marathon plan. Training went excellent and I felt great going into the race. My race plan was to run the first half at an average of 9:30/mile pace and either slow down, speed up, or hold steady based on how I felt at that point. That's about 1:05/mile slower than my half marathon pace. I thought that was a safe pace and it fell in line with my training paces.
I followed that plan and felt really good at 13.1 so decided to gradually pick up the pace. Not long after that I started having some stomach issues. Not bathroom stomach issues but everything (gel, water, powerade) I took in felt like it was going to come right back up. I slowed back down to a 9:30ish pace and started just taking water as I thought that would be the safest for my stomach. By mile 16 or 17 I started cramping in my hamstrings and calves. I was reduced to more of a shuffle than a run and walked through the water stations the rest of the way. At times I felt weak and that I just didn't want to continue anymore. I fought through it with a walk/run method until the last half mile where the fan support lifted me to run it in.
I finished in 4:33. A respectable time but I expected better based on my half times and training times.
A few more tidbits... I consumed 500g of carbs/day the 3 days prior to the race and drank plenty of water & gatorade. I was carrying 5 gels but only took 3 because of my stomach issues. Based on the amount of time I was out there I should've consumed more. They had hydration stations at every mile and I skipped about 4 of them but took only water for the 2nd half of the race again due to stomach concerns. My arms & face had lots of visible "salt". My first urine after the race was brown like a stout or cola.... pretty frightening. Based on those factors & the cramping it's obvious I didn't hydrate near enough.
Split times:
1 10:07
2 9:28
3 9:39
4 9:22
5 9:30
6 9:34
7 9:13
8 9:30
9 9:29
10 9:18
11 9:26
12 9:35
13 9:25
14 9:25
15 9:33
16 10:05
17 9:48
18 10:10
19 10:21
20 10:44
21 11:13
22 11:26
23 11:57
24 12:46
25 13:03
26 14:21
27 13:46
As tough as that was, I haven't sworn off running another one. Mainly because I KNOW I can do better and want to prove it to myself.
Any thoughts or advice on where I went wrong & how I can improve?
I trained & did not stray at all from Hal Higdon's Intermediate 2 marathon plan. Training went excellent and I felt great going into the race. My race plan was to run the first half at an average of 9:30/mile pace and either slow down, speed up, or hold steady based on how I felt at that point. That's about 1:05/mile slower than my half marathon pace. I thought that was a safe pace and it fell in line with my training paces.
I followed that plan and felt really good at 13.1 so decided to gradually pick up the pace. Not long after that I started having some stomach issues. Not bathroom stomach issues but everything (gel, water, powerade) I took in felt like it was going to come right back up. I slowed back down to a 9:30ish pace and started just taking water as I thought that would be the safest for my stomach. By mile 16 or 17 I started cramping in my hamstrings and calves. I was reduced to more of a shuffle than a run and walked through the water stations the rest of the way. At times I felt weak and that I just didn't want to continue anymore. I fought through it with a walk/run method until the last half mile where the fan support lifted me to run it in.
I finished in 4:33. A respectable time but I expected better based on my half times and training times.
A few more tidbits... I consumed 500g of carbs/day the 3 days prior to the race and drank plenty of water & gatorade. I was carrying 5 gels but only took 3 because of my stomach issues. Based on the amount of time I was out there I should've consumed more. They had hydration stations at every mile and I skipped about 4 of them but took only water for the 2nd half of the race again due to stomach concerns. My arms & face had lots of visible "salt". My first urine after the race was brown like a stout or cola.... pretty frightening. Based on those factors & the cramping it's obvious I didn't hydrate near enough.
Split times:
1 10:07
2 9:28
3 9:39
4 9:22
5 9:30
6 9:34
7 9:13
8 9:30
9 9:29
10 9:18
11 9:26
12 9:35
13 9:25
14 9:25
15 9:33
16 10:05
17 9:48
18 10:10
19 10:21
20 10:44
21 11:13
22 11:26
23 11:57
24 12:46
25 13:03
26 14:21
27 13:46
As tough as that was, I haven't sworn off running another one. Mainly because I KNOW I can do better and want to prove it to myself.
Any thoughts or advice on where I went wrong & how I can improve?
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Replies
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Congratulations on completing your first marathon.
Your experience is right in line with most first time marathon runners. It takes years of marathon specific training to properly execute a marathon. You experienced what every other first time has experienced.
Thoughts on doing better next time? Keep running. Keep your mileage up. A marathon training program is only to fine tune you for the race. You need to continue to run lots of miles the rest of the year too.
Based on your numbers, you are around a 1:50 HM runner, so McMillan puts you at a 3:53 marathon. I tell all first timers to take McMillan's prediction and add 20 to 30 minutes. As your race got a little hot, 30 is more likely, so your 4:33 isn't far off from that.
The marathon is a different beast. It requires a different level of and a different kind of fitness then a half. Just keep running and you'll improve at it.0 -
Tough first time, but glad to hear you didn't give up. I'd start with analyzing your diet in the 2-3 days prior and see if you did anything different than before your long training runs. (I'm thinking alcohol, less water leading up to the race, staying at a hotel with air conditioning running all night, anything that may have dehydrated you going into the race).
You mentioned extra salt from sweating. I have started taking sodium supplements while on my long races because of cramping and general ill feelings. It helped a lot. Keeping your sodium balance is important in endurance races. Something to consider is that drinking just water actually lowers this ratio even further because in addition to losing sodium to sweat, you are simultaneously increasing water which further exacerbates the problem.
Another thought, are you getting sick? Watch yourself the next couple of days and make sure this wasn't just a matter of bad timing.
Hope that helps. Keep at it!0 -
Thanks guys. The more I think about it, the more I want to tackle another one. I see things now in regards to my diet that I did to achieve a certain number in the days just prior to the race that I didn't do throughout my training including long runs that may have effected my stomach & hydration.
Until then I'll keep pounding out the miles and maybe try it again next spring.0 -
You about died and still are at my dream goal time for October :noway: :drinker:
That is a huge temp climb. This wonky weather is hard on runners! But you finished and now have a lesson to carry on to your next one.
So when is the next one? :happy: :happy:
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Well done on your first marathon! Even though you were hoping to finish it quicker, that time is AMAZING!! I'm doing the London Marathon in 2 weeks and would LOVE to finish in your time! :-) On each of my long runs when I've had a gel I've felt rough for the next mile or 2, so I'm dreading using them in the actual mrathon in case I feel worse!! Well done again!!0
