Ran 13.1 miles... help..

Run it. You've already proven that you can cover the distance. I have run about a dozen half marathons and the way you feel now is the way that I felt after my first one. They get easier after this, provided you are doing the training.

Eat something. Drink water. Get up and move around every hour. You might feel even more sore tomorrow, but it'll start to ease up after that.

Having an ice bath right after a big run can help with the pain too.

The distance will get a whole lot easier with more training.

What was your longest run prior to that? If you made a large jump, that might account for it. If not, then it's probably not the mileage. If so, maybe back off and work back up to it.

Had you not eaten before running, or not hydrated enough before or during the run. You will sweat away a lot of water for a long run like that, dehydration is a possibility.

I wouldn't skip the race, I'm sure you can figure out what it was that was different about this run and correct it.

In terms of bouncing back when I run that far, the biggest thing is drink. A lot. Depending on the weather and stuff, I can lose 5-8 pounds of water while running, that's a lot. I drink a lot of water, and usually a sports drink, or two, to get some sugar back to the muscles. A banana is also good for the potassium to help with cramping. Usually at the end of long races they will often have some sort of bread/rolls available to also help replace carbs. I take advantage of it when it's there at the end of a race, but usually don't do it at home. No particular reason why, I just don't.

Some people eat salty stuff because it will help your body retain water. Makes sense, but personally I can't stand the thought of eating stuff like that after a long run.

Stretch right after running, that will also help avoid cramps.

I hope some of this helps.

how hard did you run this? A long run pace run shouldn't hurt that bad. You may want to take a look at your shoes, your gait, your posture, etc. I normally only get sore like that after I race or do a hard track workout.

Sorry, I snooped in your food diary for yesterday but it's not filled in.

Otherwise I have same questions Chagam had.

Would I be correct in thinking that you're having really hot weather in upstate NY too? We've been setting records for March this week and you're not that far away from here. That could also account for feeling rotten after the run, possibly a bit dehydrated and overheated?

One of the things I've found very helpful (and they're sheer torture at the time) is an ice bath after a really hard workout. You'll be cursing my name while you sit in the tub but you'll be thanking me the day after!

I did it in exactly 2 hours.. which seems fast to me as I wasn't thinking i was going that fast... but I guess I will go ahead and still do the 1/2 next month but now how many should I run proior to that? per week? per time?

You're hitting a decent race pace.

Could you describe your training up to running the 13.1 (how frequently you're running, distances etc)

Well I am running about 3 times a week.. not too much like 3 miles here 6 miles 8 miles etc....

There's the problem.

Half-marathon is long enough that you should be building up your distances in a progressive manner and not running the full distance at race pace.

Everybody's training plans will be slightly different but typically in a week I'll run at an easy pace Tuesday, a tempo run on Thursday, easy run Saturday and then my long slow distance (LSD) on Sunday. As you get closer to race day you gradually build your volume so you can adapt both physically and mentally. Your long runs should be at a pace that you can carry on a conversation. And take some gels or powerbloks or other form of quick energy with you - you probably almost depleted your glycogen stores.

I know you felt bad after yesterday's run but now you know you can do the distance, dial it back a bit and slow down for your training runs. (2hrs.....I've gotta say, I'm impressed - that's my goal time for this year)

Yup race pace is for RACING.

save it for race day..do your long runs at the appropriate pace, recovery runs are important too.

http://mcmillanrunning.com/index.php/site/calculator

^^^ This

You don't need to run that fast in training to get the training effect you are looking for. My general daily run pace is around 45 seconds per mile slower than my half marathon race pace. The long run training pace can be even 30 seconds slower than that.

There is a time for running fast in training. The long run isn't that time.

I felt like I was going normal pace and anytime I run I can't talk.. doesn't matter how fast I go.. and I normally dont run fast so I don't know if my gps system was wrong and I went shorter distance than 13.1 or what.... i don't know how to go slow or fast I just run... and it doesn't matter if I feel like i am going slow ... I never feel like i am going fast... haha.. so who knows.. where do I go from here for training .... do I go next week and start running again and how far do I do.. like 3 miles and 5 mile runs or?

Most of the GPS systems are pretty accurate (which one are you using?)

It may sound silly but it takes practice to learn to run slowly. One of the tricks I use (I run solo almost exclusively) is to control my breathing by counting footfalls. 4 in and 4 out - that forces you to slow down.

If this is your first half-marathon I'd forget about tempo runs and just focus on endurance, which translates into slower paced runs. How did you feel when you ran 5 and 8 miles?

If you felt good and recovered quickly you might want something like 1 run of 3 or 4 miles at a comfortable pace, one of 5 or 6 miles (a bit slower than the shorter run) and then one of 8 or 9 miles (slowest run of the week). The following week keep the 1st 2 runs pretty close to week 1 but add 1 mile to your longest run - again, keep it slow and steady. Third week same thing, add a mile to your long run which should be giving you 10-11 miles and you should be pretty much race ready.

Now is also the time to be experimenting with fuel (not race day), personally I like Clif shots gels but I haven't tried a bunch of others (I'm sure someone else will chime in) try your first one on a non-running day just in case your digestive system doesn't like it. Then take one half an hour before one of your shorter runs, if everything is good then on your long slow distance take one about 40 to 45 minutes into the run and a second one about 40 minutes later. You need to take water with gels.

I am a slow runner, but trained myself to go even slower on my long runs by singing along with my IPOD every now and then...

I would suggest doing it somewhere without other people around though - I only realized that when people gave me weird looks and changed sidewalks in order to get away from the crazy sweaty singing lady....:bigsmile:

You are begging for injuries if you don't take it slow and prepare properly....