A disappointing morning.
Well, this morning was my 1/2 marathon. After my 30k crash I've been working on things and I was kind of looking forward to this race. I thought I had everything worked out and this was going to be the proving ground. Okay, I was wrong!!!!
Following my new nutrition plan I ate a bowl of cereal before I left the house at 4:15a.m. On the ride over I drank my coffee and I was feeling really good. Got to the race start and met up with my group. We stretched and headed off to find our place in the pack.
As is typical, we started slow. Also, I needed a bathroom pretty bad (this was a harbinger of things to come). Before we got out of Kapiolani Park 4 of us headed off to use the restroom. Once we were back on the road things were going well. After you leave the park you head right up Diamond Head and that hill can be brutal right at the beginning of the run, but we took it slow. We were doing well and feeling awesome. Slowly we started picking up speed a little and thought everything was good, the miles were just clicking away. Long around mile 9 I realized that I had forgotten to take the ibuprofen this morning - ugh!!!! - that's why my ankle was starting to hurt. By mile 10 my whole leg was hurting - this was not going to be good.
Just after the aid station at mile 10 I rapidly developed a severe case of intestinal distress. It hit me out of nowhere. Unfortunately, there was no bathroom in sight, I was tempted to go in the bushes bordering the Waialae Country Club (wouldn't the golfers have loved that!!!).. Anyway, I stopped running and walked hoping this would pass without incident. It took almost a mile but it finally did pass.
I started running again and was running a little fast as my group had gotten a ways ahead of me. Around mile 12 I caught up to them and ran with them for a little while when I started to get nauseous, now what???? So I slowed down hoping it would pass but it proceeded to get worse. I could not run; walking was a huge challenge. I was sure I was going to throw up. I stopped putting anything in my mouth, I was too afraid I would lose it - literally!! This kept up all the way to the end. When I got to the finish line I grabbed a soda and collapsed on the grass.
We sat there trying to figure out what had happened - and I'm still not really sure. I followed the nutrition plan I've been working on the last few weeks but I think I may have overdone it. I had Gatorade in my bottle ( which is my typical drink) and my little Cliff Shot Blox. At 45 minutes I took my first Blox and tried to take them every 1/2 hour after (like I always do). I think what happened is I took too many Blox and drank too much water at the aid stations. I just emptied my bottle and it was still over 1/2 full of Gatorade. It's possible I didn't drink enough. I've been dehydrated before and it did not feel like this. I got home around noon and my stomach has been really queasy all day. I've been able to eat but it's been a battle. Of course, once I ate I felt better physically even though my stomach was upset.
So, I had been on track to finish the 1/2 in about 2:45 but because of this I ended up with a 3:30. I'm not beating myself up over this and I'm really glad it happened now instead of during the marathon, I just would like to know what went wrong. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, please feel free, I'm open to any ideas.
Following my new nutrition plan I ate a bowl of cereal before I left the house at 4:15a.m. On the ride over I drank my coffee and I was feeling really good. Got to the race start and met up with my group. We stretched and headed off to find our place in the pack.
As is typical, we started slow. Also, I needed a bathroom pretty bad (this was a harbinger of things to come). Before we got out of Kapiolani Park 4 of us headed off to use the restroom. Once we were back on the road things were going well. After you leave the park you head right up Diamond Head and that hill can be brutal right at the beginning of the run, but we took it slow. We were doing well and feeling awesome. Slowly we started picking up speed a little and thought everything was good, the miles were just clicking away. Long around mile 9 I realized that I had forgotten to take the ibuprofen this morning - ugh!!!! - that's why my ankle was starting to hurt. By mile 10 my whole leg was hurting - this was not going to be good.
Just after the aid station at mile 10 I rapidly developed a severe case of intestinal distress. It hit me out of nowhere. Unfortunately, there was no bathroom in sight, I was tempted to go in the bushes bordering the Waialae Country Club (wouldn't the golfers have loved that!!!).. Anyway, I stopped running and walked hoping this would pass without incident. It took almost a mile but it finally did pass.
I started running again and was running a little fast as my group had gotten a ways ahead of me. Around mile 12 I caught up to them and ran with them for a little while when I started to get nauseous, now what???? So I slowed down hoping it would pass but it proceeded to get worse. I could not run; walking was a huge challenge. I was sure I was going to throw up. I stopped putting anything in my mouth, I was too afraid I would lose it - literally!! This kept up all the way to the end. When I got to the finish line I grabbed a soda and collapsed on the grass.
We sat there trying to figure out what had happened - and I'm still not really sure. I followed the nutrition plan I've been working on the last few weeks but I think I may have overdone it. I had Gatorade in my bottle ( which is my typical drink) and my little Cliff Shot Blox. At 45 minutes I took my first Blox and tried to take them every 1/2 hour after (like I always do). I think what happened is I took too many Blox and drank too much water at the aid stations. I just emptied my bottle and it was still over 1/2 full of Gatorade. It's possible I didn't drink enough. I've been dehydrated before and it did not feel like this. I got home around noon and my stomach has been really queasy all day. I've been able to eat but it's been a battle. Of course, once I ate I felt better physically even though my stomach was upset.
So, I had been on track to finish the 1/2 in about 2:45 but because of this I ended up with a 3:30. I'm not beating myself up over this and I'm really glad it happened now instead of during the marathon, I just would like to know what went wrong. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, please feel free, I'm open to any ideas.
Comments
Not to worry, though. There will be other opportunities. Put it behind you and move on. After all, you DID finish and that is worth a very hearty CONGRATULATIONS!
Good luck! Take a LOT more than you think you need (500-1000 mg sodium per hour) and adjust from there. Can't really hurt, may help a lot.