Stats: total runners - 1,607, finished 547 in 29.45. The goal was to finish in under 30 and we did it.
It was not easy though. Had this been my first race I wouldn't do another one, and it's probably a good thing I'm already registered for the next one otherwise I'm not sure when/if I would want to do it again.
I tried something different food wise this time and it backfired! Because I had been having issues with leg cramps all week I started eating a banana a day for the last week. I spaced it out a quarter of a banana with each meal, so that I wouldn't get a huge dose of potassium in one shot. (potassium gives me almost instant migraines.) By Friday I was feeling like I was on the verge of a headache, but my legs were feeling better, so I went ahead and had another banana.
I think where I got into trouble was having a clif bar for breakfast race morning. Clif bars have a lot of potassium in them, but what I ate last time before a race didn't work well for me, so I was determined to give clif bars a try. At first everything was fine. I felt great, was totally ready for the race to start. Michelle and I were strategic about where we were starting and staying to the left so we didn't get stuck behind slower people.
Things continued to go pretty well after the race started. There was a bit of an incline at the very start, but we faced worse in our last race so won't worried about it...however the pace was pretty fast! We were up the hill much quicker than I thought we would be, but we were still feeling pretty good, and even though we commented to each other that it was a fast pace we felt good and kept at it.
Things started going wrong for me after we passed the 2 mile mark though. I think all the potassium from the week finally caught up with me and my head was killing me. As a life long migraine sufferer I'm pretty used to them and it takes a LOT of pain to scare me...but this one scared me. It hurt so bad that it felt like my eyes were going to pop out of my head, and I started having waves of blackness wash over me. I literally thought I was going to pass out on the course I felt horrible.
I was so irritated because I could see the 3 mile marker, but I was pretty sure I wouldn't make it to 3 miles let alone finish. Two things kept me going. 1. Michelle. She is a great running partner and I didn't want to pass out on her and ruin the race for her. 2. My sister. I have read many post-race blogs about what she has gone through running marathons and what you go through physically and mentally. I know that she has run with injuries and that in the course of a marathon hits multiple walls that she has to push through in order to finish.
So that is what I did. When I started to panic and feel like I was going to start crying I had a little talk with myself and reminded myself that no matter how bad I was hurting it was almost over, I took a few deep breaths and told Michelle that I was not going to be able to push at the end like we had planned on and she was fine with that.
That lasted until I saw what the time was on the clock at the finish. Michelle's last comment to me right before the race started was that she would be disappointed if she saw 30 minutes on the clock when we finished. I saw that the clock was at 29:35 and I looked at her and said we have to push if we are going to finish in under 30, so we did. we picked it up and finished in under 30 minutes. I literally wanted to lay down in the pouring rain and die my head hurt so bad. I had the chills and was shaking. Easily the worst I have felt running by far.
We were pretty excited leading up to this race. Our first race had been a trail run, first year the run had been done and no timing chips. Our run today was paved so our time should be faster, is a very organized run with cool shirts, and we had timing chips. We were so looking forward to it and we had been training regularly, so really thought our time would be faster...not sure how much faster, but I thought we would beat our last time by a couple minutes at least not just one.
The time doesn't bother me though...what bothers me is that I'm having such a hard time figuring out the whole food thing and how to balance what I need vs what won't give me migraines. Next time I'm going with oatmeal and a little bit of dried fruit before the race and will bring a few bites of clif bar for right before the race. Because I still need some potassium to help with the cramping and if I eat two hours before like is recommended I need a little bit of an energy boost to get me through.
I'm glad this one is over...spending the day lounging on the couch, re-hydrating and resting. My legs are sore and my head is till not feeling all that great.
4 comments:
I'm so proud of you for sticking it out. Good job! Moo
Running is one of the most unique form of fitness in as much it is one of just a few sports that takes you into being catabolic. Catabolic--your body turning on itself to produce glycogen, or muscle fuel. Any distance over three miles will burn off glycogen stores and at that point the body will turn on itself to convert protein to glycogen--which is fuel for muscles. The pathology of catabolic is painful, to say the least. If glycogen is not replaced then at around five miles the internal organs will begin to leech out their stored glycogen just to keep muscle twitch needed from the legs. At this point internal organs are in a struggle for deficient glycogen supplies and if not replaced the organs will start to shut down. These conditions are a large part of why running is such a difficult endeavor. It hurts, extremely painful and it takes such a drive to continue under this stress. There are only a few foods with slow enough absorption to hang in there for five miles. Certainly plain oatmeal--has been a top five power food for the past forty years. Just last year the sweet potatoe (a sweat potatoe is the white potatoes that looks like a root. Not the red ones) took over the number one spot as the best power food and for numerous reasons.
Here is the thing about potassium. Anyone who supplements with potassium seems to always experience more cramps than when they did before using potassium. Why? Potassium creates a huge imbalance with salt issues. The fact is--working muscles require salt and potassium. Forty years ago all sports at all levels handed out salt tablets like it was M and M’s. Thanks to the AMA--American medical association--we treat salt like it is a poison. Another fact that can be Google searched--and this is sobering: The AMA took a study group of thirty people and for thirty years fifteen of them went very low salt while the other fifteen took in copious amounts without any restrictions. Thirty years later, and this is why this study is buried and one of the best kept secretes in American medicine, to the last one all fifteen of the low salt control group suffered debilitating heart issues. All were in their early fifties when these heart conditions hit them. At the same time not one of the fifteen who took all the salt they wanted for thirty years had a single heart issue. This information was buried before it became knowledge.
Every time I try just potassium I get both a continual low grade headache and more cramps. It make the condition much worse because of two physiologies. 1- potassium leaches water out of muscles. That is why on potassium you urinate more frequently. You are losing needed hydration and therefore you cramp more. 2-Water is pulled out of organs, including brain cells. The brain cells shrink and therefore the headache. For proof your brain cells are dehydrated--keep doing what you are doing now and the next time as you run drink twice the amount of water and you will find that you get very faint and light headed. It will be all you can do to keep from passing out. Why? Because your brain cells give up all their fluids and are dehydrated. At this point when you introduce copious amounts of water the dehydrated brain cells over compensate by soaking up way too much fluids. Your brain cells literally are drowning in its over compensation for being dehydrated.
Something to consider! By the way--I am so proud of you that you finished under such conditions. It relly was a monumental effort.
Love, DAD
So many things fall into place now. I was wondering why I was peeing like a pregnant lady last week...probably because I was eating a banana a day! I had not idea that potassium caused dehydration! I will not by trying to add potassium to my diet again I can tell you that for sure! Oatmeal and sweet potatoes (not yams!) I will consider sweet potatoes if the oatmeal doesn't work well for me. Considering we are running under 5 miles it should work just fine it sounds like. Thank you for the info Dad...it helps me know what direction to go for the next race. :)
So keep up the potassium, but with salt tabs if you can find them. Remember, salt holds water. If you can't find the salt tabs do what I do. Think back, there is a reason you see me salt most everything from fruits, vegies, meats, etc.
Love you and keep up the struggle. You really do look great! And don't let Mark give you a bad time about salting everything. Remember how excited he got when he saw me heavily salting my apple? Drink lots of water.
Love dad
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