I ran the STL marathon last sunday, perfect day for a run with 3,000 other people. My training leading up to this was stellar (for me) I was in Iraq all of last year and had plenty of training under my belt. I was averaging about 50 - 55 miles a week for most of December, all of January, February, and March. I felt good and well rested on race-day. My best long run during this build up was 20 miles @ 7:30’s. I was tired but I had enough juice to work all day that day so I figured I was good to go for a good 3:30 marathon. I fell off my pace (7:45) at mile seven and it got worse from there. My heart rate was low (140’s) but my legs were trashed. It wasn’t cramping it was more like a communications breakdown. Simply put my legs quit doing what I wanted them to do. I finished at 4:15 walking the uphills and “running” the downs. Even in the hotel afterward trying to get to the bathroom my legs would not function correctly. I have never had anything like this happen even during my hardest training days or other races (including ultra’s.) Race-day diet was on, nothing out of the ordinary, water intake was high and my stomach was great.
I feel ashamed at my finishing time, I could have done so well. I made it through the day and didn’t get a DNF but I am let down. Anyone else get the post-race blues after a big disappointment? How did you get out of it?
this sucks ass. have you considered watching one or several of steven segals’s films? that usually helps. also, you’ve already built this big pyramid - why not ride it out? find a half or a 10-miler or something that’s in a week or two. do some speed work to stay sharp, and then take a crack at ‘using’ what you’ve got left.
finally: in my experience, if i’m going slow and my HR is high, it’s because i’m dehydrated. if i’m going slow and my HR won’t go up, it’s because i’m low on calories. any chance you were underfed/bonking?
Yeah, before work. Nothing like 2.5 hours worth of running before a 14-15 hour work day.
Cals should have been good, I took gatorade and gels just like I had practiced for the first 10 or so miles but then I thought I might be low and started pounding gel and gatorade like a madman. It never upset my stomach but I felt super full leaving every aid station. I feel confident I could not have taken in more calories during the run. I also have a great pasta dinner the night before and oatmeal and 2 bananas for breakfast, a pre-race bar and gel about 20 minutes before the start.
this sucks ass. have you considered watching one or several of steven segals’s films? that usually helps. also, you’ve already built this big pyramid - why not ride it out? find a half or a 10-miler or something that’s in a week or two. do some speed work to stay sharp, and then take a crack at ‘using’ what you’ve got left.
-mike
I’ll see what I can find on netflix, maybe *Above the Law *is in order.
I am running a half on May 1st so maybe I can reclaim a bit of pride there, it is flat too so I think I can kill it.
You have just described my first 5 or 6 marathons. Goal time X. Actual time X + anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes. Every race leading up to it indicates it’s a reasonable goal time. Solid mileage, proper taper, etc etc. Race day long slow death. Starting no later than 16 miles and often earlier
Some days it was weather (frankly I think 80 degrees is hellishly hot for racing a marathon). Some times I ran too fast early. Most times, there just plain was no discernible reason at all. Some of these races I wasn’t even able to hit my pace for a single mile of the entire race.
The marathon is a strange beast. But since we can’t run one every weekend, each failure to perform leads to drastic questions. I just kept doing marathons and solving little problems that weren’t really problems so much as annoyances. Eventually you figure it out and start crushing it. And even then, you can have one of those days. Even Bill Rodgers said, “The marathon can humble you”. And he was speaking from experience.
I know you didn’t DNF but I wouldn’t feel so bad about a DNF. Given the price one pays for finishing a marathon, I frankly feel that DNF is a valid strategy to save a good block of training when it’s not your day. These days, when I sign up for a marathon and I’ve invested a ton of training and race day just turns out to not be my day, I have no qualms whatsoever about dropping the hell out early enough to recover and try again at another race in a few weeks. I’m not suggesting you aim for this, but I wouldn’t be afraid of doing it. We put in too much time and effort into marathons to waste it all on something we know at mile 7 is going to be a terrible day.
Have you run other marathons (sorry if you mentioned this and I missed it).
I’d chalk it up to a crappy day and look on the bright side, you know you can get the training in, now the next one you can crush this time and get a great PR. Next tile will be better.
And don’t forget all of the people who finished after you. I would not be ashamed of finishing any marathon. Most people never do that.
I know you said you were well rested going into the race, but how solid was your taper? I had similar experiences racing where I would be putting in real solid, focused training in the months prior, only to fall completely flat on race day. The numbers in training indicated I should have been able to do a good/great time but for whatever reason I crashed-and-burned when it mattered. It took me about 3-4 of these to realize I was overtrained/undertapered going into the race. I didn’t realize it because I could hit the 90-95% intensity workouts during training so I thought I was good. But when it came time to give it the full 100, my body was fried.
its supposed to take like 60/70 mile weeks to be able to do 26 without falling apart at the end right?
you were close to that! but not quite!
Not my first time but this was my first with good run only training.
I am also stupid sore. Really stupid sore. Like Steven Segal gave my legs the Fire Down Below or something. Miserable day to say the least.
Not really. Depending on your background, etc, 40-50 miles can be plenty to finish a marathon running. If you race you take your chances as far as falling apart anyway, no matter how well you are trained.
To the OP: I ran it too. I ran my share of marathons before, and despite the best run training I’ve done so far and a significant weight loss, I knew from the beginning that there was no miracle on that day in these conditions. Plus the course was actually worse than I thought. I tried to hold a good pace from the gun because it did not feel that hot yet, but like you I started slowing down around miles 6-7. Un-coincidentally, it was right around SLU where the hills starts. And around 9am (2 hours after the start) the heat really took its toll from my legs, without taking into account the pretty nasty wind. Thing is, if you look at the conditions and the course, I probably raced at the best of my abilities.
So did you. Don’t worry about it. It was not a good day. Like long distance triathlon, marathoning is about long-term build-up and consistency. Keep plugging the miles in.
FWIW:
Bad performances are tough, but they toughen you up. I’ve run the same marathon course. It’s not easy:
The hills are stiff, and they come at an “inconvenient” time, e.g. mile 13-17. (The downhills in Clayton and U-City hurt; they really waste your quads.)
It was f’ng HOT Sunday. No, not Iraq hot, but St. Louis hot, with high humidity, after a cold March/early April.
Keep training! You surely learned something new Sunday…I always learn something after a disappointing performance.
Sometimes the best go 0 for 5 at the plate. chalk it up as a bad day and get back on the saddle. No time for feeling blue. Who knows you may run a 3:15 on your next.
What you describe is exactly why I decided to stop chasing the marathon PR. I ran 2:44 the first time out on 30-40 miles a week and a couple of months of 45-60. Since then I have run in the 2:50s (twice), 3:00s, 3-teens, and the 3:20s (was that really running at the end?), plus one dnf. Several of those were with consistent 60+ mile weeks and plenty of 3 hour runs. Time after time I would think I was ready to roll and just didn’t have it. I could not tell you why I was spectacular for my first race and average to bad for the rest.
The worst of the lot was Boston in 2004 when the Marine Corps sent a team up to run. I was running so well then I could run three hours and still run the next day without issue. I ran really relaxed and went through the half in what felt like a pedestrian 1:18. Then my legs tightened up in a very odd way that had never happened before and has never happened since. By 15 I could barely run and I staggered and walked to the end in what is easily one of my worst running memories ever.
Screw the marathon; it is just not worth it.
Chad
P.S. Some of this is just personal genetics as well. I have a buddy who ran something like 20-30 marathons over a 15 year period and never ran worse than 2:50. He could just click them off like clockwork. He was a long distance machine.
Two other friends doing this race didn’t meet their time goals either. Similar to you; I was OK with the heat, fine with nutrition, good with hydration, but, the legs just gave out. I’m currently thinking that it was the lack of hills in training that did me in. This is the fifth time doing the race but for some reason I forgot how hilly this course is. Someone posted early about how the route through Clayton and U City tear the quads down and I totally agree! I do plan on following the same training plan for IMAZ, albeit, with some IM modifcations. Fortunately there will not be any hills on that run
I had a similar experience at the National Marathon recently (second marathon). My mileage and tempo runs(up to 15 miles) gave every indication that I would finish in 3:10 or so (conservatively). Blew up in mile 20 despite having my nutrition down (or so I thought) and it was miserable from that point on. I also experienced the disconnect between HR and legs you describe. My first marathon experience was similar. Still haven’t found an explanation, but I’m inclined to think that I probably had too many 20 milers in my body when I got to the start line.
Decided to give the marathon a break and focus on shorter races, which I really enjoy (5 and 10k’s). This past Saturday I did a XC 8k and came in 8th. HR was through the roof, and afterwards I kept thinking how much I enjoyed the race.
