Smutty Nose - the aftermath

Here is my conversation with my coach after the marathon from latest to oldest.

I agree with you that it really wasn’t in the cards to do more mileage considering where I started from.

In my mind:  In 2007 I had very successful marathons. I hardly slowed, very steady pacing. (except for Chicago which was 100 degrees).

Then in 2008 I switched over to triathlon.  At first my running improved.  Then, I got hit with the dreaded menopause.  My running declined steadily. I finally got a hold of things just this past May when I went to a Dr. and realized what was going on with my health.  I feel like a new person now.

On top of that, doing half irons over the last 2.5 years did not require the mileage I was used to.  So I feel I was de-trained for the marathon.  This is my first since 2007.  I did attempt one in 2010 as you know. But just one over a 3.5 year span.

Yes, my half iron performances were dismal in my eyes.  I never once felt good about my running times in the halfiron. I accredit that to my menopausal issues and lack of feritin which, I have also gotten a handle on.

So, from this point – I feel like I’m just coming back.  I’m not used to this kind of suffering. I do feel this run was successful on different levels.  I was able to handle that cramping issue and keep going. I qualified for Boston 2013.  It was good to get out there and remember that distance. It’s hard.

What caused me to slow down.  Could I have eaten more than a bag and a half of chomps?  The bag says one bag lasts for 2 hours so I ate 1.5 bags. Do you think I should have eaten more? I wasn’t hungry out there but perhaps that’s part of the problem.

I stayed away from the Gatorade on the course to avoid GI  problems. I drank only water except for one time.   There wasn’t anything else on the course. Maybe I’ll start wearing a fuel belt?

I think I’m going to visit a physical therapist just to have them check out my left side before going into IM training. If there is anything there I want to know what it is.

I can’t run Boston this year because of the qualifying window.  I could run a different marathon if you think it’s a good idea.  J I hope you don’t mind me laying a lot on you but as you can see I need help.

Lastly – I probably feel better than I should today. For some reason I do feel good today. I’m stiff but not like I have been in the past.  This tells me I didn’t run hard enough for whatever reason. I should be in more pain today, I think or I guess I’m more durable J.

 

Melissa J. Caron CIC - President

From: Carrie McCusker [mailto:mccusker@maine.rr.com]
Sent: Monday, October 03, 2011 12:31 PM
To: Melissa Caron
Subject: Re: Workout on 10/02/2011 updated for Melissa Caron

Here’s what I think.  You ran the pace you wanted to for around 16 miles.   At that point you began to fatigue.  You really have to question the fatigue.  Was it muscular?  Mental?  Fuel?  What did you eat in the final 10 miles?  Why did you cramp?

Granted I don’t know you that well yet—but in my mind you came to this race after several less successful efforts.  I looked at your splits in some of your previous longer races and you do slow down.  Often.  So the question is, WHY?

You didn’t get sick in this race.  You ran mostly solid- probably what felt easy for awhile.  I think that alone is a success.

The last 10K?  Coke?  Chomps?  What did you do?

Fueling is HUGE.  Understanding the cause of fatigue is essential.

I still wouldn’t have given you much more mileage considering where you started. 

How do you feel today- physically?

Are you planning to run Boston?

RACE REPORT THAT I POSTED IN TP

Up at 6am for the race to start at 9. This gave me 3 hours to wake up. Nice.

For breakfast I ate almost an entire large bagle (3 hours before) with peanut butter to offset the effects of the engineered food that was on the way. 1 bottle of water, 1 Coffee and a banana.

During the race I ate 1 and a half bags of chomps, drank only water the entire way. I felt I was well hydrated from the 2 days before plus 1 bottle of water the morning of. I drank at every water stop.

I didn’t really have an exact goal since I didn’t know what to expect. I hadn’t run a marathon since 2007 and well, after going through a few health issues it was hard to know what to shoot for.
Once I started out I knew right away that I should shoot for a 3:30 or just under.

I was doing GREAT for the first half. I was averaging 7:41-7:45 pace. I felt fine and I wasn’t pushing that hard. Of course my first mile was too fast at 7:37. .

Then, around mile 16 I got a cramp in my left thigh. Very strange I think. Not sure what went on there. It became very painful so I had to stop and stretch it out. After I stretched it I felt 100% better! I was so elated that it had gone away but that was temporary. It did come back and I had to stop and stretch that leg every mile or so. This slowed me down quite a bit.

The rain was almost non-stop. There was also quite a head wind during some miles. The rain made my shoes heavy and slappy after a while. I just kept churning my legs and arms. By mile 16 or so I noticed my average pace slipping to an 8. I tried to hold on but I couldn’t. My splits were now 8:30 – 8:50. I was suffering with my cramp. I held on though and changed my goal to qualifying for Boston.

I came in at 3:39:48. I qualified for Boston if I choose to run that in 2013 so I'm happy with that.

After I finished all I could do was walk. Then, I was in a lot of pain and I cried. It's a release thing. It felt so good to cry. Kathy was such a trooper. She met me at the finish and helped me. Thank goodness because I was quite a wreck.

I'm home and I just had 2 Kailua Sombrero with Mel Bair. :) Tomorrow Kerry has a short swim planned and a short bike planned on Tuesday before she gives me 3 straight days off. At first I was like, uh, I ain't workin out on Monday. But now I'm kinda glad because I usually get post marathon blues. lol... Having a work out reminds me that the marathon does not define me like it used to.

I would also like to add that I do think I would have benefited from another 21-22 miler but not sure it that was even in the cards given the low mileage that I started with. I think that is why I was in so much pain. I only had enough weeks to do one 21 miler.
Had a good time meeting up with some girls from GNRC and we had dinner the night before. We also had lunch after the race.

From: Melissa Caron

Sent: Monday, October 03, 2011 11:35 AM

To: Carrie McCusker

Subject: RE: Workout on 10/02/2011 updated for Melissa Caron

FYI – TP is a bit off. I didn’t shut my watch off for a few minutes after. I changed it but the files behind the scene are not changeable.

Yes, I thought I would feel like a needed a warm up but my body was so rested that it was just feeling ready to run. In hind sight I do wish I went out a little slower.

I was averaging 7:40 for the first 11 miles.   7:42 – 7:45 for the next 5 or so then  I began to slow way down.  Kind of a bummer. I changed my goal to 3:30 or less.  Then I changed it again to qualify for Boston 2013.  J   (which I did) 

I just think that since I haven’t been doing the mileage that I used to do, my body was not adept to the speed and distance that I wanted it to go even though my mind was totally there.

This just makes me want to do another one.  I know it’s not my focus, the IM.

When do we get to schedule races for next year? J

I’m going to enter a long race report in TP so that I remember everything. 

Melissa J. Caron CIC - President

From: Carrie McCusker [mailto:mccusker@maine.rr.com]
Sent: Sunday, October 02, 2011 8:16 PM
To: Melissa Caron
Subject: Re: Workout on 10/02/2011 updated for Melissa Caron

I think this is great.  You ran a little faster than expected early on- seems like it was mile 15 where you slowed down.  Good solid effort.  10th in your ag and within 5 minutes of 7,8,9 I think....

Sweet.

From: TrainingPeaks Workout Notification System

Sent: Sunday, October 02, 2011 8:04 PM

To: Carrie McCusker

Subject: Workout on 10/02/2011 updated for Melissa Caron

Summary workout information for Melissa Caron below. Please login to review workout details. http://www.trainingpeaks.com/

Workout Type:  Run
Workout Date:  10/02/2011
Workout Description: 
Pre Comments: 
Post Comments:  Garmin Forerunner 205/305
Total Time Completed:  3:39
Total Time Planned: 
Distance Completed:  26.2 miles
Distance Planned: 
Training device file available
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