Sorry to hear about your problems, Phil...but at least you'll be able to race
another day.
Mike C
Quoted message said:From: "Phil M." [email hidden]
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Quoted message said:NNTP-Posting-Date: Tue, 13 Jul 2004 10:37:10 EDT
Organization: BellSouth Internet Group
Date: Tue, 13 Jul 2004 14:37:10 GMTRace: Wine Country Half Marathon
Location: Napa to Sonoma, California
Date/Time: Sunday, July 11, 2004. 7:10 AM
Weather: Sunny, 55 - 70 deg F.
Goal: 1:37:00Short and sad story: Got sick. Died after 5 miles. Walked to the finish.
Puked at the end.Long and sad story: This is a beautiful course that starts in Napa and
ends in Sonoma. It has some minor hills, but mostly rolling. It winds
through the back roads of some of Napa Valley's vineyards.Based on a recent 10K performance of 43:19, I felt that a realistic goal
would be 1:37 for the half marathon. I am currently training for a
marathon in October. My long runs are in the 18 to 20 mile range and my
weekly mileage is over 60 miles per week. I was able to taper from 60
miles to 43 miles prior to the half.On Saturday night I was staying at my brother's house in California
during a family reunion. The first problem was that I lost my timing
chip, so I was stressed out about that. I believe that something that I
ate that day caused serious intestinal distress. Around 1:00 AM I was
having cold sweats and diarrhea. After a period of time I returned to bed
but could never go to sleep. I am thinking all night long that I should
probably just bag the race. However, I've run well before on no sleep,
but not while sick. I got out of bed at 4:30 AM to make the 45 mile drive
to Sonoma. At that point my mouth was dry, so I am already starting out
the day dehydrated. I am feeling nauseous so I only ate half a clif bar
and drank 20 oz of Cytomax with 2 Motrins. No coffee, since I couldn't
find the coffee maker. I was hoping to find a place to stop and get
coffee, but I never did.When I got to Sonoma I was able to get another number and timing chip. So
that was a relief. Since this was their inaugural event, there were some
things that didn't go quite right. We waited for almost an hour for the
buses to take us to Napa. I was only wearing a singlet and shorts so I
was visibly shivering by the time they loaded us on the buses. There were
no porta-poties and no fluids at the bus loading area or the race start.
My mouth was very dry already, and we hadn't even started the race. I
felt that maybe I could hydrate while running.We finally get bused to the race start. I'm disappointed that there is no
water to be found. I was counting on some fluids to save the day.
Everybody is feeling good at the start so I'm mentally feeling some of
that, however, I still have cotton mouth and can feel the effects of no
sleep.The gun goes off (15 minutes late due to the busing problems) and we're
off.Mile 1: A short 5% uphill grade at the start and I'm holding a 7:49 pace
for mile 1 (need 7:24 to make goal). My HR is 142 for the first mileMile 2: 7:33, HR 151. A little high but I feel OK. I pick up some Cytomax
at the first aid station, but it's not enough to get my fluids back to
normal.Mile 3: 7:49, HR 147.
Mile 4: 8:20, HR 141. Starting to lose it.
Mile 5: 8:23, HR 143. This is the point where I am totally losing
concentration. I am not having any fun. The weather and the course are
beautiful, but I'm not enjoying any of it. I already know I'm not going
to come anywhere near my goal. I am just wondering if I should stop and
walk for a bit or continue on.Mile 6: 10:37. That's it. I'm walking now. Just hoping to regain
composure and get back into a running pace.As it turns out, I walked the rest of the race. Finished in 2:54. Not
fun. I have never felt this bad during any run, let alone a race. I'm
wondering if it is dehydration from being sick or if there is something
else wrong with me. I pass the time watching the interesting people that
run in the back of the pack. They seem to have a lot of fun talking and
laughing. Some nice folks even ask if I'd like to run with them. I
declined. I ran the last half mile just to look good at the finish. After
the finish I sat down and just tried to relax. Every time I'd sit up
straight I would feel dizzy, so I just sat there for about 30 minutes
with my head in my hands. When I felt good enough to stand up, I went
over and got some sort of carrot/mango juice that they were giving away.
Unfortunately, this came right back up after 10 minutes. I'm not sure if
this was a sign of dehydration or what. I got a bottle of water and
slowly sipped on it as I slowly walked back to my car.Overall I'd give the race a 7 out of 10, mainly because of the lack of
fluids and porta-potties and some other screw ups. As for my performance,
all I can say is that it was just bad timing to get sick the night before
the race. I still don't know if it was something I ate or not. Today, two
days later, I'm still feeling a little queasy.Time: 2:54:21
Pace: 13:19/M
Division Place: 50 out of 50
Gender Place: 414 out of 421
Overall Place: 894 out of 930Phil M.
--
If you can empty your own boat
Crossing the river of the world,
No one will oppose you,
No one will seek to harm you. -Chuang Tzu