Half-marathon

[Daegus]

So today was my first race since high school and first ever half-marathon.

The race started out great and it was so exciting! Unfortunately that was the high point and the rest of the race was dismal. I started off quite fast, maybe too fast, running with the pack and eventually hooked up with a group running around 7:30-8:00 miles. I had a steady pace with a 6.5 mile split around 47-48 minutes. Then it quickly went downhill from there. I began to get a bit crampy around seven miles and my pace quickly dropped to a horrific 10-12 mile pace. Battling the rest of the way I came in at 200. :complain

I felt great the entire race, but my muscular endurance was greatly lacking and I'm still rather pissed about the whole ordeal. It also didn't help that I was so amped to be in my first race that I had trouble keeping my heart rate down.

In the end that was the most painful experience I have ever been apart of to date yet I want to do it all over again, but be faster! :fire

Final note: I got a glimpse of the first place guy around six miles as the path looped back a bit. All I can think of to say is holy fucking shit! That guy was hauling ass and he had the biggest thighs for a runner I think I've ever seen.

[Sportsmedjosh]

Congrats on finishing it, that by itself a huge accomplishment. Now you have something to look foward to and to try to beat this time. It seems like you got bit by the running bug.

How was your training and eating coming into this. What are somethings you're going to try differently?

[Daegus]

Originally Posted by Sportsmedjosh

How was your training and eating coming into this. What are somethings you're going to try differently?

I had been following the diet you had me on, but I added another 400-500 calories of carbs three days before the event.

Training wise, I really need to do more intervals at race pace, but truthfully, I have only been running for a few months so I think I should stick to base building after a couple weeks of intervals and tempo runs.

[cabezon]

well, congrats on the learning experience.

What could you do different? what was your hydration like? gels? carbs? what was your goal pace.

Still man, my goal pace was 10:00 so running 7, 8 minute miles is impressive. Now you gotta figure out how to keep it going.

edit: I say your other thread wher you were figuring 7:30 miles. was that realistic?

[Daegus]

Originally Posted by cabezon

well, congrats on the learning experience.

What could you do different? what was your hydration like? gels? carbs? what was your goal pace.

Still man, my goal pace was 10:00 so running 7, 8 minute miles is impressive. Now you gotta figure out how to keep it going.

edit: I say your other thread wher you were figuring 7:30 miles. was that realistic?

I ate 4 gels. Before I started I made sure I drank enough water/gatorade that I felt like my stomach would pop. I usually do this anyway when I run, even training. Aide stations I rotated water and Gatorade.

7:30 was a little unrealistic. I was hoping to hit around 7:45-8:00 miles when it was all said and done. I still think the too quick of start really hurt me along with not being able to keep the pace which just means I need to do more intervals at the pace I want to run. I don't know if I would do anything different other than start a bit slower and train more at the pace I want to run.

Oh well, next time I'm so going to hit that 8 min mark or I just may throw something. :complain :complain

[Sportsmedjosh]

I would be super conerned about loading up on as much water as you possibly can. One thing a lot of marathoners suffer from along with a lot of other endurance sport athletes suffer from is Hyponatremia. On the premise that as much water as you can hold is good. Here is a quick run down from wikipedia.

The electrolyte disturbance hyponatremia (British hyponatraemia) exists in humans when the sodium (Natrium in Latin) concentration in the plasma falls below 135 mmol/L. At lower levels water intoxication may result, an urgently dangerous condition. Hyponatremia is an abnormality that can occur in isolation or, as most often is the case, as a complication of other medical illnesses. In the case of other mammals, particularly agricultural animals, different indications are relevant. The following refers to humans; an introduction to sodium deficiency in cattle is appended.
Contents
[hide]
1 Symptoms
2 Causes
2.1 Notable cases
2.2 Pseudohyponatremia
2.3 Hypoosmolar hyponatremia
3 Bovines
4 See also
5 Reference
6 Sources
7 External links
[edit]Symptoms

Most patients with chronic water intoxication are asymptomatic, but may have symptoms related to the underlying cause.
Severe hyponatremia may cause osmotic shift of water from the plasma into the brain cells. Typical symptoms include nausea, vomiting, headache and malaise. As the hyponatremia worsens, confusion, diminished reflexes, convulsions, stupor or coma may occur. Since nausea is, itself, a stimulus for the release of ADH (the antidiuretic hormone, which promotes the retention of water), the potential for a vicious circle of hyponatremia and its symptoms exists.
[edit]Causes



Causes of hyponatraemia
An abnormally low plasma sodium level is best considered in conjunction with the person's plasma osmolarity and extracellular fluid volume status.
Most cases of hyponatremia are associated with reduced plasma osmolarity. In fact, the vast majority of adult cases are due to increased vasopressin, i.e., anti-diuretic hormone (ADH). Vasopressin is a hormone that causes retention of water, but not salt. Hence, the patient with hyponatremia can be viewed as the patient with increased ADH activity. It is the physician's task to identify the cause of the increased ADH activity in each case.
In patients who are volume depleted, i.e., their blood volume is too low, ADH secretion is increased, since volume depletion is a potent stimulus for ADH secretion. As a result, the kidneys of such patients hold on to water and produce a very concentrated urine. Treatment is simple (if not without risk) — simply restore the patient's blood volume, thereby turning off the stimulus for ongoing ADH release and water retention.
Some patients with hyponatremia have normal blood volume. In those patients, the increased ADH activity and subsequent water retention may be due to "physiologic" causes of ADH release such as pain or nausea. Alternatively, they may have the Syndrome of Inappropriate ADH (SIADH). SIADH represents the sustained, non-physiologic release of ADH and most often occurs as a side effect of certain medicines, lung problems such as pneumonia or abscess, brain disease, or certain cancers (most often small cell lung carcinoma).
A third group of patients with hyponatremia are often said to be "hypervolemic". They are identified by the presence of peripheral edema. In fact, the term "hypervolemic" is misleading since their blood volume is actually low. The edema underscores the fact that fluid has left the circulation, i.e., the edema represents fluid that has exited the circulation and settled in dependent areas. Since such patients do, in fact, have reduced blood volume, and since reduced blood volume is a potent stimulus for ADH release, it is easy to see why they have retained water and become hyponatremic. Treatment of these patients involves treating the underlying disease that caused the fluid to leak out of the circulation in the first place. In many cases, this is easier said than done when one recognizes that the responsible underlying conditions are diseases such as liver cirrhosis or heart failure — conditions that are notoriously difficult to manage, let alone cure.
Hyponatremia can result from dysfunctions of the mineralocorticoid aldosterone (i.e. hypoaldosteronism) due to adrenal insufficiency, congenital adrenal hyperplasia, and some medications.
It is worth considering separately, the hyponatremia that occurs in the setting of diuretic use. Patients taking diuretic medications such as furosemide (Lasix), hydrochlorothiazide, chlorthalidone, etc., become volume depleted. That is to say that their diuretic medicine, by design, has caused their kidneys to produce more urine than they would otherwise make. This extra urine represents blood volume that is no longer there, that has been lost from the body. As a result, their blood volume is reduced. As mentioned above, lack of adequate blood volume is a potent stimulus for ADH secretion and thence water retention.
A recent surge in death from hyponatremia has been attributed to overintake of water while under the influence of MDMA. Also, Almond et al.[1] found hyponatremia in as many as 13% of runners in a recent Boston Marathon, with life-threatening hyponatremia (serum Na below 120 mmol/L) in 0.6%. The runners at greatest risk of serious water intoxication had moderate weight gain during the race due to excessive water consumption (see reference). Siegel et al [2] recently found that in addition to over-zealous drinking, the cause of exercise-associated hyponatremia (EAH)is from an inappropriate secretion of the hormone arginine vasopressin, or antidiuretic hormone. This excess hormone secretion prevents the kidneys from excreting the excess water in the urine.
[edit]Notable cases
Matthew Carrington, a student at California State University in Chico, California, died of hyponatremia in February 2005 during a fraternity hazing ritual [1].
James McBride, a police officer with the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia, died of hyponatremia on August 10, 2005. Officer McBride had been participating in a strenuous bicycle patrol training course. During a 12-mile training ride on the second day of the course, Officer McBride drank as much as three gallons of water[2].
In January 2007 Jennifer Strange, a woman in Sacramento, California, died following a water-drinking contest sponsored by a local radio station, Sacramento-based KDND-FM.[3]. The fact that the contest was called, "Hold your wee for a Wii" has led some to believe that not urinating is related to hyponatremia. This is untrue; this type of water intoxication is caused by excessive and rapid consumption of (sodium-free) water.
After completing the 2007 London Marathon, 22-year-old David Rogers collapsed and later died as a result of hyponatremia.[4]
[edit]Pseudohyponatremia
A normal or high plasma osmolarity with hyponatremia is called pseudohyponatremia. Pseudohyponatremia may be caused if extraordinarily high lipid or protein levels in the plasma interfere with the sodium assay.
[edit]Hypoosmolar hyponatremia
When the plasma osmolarity is low, the extracellular fluid volume status may be in one of three states:
Low volume. Loss of water is accompanied by loss of sodium.
Excessive sweating
Burns
Vomiting
Diarrhea
Urinary loss
Diuretic drugs (especially thiazides)
Addison's disease
Cerebral salt-wasting syndrome
Other salt-wasting kidney diseases
Treat underlying cause and give IV isotonic saline. It is important to note that sudden restoration of blood volume to normal will turn off the stimulus for continued ADH secretion. Hence, a prompt water diuresis will occur. This can cause a sudden and dramatic increase the serum sodium concentration and place the patient at risk for so-called "central pontine myelinolysis" (CPM). That disorder is characterized by major neurologic damage, often of a permanent nature.
Because of the risk of CPM, patients with low volume hyponatremia may eventually require water infusion as well as volume replacement. Doing so lessens the chance of a too rapid increase of the serum sodium level as blood volume rises and ADH levels fall.
Normal volume.
SIADH (syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone)
Some cases of psychogenic polydipsia
The cornerstone of therapy for SIADH is reduction of water intake. If hyponatremia persists, then demeclocycline (an antibiotic with the side effect of inhibiting ADH) can be used. SIADH can also be treated with specific antagonists of the ADH receptors, such as conivaptan or tolvaptan.
High volume. There is retention of water.
Congestive heart failure
Hypothyroidism and hypocortisolism
Liver cirrhosis
Nephrotic syndrome
Psychogenic polydipsia
Placing the patient on water restriction can also help in these cases.
Severe hyponatremia may result from a few hours of heavy exercise in high temperature conditions, such as hiking in desert areas, or from endurance athletic events when electrolytes are not supplied. (Such an incident notably happened to long-distance athlete Craig Barrett in 1998).
[edit]Bovines

Sodium deficiency exists in grazing animals where soil sodium levels have been depleted by leaching. This is more common in mountainous regions. Agricultural science research conducted in the northern Thai highlands in the 1970s found that an endemic sodium deficiency masked all other nutrient deficiencies across all seasons and reduced productivity. Sodium supplementation increased liveweight gain by around 30% and also reproductive rates by around 30%. Simple salt supplementation is now recommended in this region and neighbouring mountains, as both a herd management tool and for increased productivity (see sources below).

[Daegus]

Originally Posted by Sportsmedjosh

I would be super conerned about loading up on as much water as you possibly can. One thing a lot of marathoners suffer from along with a lot of other endurance sport athletes suffer from is Hyponatremia. On the premise that as much water as you can hold is good. Here is a quick run down from wikipedia.

Actually that was something I was very aware of. You lose somewhere around 15-24oz of water for an hour of running in a race and may or may not include essential vitamins. That's why towards the end I only drank Gatorade. In my next race I will be carrying salt tabs along with a few more gels.

Another thing many people had told me to do is weight myself before and right after a race. If you come in around a .5 lbs over or 1 lbs under is an acceptable weight difference. Some of them said that you never want to come in over.

[Sportsmedjosh]

Weighing is something that I think everyone should do after physical activity just to see the difference in fluid that they lose and replenish. Since we're always constantly losing fluids.

[cabezon]

You ate 4 gels before the races? and drank Gatorade? I'm surprised you didnt shart your shorts, no wonder you were cramped. You said you did this before, ate gels than ran; for this type of speed/distance?" the whole point of gels is that they are portable and edible on the run. Since the fuel in a gel only lasts about a half hour, I would encourage you to try carrying them on a training run and eat one every 3-4 miles, and use water with them. They are supposed to be an alternative to gatorade.

[Daegus]

Originally Posted by cabezon

You ate 4 gels before the races? and drank Gatorade? I'm surprised you didnt shart your shorts, no wonder you were cramped. You said you did this before, ate gels than ran; for this type of speed/distance?" the whole point of gels is that they are portable and edible on the run. Since the fuel in a gel only lasts about a half hour, I would encourage you to try carrying them on a training run and eat one every 3-4 miles, and use water with them. They are supposed to be an alternative to gatorade.

Sorry, I meant I had 4 gels during the race.

[cabezon]

nevermind then

here's a bunny


I don't know what to tell you except possibly slow down a bit. In marathons, 'start slow, end strong' is one of the thoughts. When you watch the leaders running the whole distance at 5:50-6 minute paces, it gets a bit discouraging. But the point is to be better than yourself. at 22 you've got a long way to go, and a marathon is about going the distance. Keep up the good work. when's the marathon?

[Daegus]

Originally Posted by cabezon

nevermind then

here's a bunny


I don't know what to tell you except possibly slow down a bit. In marathons, 'start slow, end strong' is one of the thoughts. When you watch the leaders running the whole distance at 5:50-6 minute paces, it gets a bit discouraging. But the point is to be better than yourself. at 22 you've got a long way to go, and a marathon is about going the distance. Keep up the good work. when's the marathon?

End of next month, but after doing my first half I'm wondering if a full one is way more than I should be trying to do. I might just stick to another half at that event.

[cabezon]

what was your long run before the 1/2? you've got five weeks? that gives you three to rain and two to taper. I would say go for it, but take it easy. once you know you can do the distance, then you can push it on the second marathon.