CIM 2021

So I'm going to apologize right from the start.  This race report is slow coming and very long.  It's actually the email I sent to my coach a few days after my race.  I'm including a lot more information than I normally would because I'd love any comments that might help me put this race in it's proper perspective and/or help me move forward toward my goal of a BQ.


4:42:23 Overall 5985/7629, Female 2252/3125, AG 54/107  I moved up in my placing every split until after 40K...and was still on pace to BQ at 40K...

Not sure quite where to start with my race report.  I guess the goal is to give you enough information to help me figure out a plan going forward.  Why did the wheels fall off so badly?  Were there things I did wrong?  Was I just not quite ready?  What should I do differently during my next training cycle?
 
I couldn’t have been more pleased and proud of my training.  The mileage I handled and consistently running 5 days a week were a huge step up for me.  And I enjoyed it!  I feel like I handled every run you threw at me.  I won’t say every run was easy…but I completed it on pace or slightly below.  And I was able to finish pretty much every run with a negative split which was a huge confidence builder.  I also did a much better job of consistently including core/strength work.  I’ve never done any rolling in the past.  I probably could have been more consistent but I definitely did better this cycle.  It did seem to keep my piriformis/hamstring/??  issue under control.  I’m not confident that the PT correctly diagnosed the problem.  While I was able to keep it under control I don’t think it’s been resolved.  Not quite sure how to figure out what is causing the issue and how to eliminate it.  He did mention a leg length issue.  It’s been an off and on problem for so long that I don’t really think of it as in injury.  It did still bother me when sitting in the car…thank goodness for lacrosse balls.  But I don’t think it affected my form while running (???).  Surprisingly it bothered me during the drive to the race but wasn’t as bad during the drive home.  Every day nutrition/hydration may not have been perfect but overall I think I did pretty well.  I also practiced nutrition/hydration for race day more than I have in the past and was quite comfortable with that on race day.  I’ve never felt more confident going into a race.
 
So here we go…

• We were up early Friday morning and headed out after coffee and a muffin.  We had a nice breakfast just over 3 hours into the drive.  We stopped often.  I hydrated well.  We snacked.  A slight detour to drive through the farmland, driving a section of the race course, and rush hour traffic turned the 8 hour drive into 12 hours but we made a lot of stops and I arrived feeling pretty good.  The goal was to check in to the hotel and then find a bowl of soup for dinner and have an early night.  We could not find a place to eat.  Everything downtown was closed or fully booked.  We finally got back in the car and drove out of the downtown area and secured a couple bowls of take away clam chowder…not my first choice but it worked. 
  
• We woke early on Saturday.  I had planned on waking before breakfast was available so had packed muffins to go with our coffee.  We utilized the hotel breakfast…not great but fine.  When the expo opened we walked down and I picked up my packet and had a very quick chat with the pace team leader.  All sounded good for race day.  We continued on toward the river and I completed my shakeout run.  I kept it at two miles as I didn’t want to spend to much time on my feet knowing that we still had to walk back to the hotel…about a mile.  We found a very nice bowl of chicken noodle soup and ate it outside along the river before walking back.  We showered and relaxed in the hotel until it was time to head to dinner.  Marty wanted to make sure he knew exactly how to get to the 20 mile cheer section so we drove straight there and then continued to old town Roseville.  We met up with Janice and Chuck…they were staying with their daughter in Roseville…and spent a few minutes chatting and enjoying the Christmas decorations.  We had a nice dinner…chicken fettuccine alfredo, bread, and water for me…and then headed to the hotel for an early night. 
  
• I slept surprisingly well but was awake when the alarm went off at 3:30.   I had water, coffee, PB&J on a white English Muffin, and a couple bites of yogurt.   I filled my bottles with Infinit leaving one for Marty to pass to me at mile 20 and carrying the other 2.  I also packed a banana to eat on the bus.  Marty walked me to the bus and I loaded at 5:00 arriving at the race start before 6:00.  I sipped on one of my bottles during and after the bus ride.  The line of porta-potties is impressive but it was nice that there weren’t long lines.  I made a couple visits and finished off my bottle.  I located some water and downed a GU and then made time for my 5 minute warmup.  One last potty stop and then joined the corral.  It was pretty well organized but crowded and I had trouble getting to the 4:30 spot.  I could see the 4:20 pacer and also the 4:35 pacer but wasn’t able to locate the 4:30 pacer.  Several other runners were also looking for him.  Someone finally commented that he was there but wasn’t carrying a sign.  We never did locate him but he did run and finished in 4:28:xx.  His starting paces were probably to fast for me so the fact that I was on my own wasn’t a bad thing.  Another lady and I ended up running together off and on for the first 8-9 miles and talked once but she fell behind and I didn’t see her again.
  
• Miles 1-8  I had consumed a full bottle of Infinit and one GU prior to the start so I didn’t push to down my second bottle to quickly but I did sip on it and emptied it around mile 8.  I was feeling good.  I was keeping a close eye on my lap paces and my overall pace but not stressing over a few seconds either way.  I realized that my watch wasn’t aligned perfectly with the mile markers on the race course so I kept an eye on my overall time at the mile markers to make sure I was on pace.  I tried to run the tangents the best I could but didn’t worry to much if other runners were in the way.  I was more worried about just running my race.
  
• Miles 9-19  I switched to alternating GU w/water and Nuun after I discarded my bottle.  I had practiced and planned to take a couple brisk walking steps at the aid stations to make sure I got the liquids down.  I knew I would lose a couple seconds but prioritized fueling.  It worked well.  I was feeling good and was very happy with my pace.  I won’t say I didn’t enjoy the spectators and other runners but I was pretty dialed in and just ticking off the miles.  I was looking forward to seeing Marty, Janice, and Chuck at mile 20.  My legs were starting to tire around mile 19 but were still very responsive.
  
• Miles 20-23  Oddly enough I wasn’t worried about mile 20 other than trying to make sure I didn’t miss Marty and my bottle.  Even though I had practiced carrying a bottle during training a lot and it had become very comfortable it felt different to grab a bottle at that point.  In hindsight I realize that I didn’t consume much of it.  I don’t recall worrying about the fact that it was “Heartbreak Hill”.  But the race was starting to get tough.  I thought about the goal to run a negative split but I didn’t want to push to soon.  I was starting to struggle with goal pace.   At some point I mentally adjusted to running closer to a 10:30ish pace knowing that I would miss my 4:30 goal but that a 4:35 BQ was still very achievable.  I knew there was a bridge at mile 22 and that it was smooth sailing after that.  I made it a goal to run 10:30ish till I crossed the bridge and then pick it up.  I couldn’t.  I would put forth more effort and then look at my watch and realize I was actually running slower.  I just could not get my legs to respond no matter how hard I tried.  It’s interesting to see that my HR was pretty consistent in the low 150’s for the first half of the race and then it gradually moved into the mid/upper 150’s and eventually 164.   I still felt like I was in the race mentally and was putting forth the effort but…
  
• Miles 24-finish  I will admit that it was deflating when the 4:35 pace team passed me.  But I still thought that I could hang with them and that if I passed them on the home stretch a BQ was still possible.  I had been able to make my legs respond during training and even though I was struggling I still believed that I could pull it off.  But my legs just would not do what my mind asked!  I didn’t ever consciously give up but obviously that last mile+ was pretty poor.  I kept thinking that finishing well was more important than a BQ but…  My legs just would not respond!!
  
• Finish  One of the medical volunteers grabbed me at the finish.  Heart and lungs felt fine but I couldn’t stay on my feet.  A couple volunteers supported me and encouraged me to continue to walk.  They let go a couple times but I couldn’t stay on my feet without support.  They stayed with me until I connected with Janice and Chuck and then left me with them.  We all connected with Marty.  I wanted a photo and some food but they were out of food…pretty disappointed to be handed a vegan bar at the finish.  They indicated that hot food would be available in 5 minutes.  The line for photos was long.  I finally suggested we head back to the hotel.  We decided to stop at a café on the way.  It gave me a chance to get something in my stomach, get off my feet, and chat a bit with Janice.  They made a big effort to be there for me and I wanted them to know I appreciated it!
  
• We eventually made it back to the hotel where I had some good food and a shower.  I was feeling okay by then.  We just relaxed until it was time to walk down to the stern wheeler for dinner.  The walk was slow but it felt good and we had a really nice dinner.  I had a restless night and we were up early to head home.  Once again we stopped often, hydrated, and snacked. 
  

 
So…that was the race.  I guess I have a couple things to figure out now.

• What went wrong on race day?
  
  
  
  • I felt like my training was good.
    
  • I felt like I stuck to the plan as far as pacing…until I couldn’t.
    
  • I felt like my pre-race nutrition was good.  And I didn’t have to stop during the race! (I often had GI issues during training.)
    
  • I felt like my race fueling was good but in hind sight did I cut back to much after I got my bottle at mile 20?  Up to that point I felt like I really stuck to the plan and was handling it well…no stomach discomfort.  I was starting to slow and lose more time at each aid station but maybe that would have still been a better option than the bottle.  Or maybe if the wheels hadn’t fallen off the bottle would have worked fine.  Was I short on fuel and just hit the wall?
    
  • Was the long drive on Friday a problem?  I’m not sure flying would have been any better.
    
  • Did I spend to much time on my feet on Saturday?  Maybe the walk combined with the shakeout was to much.  Splurge and stay closer next time?
    
  • Was my cold a factor?  I don’t want to use that as an excuse.  Symptoms were pretty mild and didn’t appear to be a problem but my resting HR had been elevated since Wednesday and I realize now that I was getting chilled in the hotel before the race.  Did I have a slight fever?  Was my body using energy to fight the cold that it should have been storing for race day. ??
    
  • Did my failure to run the tangents make difference…not enough to matter in this case.
    
  • Do I just need more time/another shot at it?  Katie reminded me that it took several attempts over several years to run my first BQ and that I’m really starting over so it may take more time/effort.
    
  • I keep reminding myself that this race wasn’t a failure.  I didn’t quit mentally.  I made it over “Heart Break Hill”.   I learned a lot and executed most of the race very well.  When I signed on with you in late February this was a long term goal and I’m still on schedule to achieve my goal.  But I can’t deny that I’m disappointed that I wasn’t able to finish stronger.
    
  • I’m confident I left everything out on the race course on Sunday.  There was nothing left in the tank!  It just wasn’t enough to get me to the finish in the time I wanted. 
    
  • Any other thoughts?
    
  
  
  

 
There are lots of thoughts running through my head.  It all depends on whether I’m feeling sorry for myself or realizing how much I really did accomplish.  I ran my marathon results through the age grade calculator and this race was actually my 2^nd best result.  It seems so slow compared to CIM in 2009…and the races that followed…but it actually ranks significantly better than every race except my BQ in 2013.  I’m just a lot older…and haven’t trained consistently since my heart attack. 

So there it is.  This race took a lot out of me and I've been slow to recover.  Some days I'm quite proud of my accomplishment.  Other days I'm pretty discouraged.  Looking for a race to put on my calendar.

Sorry about the disappointing race - we all have them sometimes.  I know I posted elsewhere regarding this too.

My one thought after reading this - did you have enough fuel leading up to the race?  Not sure there were enough calories in those soup meals - although, I'm sure the salt content was good.   It is just a thought as I am often guilty of the same thing.

You had a ton of positives like, drinking during the race, maintaining the pace through mile 21, Saturday was fine, not using the toilet during the race is one I would just love to have, etc.  Was your mild cold a factor.  That's a big, fat no.

Did you start your carb loading on Thursday?  If you did, then maybe Michele's thought on how you fed on Friday would have some validity, but not the entire last 5 miles of the race validity.  If you didn't, that's your problem.

I will give you my professional opinion.  If you take your name away from the race report, it reads like a regular marathon report, if you started fueling on Thursday.  But if you ran that whole race based on Friday-only fueling, that would be an amazing accomplishment.  You'll need to explain your fueling strategy before your Boston race, a few years ago.  Compare it then to CIM now.

But it does read like a regular report, including the slowing for the last few miles.  You just ran out of gas.

I would get your leg looked at, now that you have some time before re-starting for your next training cycle.

Make no mistake, Nancy.  You did good.

Michele \"1L" Keane wrote:Sorry about the disappointing race - we all have them sometimes.  I know I posted elsewhere regarding this too.

My one thought after reading this - did you have enough fuel leading up to the race?  Not sure there were enough calories in those soup meals - although, I'm sure the salt content was good.   It is just a thought as I am often guilty of the same thing.

Good point Michele.  The noodle soup on Saturday was a full meal so I think it was good.  I do think I may have ended up short on Friday afternoon/evening.  We kind of got caught and I wasn't able to eat as planned.  I was being pretty cautious as I had pretty severe GI issues during several of my training runs.  Solved one problem but may have created another.

ounce wrote:You had a ton of positives like, drinking during the race, maintaining the pace through mile 21, Saturday was fine, not using the toilet during the race is one I would just love to have, etc.  Was your mild cold a factor.  That's a big, fat no.

Did you start your carb loading on Thursday?  If you did, then maybe Michele's thought on how you fed on Friday would have some validity, but not the entire last 5 miles of the race validity.  If you didn't, that's your problem.

I will give you my professional opinion.  If you take your name away from the race report, it reads like a regular marathon report, if you started fueling on Thursday.  But if you ran that whole race based on Friday-only fueling, that would be an amazing accomplishment.  You'll need to explain your fueling strategy before your Boston race, a few years ago.  Compare it then to CIM now.

But it does read like a regular report, including the slowing for the last few miles.  You just ran out of gas.

I would get your leg looked at, now that you have some time before re-starting for your next training cycle.

Make no mistake, Nancy.  You did good.

When I think about the race logically vs emotionally I do have to admit it was a good race.

As mentioned above I think I may have missed a few calories Friday afternoon/evening as my planned evening meal didn't work out.  But I did fuel well leading up to the race, including Thursday,  Friday morning, Saturday, and Sunday morning.  Was the Friday evening meal less than adequate...probably.  Was it enough to matter...who knows.

I initially agreed with you re the minor cold symptoms but on reflection I do think it affected my ability to store fuel.  My resting HR was up considerably for several days leading up to the race.  I think...and Melissa agrees...that my body was using some of the fuel it should have been storing to fight off the cold.  How much?  We'll never know.

I do want to get to the bottom of this leg/sitting discomfort.  It's been an on/off thing since shortly after high school.  In the last few years I've had 3 or 4 different local PTs take a look.  All different diagnoses and no resolution.  The addition of rolling...especially with the lacrosse ball...has helped keep it under control but I would like to resolve it, not just control it.  I'm just not sure where to turn.  How do I find...and get a referral for the right PT?

Onward to the next training cycle...

if your discomfort is elusive enough for 4 people to not agree, then I'd wait until you have the sharp, stabbing pain.  Until then, niggle on.

Your discomfort sounds like my heart discomfort for which a stress test said I was fine.  And I'm 95% fine, just waiting for some REAL pain.

ounce wrote:if your discomfort is elusive enough for 4 people to not agree, then I'd wait until you have the sharp, stabbing pain.  Until then, niggle on.

Your discomfort sounds like my heart discomfort for which a stress test said I was fine.  And I'm 95% fine, just waiting for some REAL pain.

I don't disagree...but I would like to get it figured out sooner rather than later.  Preferably before I'm in the middle of a tough training segment for a goal race.  I'll ask around for advice about who to see.

Well done, although I'm sorry you're disappointed by the last few miles. And I understand the disheartening aspect of being passed by a pace team that wasn't supposed to finish until after you (I remember that very clearly for myself 10 years ago at Wisconsin) . I would also wonder if you ate enough the days leading up to the race.
As far as the hamstring-ish issue, I just saw my PT friend last week and she did dry needling and it really helped. And also gave me hamstring exercises. If you want me to share what those ex are, lmk. But she things my hamstrings are tightening up due to weakness, not actual injury. But enough about me, well done with your training and I'm sorry everything didn't come together as you expected on race day. I think most if not all of us have been there.

Julie wrote:Well done, although I'm sorry you're disappointed by the last few miles. And I understand the disheartening aspect of being passed by a pace team that wasn't supposed to finish until after you (I remember that very clearly for myself 10 years ago at Wisconsin) . I would also wonder if you ate enough the days leading up to the race.
As far as the hamstring-ish issue, I just saw my PT friend last week and she did dry needling and it really helped. And also gave me hamstring exercises. If you want me to share what those ex are, lmk. But she things my hamstrings are tightening up due to weakness, not actual injury. But enough about me, well done with your training and I'm sorry everything didn't come together as you expected on race day. I think most if not all of us have been there.

Thanks Julie.  I'm slowly accepting the fact that even though I felt like I executed better than I've ever executed a race in the past the end was still a bit disappointing.  Onward and upward.  Looking forward to trying again.

My hamstring/sitting issue is interesting to say the least.  It's been a very long term issue but comes and goes and is not always the same side.  That makes me think there is an underlying cause that I need to sort out.  I don't think it's an acute injury.  I'm looking forward to seeing what a PT that specializes in athletes has to say.

Onward...

I'm a little (OK, a LOT) tardy responding, but I have to agree with Michele and Doug and Julie: You ran a great race, but you ran out of fuel.

I was a little worried when I started reading your report and your desire to eat soup beforehand. It didn't give me the sense that you did much loading before the race, which meant the glycogen stores in your legs weren't as topped off as they could have been. That doesn't have an impact on training runs or even ultras (since the paces are slower), but in a BQ attempt, you're pushing much harder for much longer than a training run. That consumes glycogen a lot faster. That explains why you had the will to push harder (and your HR increase showed you were trying) but your legs wouldn't respond - it also explains why the legs gave out a bit at the finish. The muscle fibers didn't have the fuel they needed to keep firing at the level you wanted. 

I think you have a BQ in you still, and CIM is a good place to do it.

Mark B wrote:I'm a little (OK, a LOT) tardy responding, but I have to agree with Michele and Doug and Julie: You ran a great race, but you ran out of fuel.

I was a little worried when I started reading your report and your desire to eat soup beforehand. It didn't give me the sense that you did much loading before the race, which meant the glycogen stores in your legs weren't as topped off as they could have been. That doesn't have an impact on training runs or even ultras (since the paces are slower), but in a BQ attempt, you're pushing much harder for much longer than a training run. That consumes glycogen a lot faster. That explains why you had the will to push harder (and your HR increase showed you were trying) but your legs wouldn't respond - it also explains why the legs gave out a bit at the finish. The muscle fibers didn't have the fuel they needed to keep firing at the level you wanted. 

I think you have a BQ in you still, and CIM is a good place to do it.

Thanks Mark.  Your response was actually quite timely.  It reminded me to re-read my race report and re-evaluate my race.  I'll do so again every few weeks.

In my defense the soup was quite hardy, full of noodles and veggies...more like a full meal...definitely not Campbells soup.  But I can't disagree that maybe it contributed to my fuel shortage.  Everyone seems to agree that I just plain ran out of fuel.  I do think I eased back on fueling during the later miles of the race and will have to be aware of that in my next attempt.  But I'll also try to be a bit more conscious of loading leading up to the race. 

I just reread my race report and realized that you're talking about the soup I had for dinner on Friday...at least I think so.  I can't agree more with that!  Dinner Friday was a disaster.  The soup I had for lunch on Saturday was huge, full of veggies and noodles and quite filling.  I don't think it was a bad choice.  And then I had chicken fettuccine alfredo with bread for dinner.  I think I did well on Saturday.  I do agree that Friday was not good.  Even though I snacked during the drive I needed more that evening.  I will make sure that I either have a dinner reservation or take our dinner this year.

My first BQ took 5 years and 3 serious attempts to achieve so I haven't given up yet.  My training and shorter races indicate that it's possible.  I just need to put all the pieces together on the same/right day.

Thanks for taking the time to respond...and it was timely even if it was at a later date.