"Everything you know about marathons is wrong" -- NYTimes (Read 1116 times)

Interesting. I wonder if other studies will bear out the same things...

It's an interesting article--I don't know that it really contradicts all conventional wisdom, but there are some new wrinkles. I can't say much about crampind during marathons or passing out at the finish. I can, though, speak in detail about collapsing an hour AFTER a marathon and then cramping badly--not just in the primary musles that were used to run the marathon either. In my case it was due ENTIRELY to dehydration. I think I actually confused the staff at the med tent at the 2004 Boston Marathon because other than being dehydrated, I was fine. My blood chemistry was so normal that the nurses thought I was diabetic. It took a while to explain to the doctor that I had basically jogged the 2nd half having bagged all pretenses of racing due to the extreme heat, and that I drank no plain water in the 2nd half, only gatorade. After 2 bags of saline in the arm the cramping was gone and I was good as new. It was actually the easiest recovery from a marathon I've ever had since I reallly didn't go to the well in terms of effort and beat my legs up or deplete my glycogen stores. The only soreness I had was from the cramping, and that was mostly in my abdominal muscles. I can attest to the raising the legs helping to regain conciousness too. They had to hold my legs up to ask me my friggin name, I was so loopy. FWIW I ran my PR under sunny to partly cloudy skies. It was 53 degrees, though.

Interesting, especially about the hydration. It does seem true that the first response to cramping is to force fluids; I did that myself at the CMM, and I think I threw everything out of whack because of it. I thought a couple pretzels probably would have been better ... but maybe when I was laying there on my back looking like an epileptic crab, I should have been stretching or something? The only thing I know helped was a very tall beer. Then again, it usually does. This part especially rang true: "Warmer weather had a greater effect on slower runners. On a 77-degree day, an elite runner would be about 5 percent slower than on a 41-degree day. But a runner who finished in three hours on a 41-degree day would be slowed by about 12 percent on a 77-degree day, finishing in 3 hours 21 minutes. One reason, Montain said, could be that slower runners spend more time on the course, and the temperature generally rises through the day." Weather may not affect the elites as much, but it sure affects us slowpokes - and being on the road almost 5 hours last time made it much, much worse. I'd rather run in 30 degrees than 70 degrees. (Of course, if I could finish in 3:30, it might not be so hot by the time I got done ...) As for sunshine ... clouds just make me gloomy. It might all be in my head, but it seems easier to run on a sunny day.

I agree. And the fact of the matter is that what's "in my head" counts.

Not to be a complete science dork, but I wonder if there is something even more physiological going on. Could it be that sunlight effects energy metabolism (through circadian rhythms, vitamin D metabolism, or something else?)? I've heard some really fascinating lectures about the impact that disrupting natural circadian rhythms can have on a variety of health outcomes (for example, increased rates of certain types of cancers in people who work the 3rd shift). Of course, the impact of purely psychological changes on running performance (a bad mood = a bad run) is pretty clear in my own running... and it seems to have an even greater impact the longer I run.

If you have fainted after a marathon, this is very serious. You need to have it thoroughly checked out. Has a physician evaluated you? You likely need a cardiac workup.