Fear is a Liar
Well if you look on the bright side you did really well for 10 miles :-). Whatever caused the cramps will probably never be known and chances are it won't occur again. I know that the racing season looks finished here but there are a lot 5k races left and up by me there is a 5 miler in December. Maybe a good VO2 max 5k would be the thing to do!
I'm so vegetarian I don't even eat animal crackers!
Healed Hammy
Bravo Margo, I think you summed it up well in your last post yesterday. You are correct the course and the day had no substantial impact, it was most certainly you pushing beyond your fitness levels. You are looking at it from the bright side, the gains in health and physical fitness greatly outshine the times and PR goals we set. Could you improve - yes. Will you improve - that is up to you.
I often times wonder if during our training we do not push ourselves enough. I know I real all about not "racing" your workouts, but clearly we need to push ourselves beyond our limits for shorter durations. Were your tempo runs really fast enough. Same for a 5k. I know 5k's can suck pain wise, but after run, really turns into a good workout. They push your limits for a short duration and then you gain fitness. So might I suggest that you take a few weeks easy, get through the holidays, and then consider the winter racing series from the BCRR club (if you have Sun mornings open). Those low key $5 events will serve as solid training boosts during the winter. You would then be set to run a good HM in April.
Sorry I was not there to see you (I live 5 miles from WC) but if you saw in the other thread I had emergency surgery on Thur last week to re-attach my torn hamstring. For me I am 6 weeks on crutches and in a hip brace, no running for 3 months. Maybe we will get to meet and perhaps run together in the spring.
You will bounce back, keep your level perspective, allow running to compliment you and your DH lives, not direct it and hopefully share in some better race reports in the near future.
Smaller By The Day
The great news is that you benefited from your training, and learned from the race. You're headed in the right direction. I look forward to reading about your third HM :-)
Improvements
Weight 100 pounds lost
5K 31:02 Sept. 2012 / 23:36 Sept. 2013 (Same Course)
10K 48:59 April 2013
HM 2:03:56 Nov. 2012 / 1:46:50 March 2013
MARATHON 3:57:33 Nov. 2013
It's very subtle, but the inclines and declines are different on the way out, than they are on the way back. On the way out, the inclines are more gradual, and the declines are steeper. On the way back, it's the opposite. There isn't a lot of elevation gain, but track around the park near my house is like that. It depends on the direction you run it. You can either run up a gradual incline, and fly down a steeper decline, or you can run the other direction and get the opposite. After the turnaround, you had been running for over an hour and then hit the steepest inclines you had hit all day. You didn't gain much of that effort back on the decline, because now they were gradual. It's probably not the only factor, but it didn't help.
Margo, I don't want to start an argument in your RR, but I wanted to elaborate a little. With your profession, I'm sure you can understand. My thoughts on the cramps are more from a medical standpoint, and not a runner's view. LTH listed some very credible links, I read each one, and they are correct to state there is no direct correlation, according to their studies. A couple of interesting facts from his links to be considered; first, the runners tested were ultra runners and triathlon athletes, and second, there are different types of cramps that are triggered by different reasons. In the EAMC, or Exercise Associated Muscle Cramp, it states that alpha motor neuron control is something related to muscle fatigue, and this particular item was not tested or evaluated.
Here is a link that I looked at, and I will let you form your own opinion, but it clearly states that dehydration increases the likelihood of cramps. It does not say that it causes them. http://www.medicinenet.com/muscle_cramps/article.htm
Here is a copy/paste insert from the Mayo Clinic
By Mayo Clinic staff
Overuse of a muscle, dehydration, muscle strain or simply holding a position for a prolonged period of time may result in a muscle cramp. In many cases, however, the exact cause of a muscle cramp isn't known.
Although most muscle cramps are harmless, some may be related to an underlying medical condition, such as:
Here is a copy/paste from WebMD
Muscle cramps can have many possible causes. They include:
I think we can all agree that the direct cause is unknown, but there are multiple factors that contribute to them.