Notes
This started out (first 17 to 18 miles) as a great training run. I am very glad we went to the Poconos because now I am calmer about the course. I had been very concerned about the downhills causing pain in my left knee, but it was minimal around mile 5 and 6, then retreated. However, this run turned into a lesson for me. My stomach is not as cast-iron as I had thought. I'm not sure if it was my non-standard breakfast, or the potentially expired powerbar gels, but my stomach was causing me all kinds of problems after about mile 18. I was drinking water every two miles or so, and had taken two gels up to that point. I assumed my FuelBelt was causing extra pressure on my stomach, so I handed it off to my family in the van shortly after mile 18. However, the discomfort and ultimate pain did not decrease. It actually got worse, to the point where running was almost impossible. I had to start walking short parts of some miles after #20. But each time I ran again, my stomach was not happy. Finally, I met up with the family around mile 22.5 and considered cashing in my chips. But I took a rest, stretched, drank some ice-cold water and had a few pieces of an orange. That seemed to help so I began running again. Unfortunately the recovery was short-lived. By mile 24 I was walking because of the pain. I sat down in the grass (at Jeannie's suggestion) and tried to stretch and recover. I had a case of very painful hiccups and lots of discomfort. After stretching for a bit, I didn't feel any better. I then thought if I laid back in the grass and stretched out my abdomen it might help. Well... it did. As soon as my head hit the grass, I felt my stomach stir and my throat clenched. I was going to throw up. And I did, but not much. Mostly air, but then a small amount of fluids - no real solids. It was more of a dry heaving and it happened about three times. I have never run to the point of throwing up before. But wow - it was an intense relief after I threw up. But I was not ready to continue running. I had done what I needed to do anyway. We had driven the entire course before hand, and I did more recon by running 24 of the 26 miles. I could probably have continued running, but it wasn't necessary and it was smarter to just pack up and leave.
I used my new Garmin 910xt watch. I just purchased it from Princeton Running Company last night. It's pretty cool looking: slimmer and feels better on my wrist. It also uses a barometric altimeter instead of GPS coordinates to measure altitude, which should be more reliable. I wore my 310xt on my other wrist so I could compare elevation data (haven't done that yet). My heart rate numbers also seem a bit more realistic, since there are no odd spikes over 200. The new strap may be the answer there. So, before my next run: no cereal (even though it was four hours before) and no heavy protein bars, and replace the batch of powerbar gels I got with new ones. I noticed they are dated Jan 2012.