Notes
It was all going so well ... CRAMPS!
Weather was good, temps in the low to mid 40s, light wind (tailwind for first 11 miles, cross-wind the last 15), cloudy.
I wore a long-sleeve dry-knit T with a rectangle cut-out to show my bib. Took it off and threw away around mile 10. Really worked well for the early chill.
I carried a handheld water bottle for the first 10 miles, too. It had 2 of my Gu's in the pouch. I threw that out with the long-sleeve, and felt great at that point.
I took all 6 Gu's during the race, at roughly the right times. Energy management was not an issue.
I switched to AVG Pace on my Garmin around mile 12. I watched it go from 6:54 to 6:52 very slowly over the next 5 miles or so. That was really encouraging.I had just one mile where I was bit too frisky with pace: Mile 12 was a 6:39. That said, my first 7 miles were slower than 6:52 (except for #6, which was 6:50). After that, I did not change my perceived effort one bit; the miles just started getting easier for me, which again was very encouraging.
Somewhere around mile 18 I had my first indications that cramping was going to be an issue. By mile 20, I had backed off the pace a tad, hoping to delay cramping as much as possible. (I was able to run on grass on the side of the path for a while at one point, and that would've helped with the cramps if I could have done that a lot more.)
My pace slowed to 7:07 - 7:14 for miles 21-23, which was not too bad, but the sensation of cramping was becoming imminent. Miles 24-26 included a lot of fast walking. My right hamstring made me start walking very suddenly when it locked up hard during mile 24. I walked for quite a bit before the hamstring was good to go. After that, it was mainly the calves that were cramping up.
One thought: I did not drink nearly as much fluid during this marathon as in most I've run. I did not feel thirsty at any point during the race. When I threw out my water bottle at mile 10, it still had a significant amount of water in it. And it wasn't even full when I started the race. So this is one thing to explore as a contributing factor to cramping.
Another factor is long runs on hard surfaces. Maybe not enough LONG Long runs, and maybe more should be on a hard surface to toughen up the legs.
Fall versus Spring. My 3 best times were all at TCM, despite it being a tough course. But it also follows a summer of training, which is probably better than all the Treadmill training I do in the winter and spring.
Lastly, perhaps too much taper? Maybe a 20-miler two weeks out? And at least a 22-miler two weeks before that?
Gotta keep trying.
MTA: I didn’t take the salt tablets. Forgot.