Marathon journey - The aftermath! Although this video I have attached is hilariously funny and I should be embarrassed to put it up here, I know that the learnings of this will assist many when they embark on their next running challenge, so more than happy to share. In preparing myself for just 75 days leading up to this event, trying to change my body’s physiology from one that likes short fast bursts of 5kms to 8kms, to that which can run a long slow 42.2km, showed quite clearly that there was still plenty of work to do, and more time needed. People are always of the belief that the very fit can just get in and get this event done without the lengthy training times or required period of preparation. This is the very reason that I am sharing this video, as it clearly shows that the type of muscle fibres you hold will determine the distance that your body is willing to travel, regardless of how careful you are on the day or the level of fitness that you hold. Genetically we are predisposed to having either fast twitch or slow twitch fibres in our muscles. There are a group of fibres however that can be trained or converted to swing either way. My training for 35 years has seen me do fast hard bursts of around 20mins, between 3 to 5 times weekly at high intensity. Training for the marathon meant converting these fibres to that of the fatigue resistant kind, requiring me to run at every increasing amounts of time in low heart rate zones in order to build a new mix of fibres that were up to the distance. In training I already knew that the last 7 – 10 kms was going to be a stretch, with my body almost always hitting the wall at the 35 km mark. What I didn’t expect, was that on the actual day, this was going to take place at the half way mark, with around 20kms to go. Sometimes in an event, you do things different to training, getting caught up in the atmosphere or conditions of the day, which can swing the result either way. In the video you can see me running, or trying to run (would have been quicker to walk), coming up along the right hand side of the video. What at first glance may look like dehydration, is really just a case of muscles hitting their firing limit with nothing left to give. The fact that I had taken in one to two drinks at each of the many drink stops along the way, may have been the reason my body allowed me to carry on. If you can imagine being in a bad way with 20kms to go, and then running pretty much like this for the last 10kms, it isn’t too hard to see why I hesitate to do this event again anytime soon. I also want to point out that when things get to this point you need to consider long term consequences of pushing forward, which is the key reason I am posting this message. When your brain tells your muscles to fire and they are struggling to go on, blood supply is redirected to the ailing legs, bypassing the organs that the body decides are not vital to survival. The effect of losing blood supply to these organs such as your bladder, kidneys, intestines and stomach can cause permanent damage or heavy bleeding post run and is important to understand. My aftermath was pretty much text book (bad), but miraculously righted itself overnight. The good fluid intake may also have been my saving grace as blood volume was maintained throughout. If I hadn’t put this event out in the public eye, I would have opted out of event without a doubt. The fact that I pushed on when in this state is not smart and should not be admired in anyway. 4 hours could have easily turned into 5, so happy to not be out there any longer than I had to. Taking it easy at the start line was never going to be a problem, as the crowds were thick right through until around the 12km mark. To achieve the overall time with the last leg considered, tells me that somewhere between the 12km and 22 km mark the speed had to have increased somewhat, even if I was unaware. This brings me to my second point. Perceived exertion is never a great gauge of intensity. Choosing not to use my measuring app on the day, fearing that it may just challenge me to run to an ever increasing speed, I suspect that I had put the accelerator on at some stage, which may have just added to the load. Anyway, over and out on this one. I believe it is a case of do as I say, and definitely not as I do (Can’t believe I just said that! ) train smarter, not harder!
Posted on: Wed, 15 Oct 2014 09:13:58 +0000
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