Wineglass One: Lessons Learned
Since the Wineglass Marathon two days ago, reverberating thoughts of my painful finish have gone through my head. But now that the muscle aches have eased and normal eating and drinking have resumed, I can see things a little clearer. Even though I did not reach my ultimate goal of a Boston-qualifying time, I did learn some very valuable lessons which helped me to reach a new level of running.
LESSON #1: I always say that I do not run by my watch, I run by how I feel. This is all well and good, except that sometimes your body (and mind ) are not realistic. A look at the watch to know if your body is going too fast can be helpful. Slow down and save something for later. Watch your watch, not necessarily for speeding up but for slowing down and keeping in check with reality.
LESSON #2: Be wise to the weather. At the point that you start to feel cool, put that long-sleeve shirt back on! If you feel like you are cold and your body cannot respond by shivering, realize that you are already deep in the dog mess. And then find help to do something about it.
LESSON #3: Drink, drink, drink. Cold weather does not excuse you from having to take in fluids. The cold and the wind are very dehydrating. If you are someone, like myself, who has to normally pee every 45 minutes and find that you do not have to, then you need to drink more. Know the signs of big-time dehydration - dizziness, nausea, muscle cramps, and the fact that you are no longer sweating. A half cup of water or Gatorade every 2 miles is not enough; take an extra 20 or 30 seconds to drink enough. Your body will repay you for hydrating it by allowing you to make up the time lost.
LESSON #4: Run your run, not the crowd's. Let the cheers from the crowd keep you up but not push you faster than you think you are capable of.
LESSON #5: Know when to stop. Know when this just might not be your day . Know when to trade in all those months of training for a great finish for keeping your body and mind healthy for another day.
These are the lessons that I SHOULD have known but obviously really had not learned until spending two and a half hours in the medical tent at the finish line, shivering, nauseous, dizzy, cramping, and ultimately surrendering my self-esteem to the humility of the rectal thermometer and IV fluids. I do not ever want to spend the end of a race like that again (no offense to the medical team, they were all so wonderful and supportive and I really appreciated their help; I know I would not feel as good as I do today without them - THANK YOU). You miss rejoicing and commiserating with you friends. Not to mention missing THE BEST post-marathon food!! (I think the thought of reaching the pierogies kept me moving toward the finish - and then I was too sick to even have any!) I thought I knew my body - and probably I do, but somewhere in the midst of working too hard to achieve a goal that I had worked so hard for, the body and the mind dissociated. I did not achieve my Boston-qualifying time but I did hit a new PR by more than 6 minutes and now I am happy with that. Recognizing these lessons now, would I continue running a marathon feeling like that? I still don't know…
-- Christine Beach
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