SunTrust Richmond Marathon - RunMarathon


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Richmond, Virginia
United States
Sports Backers
Total Time = 5h 33m 59s
Overall Rank = /
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

Got up early got a bite to eat and a cup of coffee and then drove to Richmond. Got there with plenty of time since Jill was running the 8K which stated an hour prior to the marathon.
Event warmup:

Watch the start of the 8K and then me and my buddy just sat around waiting for our start. Oh yea hit the port a john a couple of times.
Run
  • 5h 33m 59s
  • 26.2 miles
  • 12m 45s  min/mile
Comments:

We started out and as everyone else knew it was HUMID, we orginially thought we would be getting rained on but the rain had come and gone and now it was just humid. The first 8-10 miles went OK, but then I just started to fade. I had drank plenty of water in the week leading up to the run and during the run this day, but around mile 10ish I started having BAD muscle cramps in my calfs. I had to walk and was able to keep a strong fast walk, but every time I tried to run I would only be able to run a few steps (3-4) and my calf muscle would just cramp up.
I knew this would not be a great race and at this point really wanted to try not to walk till 13 miles, but my body had other ideas, so I had to deal with it. I made it to the 1/2 point at 2:24 (gun time). At this point I had a lot of company of other runners who where also having a difficult day. I now was shooting for under 5 hours which was going to mean I was going to be able to get rid of the cramps and run. This did not happen as you can see from my time. When I got passed by the 5 hour pace group I just said oh well keep on moving and try to have fun. I just started have fun with the spectators and the course had some good little crowds. I guess it was around mile 18 or so I was ble to start getting 1/4 mile slow slow run in before the cramps, that was pretty much the way it went. As I came to the finish it was downhill (thankfully) so I was running and having fun waving my arms for the crowd to yell and such, which my wife thought was a little goofy, but oh well after 5 and half hours I was a little goofy.


What would you do differently?:

Not cramp!! Train properly, I have done 5 marathons now and done 2 without what I needed to do, but this one really kicked my butt. I am not sure why the cramps where SO BAD. I need to correct this. As a matter of fact the legs continued to cramp into the late afternoon while watching football. My buddy who came into town also had bad leg cramps and as we sat and watch football it was kinda funny every once in a while one of us would have a calf cramp up. You did not know if we where yelling at the play or because of the cramp.

This is the first race where leg cramps just shut me down, I have had cramping before just not to this extent. I need to find out why and fix it.
Post race
Warm down:

Got 2 bottles of water and went home. A little streching.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Well this is a no brainer

Event comments:

Nice race, good crowds, aid stations and well organized.




Last updated: 2008-05-27 12:00 AM
Running
05:33:59 | 26.2 miles | 12m 45s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance: Bad
Course: rolling hills
Keeping cool Drinking
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5]
Good race?
Evaluation
Course challenge
Organized?
Events on-time?
Lots of volunteers?
Plenty of drinks?
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5]