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Tallahassee Marathon - Run


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Tallahassee, Florida
United States
Gulf Winds Track Club
Overcast
Total Time = 6h 13m
Overall Rank = Last/175
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

Started off a little bumpy when I went to pick up my race packet the day before. NO ONE KNEW what kind of Gatorade or energy gels/food would be out on the course or even where they would be. I spoke to one of the race directors and he said there was vanilla Gu and tons of Honey Stingers but wasn't sure about the Gatorade or what mile markers they would be. Unclear where porta potties would be too. Usually a race course map is specific on those things but not this one.

Terrible sleep the night before. Todd's CPAP stopped working at 1am and he turned on the light trying to fix it to no avail. I had a lot of trouble sleeping after that. Got up at 5:30am, had coffee and finished last minute things. Left the house at 6:50am and got to the starting line at 7:15am for the 7:30am start time.
Event warmup:

This was the biggest turnout they've ever had and there were lots of people. Over 1000 for the half marathon and just under 200 registered for the marathon. There wasn't much waiting around. I put on my sleeves as it was a 45 degree start. As I was getting ready to eat my breakfast, I looked at my insulin pump and noticed my blood sugar was climbing up. I chalked it up to adrenaline because that can happen, but it was a foreshadowing of what was to come. I ate a Bonk Breaker and 2 dates and didn't have to wait long for the race to start.
Run
  • 6h 13m
  • 26.2 miles
  • 14m 14s  min/mile
Comments:

This race did not go as planned. I was tired from the beginning (thought it was because I didn't sleep well), but kept up my planned pace (4min run/1 min walk) until mile 15 or so. Mile 15 was a 2:2 and mile 20 was all walking.

As I was running, I noticed my blood sugar was climbing and climbing and climbing. Slowly at first, but I usually run with it around 130 and during this race it went over 200 from the start. I kept feeling like it would come down on it's own because I was running so far but it never did. It just kept climbing.

At mile 12 I started feeling nauseous like I might throw up. Kept going and finally called Todd at mile 15 to bring me a Coke after I took an emergency bathroom stop. He immediately was worried with me based on how I sounded. He found me at mile 17 and I had a few sips which helped. Blood sugar was still crazy high. I was just mildly aware of what was happening with my blood sugar because I was fighting with my body to run.

From mile 15 to mile 23, a volunteer bike rider rode with me (as I was the very last person) and got me back to FSU's campus safely at mile 23. At mile 20 I had to quit running at all and walked the last 6 miles back. Turns out my insulin pump site malfunctioned and I wasn't getting ANY insulin. Which is kind of dangerous. My blood sugar quickly climbed up to over 400 by the time we got home and I could take care of it.
What would you do differently?:

I would have put in an extra insulin pump site. If one went bad, I'd have an extra.
Post race
Warm down:

Crossed the finish line and NO ONE GAVE ME A MEDAL!! I know that I was just over the cutoff but they did announce I was a finisher. My family met me there and Carson found a lady packing up boxes of medals and asked for one for me. She said oh great, tell your mom congratulations for finishing. I'm pretty salty about the fact I had to ask for a medal. After the medal we went straight home (a 20 minute drive at 2:30pm. I was so nauseous I couldn't eat much the rest of the day. I took an insulin injection, changed my pump site and my blood sugar responded immediately. I just couldn't eat until much later. Besides the medal they also didn't post that I finished online. I know I missed the cutoff my 13 minutes, but I did finish. Salty about that too. It's not like I was trying to qualify for anything.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Diabetes, and probably mesopause and lack of weight training lol

Event comments:

Although the Tallahassee Half Marathon is a favorite of mine, the Full Marathon course left me feeling unsafe on the St. Mark's Trail as it was 14 miles of isolated running through highest crime areas of town. Volunteers were wonderful and the course was well marked. More details about the race course could be listed online as no one seemed to know what types of aid (gels, Gatorade, bathrooms etc.) would be where.




Last updated: 2022-07-08 12:00 AM
Running
06:13:00 | 26.2 miles | 14m 14s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 175/175
Performance: Below average
Course: After running the Tallahassee Half Marathon twice and loving it, I was completely unprepared for the marathon course itself and will never ever run this course again. Both the half and full start downtown, go through fun areas of town, over by FAMU campus and just before mile 10, the full breaks off and runs down the St. Mark's Historic Railroad Trail. Lots of our friends talk about how beautiful and flat this trail is, so I was excited to run it. But what I didn't know (and neither did Todd), that the trail actually starts several miles from the "popular" part of the trail and is in the WORST part of town. We ran through the most poverty stricken areas where I passed a dog fighting house (likely as there were many vicious dogs caged up and barking right at the trail), homeless people's tents, the "pick n pull" car salvage place, sketchy industrial areas, and we were literally running through the backyards of the highest crime rate areas in town. I could go on and on. The volunteer who followed me when I couldn't run anymore said he would never ever leave and let me go through this area alone. And it was 14 miles of that. I would never do this course again based on how unsafe it was to run in.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %-1.1%
Overall: Below average
Mental exertion [1-5] 2
Physical exertion [1-5] 2
Good race? No
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Below average
Race evaluation [1-5] 2

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2023-02-06 11:59 AM

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Member
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, Florida
Subject: Tallahassee Marathon


2023-02-06 3:24 PM
in reply to: #5284303

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Veteran
416
100100100100
Subject: RE: Tallahassee Marathon

You are a WARRIOR! I'm salty for you on the medal/online results. You did the distance. Kind of scary looking back (bs 400!!) so very thankful it resolved ok. Your training has been stellar so I am Team Re-do to take advantage of your fitness and have a day in the sun without conplications.

2023-02-06 3:35 PM
in reply to: #5284303

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Alpharetta, Georgia
Bronze member
Subject: RE: Tallahassee Marathon

Proud of you! What a day for the insulin pump to go bonkers. Glad Todd was at the ready and you got home safe. 

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