The race started out well. The temperature was coolish but still quite comfortable to run in just shorts and a t-shirt. I breezed through the first half, on pace as per plan. The plan, BTW, was to finish the marathon in 3:35 to 3:50.

I used my heart rate monitor to log splits and average heart rate at every kilometer. I've looked over the data and what I see is that I had a nice steady pace and a heart rate that was steady at the top of Z2, bottom Z3. Everything was going great until about the 31 KM mark.

Over the next couple of kilometers my pace started to slow down due to the onset of cramps that were developing in my calves. By the 37KM point, I was hobbling at a pace about 15 min/km.

Now, I generally have a pretty high pain threshold and am pretty good pushing through pain and discomfort but this was a pain like no other that I have experienced. It was so deep, so severe that at one point while I was stretching against a light post, all I wanted to do was to lie on the ground in a fetal position and cry; yes, I'll admit it. I pulled myself together and continued to stretch and walk for a bit more. Eventually I was able to kick up the pace a bit, just a bit, and managed to jog to the finish line.

After crossing the finish line I no longer needed to mentally push through the pain and it all started flooding back. As I walked to pick up my stuff from the bag check, I winced in pain with every step. Frankly I'm surprised that no one came up to me to ask me if I was okay because I all I was saying was "ouch, ouch, ouch."

I ended up crossing the finish like at 4:08:09 which is a respectable time that puts me smack dab in the middle of the rankings. I'm okay with that. Yes, it would have been great to finish in my target time but I raced to the best of my abilities on this day. Overall, I think I will gain something valuable from this race, whether it's mental toughness or perhaps a change in nutrition; both of which may prove to be helpful in my attempt at Ironman Lake Placid next year.

I've given some thought as to why was experiencing all the cramping in my calves. I have some ideas:

1) Just because it was one of those days.

2) Insufficient training. This is hard to imagine given my base over the past 2 years but it's certainly possible. Maybe my training hasn't been as extensive as I believe it to be.

3) Long runs that weren't long enough. During tri season I have run consistently 3 times a week, one of which was a long 20K run. Over the last two months only been focusing on running and have been doing so 5 times a week. Still, I've kept my LSD to 20K relying on the knowledge that it's not the long run that will improve my run time but rather the increase in volume. Still, I wonder whether I shouldn't have thrown in a couple of 2:30 to 3:00 runs just before the marathon.

4) Insufficient hydration. I took a cup (sometimes 2) of Gatorade at each aid station. The cups were good sized so I'm sure I took in at least 5-6oz every 2KM. When I took a gel, generally every hour I made sure to take some water with it in order to maintain a proper carbohydrate solution. So at a pace average of 5:35/km and grabbing hydration at every aid station (every 2KM) I would have consumed 30-36oz of fluid.

I felt okay and thought I was hydrating well...until I had to pee. When I finally did pee after the race my pee was pretty dark, not the normal light colour that it is. Hmmm...maybe I wasn't hydrating properly after all.

5) Poor fueling. Based on the above pacing plan, I consumed about 34-36mg of carbs (164-177 calories) per hour between the Gatorade and gel. Was this enough? It felt okay, but maybe I needed more.

6) Poor electrolyte replenishment. I took about 100mg of electrolyte supplements on top of the estimated 103-116mg per hour that I got from Gatorade and gel. Is 200mg of sodium enough per hour? In cool weather? Some of the Gatorade tasted watered down, so I'm sure the number is lower. Question is, can a sodium deficit in a 4 hour race cause cramping that is as severe as what I was experiencing? (Funny side note, at one point I was so desperate to get rid of my cramps that I ran off course to a hot dog street vendor in hopes of finding a packet or two of salt - no luck)

7) A combination of all of the above.

I don't know what the real answer is but will be happy to listen to your thoughts if you have an opinion.

None. After changing into some dry clothes I was just happy to sit down.


I have two negative comments about this race's organization.

1. Since this is a point to point race, the race organizers provided shuttle bus service to the start line. I used this service last year and found it nerve racking waiting in a long queue and wondering whether I'd make it to the start line on time. I didn't use the shuttle service this year but I had three friends who did and despite the fact that they were at the shuttle line more than an hour before race start, they were all late for their event; some by as much as 35 minutes.

2. The post race food was sorely lacking. All that was available were bananas, oranges and bagels. That's it. Let me tell you that after running for 4 hours, being able to chew and swallow the dense dough of the bagel was next to impossible. If they would have just provided some jam, peanut butter or something else that would have gone a long way to help.

Considering the number of participants and the high entry fees, you'd think that there were better prepared.