Rickshaw's Napa Valley Marathon

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Rickshaw's Napa Valley Marathon

OldManRunner
Runworks 2005 5M Racer
Rochester, NY
Joined: 28 Nov 2004
Posts: 262

Rickshaw's Napa Valley Marathon Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2005 5:28 pm

Two days left now until race day, Rickshaw. Are you mego-carbo loading like you did before Des Moines, or taking a more traditional (ie. sane) approach? Hope you're feeling better rested, and psyched to run a good time. By the way, I see that the winner is awarded his 'weight in wine.' That sounds to me like a good excuse for bulking up a bit! But do they weigh you before or after the race? I look forward to the race report.

ginger

Cambridge, MA
Joined: 08 Dec 2004
Posts: 46

Re: Rickshaw's Napa Valley Marathon Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2005 6:16 pm

ooo, I'd like to hear about your carbo loading strategy! What did you do for des moines? Do you feel that it helped? And you can ignore OldManRunner's claims of carboloading = insanity ;) Good luck this weekend!! Weather looks great - http://www.weather.com/activities/other/other/weather/tenday.html?locid=USCA0750

Rickshaw
Runworks 2005 5M Racer
San Francisco, CA
Joined: 26 Nov 2004
Posts: 1157

Re: Rickshaw's Napa Valley Marathon Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2005 9:08 pm

Hey, what's this? :-) Unfortunately I haven't been feeling so great... still some lingering minor illness I think. I felt dead tired most of last week, and only ran 19 miles all week. This week I've run 15, and have been fighting a cold and sore throat/sinuses. Yuck. I've been resting a lot and drinking plenty of water, so hopefully that will help. We'll see how I feel on Sunday morning. My carbo loading starts tomorrow. The protocol is to do a short, hard run on Friday morning, then rest for the remainder of Friday and Saturday. During those two days you eat about 4g carbs per pound of body weight per day, which involves a lot of bagels and grape juice for me. I followed the same program before my last two marathons, but I can't say if it really helped or not. In one I kept a decent pace from start to finish, but in the other I flamed out at mile 21. Fortunately the weather does look good: clear and sunny and in the 50's. My last several marathons were all in iffy weather, so this will be a welcome change. I plan to target about a 3:15 pace. 3:15:59 qualifies for Boston 2006 at my advanced age. In a perfect world I'd come under 3:10:59, which is my old goal and still the one I care about most. But truthfully I'll be happy with any well-paced race that doesn't involve a dramatic crash and burn in the final miles!

OldManRunner
Runworks 2005 5M Racer
Rochester, NY
Joined: 28 Nov 2004
Posts: 262

Re: Rickshaw's Napa Valley Marathon Posted: Fri Mar 04, 2005 5:34 am

No, no, tell the truth! He was carting around these little scraps of paper with notes regarding every gram of carbohydrates he'd eaten for the last 48 hours, working towards some nausea-inducing daily number that made you never want to eat another bite of bread! Now, I'm always sure to eat plenty of baked potatos and pasta and whatnot in the couple of days before a marathon, but Rickshaw's approach was a bit too obsessive for me. Then again, his race in Des Moines did qualify him for Boston in 2006 and I'm still working towards that lofty goal, so it can't have been all bad!

Bricks
Runworks 2005 5M Racer
Chicago
Joined: 09 Dec 2004
Posts: 222

Re: Rickshaw's Napa Valley Marathon Posted: Fri Mar 04, 2005 8:24 am

Have a great race Rickshaw! Hope you feel fresh on race day. Can't wait to hear the race report! Just curious... have you been tracking your heart rate while you've been ill?

Rickshaw
Runworks 2005 5M Racer
San Francisco, CA
Joined: 26 Nov 2004
Posts: 1157

Re: Rickshaw's Napa Valley Marathon Posted: Fri Mar 04, 2005 10:14 am

Actually I've decided that grape juice is my new favorite carbo-loading food. One 8 ounce glass (and that's a pretty small glass) is 38g carbs. A few tall glasses over the course of a day go down much more easily than a half-dozen bagels!

mfox

South Orange, New Jersey
Joined: 19 Dec 2004
Posts: 367

Re: Rickshaw's Napa Valley Marathon Posted: Fri Mar 04, 2005 10:38 am

I always stock up on Gatorade's "Energy Drink" before a marathon. I drink three 12oz. bottles a day for the three days leading up to the marathon, one or two before, and one after. I met a marathoner who is also a exercise physiologist at the NYC Marathon expo one year; at the Gatorade booth. She was buying a bunch of the "Energy Drink" and raving about how it helps her carbo load before a marathon. She had the background to know what she was talking about and she convinced me to try it. I beat my previous marathon time by nearly 30 minutes that year. I felt it had contributed significantly to my carbo-loading without having to ingest a lot of bulking foods that make you feel weighed down. Since then I stock up on it before a marathon (12 botttles); $1 each at the expo. You can check it out here. It's tastes pretty sweet (310 Calories in a 12 oz. bottle, 78g Carbohydrate, 42g Sugar. The folks at the Gatorade booth suggested it be taken before an endurance event but not during because it could cause an upset stomach strenuous exercise. Of course, I took a risk that year of trying it for the first time right before the marathon. So, I suggest, if you are interested in trying this drink, try it for a couple days before a long run and see if you notice any difference. You can still eat the bread and pasta as part of your carbo-loading...but you don't have to eat quite so much of it. Use the amount of carbs in this drink to replace some of the "solid" carbs you would normally eat. I'd be interested in knowing if anyone else finds this drink beneficial to their marathon performance.

swrittenb

Joined: 06 Dec 2004
Posts: 27

Re: Rickshaw's Napa Valley Marathon Posted: Fri Mar 04, 2005 10:45 am

Wow, good luck! Hope everything goes really well, and I'm sure you'll do great!

ginger

Cambridge, MA
Joined: 08 Dec 2004
Posts: 46

Re: Rickshaw's Napa Valley Marathon Posted: Fri Mar 04, 2005 10:57 am

Rickshaw, I followed a similar carbo loading strategy for 4 races this year - one half ironman, two ironmen, and one marathon. I think it works great! Hard run, first thing in the morning the day before the race (10 minute run, last 3 minutes hard, last 30 seconds all out sprint) to trigger glycogen uptake in muscles without depleting them that much. Then nothing but eating (as little activity as possible, which is always hard the day before a race when you may be travelling, registering, checking out the expo, etc) for the rest of the day. Target is ~10g of carbs per kg of body weight (works out to about 7g/lb, I think.) Grape juice is good. I also rely heavily on carbopro, a sports drink that has maltodextrin in it. Anything with maltodextrin will work. You can load up a water bottle with 100g of carbs, and that goes down way easier than oatmeal or bagels. I also carry around little scraps of paper to keep track of what I've eaten. Ok maybe it is a little insane :) Here are some articles about it: http://vnews.ironmanlive.com/vnews/topstories/1060878259 (there's a typo here, they say 10g/lb when the actual research is 10g/kg. big difference.) http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/0974.htm http://www.torq.ltd.uk/pfm_disp.asp?newsid=13

Bricks
Runworks 2005 5M Racer
Chicago
Joined: 09 Dec 2004
Posts: 222

Re: Rickshaw's Napa Valley Marathon Posted: Fri Mar 04, 2005 11:01 am

mfox, curious about all the 'new' gatorade products at the expo for chicago last year, i grabbed one of each, but didn't try any of them till after that marathon. i tried the protien shake after for some recovery, but couldn't tell you if it worked or not, but it was sure tastey. i tried the energy drink you're talking about the morining of the new york marathon. i hated the taste, i must say, and it was so thick compared to regular gatorade i had to muscle it down. i could see where during the race would be a very bad idea. i think i should have tried it the day before as opposed to the morning of. and i also got a canister of the endurance formula, which i now use on an every day basis as opposed to regular gatorade. i guess they now have multiple flavors of that and sell it ready made in bottles in gorcery stores. i've only tried the powdered lemon-lime and love it. it basically tastes like regular gatorade with extra salt in it, which is basically what it is. exrta sodium and potassium as well as the addition of magnesium.

ginger

Cambridge, MA
Joined: 08 Dec 2004
Posts: 46

Re: Rickshaw's Napa Valley Marathon Posted: Fri Mar 04, 2005 11:07 am

mfox wrote:
I'd be interested in knowing if anyone else finds this drink beneficial to their marathon performance.

I used Gatorade Energy Drink as part of my carboloading for the Ironman WC in October. They were giving it out at the expo. I liked it - it's high carb and pre-mixed for you. And at some expos, free :)

Rickshaw
Runworks 2005 5M Racer
San Francisco, CA
Joined: 26 Nov 2004
Posts: 1157

Re: Rickshaw's Napa Valley Marathon Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2005 5:11 pm

I got back from Napa earlier this afternoon. The sunrise cutting through the fog over the vineyards and mountains was absolutely beautiful. My race, no the other hand, was not so beautiful. :-( What, you want more than that? I'd been feeling vaguely sick the past week or so, and on Friday I came down with a definite cold, so I wasn't in the greatest shape for today's race. But this morning I actually felt well enough to hope that I'd put that behind me. I really wasn't sure what my body would be capable of running. The weather was perfect for a race. Crystal blue skies and temperatures in the 50's the whole way. I started at about a 7:30 pace, which felt okay. My heart rate was too high though, and so I kept making myself back off a little to keep from blowing up early. There were some modest rolling hills through the early miles, but I kept a reasonably steady pace. One odd this about this course is that it's on a very rurual road that's closed to cars during the race, so it's difficult for spectators to reach the course. There are no residential areas on the route either, just vineyards. The result was that most of the course had zero spectators, and it was eerily silent running along hearing nothing but the sounds of breathing and feet slapping pavement all around. I came through the half-marathon point in about 1:37:30 and feeling okay. Shortly after that I began to fade, though. Those 7:30 miles starting turning into 7:40, 7:50, and then there was a long hill at mile 20 to content with. I kept trying to hold back a little and save some strength for the end, to avoid a total blow-up in the final miles. I succeeded at that, but instead I just experienced a gradual fade from mile 22 onward as my mile times crept into the 8:00's and then the 9:00's. It was all I could manage just to keep running and not stop to walk. I ended up finishing in 3:24:38 (watch time, there was no chip timing). I have to say, the 20 minutes immediately post-race were some of the most unpleasant I've ever experienced. I didn't have any blisters or specific injuries, but my whole body just throbbed with pain like I've never had before at any past marathon. I was on the verge of tears, hobbling around the finish area. I half wanted to sit down, but I was certain that if I did, my muscles would go into total spasm and lock up hard. Even just tentatively trying to stretch, I could feel the muscles start to seize, so I couldn't even do that. After 20 minutes of walking, they eventually calmed down to the point where I could stretch, and then sit. Oh, I finished 157 out of 1600 something, barely squeaking into the top 10%. There were supposedly 2300 people in the race, so I don't know what happened to the other 700. So no big PR for me today, but that's okay. I find it interesting that I was disappointed with my 3:15 I ran last fall, but in two races since then I haven't managed to come within better than 9 minutes of that mark, so now it looks a little more respectable to me. Anyway I think I'm ready to take some time off from marathoning now. I guess 3 marathons in 5 months really was too much, and now I'm pretty sick of even thinking about running. I'm feeling pretty ready for something else.

OldManRunner
Runworks 2005 5M Racer
Rochester, NY
Joined: 28 Nov 2004
Posts: 262

Re: Rickshaw's Napa Valley Marathon Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2005 5:34 pm

Way to stay with it through the hard parts, and through your marginal health Rickshaw! Sounds a lot like the Wine Glass Marathon in upstate NY that I ran a couple of years ago, with the sun gradually burning though the morning fog over the fields that had been plowed for the winter, not a spectator in sight and just the footfalls of runners and their muted coversatiions all around me. I think that you've more than earned a well-deserved break from competitive running. Take it easy now until it gets fun again. And remember, even this "disappointing" time beats all but the single best of your brother's marathon times! Just be sure to be in shape again by Boston in 2006, because I intend to be there with you.

ginger

Cambridge, MA
Joined: 08 Dec 2004
Posts: 46

Re: Rickshaw's Napa Valley Marathon Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2005 11:43 am

great job pushing through a tough day, rickshaw! Enjoy some much deserved R&R.

Bricks
Runworks 2005 5M Racer
Chicago
Joined: 09 Dec 2004
Posts: 222

Re: Rickshaw's Napa Valley Marathon Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2005 1:10 pm

Rickshaw wrote:
and now I'm pretty sick of even thinking about running.

In my opinion this is the only bad thing that came out of the day. It's simply not fair for a runner to work so hard and be left with anything but elation after such an impressive effort. I think your time under those conditions is more impressive than your PR effort. I hope your burnout doesn't last long. I know I always appreciate your relentless efforts to provide such consistent and valuable input to every poster on the site. Your enthusiasm is always refreshing and predict you'll bounce back fast and stronger than ever.

Congratulations on toughing it out! I'm very impressed. Get Healthy!

By the way, you beat the other 700 people to finish in the top 7% of all entrants. A DNF should be just as much a part of the stats as a finisher, especially in a marathon...

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