My 1st marathon 42km run - by Zi Jing

Thanks Zi Jing for sharing your 42km marathon experience in the Sundown event.

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From: Yuan Zijing
Sent: Wednesday, June 03, 2009

I put up my report on a blog. You can follow the link here. It's a bit long. For the info of fellow runners, I am copying the Lessons Learned part below:

Lessons learned

In short, my Gun Time is 5:59.54.97. First 10k is 1:03:38.79, second is 1:35:30.99, third is 1:25:11.38 and last 12.195k is 1:55:33.81.

The first 10k went on pretty much according to plan, though the pacing was not consistent. The GI issue virtually killed my plan and disrupted my rhythm. I cannot pick up the usual pace I was running after the walk break. I thought the third 10k will be the slowest but it was not. I'd attribute the fading in the third installment to low mileage and inadequate training. I thought the last 10k or 12k will be a bit faster; at least it is mentally in my mind. That probably is the limit I need to break, of cause with higher mileage.

Now the things I did correct:

1. Though a lot of things happened during the preparation of this race, I still tried my best to log the miles in training. From Jan 1^st to the day before the race, I accumulated 570km. Not good enough to bring me a good finish time, but at least the max I can get.
2. Two days after the run, I was not experiencing serious injury. I guess the shoes and gears are generally working for me. A little problem is with my left feet. There is more pain on the left foot than on the right. Probably it is worthwhile to find a good pair of shoes that work on my left foot.
3. I followed and quit the pace group on my own judgment. I would crash much uglier if I have followed the pace group.
4. The double-layered short saved me from suffering serious chafing. I though the singlet is lose enough from causing aberration on the arms, it still turns out painful in the armpit.

And the things I can improve:

1. Mileage, mileage, mileage! Again as I mentioned above, I thought the last 10k or 12k won't be the slowest but actually it was. Should I not experience the GI issue, the last installment would still be the most difficult physically. Next time a plan should be followed as closely as possible, especially the long runs.
2. Don't try anything new on race day, even something as simple as plain water. I did experienced gastric discomfort in one run before the race. I didn't expect it is so serious. It is worthwhile to try out all the things that you would expect on the race day, even plain water.
3. Pace well. Probably something like a Garmin foot pod or gps pod would best fit for determining the pace. Once out of rhythm, it will be difficult to adjust back and realize the goal and the optimal result you are capable of.

Regards,

Zijing