It has been over a month since I ran Berlin. I have done very little running since I got back to Atlanta. The pain that Berlin brought to my body had made me consider resting for a while, stretch, strengthen and, if possible, “correct” my body to get it stronger and ready for the next race. So I guess I will not be doing the half marathon on Thanksgiving Day. Nonetheless, I still want to complete this post to record my experience at Berlin for future reference.
For Marathons, I usually plan for up to 5 months of training. Besides the program itself there are many factors that will affect how a race turns out. Every race is different. That refers to not just the race itself, but also to the few months of preparation before the race.
There are some plans that I thought worked well for me in one race. I try to repeat that for another race, but that race may give me a very different result. That is simply because there are other factors that come into play and in the first place, what I thought was the right thing to do may not neccessarily be *THE* right thing anyway.
Berlin is my 5th Marathon. So, what problems had I faced during the run? What are some of the information related to my preparation and the race itself that are noteworthy in a post-mortem?
1) Race day conditions
Temperature – mid-teens at race start; around 25 degrees Celcius later in the day
Shoes – Nike Air Structure Triax 11, with 370 miles already clocked
Water stops – ample; the Basica sports drink was something new
Nutrition – GU gel at 8 and 16 km; Kit Kats at 24 and 32 km; bananas at 20, 25, 30 and 35 km
2) Physical condition on race day
First half – generally felt great; comfortable 6.45 s/km pace; slight lower back pain towards the end; slightly strained left sole throughout
21 to 27 km – signs of left knee pain characteristic of ITBS; signs of pain at left hip joint; continued lower back pain, but seemed to go away with slight adjustment of posture; hints of cramp in inner thighs
27 km – had to stretch ITB, try to loosen up thighs; started running again, but soon had to walk and stretch again
Thereafter – Combination of stretch-walk-run and eventually 100% walk; main complaints were hip and knee pains and thigh cramps; strain in left sole aggravated
3) Training
Total mileage 371 miles
Weekly mileage up to 38 miles
Besides the Sunday long runs, the longest run in the week has been increased to 12 miles towards the end of the training period.
Did a few interval trainings, probably not as many as the previous year.
No serious tempo runs.
Minimal running in the gym, so not much running on the treadmill that kept me running at a consistent pace.
Weekly crunches and pushups to train the core.
Taichi once a week.
No warm up race due to timing (The Buckhead Sizzler was held after Berlin).
Did not stretch as much as I should have. ITB felt tight throughout the season, though it had not given me problems during training.
4) Pre-race
Fell sick after final long run, 3 weeks to the race.
No running after that, except for a couple of 2-mile stints 2 weeks before the race.
Have had to be out for work more often this year and as a result, had been walking around in heels more often than last year.
5) 1 week prior to the race
This was the fun part.
Arrived in Berlin the Monday before race Sunday.
No issues with jet lag.
Spent the entire week, up till Friday, sightseeing, on foot. Even on race day’s eve, I was still walking around a fair bit, though I made an effort to walk less. Wore old walking shoes that were reasonably worn. I aleady felt the strain in my left foot on the sightseeing days.
Carried a fairly heavy load while walking around in Berlin – backpack with water, jacket, tripod and some valuables, with camera slung over my shoulder. Was having backaches as a result of walking around with the load.
Summing up, I guess the basis of my problems during the race was related to biomechanmical imperfections. Adding to that, I had not done sufficient stretching this season to loosen up my muscles. Walking around in heels might have caused strains to my legs and tightened up some muscles as well. My training had probably also not been “hard” enough and the 3-week break to recover from my sickness could have made me lose some form too. Finally, even though I tried to remind myself not to be an ambitious tourist in Berlin, I was not very successful at doing that. The walking around definitely affected my feet such that I did not have “fresh legs” to start the race.
Voilà my post-mortem on Berlin.
When I got back to Atlanta, I had thought of visiting a sports chiropractor to do an assessment on my biomechanics. However, the amount of fees he charged made me fall off my chair. I had to be prepared to pay more than $200 for the first consultation. That was only the first consultation! Well, it is not as if I am 15 minutes from qualifying for Boston and paying so much money will make it all worthwhile. I decided to take a more economical and practical approach. Massage and pilates are what I am going for now.
