Running with Moe January 30

When it comes to information about running, it seems there is an abundance of pre-race preparation material. There are books, magazine articles, advice online and advice from experienced runners for someone preparing for a race.

Depending on the distance of the race, and the level of experience of the runner, the advice and information will vary to meet that runner’s needs. For a 5K race for a beginner, the best advice is to “take it easy, enjoy the run and learn from the experience.” After several 5K races, the advice will be more toward the strategy for running a personal record.

For marathons, the advice includes long runs, rest days, speed and hill workouts, and the famous prerace carbo-loading meal the evening before the race. What to eat that morning, hydration during the run, and how to cope with the “wall” that may or may not happen during the race. It seems that pre-race material is always available to any runner, from beginner to the very experienced, from a 5K distance to a marathon.

What you do not see is much advice for runners on the post-race information. What is a runner supposed to do after the race is over? If the runner followed the advice of how to run in his or her level of condition, things are usually good for distances like a 5K. If they exceeded their level of condition and are at a level of extreme exhaustion, then other measures are needed.

In Texas, during the hot summer months, runners need to be very cautious of heat exhaustion. If the runner shows signs of fatigue and is wobbling a bit with their gait, this is a good sign that that runner needs to sit down, drink fluids, cool down with wet towels, and wait for help. The hard part of trying to take a runner that is in trouble off the course, is that they often don’t realize the trouble they are about to experience if they don’t stop. Over the years I have had to pull more than one runner off the course. There were a few times we had to recruit other runners to convince the runner to get in the air conditioned car to take them to an aid station. Post-race advice isn’t given as often to beginning runners because the primary emphasis is to give them a positive attitude about running.

Having problems after a 5K, or 10K, distance is bad enough for a few runners, but for the most part these distances do not have many problems. Where things get worse is when the distances become half marathons and full marathons. For average runners, a half marathon will take two hours or more. A full marathon will find over half of the runners finishing in over four hours. Anytime you exert yourself for long periods of time, muscles will tire, dehydration may start to set in, the “wall” may become a real thing to run through.

A couple of examples of recovery from running a marathon might serve as a reminder of how running for a long time can cause problems.

The first example was on the plane trip back from running the Boston Marathon. A few rows in front of me this runner jumped up out of his seat and started to scream, “They wouldn’t let me quit. Aw-h-h-h my legs are cramping up!” In Boston, the crowd has booklets with every runner’s number and name listed. Whenever he started to walk, because he was so tired, the crowd would look up his number and yell at him, “You can’t walk, keep running, this is Boston! You need to keep running!” This little dance happened several times on the plane flight back home.

I had a similar experience from running the Dallas White Rock Marathon to qualify for Boston. I pushed myself to just under a 3:04 time and was really tired. I was tired, and my muscles were also tired. I wanted to lay down on the ground and rest. The legs would immediately cramp up if I stopped moving. I tried several methods to see if I could somehow fall asleep and keep walking around with an aluminum blanket wrapped around me. Then, to make matters worse there was a ride home in the back seat of a car for four hours. Much of the ride had me “sitting” with my face and stomach leaning against the back seat rest. Bending at the hip and knee in a normal sitting position found my leg muscles cramping up and needed to be stretched.

I had a friend run a marathon with me in Dallas. I planned to run around 3:10. He was going to run a little over 3:30. At 16 miles I found him running in front of me. I told him, “You are going too fast, back off a bit and slow down.” We had planned to meet at a specified location after the race. I finished and waited by the location for him to meet me. The 3:30 time came and went. The 3:45 time came and went. Four hours came up and still no friend crossing the finish line. Another friend went to get our car and came back and said, “I know where he is. He is in the hospital in the emergency room.” He had made it to mile 26 and really “hit the wall.” I found him in the hospital with tubes stuck in his arms trying to rehydrate him and cool compresses to get his temperature down. He recovered enough for the drive home – he just wasn’t talking very much and needed several stops for recovery.

The one other thing about post-race advice is this: I am amazed at how much food you can eat after a marathon. All that exertion for three to four hours burns a lot of energy. Big meals help get you back to normal condition and feeling so much better. But, as with the advice about the race, know your limits on eating. Tired stomachs do not like to be overstuffed with hamburgers and ice cream.