Race Report: One City Marathon, March 1, 2020

I ran the One City Marathon this morning, dropping out just before the 5 mile mark.

Yup, not how I wanted this one to go.

A shame also, the weather was great, the course was fast, and I felt like I was in good shape aerobically (of course, nearly everyone feels good at mile 5 of a marathon).

As for what happened?   The short version is that my right leg began to feel stiff and uncoordinated, with burning and tightness on both the inside and outside of the thigh (adductor and biceps femoris) - running on a cambered road seems to have been the precipitating factor.

Bad patches happen in races, and sometimes they happen early, so I gave myself some time to work through it.  But my gait started to stiffen, and then (TMI) I started to have some problems with my bowels, like I was losing control.  That was my trigger to pull the plug.  This wasn't just a bad patch.  Something was not right, and with more than 20 miles to go, there was no way I was going to finish this, and I risked both physical and emotional damage by continuing.

[I should mention at this point that I have no issue with DNFing a race if an injury or potential injury pops up.  However, I think psychologically it's a lot easier to bounce back when you drop really early, then if you drop when you hit the gut check points that start hitting in the second half.]

The mechanics of dropping out in a race this small in an area without public transportation were surprisingly tricky.  I was carrying cash with me, so I flagged down a spectator and asked him to call me a cab (he offered to give me a ride to my hotel, but I'm not a fan of getting into strangers' cars, no matter how nice they seem.)  Unfortunately, there were no cabs available.

So my next stop was the policemen managing traffic at the intersection where I dropped.  They very nicely called to the race management, who said that a sweep van would be coming behind the last runner.  So...I waited for the sweep van.

And then we realized that since the race had a time limit of 6 hours, that meant that I'd be getting to the finish line 6 hours after the race start....  At which point the police officers very nicely offered me a ride back to my hotel, which I gratefully accepted.

***

As for the broader perspective on this?  I first started having issues with my right leg two weeks ago, when I test drove the shoe I was planning to wear for race day on my last 16.  I finished that run with some pain in my right SI joint that then subsided.

Things felt mostly OK after that for a few days, but then my right leg got sore again at the same time my ulcerative colitis flared.  A super frigid tempo workout didn't help.  But, I went on some UC meds, took an extra day easy before my final set of 800s, and got a massage and some dry needling, and felt like things were under control.  My right SI joint felt stiff throughout, like it needed to pop but wouldn't, but it wasn't painful (except for the drive down to Newport News on Friday, when my right leg was sore and stiff the entire route.)

And then today happened.  After dropping out, both legs (but especially the right) are far more stiff and sore than I would expect them to be - I don't feel like I ran 5 miles; I feel like I ran at least 20.  My left hamstring is sore, my right adductor, hamstrings, and outer hip rotators are all sore, and my right leg is locking up.   And my right foot was cramping for a bit.

My hunch is that something is screwed up in my lower back or SI joint, which is intermittently throwing off my gait. Which is resulting in all the sore muscles and stiffness - I basically was running on a bent axle this morning.   These SI/hip issues have arisen at the same time as some ulcerative colitis issues, which raises the possibility (though not the certainty) that they're connected.

So that's my homework for the next few days.  Go see doctors, try to figure out what the cause of this is, don't run until I have answers.

***

And....other notes on the race:

1) This is a well managed race and a fast course - much recommended

2) I stayed at the official race hotel, which had the expo in the lobby.  Ridiculously convenient - would do again also.

3) The buses to the start line were scheduled to leave at 5:30 and 5:45.  I went down at 5:15 to learn that the 5:30 bus had already left after filling up, and that I needed to take the 5:45.  Lesson learned.

4) Like CIM, this race left buses running so runners could stay warm.  A nice touch.

5) I debated between tights and shorts for this race, since it started in the high 20s.  I went with tights, and it felt like the right choice, though hard to be too sure.

6) I also experimented with tucking gels into my arm-warmers.   That was a mistake - they all slipped down into my elbows.  Will not do that again.