WARNING: This note has some graphic wording... sorry but it’s the only way to tell the tale correctly...Type O- ....yeah that’s my blood type and yeah it's what was missing today..... See I planned this marathon training perfectly.. not only did I totally behave and not do ANY races for almost two months (and for someone like me who was used to doing one and sometimes two a week.. this took ALOT of restraint)..
I followed a specific training plan that upped my weekly miles to around 45 miles a week and I ate right, carbed right, fueled right, hit all my pacing goals for my training runs.. in fact according to all my training runs and how unbelievably great I felt I was hoping to not only run a 3.50 and qualify for Boston but was even hoping to maybe get a 3.45..... I knew I could do it!
What I didn't count on was my monthly “visitor”.. yes my period..... Ok so you say so.. big deal.. well perhaps it would be if I wasn’t bleeding like Mount St. Helens... yesterday I bled so much I had to change three times as I went through three pairs of underwear and two pairs of shorts.... this morning was no different, blood bath....(sorry told you graphic but I did warn you)...
What did I think I was more than human??... That I would be able to pull the body for 26.2 miles being blood deficit? ...On what?.... sheer grit and determination???.. you know how you feel after you give blood...that listless, exhausted, lightheaded feeling?... kinda like that but magnified... of course if I was smart... I would never have started the race..
I pulled up some information on heavy menstruation and running... and oh lack of iron...
The goal today was to run fairly even splits around 8.46 pace.. no faster than 8.40 and no slower than 8.50... I didn’t start off fast or so I thought but we instantly had a down hill quad crusher than sent my first mile to 8 mins with no relative effort. I immediately attempted to tone it down and found it really hard to regulate... and kept going from 8.30 to 9.10... bla... bla.... but I did average a little under what I projected but not too fast...Excessive Menstrual Bleeding:
WHAT IS IT?
An estimated one in five women bleed so heavily during their periods they have to put their lives on hold. The general term for this condition is "menorrhagia," meaning periods that are too heavy or that go on longer than the typical seven-day menstrual cycle. It is more common in women over 35 as hormonal levels shift during the transition to menopause. At this time of your life, you may have more menstrual cycles without ovulating (so your ovary doesn't release an egg). Without ovulation, your uterine lining builds up, leading to heavier than normal periods. However, heavy uterine bleeding can occur at any age.Symptoms of heavy menstrual bleeding include:
• Soaking through a tampon and/or pad every hour or less for several hours at a time
• Needing to use double protection during your period
• Heavy clots in the menstrual blood flow
• Periodsthat last longer than seven days or come more often than every 21 days
• Severe cramping
• Fatigue
• Shortness of breath (a sign of anemia)
• Irregular periods (sometimes they come every 28 days, sometimes every 24 days,
sometimes every 34 days).
Menorrhagia is a major cause of iron-deficient anemia.
Question: Is there a certain age group of women who are more likely to have problems with heavy menstrual periods?
Answer: Yes. If you are between the ages of 40 and 50, you have a higher risk of excessive menstrual periods. This condition is more common as you get closer to menopause. But if you've just begun to menstruate, you may find similar problems with abnormally heavy periods. That's because young women who've just begun menstruating also have menstrual periods without ovulating more often than other age groups.
Normal woman typically lose about 2.5 ounces of blood a month during their periods—about the amount in a double espresso. With abnormally heavy bleeding, however, women can lose as much as 10 to 25 times that amount. Many doctors consider bleeding abnormal if you're soaking through a tampon and/or pad every hour or less for several consecutive hours.
The loss of blood during menstruation may lead to a shortage of iron, which makes a woman anaemic. Sports men and women have increased demands for iron. Hard training stimulates an increase in red blood cell and blood vessel production, and increases the demand for iron. (Iron turnover is highest for endurance athletes training at high intensity). In endurance athletes, ‘foot strike’ damage to red blood cells in the feet due to running on hard surfaces with poor quality shoes can also lead to iron loss. Finally, because iron is lost in sweat, heavy sweating causes an increased risk of deficiency. Iron deficiency can also be corrected with a good diet and iron supplements. Iron supplements are also often recommended if you are a vegetarian.
However, what I didn’t know was that by mile 4 ....my body had already used up all it’s resources, not from a fast pace, but from lack of blood... I fatigued instantly, as though someone had sprayed sleeping dust on me... and my legs and arms started to shut down, and then I got dizzy... so dizzy that it made me sick to my stomach... and it was only MILE 4!!
I didn’t panic I hoped and prayed that it would pass... that somehow my body would reproduce red bloods cells at warp speed... BUT NO such luck... by mile 7 Joe had to pass me.. He did so well staying behind me but at that point he knew I was done... I told him I didn’t think I would make it....I saw how sad he was for me and it broke my heart...
I told him .... the blood loss got to me.. I was deathly ill and dizzy and I would try and catch a ride at next aid station to finish... what Joe heard was slightly different than this (this will come into play later) but you cant blame ANYONE running a marathon to hear anything correctly.
Sure I was disappointed.... but what could I do????.. when I signed up for the marathon the monthly visitor was nowhere near the scheduled marathon day.. I guess it decided to move itself...whatever... you can only do what the body commands.. and the body said STOP... so I walked... and kept my heart rate down.. then I would jog a bit and instantly got more dizzy.. now I felt like retching... so uncool.. now I couldn’t even take my gels because I thought I would thrown them back up...
Somehow, I made it to the next aid station and it was manned by no one of intelligence (meaning just some younger kids....) so off I go to get to the half way point because there HAS GOT to be someone to drive me to finish... NOT.. I get to the half way point.. that’s 13.1 miles ....and the only thing there are some cops.. which I guess I could have gone over and asked their help ....but they were doing such a great job directing traffic, I dare not bother them.... so I plug on... me.. my vertigo, my body two “pints” less of blood...
My mother gave me hell on the phone after the race... saying that I shouldn’t have run while blood deficient... because I could have a heart attack because that's how dad had his second heart attack.. and like how did I know.. I mean.. really?
It was really humid in the first half and everyone’s clothes were literally soaked with sweat.. perhaps that didn’t help either. ... so me.. brain dead and “anemic” body sloshed along... I heard after the race that Heather was at mile 20 waiting for us... but I never got to see her.... Joe had told her I had dropped out and that I had returned to start (like how he twisted that story?).. yeah wait it gets better ..
The cramping started around mile 22.... I knew it had to come.. I wasn’t getting my nutrition in due to feeling like I was going to toss my cookies.. so I knew eventually the legs would start to seize up.. what I didn’t know was the fact that I was walking/running 13 min miles until a fat 70 year old dude with two knee braces and lisping to the side...passed me... OH DAMN... could I move any slower???!!!
I found out where all the medics and transport people were.. I passed a younger dude.. probably mid 30’s laying in the path being attended to.. he didn’t look ill .. looked like he had just enough and laid down in the path.. I ALMOST at first thought it was Joe and I was pissed.. I mean MOTHER F-er better not be going to hospital again!!.. but alas it was NOT JOE... and then I realized.. hey.. so that's how you do it!!... I should have just laid my stinking ill ass in the path.. THEN I would have either gotten my transfusion or a ride to finish.. damn!
Yeah this stubborn butt made it to the finish... I think I held it together really well.. I didn’t cry.. and I didn’t get upset.. I mean what can you do??.. you can do everything perfect and something as simple as this can blow it all up... it’s out of my hands.. BUT what I didn’t count on was for Joe to LEAVE me in Easton at the finish line... !!
It’s kinda funny.. and I feel sorry for Joe too because he got our conversation all messed up... the course was a point to point.. meaning we started at Lehigh Hospital in Allentown and ran 26.2 miles through Bethlehem ending in Easton....they would bus us back to the start to get our cars...
SO... I run up the last hill.. yes this course was not as flat as they said.. I didn’t think so.. I mean how can Allentown area be FLAT!... so I run up the last hill... gritting my teeth.. breathing like an asthma patient... I make it to the finish... YAHOO!!!!. I clocked in my second worse time ever... 5 hours and a minute and some.. GREAT... whatever.. least I am done.. now to sit down...
And wait for Joe to find me.. they had announced my name when I finished and in previous races he would then know I finished and find me... so I wait.... and I wait.. and I wait.. 10 minutes pass and I thought perhaps I should go find him ..since he has yet to find me...
Perhaps maybe he didn’t hear my name being called..hmph....an elderly man offers a hand to help me up and off I go hobbling around to find Joe... hmmm.. no Joe... hmm.. no Joe.... so I thought I would go over and retrieve my bag with my change of clothes and recovery drink mix in it..(the volunteers brought them to the finish for us)..I thought I could change while I wait and get my recovery drink in me... .. UM>> NO bag.... Lady said it was already picked up.. ok.. thanks..
So I am sure Joe is ok.. because he picked up his bag and mine.. maybe he is in the porta pot or something... so off I go to try and find something to eat and/or look at the vendors....who.. WTF!!.. were all cleaning up... in fact as I neared one table the people were putting their free giveaways in a box so fast that by the time I actually got to the table... the table was folded up and in the hand of the volunteer.. ok.. that was rude..
So I hobbled over to get a frozen icy.. I SWEAR TO GOD.. just as I made it to the truck it drove away leaving me in a wake of fumes... dejected and getting really upset now I go sit on the curb and put my head down and CRY.. I cry that gut wrenching cry like someone died... JOE F_ING LEFT ME!!!!!
So once I decided that no one gives a rats ass that I am sick, unfed, left on the sidewalk, didn’t make Boston, I say.. self you must take care of yourself... I decided to take the shuttle back to the start.... it has been almost an hour and there is no Joe....
I figured that Joe HAS for whatever reason... gone to the start where our truck was... . and so I board the shuttle.. then I realize ...I have the truck key.. (alas Joe would not be able to get in truck if in fact he is at the truck... )
The driver for the shuttle was a little insane..I thought he was kidnapping us.. he drove over 70 miles per hour weaving in and out of traffic...how do I know this??? ....Because I was sitting up front ...wide eyed...imagining us flying off the expressway into a ravine......SO you think we then got back fast???...NOPE.. like I said I thought he was kidnapping us...
I really don’t know how much later it was but we made it back to start and there was Joe standing by the truck..... with our two clothing bags...
I didn’t give him hell... I was just so freaking glad to see him and he didn’t give me hell.... I think he was just really glad to see me too..
He had PR’d.. meaning he broke his previous record on the marathon by 10 minutes.. which is phenomenal ...but he was disappointed that he didn’t break 4 hours... I told him it would come.. he was concerned with how I felt and all that... and I said what will be.... will be...
I am glad I get to share things like this with Joe... and he did carry his epi pen.. and we have Rehoboth Marathon in November... so more to come I am sure...
Although... JUST ONCE I would like to do a race without DRAMA!
PS: I am going to doctors tomorrow to get checked out and get a blood test and whatever test they test for anemia and such.. just as a precaution.. because I got some really COOL stuff coming up.. you just wait!
