Marathon Woes

HellishHeat

Well I finished my first marathon today and missed my target by a good bit. Started too fast and hadn't stretched properly.. or at least I think that's why I was getting cramp since mile 17. finished: 4:13:35. got

Mod: Seeking medical advice is in breach of charter. Seek advice from qualified medical expert

run_Forrest_run

I'm not going to even attempt to diagnose what you were experiencing and no one else should either unless he/she is medically qualified.
First thing in the morning make an appointment to see your GP.

Oh, and congrats on the marathon, it's a great feeling crossing that line.

HellishHeat

I got some tests done yesterday and had an appointment with a Cardiologist. He reckons that the sensation I feel is most likely due to muscles in my neck and shoulders. He proposed that my posture, while running over long distance, may be causing the problem.

He said the blue lips are nothing to worry about either (IN MY CASE). He reminded me that the original Marathon runner promptly died afterwards.

He was not a fan of marathon's as a means of getting fit.....That's understandable from my point of view.. I've been suffering from IT Band syndrome since October

HardyEustace

HellishHeat wrote: »

He was not a fan of marathon's as a means of getting fit.....That's understandable from my point of view.. I've been suffering from IT Band syndrome since October

Then either find someone who does agree wtih marathon running or do a sport that he "agrees" with.

I know plenty of medical people that run marathons. You can't expect good service from someone who doesn't agree with what you're doing.

ManwitaPlan

HardyEustace wrote: »

Then either find someone who does agree wtih marathon running or do a sport that he "agrees" with.

He never said the doc didnt agree with marathon running he said he didnt agree with it as a means of getting fit.

On that he's 100% correct.

TFBubendorfer

HellishHeat wrote: »

He reminded me that the original Marathon runner promptly died afterwards.

I hope he said a few more intelligent things than that. Quoting an old, and false, myth isn't what I'd expect my doctor to do when being asked for practical advice.

anymore

I did the first of my first maraton way too fast as well and paid a hevy rpice for in the last six miles and ended up finishing in five hours 4 mins. I am afraid inexperience is a killer !

Raighne

HellishHeat wrote: »

I got some tests done yesterday and had an appointment with a Cardiologist. He reckons that the sensation I feel is most likely due to muscles in my neck and shoulders. He proposed that my posture, while running over long distance, may be causing the problem.

He said the blue lips are nothing to worry about either (IN MY CASE). He reminded me that the original Marathon runner promptly died afterwards.

He was not a fan of marathon's as a means of getting fit.....That's understandable from my point of view.. I've been suffering from IT Band syndrome since October

Incidentally, he was misinformed on the first marathoner. Pheidippides did not die as has often been alleged in folklore. There's a great account of this in "Persian Fire" by Tim Holland.

robinph

Raighne wrote: »

Incidentally, he was misinformed on the first marathoner. Pheidippides did not die as has often been alleged in folklore. There's a great account of this in "Persian Fire" by Tim Holland.

He also didn't run the certified distance.

shels4ever

robinph wrote: »

He also didn't run the certified distance.

He didnt call it a marathon either, it was just work

Raighne

robinph wrote: »

He also didn't run the certified distance.

Indeed, it would have been the strangest coincidence of fate if the distance between Marathon and Athens had somehow fitted exactly with the requirements of British royalty two millenia later.

And as the last poster refers to for Philippides (got the name wrong, my ancient Greek found lacking!), and the run took place before the battle (from Marathon to Sparta and back, some feat!). The entire Athenian army marched from marathon to Athens, after the gruelling battle, in somewhere between 6 and 8 eight hours, allowing them to intercept the Persian fleet. And they were wearing heavy hoplite armour. Tougher times breed tougher men.

More on topic, in my experience the best way of maximising your chances of a precise diagnosis for an active runner or someone suspecting an athletically induced condition, is to select GP specialising in Sports Medicine. I chose my own GP for specifically that purpose. Two ambulance paramedics once almost misdiagnosed me with a dangerously lowered heart rate until I explained my background. A GP with this speciality will have a greater chance of understanding the factors relevant to you.

robinph

Raighne wrote:

Two ambulance paramedics once almost misdiagnosed me with a dangerously lowered heart rate until I explained my background. A GP with this speciality will have a greater chance of understanding the factors relevant to you.

I used to regularly be a "casualty" for ambulance training exercises which had me either running about with fake appendages falling off and lots of blood, or lying down unconscious with a pole through me in some strange mangled way. When the ambulance people found me they would then go through their usual checks in assesing me, but then me or an observer stood nearby would correct them on my pluses and breathing for whatever I was supposed to have wrong with me at the time. On a couple of occasions they got genuinely worried about me though and wondered how I was managing to fake the low pulse rate.

Raighne

robinph wrote: »

I used to regularly be a "casualty" for ambulance training exercises which had me either running about with fake appendages falling off and lots of blood, or lying down unconscious with a pole through me in some strange mangled way. When the ambulance people found me they would then go through their usual checks in assesing me, but then me or an observer stood nearby would correct them on my pluses and breathing for whatever I was supposed to have wrong with me at the time. On a couple of occasions they got genuinely worried about me though and wondered how I was managing to fake the low pulse rate.

It brings up the interesting discussion of health being a relative term for which no set definition exists currently. In a society where the majority of people can run sub-3 hour marathons or jump five feet in the air, anyone who cannot do so is potentially "ill" or at least partly disabled.

It's probably an indictment on modern society that values across many measurements (blood pressure, resting heart rate etc.) that would be seen as sickly in a population of, say African tribesmen, are considered well inside our norms. For instance, I recall a study showing that the average VO2max of Kalahari bushmen was about 20ml/kg/min higher than the average Westerner.

I would be convinced that heart rates between 30-50 would be perfectly normal in an active society and only, perhaps, the few "dead people" below 30 seen as truly unusual. Again that definition may move as medical science progresses until some finite physiological barrier.