I’ve never run the New Haven Road Race 20K before, but this year it was four weeks out from my goal race, the Wineglass marathon. It’s the USATF National Champs for the 20K distance so lots of elites generally show up. It’s usually ridiculously hot and humid. This year was no exception. Training has been going well! It remains to be seen whether I am finally able to be more consistent post-surgery or whether this is one of those three month stretches without a medical crisis, but I have been feeling a lot better. Certainly getting past the afib incidents from the spring is a big deal. I also increased the amount of daily magnesium I am taking and I think that is really helping.
WARNING: Boring detour ahead. Skip the next paragraph entirely if you don’t care about calcium supplementation routines.
One of the trickiest aspects of my weird endocrine disorder is fueling for longer runs. The gland that tells my body to regulate calcium in my blood stream got damaged in surgery so I have to take oral calcium as well as activated vitamin D (calcitriol). This supplementation act is especially difficult when racing because the body uses up calcium faster than it can absorb calcium. This information is quite boring for regular people but for athletes with hypoparathyroidism, it’s critical.
Here is the supplementation routine I used for this race:
The night before the race, I took an extra .25 calcitriol and an extra 600mg calcium.
Race morning:
5:15am: ½ cup oatmeal, half an apple, cinnamon, maple syrup, Zipfizz, usual meds (600mg calcium, .5 calcitriol [.25 extra for race day], 1000 IUI vitamin D)
6:15am: 1000mg powdered calcium
7:15am: 500mg calcium chew [unwrapped prior to race, in a ziplock bag]
8:00am: 500mg calcium chew
8:25am (on the starting line): 1 Gu
4 miles: 1 Maurten plus 500mg calcium chew
8 miles: 1 Maurten plus 500mg calcium chew
After the race I had a Muscle Milk protein shake. Muscle Milk may have a lot of crap in it but it also has a really high level of calcium for an easily available protein shake. Then I had pizza and beer. Yay for pizza as a calcium delivery system! As far as I know, there is no calcium in beer. Some local brewery should get on that.
Back to the race.
I have been working with ChrisNewCoach since early July and it’s been going very well. He listens to all my medical crap, but then also says, Sarah, remember you are an athlete. Be sure to think like one. We had initially been targeting a 9 minute pace for New Haven, but a couple of strong workouts, some successful long runs – 9 minute pace started to feel on the conservative side. On the other hand, the weather was looking pretty terrible for racing. Ultimately we decided that maybe these things balanced each other out and I should aim for a 9 minute pace after all. ChrisNewCoach sent an early morning race day text (SO nice!) saying something like “It’s beautiful out right now!” He wasn’t fooling me, though I very much appreciate the positivity. It was “beautiful” for brunch at a café in a sundress, but pretty warm for a race.
I arrived about 7:15 and made my way over to the New Haven Green. The Manchester Running Company crew had a tent, so I could leave a bag there, which was super nice! I found Pippi and Badass Boomer and Badass Boomer and I warmed up together. We finished our warm up and snuck into the hotel for a quick pee in a real bathroom. I made it to the MRC pre-race picture! Then I went and lined up.
They were supposed to have some kind of markers for expected pace, but I didn’t see anything. I just looked for people who looked more or less as fast as I am and stood near them. Someone sang National anthem and then we were off!
This is my third race in New Haven this year so I am starting to recognize some parts of the city. The course for this race was sort of bow-tie shaped. I chunked it up in my mind into three parts. The first “bow,” then the long straight away, then the second “bow.”
The first mile clicked along and I saw friends cheering and running. Fun! My goal for the first chunk of the course was to run controlled and keep my mind quiet, almost blank. That apparently worked because I don’t remember much of this section of the course. It was quite warm so I dumped water on myself at every aid station. In other hot races, I’ve often been able to use ice to stay cool and that really helps, but I didn’t have anyone to give me ice here. If you’re a spectator wanting to help on a hot day: Ziplock bags full of ice are the bomb!
Somewhere just past mile 5, ChrisNewCoach found me. Yay! He had asked if I wanted him to run with me for awhile. Um, YES PLEASE! These miles flew by. We ran together on the stretch past the green. ChrisNewCoach knew a TON of people. Then we turned and ran through an industrial section that was exposed and hot. Running with him was definitely my favorite part of the race. Around mile 9, he said he had to go back to his family and told me I could finish strong.
I was pretty sure that that was true. A long race on a hot and gross day – it’s really easy to start walking. I definitely sometimes wanted to walk but not as much as I wanted to *not walk*. Some of the last four miles went through East Rock Park where the Refugee Race is. There was a nice downhill. I was extremely focused. I did a whole lot of counting. Finally the finish line came into view.
Just then ChrisNewCoach popped up again! I was pushing pretty hard but then a young girl with a blonde ponytail ran by me and he yelled out “Go with her!” I thought, oh, that’s crazy talk but then I did it! I didn’t stick with her the whole way but I did find another gear! Woot! Crossed the line in 1:55:08 on my watch. 1:55:47 gun time.
I finished like I always do, kind of hanging onto a fence of some sort. This time around, I just sat down on the ground next to the fence. Usually the medical crew doesn’t put up with nonsense like that, but instead of shooing me on my way, someone brought me a water. Then Badass Boomer came in! My voice is a lot better but not strong enough for her to hear me so a medical person went and fetched her. We watched more finishers and slowly got ourselves together and went to find friends. The post-race scene was SO fun. Lots of running chatter and hanging out with friends and then pizza and beer at the Bar bar.
Badass Boomer found a calculator that adjusts for conditions and we did some post-race analysis. I was aiming for 9 minute pace and I ran 9:11. But, adjusted for conditions, a 9 minute pace is 9:32 so I was quite a bit faster than that. A little reverse engineering says that my 9:11 adjusts to an 8:40 pace in good conditions.
I’m not one to make excuses. You run what you run. But I do want to know where I stand. I feel good about this race. The last year unfolded very differently from what I expected. I was more patient than athlete a lot of the time. Running with a chronic medical condition is complicated and I’m still figuring it out. But the athlete is coming back. That makes me smile.