Your wife speaks the truth. We might not be happy with our races, but just finishing each and every time despite our constant reconcideration of life choices during the event is a win. Congratulations on finishing another marathon.
Wild guess: Maybe it's something similar to Leisure Sickness Syndrome. Intense marathon training (without getting sick throughout) = high levels of stress = constantly high cortisol. Tapering (physical or even just mental, as you wrote that you felt really relaxed in the past week) = drop of cortisol = increased succeptibility to infection = increased heart rate. Did you track your resting heart rate in the night before the race?
A wild, but a GREAT guess. That's why we completely dropped the physical tapering, but your point regarding the MENTAL tapering is genius! I can clearly say that I completely zoned out of the marathon training 8-10 days before the actual race. I let go. Simply because I was fed up and wanted to go back to the mountains so badly haha!
On the one hand it was a great feeling because I was really relaxed and "no care"-easy going. But on the other hand I also lost tension and focus. Physiological speaking definitely a drop of a certain amount of cortisol that I was used to for weeks and weeks.
That'd also be a perfect explanation why b- and prep-races more often go well. They are usually early or in the middle in the training cycle, straight out of a good amount of physical (and mental) stress without any room to let go and relax.
To avoid this focus/alertness/cortisol-drop in the future it might help me to shorten the high-intensity part of the marathon preparation to keep me excited, alert and (positively) stressed right until race day.
Admittedly, I do feel a little odd to add a comment on this well-written summary of your marathon. Who am I to judge, comment, have a say to someone else´s such personal journey?! One aspect has come to mind, though. It´s so good to have some running goals lined up as a runner. And often, the process of setting a goal is already part of the interesting and fulfilling journey to the finish line. Maybe, just maybe, you have enjoyed the process of your training so much and developed a new or even more skill sets that the race itself was (?, just a hypothesis) almost something like an anticlimax. Or the focus lay so hard on the outcome once the gun went off that it drew away much more energy than wanted during the actual run. However you look at it: the fact that you lined up that morning takes courage, trust und mental strength. And that alone can already be enough.
Hi Anna, thank you so much for your lovely and wise feedback. You are right, I was and I am very much in love with the process. Training – or better preparing for a race – itself gives me greatest satisfaction and an endless number of micro-successes, as I call them. More often than not the actual race at the end of a training cycle is just a "to do" I have to check off my list. Obviously that's not the best attitude towards racing haha! Your posting sparked the idea inside of me to regard the A-race as a part of the training. Maybe for the next A-race, or the one after that. It's a neverending story anyway. Thanks for this!
I love the granular level at which you are trying to parse and understand what's happening inside your body and your mind. Understanding endurance events and how we perform within them is a never-ending art form, and mastering the taper is a sub-art form in and of itself. Have you considered size of the race/field in your analyses? Having to navigate large fields of runners, more dodging, jostling for space, bigger crowds all create peripheral stimuli that can agitate the fight or flight hormones, which would increase heart rate as a result.
Hey Jenna! Thanks for this. A very smart feedback. Yes, the start block and race field are definitely external factors that influence the outcome of a race. In the case of the Hannover Marathon everything was very relaxed though. Not crowded, super nice people, everyone was very focused and also careful. But I definitely had races where the crowd made me want to quit haha!
Hi Kristina, vielen lieben Dank für deine Rückmeldung! Da haben wir eine ganz schön große Menge gemeinsam haha! Ich hatte zwar kein konkrete Zeit im Kopf, sondern hab mir einfach nur gewünscht, dass ich die Ergebnisse meines tollen Trainings abrufen kann, aber klar, das lässt sich indirekt natürlich auch wieder in eine Zeit übersetzen. Das wichtigste haben wir aber erkannt: Für diesen Tag war es so und deswegen ist es auch gut. Meine Gefühle zum Marathon werden stündlich besser und das liegt auch an den vielen tollen Feedbacks, so wie deinem!
“I couldn't have run faster that day.” There’s a great, deep peace in knowing that. I think you won whatever it is we win when we do these things to and for ourselves. Well done!
I've also seen high HR racing compared to training. I raced ~1hr15min in the low-mid 180's (5-10bpm above threshold, measured with chest strap) at a low 170's RPE, theoretically not possible. I only see HR like that in training at the end of longer VO2MAX intervals. The race environment adds some hype I think, even if you feel calm as I did during that race. As much as the data can help, I've stopped putting HR on my watch for races because of this exact phenomenon.
Thanks for this! Yes, you are right, I would always add some bpm to the race situation, no matter how unexcited you are. If the high-HR phenomenom would not be so profound, I would just ignore it, but it's simply too much in your (in my) face. Hah, I race with a Garmin Data Screen called "race" and it only shows me a watch ;-) I would never (!) get wild over HR during a race. I only look into the data afterwards. During, I most often race by feel.
I get where you're coming from in general, this kind of disconnect between training and racing is real frustrating for me. There's an episode of The Norwegian Method podcast specifically about racing, don't know how helpful it'll be but might give you some ideas
I can see clearly the struggle in you and your desire to understand it, especially putting out the numbers in the end. Look how well I did in preperation (and that oozes out of every crack in your text). I know it is not for bragging, don't get me wrong. I'm always doing the sam. From the point of sports psychology I think there is a lot of potential in your marathon history and the mental part was not a topic in this text (or I overread it). Maybe you have to dig there, ask yourself what were your expectations for Rodgau (just a test, take it easy, let's have a look how this is going) and what were your expectations for Hannover (hey the last weeks were great as f***, why not burning down the city). That's just a look from an outsider on your face and not in your head.
Hey Jens! Thanks for your feedback. I totally agree with you that mental factors are weighing heavy, especially on those so-called "A-races". However, I can rule this factor out for myself. In another Das Z Letter I wrote the following:
"No, it’s not the race day excitement that makes my heart beat faster, and my legs feel heavy. I’m equally (un-)excited at any given start line, no matter if it’s an A, B, or C-race. I have heard this “good guess” hundreds of times from dozens of people and can clearly rule it out." (https://dasz.substack.com/i/140807158/train-like-a-pro-race-like-a-rookie)
There is indeed a phenomenom where excitement, anxiousness and pressure raises your heart rate at a race. However this spike usually disappears after a few kilometers when people who are affected by this settle into the race.
I can also honestly say, that I was very relaxed regarding the Hannover Marathon and, although my training and Rodgau have pointed in a clear direction, I didn't have any concrete expectations. If it was, for example, for the heat or other external factors, I would have been perfectly alright with ANY marathon result. The reason why it bugged me was that I have had the problem of lacking physical race readiness (and yes, I intentionally call it "physical") so many times under so many different circumstances. I am running out of ideas where this phenomenom comes from.
Your wife speaks the truth. We might not be happy with our races, but just finishing each and every time despite our constant reconcideration of life choices during the event is a win. Congratulations on finishing another marathon.
Same to you, Henrik!
Wild guess: Maybe it's something similar to Leisure Sickness Syndrome. Intense marathon training (without getting sick throughout) = high levels of stress = constantly high cortisol. Tapering (physical or even just mental, as you wrote that you felt really relaxed in the past week) = drop of cortisol = increased succeptibility to infection = increased heart rate. Did you track your resting heart rate in the night before the race?
A wild, but a GREAT guess. That's why we completely dropped the physical tapering, but your point regarding the MENTAL tapering is genius! I can clearly say that I completely zoned out of the marathon training 8-10 days before the actual race. I let go. Simply because I was fed up and wanted to go back to the mountains so badly haha!
On the one hand it was a great feeling because I was really relaxed and "no care"-easy going. But on the other hand I also lost tension and focus. Physiological speaking definitely a drop of a certain amount of cortisol that I was used to for weeks and weeks.
That'd also be a perfect explanation why b- and prep-races more often go well. They are usually early or in the middle in the training cycle, straight out of a good amount of physical (and mental) stress without any room to let go and relax.
To avoid this focus/alertness/cortisol-drop in the future it might help me to shorten the high-intensity part of the marathon preparation to keep me excited, alert and (positively) stressed right until race day.
Kathi, this is awesome input, thank you so much!
Man hilft, wo man kann! :)
<3
PS: Resting HR the night and week before the race was normal though.
Admittedly, I do feel a little odd to add a comment on this well-written summary of your marathon. Who am I to judge, comment, have a say to someone else´s such personal journey?! One aspect has come to mind, though. It´s so good to have some running goals lined up as a runner. And often, the process of setting a goal is already part of the interesting and fulfilling journey to the finish line. Maybe, just maybe, you have enjoyed the process of your training so much and developed a new or even more skill sets that the race itself was (?, just a hypothesis) almost something like an anticlimax. Or the focus lay so hard on the outcome once the gun went off that it drew away much more energy than wanted during the actual run. However you look at it: the fact that you lined up that morning takes courage, trust und mental strength. And that alone can already be enough.
Hi Anna, thank you so much for your lovely and wise feedback. You are right, I was and I am very much in love with the process. Training – or better preparing for a race – itself gives me greatest satisfaction and an endless number of micro-successes, as I call them. More often than not the actual race at the end of a training cycle is just a "to do" I have to check off my list. Obviously that's not the best attitude towards racing haha! Your posting sparked the idea inside of me to regard the A-race as a part of the training. Maybe for the next A-race, or the one after that. It's a neverending story anyway. Thanks for this!
I love the granular level at which you are trying to parse and understand what's happening inside your body and your mind. Understanding endurance events and how we perform within them is a never-ending art form, and mastering the taper is a sub-art form in and of itself. Have you considered size of the race/field in your analyses? Having to navigate large fields of runners, more dodging, jostling for space, bigger crowds all create peripheral stimuli that can agitate the fight or flight hormones, which would increase heart rate as a result.
Hey Jenna! Thanks for this. A very smart feedback. Yes, the start block and race field are definitely external factors that influence the outcome of a race. In the case of the Hannover Marathon everything was very relaxed though. Not crowded, super nice people, everyone was very focused and also careful. But I definitely had races where the crowd made me want to quit haha!
Hallo Chris!
Dein Mantra hat mich bis 25K gut durch den Marathon gebracht. Danach hatte ich auch die beschriebenen Probleme.
War echt spannend zu lesen.
Du hast eine großartige Leistung erbracht.
Ich weiß auch nicht warum man sich so auf die „Wunschzeit“ versteift und danach so enttäuscht ist diese nicht erbracht zu haben.
Ich persönlich habe meine Wunschzeit um 3 Minuten verfehlt, hätte aber auch nicht schneller laufen können an dem Tag.
Dein Beitrag hätte von mir sein können.
Ganz liebe Grüße Kristina
Hi Kristina, vielen lieben Dank für deine Rückmeldung! Da haben wir eine ganz schön große Menge gemeinsam haha! Ich hatte zwar kein konkrete Zeit im Kopf, sondern hab mir einfach nur gewünscht, dass ich die Ergebnisse meines tollen Trainings abrufen kann, aber klar, das lässt sich indirekt natürlich auch wieder in eine Zeit übersetzen. Das wichtigste haben wir aber erkannt: Für diesen Tag war es so und deswegen ist es auch gut. Meine Gefühle zum Marathon werden stündlich besser und das liegt auch an den vielen tollen Feedbacks, so wie deinem!
“I couldn't have run faster that day.” There’s a great, deep peace in knowing that. I think you won whatever it is we win when we do these things to and for ourselves. Well done!
Well chosen words that I strongly resonate with. You're absolutely right.
I've also seen high HR racing compared to training. I raced ~1hr15min in the low-mid 180's (5-10bpm above threshold, measured with chest strap) at a low 170's RPE, theoretically not possible. I only see HR like that in training at the end of longer VO2MAX intervals. The race environment adds some hype I think, even if you feel calm as I did during that race. As much as the data can help, I've stopped putting HR on my watch for races because of this exact phenomenon.
Thanks for this! Yes, you are right, I would always add some bpm to the race situation, no matter how unexcited you are. If the high-HR phenomenom would not be so profound, I would just ignore it, but it's simply too much in your (in my) face. Hah, I race with a Garmin Data Screen called "race" and it only shows me a watch ;-) I would never (!) get wild over HR during a race. I only look into the data afterwards. During, I most often race by feel.
I get where you're coming from in general, this kind of disconnect between training and racing is real frustrating for me. There's an episode of The Norwegian Method podcast specifically about racing, don't know how helpful it'll be but might give you some ideas
Absolutely! If you have a link at hand it would be great, otherwise I'd just try to find it myself. Thanks!
https://open.spotify.com/episode/3Y0emqJRBeazwavDl8tOd6?si=8DCxigeoTki5px5yXp4Xtg
you rock! thank you so much.
I can see clearly the struggle in you and your desire to understand it, especially putting out the numbers in the end. Look how well I did in preperation (and that oozes out of every crack in your text). I know it is not for bragging, don't get me wrong. I'm always doing the sam. From the point of sports psychology I think there is a lot of potential in your marathon history and the mental part was not a topic in this text (or I overread it). Maybe you have to dig there, ask yourself what were your expectations for Rodgau (just a test, take it easy, let's have a look how this is going) and what were your expectations for Hannover (hey the last weeks were great as f***, why not burning down the city). That's just a look from an outsider on your face and not in your head.
Hey Jens! Thanks for your feedback. I totally agree with you that mental factors are weighing heavy, especially on those so-called "A-races". However, I can rule this factor out for myself. In another Das Z Letter I wrote the following:
"No, it’s not the race day excitement that makes my heart beat faster, and my legs feel heavy. I’m equally (un-)excited at any given start line, no matter if it’s an A, B, or C-race. I have heard this “good guess” hundreds of times from dozens of people and can clearly rule it out." (https://dasz.substack.com/i/140807158/train-like-a-pro-race-like-a-rookie)
There is indeed a phenomenom where excitement, anxiousness and pressure raises your heart rate at a race. However this spike usually disappears after a few kilometers when people who are affected by this settle into the race.
I can also honestly say, that I was very relaxed regarding the Hannover Marathon and, although my training and Rodgau have pointed in a clear direction, I didn't have any concrete expectations. If it was, for example, for the heat or other external factors, I would have been perfectly alright with ANY marathon result. The reason why it bugged me was that I have had the problem of lacking physical race readiness (and yes, I intentionally call it "physical") so many times under so many different circumstances. I am running out of ideas where this phenomenom comes from.