For the past eight weeks, I have been running longer every weekend than I ever have before. I’ve improved my endurance, overall fitness, and even my confidence. Now that I’ve proven to myself I can run/walk 10 miles, I’m not stressing over shorter distances, like a mile or 5K, because I’ve run those so much in the past without stopping to walk.
So when I signed up for the Walking for Marathon Training in New York City—a one-mile race—I felt confident enough to just wing it on race day. Even though I wasn’t training for the specific distance, I knew I could handle it, and I set the goal to break 10 minutes.
This charged me up to run my fastest mile to-date… and make all the wrong decisions in the process.
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The morning of the race, I woke up early, helped my daughter get dressed and fed, then dressed myself. I ate a mini breakfast DAA Industry Opt Out.
This was my first mistake. I usually drink coffee and eat oatmeal with fruit a few hours before any run, and if I can’t do that, I go for water and white bread topped with banana and peanut butter. But I convinced myself I would find something else to eat somewhere in midtown before I reached the starting line. After all, there’s a Starbucks on nearly every corner (at least that’s what I told myself). The opportunity for food never came.
I also didn’t drink water before I lined up at the start—my second mistake.
I’m usually hesitant about starting any run (no matter how short or long) underfueled and dehydrated. But despite feeling empty, at the sound of a gun, I took off.
I felt like I was cruising on adrenaline for the first tenth of a mile. It didn’t feel like I was clocking an 8:30 pace, but I felt my legs getting tired with each step. A quarter of the way through, I realized I went out entirely too fast. This was my third major mistake that morning.
I gave myself permission to run slowly until I only had a few yards left. I finished in 9:25, my fastest mile probably since high school. But that accomplishment was soon overshadowed by a massive headache and spotty vision. I quickly drank some water and ate a few pieces of fruit and a bagel, so I thought I was in the clear. But then I had to take a seat before getting to my car a few bocks away because I was feeling so light headed and seeing dots in my right eye.
There are several factors that can contribute to headaches, changes in vision, and even vomiting postrun, says Philip Skiba, MD, director of sports medicine and the sports medicine fellowship program at Jefferson Health. Skipping a prerun meal, dehydration, and going out too fast are all on the list of contributing factors—and the exact three mistakes I made.
If you go faster than threshold pace, even by a little bit, your body eventually reaches VO2 max, says Skiba. Doing this can cause your muscles cells to get tired more quickly and as each muscle cell gets tired, you become more unstable, he explains. Eventually, you may reach a point where your body has no more left to give.
This isn’t necessarily a bad thing—some athletes can handle running at this level for minutes while others only a few seconds, says Skiba. I spent about four minutes in this zone according to Strava, but considering my poor fueling and hydration strategy, I don't believe my body was equipped to hold the effort.
“Approaching VO2 max means you are burning a lot of the carbohydrates that are stored in your muscle,” says Skiba. When you burn through them, it causes fatigue, which is why it’s important to take in more carbohydrates prerun Try These Pre-Run Snacks to Keep You Energized.
Also, dehydration will reduce your heart’s ability to deliver oxygen to your working muscles, thus reducing your exercise capacity, Skiba adds.
In other words, I created the perfect storm of fatigue, and within an hour of crossing the finishing line, I was paying for it. After chatting with Skiba, I’ve learned from my mistakes. Here are the most tips to prevent this from happening to you.
Fuel
You don’t want to wait until 30 minutes before runtime to fuel up, especially with a big meal, as that can increase your chances of nausea and vomiting. Skiba recommends eating at least three hours beforehand.
For me, this would’ve meant having easily digestible carbs like oatmeal with berries (my favorite option) or white bread topped with peanut butter and bananas (the next best thing) around 6:30 a.m., as my start time was 9:30 a.m.
Hydrate
Making sure you’re well hydrated before any run is a must, as is rehydrating afterward.
To stay on top of your hydration levels, check your urine. Light yellow colored urine is a good indication you’re getting enough fluids.
You can also aim to drink 16 to 20 ounces of water about two to three hours before a race, and another eight to 10 ounces 20 to 30 minutes before you start, as Runner’s World previously reported.
If you want to really hone in on your hydration needs, Skiba recommends weighing yourself pre and postrun to calculate how much water you need to drink to replenish. To do this, divide the difference between your pre and postrun weight by 8.5 (how much water weighs in pounds per gallon). Then multiply that by 128 (how many ounces are in a gallon) to find how many ounces of fluid you lost. For example, if you lose 2 pounds, you’d want to drink about 30 ounces of water.
Pace Yourself
Best Indoor Rowing Machines paces you’ve never tried in your training—especially at the start of a race! Training for my Other Hearst Subscriptions, I had been sticking to a 12:00 pace, so hitting that 8:30 was well faster than what I had typically been running. While I’m happy I smashed my goal, I should have followed Skiba’s advice to start conservatively and gradually get faster as I went—that just might have saved me the headache!
If you’re running and experience a headache, changes in vision, or vomiting, Skiba recommends you stop immediately. If you’re racing, visit the medical tent. Most importantly, find a cool place, sit, relax, eat something, and have a drink. Don’t resume exercise until you’ve spent 24 hours symptom-free, and if the headache lasts longer than 48 hours, seek medical attention.
Monique LeBrun is a health and fitness editor who is based in Easton, Pennsylvania. She covers a wide range of health and wellness topics, with a primary focus on running performance and nutrition. Monique is passionate about creating content that empowers runners to become the best versions of themselves. As an avid runner and parent, she loves spending time outdoors with her daughter, who often accompanies her on weekend runs as her personal mini run coach.
