I participated in the Cosmos Half Marathon held in Echigo Yuzawa. The event itself was great, but around halfway through the course, my stomach started feeling bad, and I had to retire at 13km with a frustrating result. There were several lessons learned, so I’m recording them here.
First, my meal timing was bad. The start was at 9:30 AM, and I ate a rice ball around 8:00 AM. I should aim to eat 3 hours before the start. If I eat right before, I should consume gel-type foods.
I think flying too fast on the downhill from 6.7km to 15km also had an impact. My stomach was bouncing up and down violently, making me feel sick. I was careful about how I ran during the uphill from the start to 6.7km, but I hadn’t considered what came after, thinking it would somehow work out. Additionally, I was wearing a pouch around my waist, which might have been compressing my abdomen. I was only carrying a small amount of salt candy, so keeping it in my pocket would have been sufficient.
I was running at a faster pace than usual to build up a time buffer even on the uphills and downhills in the first half, so I must have exhausted myself.
However, the one good thing was that I could make the decision to retire myself. When I previously injured my knee, I was stubbornly running while dragging my leg, and people cheering from the roadside recommended that I retire.
It feels unfinished, so I want to take revenge somewhere.