Heart Rate Disaster in San Diego

All the stars were lined up for the RnR San Diego to be a big PR run. Training leading up to it was perfect. Although the weather was a little warm and humid for San Diego, it was still cooler than my recent experience on my final weeks of morning long runs. The trip there was long but uneventful. I was able to check in early at my hotel, then I walked the mile or so to the expo. I bought a good supply of Pure Life energy bars, then headed back to the hotel. Along the way, I stopped by a convenience store and bought a banana, grilled chicken sandwich, and large Gatorade. The rest of the evening was spent in my room slowly consuming the liquid and eating the carbed up treats over maybe a 6 hour period. Race clothes were layed out and I was ready to go!

With no problem waking up early, I was up, showered and out the door for the mile leisurely stroll to the start line. Once there, I waded through the largest mass of running humanity that I have ever seen, found the Cytomax tent, and grabbed a 20 ounce bottle. My plan was to carry the bottle with me for the first 8 miles so that I could avoid the traffic jams at the early aid stations. I went to my corral and was ready to go. I still had about 20 minutes before the first start with nothing to do but stand around and chill.

I turned on my Garmin so it would have plenty of time to lock in on the satellites since the last use of it was 1800 miles away. For this race, I also strapped on my heart rate monitor for the first time ever in a race. With the Garmin on, locked in and ready to go, I flipped through the screens and saw my heart rate: 115!

I thought, "My, that's quite a bit high for standing around!" Waiting a while longer, it never lowered much below that displayed rate. Soon the race started. As we eased forward waiting for the corrals to clear, I watched the screen more. Still 110 - 120.

Our time to go! Off we went, clipping along in the first mile at a pokey 10 minute pace. I pay little attention to my heart rate monitor in the first mile or two since it takes a few miles to build up the heart rate to my "cruising range". This time, I looked down at the screen a bit early: 166. Okay, don't panic, John, but something is not right here. A heart rate of 166 begins my Zone 4 rate. In all my training runs, I have never had that happen. It should have been reading barely 151 by mile 2. No, it wasn't hilly. We were running on flat ground and soon to be downhilll after mile 3.

For the next several miles, cruising along at my usual long run pace of 9:40/mile, my heart rate never lowered. Hardly breathing, I hoped to see a significant drop by the downhill section. Nope. I was feeling fine, no significant breathing, yet my heart rate had stabilized around 169 which was Zone 4.5. That is hardly sustainable for 13 miles, much less 26.2. 

By the half way point, I was on a perfect pace, but heart rate way too high, I began to feel that my race was soon to be over. I should have been cruising steadily at Zone 3.0, but was stuck unmercifully at Zone 4.5. I felt overwhelmed with grief and ready to cry like a baby. What has happened? This seems to be a repeat of Nashville (although I did not use a hart rate monitor there). I thought my problem at Nashville was the hilly course. Fading away, I basically surrendered completely by Mile 18 and just did a walk/jog to the finish. My planned 4:10 finish time ended up 4:32.

Now, two days and much Googling later, I still cannot explain it. I understand pre-race jitters and adrenaline, but I did not feel any of those. This was my third RnR event and felt no anxieties about it at all. All my training with improved times and very predicatable heart rates went right out the door. Why am I having trouble running this stupid marathon with the same ease as my regular training runs? Comparing back to Nashville, I believe now I must have had exactly the same experience there, just didn't know it.

I am certain this did not happen in my first RnR marathon at New Orleans. I did crash after mile 20, but that was due only to calf cramping in both legs (lack of hydration). I am certain it didn't happen in any of my four half-marathons. With each half-marathon, I PR's by 5 or 6 minutes. The last half-marathon was completed at an 8:28 pace with a solid effort. Now, at San Diego (and Nashville) I was dying a slow death after mile 13 while running a modest 9:30 pace, and slowing?

While the 12 beat/minute higher heart rate wasn't due to running effort as it should have been on a faster pace, it apparently still takes its toll on the body. While my upper body and lungs were fine for the entire race, my legs were crashing after so many miles at Zone 4.5.

Lesson learned: Well, I am trying to learn the lesson and would welcome feedback. Hopefully it won't take long to get this solved. That was way too much training effort to get destroyed by something like this. Meanwhile, I am convinced that I will not be able to outfox the heart rate monitor on my next marathon. Whatever it may be attributed to, if my heart rate goes above Zone 3.0 in the early miles, then I will have to back off the pace, even if it takes me down to an 11:00/mile pace or worse.