You may have had a viral infection coming on before the marathon.  You mentioned you had a fever.  I wouldn't think a fever would be brought on by the weather.  If you aren't better in a few days and continue to have an elevated temperature see a doctor to rule out bacterial infection.  I hope you feel better soon.

You could have very well been dehydrated..... just because it's cold and wet outside doesn't mean you can't become dehydrated.  Often times in those conditions we forget how important it is to keep replacing fluids in our bodies.

I've been dehydrated during and after 3 or 4 of my marathons and had all the symptoms you described (very common for dehydration) ...... sometimes it takes a few days for the body to get back to normal.

Could be a combination of dehydration, electrolyte imbalance, hypothermia, shutting off blood flow to your gut  for too long, a reaction from all those stress hormones your body produced, you name it for the headache and nausea part, but that doesn't explain the fever.

My first marathon I know part of my problem afterwards was dehydration, because I didn't need to urinate for about 4 hours afterwards, despite trying to rehydrate, and when I did finally go, it was very dark yellow. You really should weigh yourself before and after a few long runs to make sure you are drinking enough, but not too much. You can get into trouble both from underhydrating and over-hydrating.

You can also have problems from drinking just water and not getting enough electrolytes, as well.  Did you drink mostily water on the course or did you  have the Gatorade Exceed?

just curious as I am new to running...how can Boston be your first marathon?  I thought you had to qualify...is that true? 
i just heard that somewhere...

also before the race what did u have to eat?

quote:

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Originally posted by pjbones:

It's interesting that you mention the urination - because I did go urinate several times throughout the night. and i hadn't had anything to drink since the marathon because i simply couldn't keep anything down. I didn't have a fever that lasted any length of time - it just felt like my temperature was fluctuating from really hot to cold. and my arms and tongue (of all things?) felt tingly. I was really quite frightened but the naseau passed after several hours and i was able to finally sleep and felt okay the next day. Very strange. Oh - and I drank both water and gatoraide at every stop because i had some cramping in my leg early on and was afraid it was due to dehydration.

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Rather than dehydration, it sounds like you may have been suffering from the opposite: hyponatremia from over-hydration. Your symptoms are consistent with it, especially the fact that you had to urinate multiple times after the race despite no intake.

And with you saying you drank water at every single stop? I'd put money on it. Under the conditions this year, no one needed water at every stop. Since you were a non-qualifying runner, were you out on the course a long time?

Here are a few articles about the topic:

http://www.jnj.com/news/jnj_news/20031030_105713.htm[/URL" target="_blank">
http://www.aims-association.org/guidelines_fluid_replacement.htm[/URL" target="_blank">
http://www.marathonguide.com/training/coachmindy/hyponatremia.cfm[/URL" target="_blank">