And so it goes on and on....5 years and counting since a marathon PB. I left it all there on the course but erred badly in my race tactics, more about that later.
I resolved to go for a time of 3hr 22min based on my Clonmel time (half marathon) of 1hr33min27sec and also that I ran a (solo) 15 mile marathon pace effort at 7.32 pace with my training tempos peaking at 8.41 miles in a hour (7.08 pace.) Also with it being a flat course and that this was the first marathon in years where I wasn't injured or sick I was pretty hopeful of reaching or getting close to my target.
The one factor that was unsettling me a bit was bringing Iseult over with us and her staying in the same hotel room with us. I felt she wouldn't settle very well in the hotel room and that because the burden of minding her would fall on my wife (feds, bottles, food and so on) it was better to bring Aoiffe's parents with us as well. It was either that or go on my own. Thankfully they came over and I was pretty much left to my own devices going to the expo and getting naps in during the day while they had a ball doing the tourist thing. Nevertheless I was beginning to feel the pressure in the few days leading up to it organizing cover for my classes double checking and treble checking hotel reservations, flight numbers, parking in the airport, directions to the expo and the start line and all that. Yeah things were getting terse at times. We got into Berlin Friday evening and Iseult konked out as soon as she hit the cot so all good and while on the Saturday night she cried for around a hour at 1am it didn't bother me too much. The poor little mite was doing her best but probably missed her bed. I know Aoiffe was wondering what had I talked them into at that stage. These things weigh heavily on me.
The Sunday morning of the race I left the hotel at 7 am and got into the U Bahn at Alexander Platz getting off at Potsdamer Platz walking with the multitudes to the tented area in the Tier garden. The place resembled a mini village but the organisation was faultless and I was enjoying myself now. As usual the phone was full of best of luck texts from people and Aoiffe sent a lovely photo of herself and Iseult having breakfast which was of great reassurance to me.
I lined up in the E starting pen with about 55 minutes to go and the efficiency of the whole thing was so good you would hardly think there was 40,000 runners taking part in a marathon and a general election on the same day. Even with 15 minutes to go people were still coming in and there was plenty of room in the pens. The giant video screens announced the leading elite runners and I must admit the buzz was infectious. This was great stuff and the race hadn't even started. 12 months ago I was nursing a broken arm and a twisted ankle awaiting the arrival of our daughter and now I was ready to go in one of the biggest marathons in the world.
Running a marathon in KM as distinct from MILES is a different kettle alright especially if you are aiming for a time that is some way between the cutoff (eg 3.30, 3.15, 3,00). It means the splits have to be judged carefully and that a second faster or slower over a number of kilometers can ruin things for you. In this case the kilometer pace was 4.47 per KM. I was slow enough the first 5 km and was probably 45 seconds slower than my pace band but that was fine.
After a hour I had run 12.5 km I was motoring. The course was v flat alright with a few little downhills and this time I made sure to follow the famous blue line. The water stations were busy and while it was cups only, drinking out of them wasn't a problem. It was very wet(heavy rain) for the first hour but the crowds were great and the buzz was excellent. At this stage I was around 50 seconds ahead of my 3.22 schedule and I did notice my mile splits were in the 7.35 per mile range. This was obviously a bad idea but it seemed there was so much energy in my legs I couldn't make them stop. It was also the first time I ever attacked a marathon like this.
At the half way stage I was 1hour 39minutes 50 seconds when in fact I had planned to be 1.41. Again I was feeling good and the good vibes continued up to 30 km. At this stage I could feel the legs begin to drag but i was determined not to give into it. The pace was getting slower too, mile splits had dropped to 8 minute pace but i was confident I could gut it out and hang in there for 3.25. By 32 km it was beginning to hit hard and I had to stop and walk for 10-15 seconds before I ran again before walk running again at 33 km. A pile of runners were dropping out , getting sick and walking so I was in good company. The mile splits were now down to 9min to 9.15 pace but I knew I would finish and get the medal. Even still after 3hours02minutes I was on 23 miles, 2 minutes ahead of a sub 3.30 finish but it was getting messy. More walking than running at this stage and the spirits were sinking.
What did get me running for mile 24 was the sight of the 3.30 pacers behind me and I ran that mile in 7minute 49seconds but by 40.5 kmI had lost them with the long straight down to Brandenburg Tur in front of us. It looked amazing and I got another surge of running but the chest was getting very heavy and running was becoming difficult. I did the old man shuffle to get in at 3.31.22 with 42.48 km on the garmin. I was slightly emotional crossing the line but I was ok again after a minute and I was delighted to get my medal and goodie bag. My feelings were a mix of "Shit I messed that up" and "I did ok to finish with a solid enough time".
It was great chatting to so many runners afterwards and I was feeling the buzz of the occasion. I had given it my all and left it all out there. I obviously would have been better (perhaps ) to have aimed for a 3.25 but hindsight is easy, running a marathon isn't. I got back to the hotel delighted to meet Aoiffe and Iseult and my in laws. They really enjoyed their day and it was nice getting messages of goodwill from friends and family.
What's next? I probably won't give up on the marathon thing but as to weather I will train as hard for a PB I don't know. Who knows?
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