The Quest for 2.59.59

Racing Flat

Woddle wrote: »

Berlin water stations at 5k, 11.5K, 17.5 K, 22.5K, 27.5K, 32.5K, 37.5K, and then they have catering points at 9K, 15K, 20K, 25K, 30K, 35K, ok I guess it would have been easier to say every 5K bar the start.
I won't be wearing my belt either as I did it in Longford and it was just too much weight.

where did you get that info and what's a catering station? I'm sure a nice pizza would go down well around mile 23:D.

Woddle

http://www.real-berlin-marathon.com/events/berlin_marathon/2008/strecke.en.php
Beverage and fruit station

Racing Flat

Mon 25th Aug - 9m, 75mins, 8.24pace, 143bpm

Tues 26th Aug - 9.3m, 80mins, 8.44pace, 138bpm

Wed 27th Aug - 8.5m, 65mins, 7.47pace, 145bpm

Thurs 28th Aug - 9.8m, 70mins, including 8m @ close to marathon pace (6.58pace, 159bpm)

Fri 29th Aug - Rest

Sat 30th Aug - 22.1m, 2.47, Avg 7.35pace 152bpm, but did first 8m @ 8.00pace, next 7m @ 7.40pace and last 7m @ 6.50pace

Sun 31st Aug - 11.2m, 84mins, 7.32pace, 145bpm

Weekly Total = 70 miles

Legs very tired start of week, so took it handy enough for a few days. Delighted with long run, felt strong at marathon pace at end. Heart rates were up last week and start of this week, so happy that they are back to normal now.

Abhainn

Racing Flat wrote: »

Sat 30th Aug - 22.1m, 2.47, Avg 7.35pace 152bpm, but did first 8m @ 8.00pace, next 7m @ 7.40pace and last 7m @ 6.50pace

Racing Flat great ending to long run. A good confidence booster.

Racing Flat

Mon Sep1 - 10.4m with 6 x 1k

Tues Sep 2 - 8m, 59mins, 7.28pace, 151bpm

Wed Sep 3 - 8.2m, 66mins, 8.04pace, 140bpm

Thurs Sep 4 - 14.3, 13.1 in 88.44 @ 6.46pace, 162bpm

Fri Sep 5 - Rest

Sat Sep 6 - 22m, 2.42, 7.24pace, 152bpm, last 8.5m @ 7.09pace

Sun Sep 7 - 8m easy, 67mins, 8.25pace, 133bpm

Weekly Total = 71 miles

Bobby04

Looking good RF

Racing Flat

Bobby04 wrote: »

Looking good RF

Feeling good, thanks. But running 83 for a half when I wanted to run 79 a few weeks back put the frighteners on me a bit. Feeling in good shape, training has been good, but the unkown of what happens at mile 22/23 will be the decider. How much will I slow down? As slowing down is fairly inevitable. Looking forward to it though and this has been a completely different training experience to my last marathon 3 years ago. Then all the long runs were like torture for the last 4-5miles and I'd have to lie down for the day! This time I'm speeding up at the end and they're not taking too much out of me. So with a nice taper, I'll be going into it fairly confident, and hopefully will be able to deal with whatever miles 22-26 have to throw at me on the day.

Racing Flat

Mon 8 Sep – 6.5m, 50mins, 7.49pace, 144bpm

Tues 9 Sep – 8.7m with 6 x 1k

Wed 10 Sep – 6.1m, 50mins, 8.20pace, 140bpm

Thurs 11 Sep – 10.6m with 2 x 20mins tempo (6.18pace @ 167bpm & 6.20pace @ 170bpm)

Fri 12 Sep – 6.1m, 45mins, 7.24pace, 146bpm

Sat 13 Sep – 16m, 1.53, Average 7.06pace, 147bpm with 1st 10miles @ 6.48pace (151bpm)

Sun 14 Sep – Rest

Weekly Total = 54 miles

Racing Flat

Mon Sep 15 - 6m, 43mins, 7.13pace, 143bpm

Tues Sep 16 - 9.8m with 2 x 15mins tempo, (6.10pace @ 170bpm & 6.10pace @ 174bpm)

Wed Sep 17 - 5m, 39mins, 7.55pace, 139bpm

Thurs Sep 18 - 4m, 32mins

Fri Sep 19 - Rest

Sat Sep 20 - 12m, 94mins, 7.53pace, 149bpm

Sun Sep 21 - 7.2m, 58mins, 8.04pace, 143bpm, ~ 5 x 15secs strides at end

Weekly Total = 44 miles

Was feeling great until Thursday. Intended to do 4 x 1k or something like that but on first interval didn't feel great, maybe a bit hypo as didn't eat enough due to busy day at work, so bailed. Felt a bit run down next day, but okay again now. Funny old taper!!!! It's like the body has to get used to not running so much again. Hopefully will get lots of good sleep this week, ready for Sunday.

What are people's thoughts for the very last week - a few people have said to do a few easy runs with 2 miles at marathon pace on Tuesday. Others have said not to do this 2 miles but instead to just do a few strides on Monday and Wednesday....Not sure. Planning to do about 5-6 Mon, Tuesday and Wednesday, with about 4 on Thursday, rest friday and Saturday, although depending on setup in Berlin, might do 15mins on Saturday...

stipes212

2:59:59 and why not. As an ex runner I can only say how impresed I am by your sessions. I think the weather conditions ruined your sub 80 effort in Longford. Berlin is an easy course, but it is still 26.2 miles. Btw, I always ran in the last week, nerves would'nt allow me to rest. Good luck on the day,and I predict 2:56

Racing Flat

I'd bite your hand off for 2.56, and maybe my own. I think running a 10k in terrible conditions (knee high water:eek:) the week before and hanging around for a few hours beforehand in those conditions (it was a triathlon relay) was the main factor in my poor Longford performance.

I know it's just the taper playing with my head, but 10 days ago I felt I could have ran a maraton everyday, yesterday I was out doing an easy 45minutes and I couldn't conceive how I ever ran a 20mile not to mind 26...

But all is going well, I can't complain. I'll be ready Sunday and am really looking forward to it. Cheers.

ike

Looking forward to hearing the result myself. A mate of mine is hoping to go under 3:15, sO I have plenty of interest in the results.

Best of luck and most importantly run strong

Racing Flat

Mon 22 Sep - 6m, 44mins

Tues 23 Sep - 5.4m with 2m @ 6.53pace

Wed 24 Sep - 4.6m, 34mins

Thurs 25 Sep - 4m, 32mins

Fri 26 Sep - Rest

Sat 27 Sep - Rest

Sun 28 Sep - Marathon

Weekly Total = 20 miles (ex marathon)

Done and dusted now. Training's done. Can't wait.

BRING IT ON!

token56

Best of luck on Sunday, hope all goes well.

stipes212

go for it!!!

A P

Go for it man. You've done the hard work - it's time to reap the benefits. Enjoy your Brandenburg gate moment. Fingers crossed for ya!

Bobby04

If I was a betting man I'd be backing you to do it RF, no doubt. Best of luck, and hope you actually enjoy the run too And don't insult us with a one liner report!!

SUNGOD

best of luck RF hope it all goes according to plan

Racing Flat

Bobby04 wrote: »

And don't insult us with a one liner report!!

Would I do that to you? I've kissed the Blarney stone. I do like a good yarn...

The Taper
Right, first up, taper DOES NOT SUIT ME. Pity I don't really like doing marathons, because I'd like to try a few different tapers to see what works for me, but as I only like to do them every few years, I can't afford to do this, so I've tended to stick with the generally advocated 3 week taper of 80%, 60%, 40% of maximum weekly mileage for the last 3 weeks, so cutting the quantity but keeping some quality.

However, I found that by week 3 of the taper, my 4 mile easy runs were quite difficult, legs were feeling sore, heavy and tired at the end, heart rate was up (you can see that I conveniently let out HR figures for this period in my log as I did not want to believe it), and I felt fairly wrecked at the end of them. Rewind a few weeks and I was doing a 1 hour / 8 mile minimum on my easy runs and I was having to drag myself home rather than staying out for longer which I wanted to those runs were so enjoyable, had to remind myself to slow down. My last few 22mile runs I felt I could have done sub 3 there and then, but with about 10 days to go I started to feel bad. Was I getting deconditioned? Or was it just my head?

The worst part was my last scheduled speed session was a 4 x 1k 10 days beforehand and I had to pull out of this after a few hundres metres of the first rep. Was hypoglycaemic and felt like I was getting a cold. Felt overtrained which didn't make sense as I was 10 days into a relatively easy period. Were the previous few 70mile weeks with interval and marathon pace sessions as well as sprightly enough long runs catching up with me, a delayed onset overtraining? Or was it just my head? To compound this, I wasn't sleeping.

This was exactly how I felt in the week leading up to Longford half marathon, with difficult runs and feeling less fit/sluggish all the time. At the time I put it down to easing down for 2 weeks (as I had a 10k race the week before, my only regret of the whole training plan) and deconditioning, or else the effects of a hard 10k race. So feeling like this again had me thinking 'is easing off just not good for me?'. But I figured that it would be suicide to try and go hard right up to a week before and it would surely come back to haunt me in the last few miles of the marathon, hence I stuck with the planned 3 week taper as above. But after Longford I remember thinking that I didn't want to feel like I did the week before that on my last week. But I did. The not sleeping was my biggest concern. I need my sleep. Again, in my last 2 hard weeks I probably had the best sleeps of my life and was waking up early ready for work, ready for training afterwards and felt so strong and healthy. But now I was feeling fairly sh1te. However, despite these demons, I was very confident that the training was done.

One of the reasons for doing this marathon was timing - I knew I'd have a fairly uninterrupted 5 months or so of training, a few weeks off in the middle due to work or holiday commitments can be a killer, but I did not have that to worry about. I missed 2 days when I felt I was going to get a cold, by taking those 2 days I bounced back just where I left off, so that was negligible, any other missed days were purely because they were rest days or prior to/post races. The only mistake and regret was committing to a 10k a week before the half. Initially thought I was going to train through this but as it was a relay leg of a triathlon and we had a good swimmer and cyclist, I didn't want to let them down and in fairness we finished 2nd. Other than that training was perfect, to be so free of injury or colds, I couldn't have asked for any more.

So the training was done and done well. And I'd be rested. Despite the lack of sleep at night I was getting an hour or two in in the evenings, and with the cut mileage, I knew that the body had to be rested. So despite the demons of the way I was feeling physically and the way that was affecting my thoughts, my confidence was good. I was fairly sure that I would wake up on the morning of the race and everything would be fine.

Racing Flat

The last few days

Thursday was great. Went up to my club and everyone and his dog pulled me to one side and advised me how to do it. Didn't know there were about 20 different ways to run sub-3. Some of my clubmates either can't do maths or they think 3 hours is 2.55 or 3.05, but the best piece of advice on how to do a 3 hour marathon might have been 'Start at the 2 mile mark'....

But I got a great send off from the boys. Everyone was confident that I would do it and that reinforced the confidence I had in my training. So headed off Friday, plane delayed, but had a nice evening. Great sleep Friday night. Next day off to expo. Not ideal. Lots of walking, tube, walking. Huge queue at registration. As soon as we got our numbers there was no queue. Managed to find a pair of shorts after a frantic search. At this stage we were getting really hungry but pasta queue was massive. More walking, tube, walking to try and find somewhere to eat. Eventually got somewhere at about 5.00. Having not eaten since breakfast and intending to eat again at around 7 this was a bit annoying, but just thought 'forget about it', just get the fuel in. Up a fair bit in the night to pass water, but got to sleep around 1 and slept well until alarm went off at 6. Porridge with nuts and raisins, banana, energy drink, water. Shower. Shave. Kit on. Out the door.

Weather perfect. Nice and cool. 10min walk to tube. Did 20metre jog to see if I could still run. I hadn't forgotten. Body feeling fine. As I had hoped/expected. It was on. Nice friendly atmosphere on tube full of marathon runners. 10min walk to marthon entry point. Photos. Say goodbye to support crew (ie friends over for a holiday).

Straight to the portaloo queue. Not bad - only about 10mins. But it's now 8.30. Bagaage drop closes at 8.30. German fellow explains to me that I 'must hurry - they will not wait'. Anxiously get into racing shoes and singlet. Vas up. Then have to run to baggage drop. Not easy to find your baggage tent among 40,000 other runners. Then need to find start line - not many signs around. Follow the crowd, and hope they are not going to pen H. They look like pen H runners. Eventually there's a hole in the fence. Step through, like everyone else and a crush ensues. 2 gripes about Berlin marathon. This is the first. Why were supporters (with big rusksacks and buggys) allowed into this zone? I was lifted up iin the crush and moved along like at a concert. Not having this. Push my way free and push supporters and other runners out of the way to clear room for myself. Not too proud of this. A fellow runner gives out to me. 'We need to get through too?' 'I know, I'm sorry, but those people (the supporters) shouldn't be in here', I reply. 'I agree' he replies. And he starts to push them with me. Again not proud but time is pushing on. Top athletes getting introduced and I don't know where I am. Then there's a gap - the entry to pen B, 2.20-2.50. I'm pen C, but didn't get stopped. Wondered if I should hide the letter C on my number when standing in pen. The fellow next to me has a H on his number. No need to hide. It's a free for all. I look up. I'm only 20 rows back or so, perfect. Haile introduced. What a reception he gets. They announce '1 minute to go'. Slap the legs. Slap the face. '30 sceonds to go'. Shake hands with my buddy. Wish each other luck. Face the start. Shout encouragement to myself. The gun goes.

ike

..and...don't leave me hanging...

A P

Yeah, this is torture - spill the beans! Here's hoping there's a happy ending!

Racing Flat

The Race

Plan is 4.30 for first 3 km's then 4.15 per km / 21.15 for 5k after that. I think 2.59.59 is 4.16 or 21.21pace.

Opening few hundred metres feel fast. Lots of people going past us. My friend says it feels too slow. I predict it's 4.15. Hope it's not faster. At the 1 km mark it's 4.50. Perfect. I was delighted with that. Next km was 4.15 on the button, so happy I was in rhythm. Looked around to say to my friend that it was 4.15, but he had dropped back about 10m. 'Forget that, get on with it', I thought. At 4k though, I didn't feel well. I was really sweating. Looked around and no-one else was sweating. This was a real downer. I thought 'It's not going to be my day' and I was very negative. Hit 5k in 21.33. Happy with that as I was already, slowly making back some the time 'lost' on the first km. But, although I was happy with the pacing I was concerned with the way I wasn't feeling great.

However, as soon as I hit the first fuel station and drank some water and threw some on my head I felt great. Really great. So I was clocking 4.08, 4.10, 4.04 at this stage. I wondered if it was too fast so I tried to slow a little, but I kind of couldn't. It seemed to be a good natural pace so I stuck with it. I was thinking of everyone saying after - 'you went off too fast' but this felt right so I had to go with it. The overwhelming advice from the boys on Thursday night was to hold back on the reins. But I couldn't seem to do this. It didn't seem natural. Maybe that's because I prefer shorter stuff. Anyway, I trusted my instinct to go with the flow. If I was going to get it wrong, I'd get it wrong my way, I'd hold myself responsible. Next 5k was 20.57, or 42.30 for 10k so bang on schedule.

At this stage I noticed the orange baloon of the 3.00 pacer. I couldn't work out whether he'd come from behind or I'd caught up. I thought I must have caught up based on my pacing, but I heard some fellows next to me say he was going too fast, he was at 2.50 pace (although maybe my German isn't up to much). As my km split at that time was 4.04 I thought maybe they were right. I seemed to be going at a faster pace than him, so I tried to check my pace again and soon I was in rhythm with him. He looked like he was really struggling though! About 100m ahead there was another baloon, so I didn't know whether this was another 3.00 pacer or if this was the 2.50 pacer. Soon the pacer I was with was gone - not sure if he just took off the baloons or what happened, but I was happy enough with my own pace anyway so stuck with that.

While I was generally feeling great at this stage, it was a bit of a rollercoaster. Physically for a few minutes I'd feel brilliant but then I wouldn't feel so great for a bit. I wondered whether this was because the course was so flat, were there some hardly noticeable inclines and declines that made my fairly even 4.10 pace seem alternatively hard and easy. Or was it related to fuel stops?

It was great that there were loads of fuel stops - practically every 2.5k. My routine was grab 2 cups, 1 over head, drink 1, then grab another 2 cups, 1 over head and hold 1 and sip over the next few hundred metres. At the stands where there was energy drink the plan was to take one of these instead of one of the waters, but this actually only happened once as these were only every 5k and I was taking a gel at 15, 25 and 35, so didn't need these (Ended up actually taking last gel at 32k as thought that would be more beneficial, and at 35k dropped energy drink cup due to collision with another runner). Maybe just as well as it was one I hadn't tried and the time I took it I felt a slight cramp in my stomach.

10-15km was a 20.52 split, the next 20.51 so I was in a great rhythm, going through halfway in just under 89, just where I wanted to be. I had imagined that I would speed up at this stage. But I had also imagined that the first half would feel incredibly easy. It hadn't. While I wasn't uncomfortable, I knew I was working and due to the alternate feeling good and feeling not so good, I was mindful that the 'feeling not so good' phases might start to last longer as the race went on. So while there was a bit of a surge at halfway (with a field so deep, the runners around me seemed very experienced and there were plenty around because for practically the whole way we were 10 abreast) I went with it for a minute or two but then I thought, 'hang on a minute, don't risk throwing it all away, don't be greedy, 2.59.59 is enough, anything else can wait for another day'. So I settled back into a more comfortable pace.

The 25k split was 21.13, so although I had slowed a touch, I was still under my target pace, which also gave me a 6 second cushion (or so I thought at the time, I'm not actually sure). But although I had slowed, concern was yet to kick in, but I started doing the maths. I think I worked out that I could afford to slow by 3 secs a km, but I couldn't really trust my maths at that stage as just as I was about to do a bit of long division I'd have to run over and grab some water...

30k was 21.22. So below planned pace. At about 26-28k things started to go wrong. The first thing I noticed was my toes were sore. School boy error. My shoes were too tight. I had always intended to wear my usual racing flats for the race, but just after Longford I developed a pain in my foot, which was present up until last week. So I thought I might need a bit more support but didn't want to wear my usual running shoes as they might be too heavy. I looked up the Asics DS trainer which is halfway between the racer and the normal Asics in terms of weight so went for this. In the shop they felt a bit tight so I went up half a size and tried them out for my last tempo run and my last long run (12 miles) and they felt fine. So I reckon that as the race went on and my feet swelled up they just became too tight. So schoolboy error to have used a different type of shoe to what I was used to.

It was funny actually that I made this error and that I didn't have shorts until the day before considering how regimental I had been about the training. I suppose I was so confident in the training that I thought the race would look after itself, but some lessons were learnt. Next time I'll wear my intended racing shoes for a half marathon race and one 22mile run.

So my toes were really sore, but this was not affecting performance. Every few steps I'd try and land on my heel a bit to shift my toes back in the shoe and this would give a little relief, but after a while the pain was incessant, so I just carried on as normal. However, it still wasn't affecting performance. It wasn't slowing me down or altering my stride, it was more like chafed nipples that give you pain, but don't slow you down. So couldn't use that as an excuse. What it did do is it made me worry that it might get worse. I considered that I might have to remove my shoes (if it got unbearable) and positively told myself that I'd have no problem, the roads were great. I did think that it would be great to see my friends faces at 40k when they cheered me on and then looked down and saw my bare feet. But then I thought about the expression on their faces if I took off my shoes and broke down after a few minutes so had to hobble past them at 40k an hour behind schedule. As I say a real rollercoaster of emotions, it was like a fight between good and evil in my head. I was trying so hard to keep the good on top. But it was getting more difficult.

Worse than the toes, was my calf. At about 30k when I had to slow to get water (this isn't gripe two, gripe two was actually that we had to queue for so long to get our numbers at the helpdesk at registration, before we could actually pick up the munbers, purely because they forgot to send them out in the post to lots of people) my calf gave a twinge like it was about to go into cramp. You know when you play football and you get cramp, you can get up and stretch, but then a few minutes later if you have to run hard, or jump, it almost goes into cramp again? It was just like that. The fuel stations were great, but it's just such a busy marathon that they were crowded and there was a lot of unintentional banging into people and dropping cups etc., so you had to slow to navigate this. I hoped it was a once off, but at the next station, the same thing happened.

Now I was worried. It was getting warmer. We were getting into the toughest part of the race. I needed the water (I found that pouring it over my head was really great, hadn't done this much before, possibly because Dublin isn't warm enough, but I would certainly recommend doing this at every stop) but was it worth risking getting cramp? Running along normally seemed fine, if I took a longer stride or kind of went to the side a bit to get around someone I'd feel it, but going along normally it seemed fine. But the demons were building that it might develop into a full blown cramp.

35k was 21.46. This cheered me up. I was slowing as you might expect at this stage, but not by that much. Here I started doing the maths more regularly. I thought it I had around 28 minutes left for 4 miles so figured I'd be okay. But it was getting tough. The defining moment might have been at 37k. A club mate stepped out of the crowd and roared me on. It took me a while to realise what was going on, I hadn't expected to see him. So I was past him and he kept roaring. I punched my fist out in front of me and thought, 'I've got to give it everything. I can't give in to the demons. If I give it everything and don't get it so be it. If I give in to the pain and the fear I'll never forgive myself'. Maybe sounds a bit melodramatic, but with the rollercoaster of emotions... So I just focussed on trying to hold pace, or maybe tried not to slow too much.

At 39k I thought 3k and 195m to go, that's roughly 2 miles; I'd about 14 minutes, fitness wise I could do it no matter what, as long as the cramp didn't kick in. 40k was 21.43. I was delighted. I thought that that 5k might have been the slowest, but I'd picked it up again after seeing my clubmate. I'd just under 10mins for 2.2k and at that moment I knew it was in the bag. I knew I had it. I picked up the pace, there were a few fellows starting to race here. The Berlin marathon is amazing because the crowds are massive and very vocal the whole way round. At about 39k it's a bit like the Tour de France, the crowds close in on the runners. This was a bit oppressive, with the crowds adding to the building heat. I was motioning with my hand to get the people on my side to move out of my way , but it was all too frenetic for them to notice. But the marathon finishes along a long straight of about 1.5k. Just before you get to this, and just after the Tour-de-France-like bit you turn a corner. This stretch is about 100m long, maybe more and there is no-one there, as they are all at the exciting finish or the Tour de France bit. This was a fantastic moment. There was peace and quiet, the calm before the iminent storm. I looked at one or two of the runners as I passed them or they passed me and without saying anything everyone knew that we were all feeling the same - a swell of emotion was rising.

My 41st km was my fastest of the marathon. 3.47. At this stage I told myself to slow a tad to enjoy it. So I started waving to the crowds, congratulating those around me etc. and ran in looking up at the clock knowing that I'd done it. I clocked 6.30 pace for the last 2.2k. I was delighted with this. People say that the marathon starts at 20miles, but looking at the results, a lot of poeple lost it in the last 2k. We don't think of it in km, but I wonder whether these days now that everyone does long runs of 20-22miles does it start at 40k? Many of the people at around the same split as me at 40k, or even faster, didn't get sub-3. I felt for them. It might explain why there was a strange atmosphere around the runners at the run in. I thought everyone must be delighted to be sub 3 and they'd be jubilant. But over the last few hundred metres many seemed subdued. But maybe they were just too wrecked. Or maybe they were going for 2.50 and blew up. But that was surprising, I was one of the few whooping for joy. There were so many people crying at the finish. It was incredibly emotional. I finished in just over 2.59. I was absolutely ecstatic.

I'm not a marathon lover so to have just missed out and thereby have to face doing one again would have been tough to take. Now, I never need to do one again. As such I probably will! But that can wait for a few years.

The aftermath was great. There were lots of drink stations, we got our medals, photographs, had a massage on a sun-lounger, in the sun (about the weather, I'd go along with Haile that it was perfect - cool, no wind, but a slight cool breeze, I couldn't have asked for anything better, but saying that, anyone who finished much after 3 hours and particularly those around 4 hours must have really suffered, it was getting really hot). I took off my shoes. When one of my friends saw, she thought I had frostbite. The others couldn't bear to look and were dry wretching. I didn't think it was that bad - just 5 completely black toes, not that I've ever seen it but frostbite sounds a good description. It was worth it.

The delight I had has stayed with me. I'd recommend it to anyone. Set a target and go for it. What a feeling to achieve it. I'll enjoy a week off, then can't wait to get back training.

To sum up, what surprised me so much was the physical and psychological rollercoaster nature of it. Previous marathons have started easy and gradually got tougher and tougher building to a crescendo, but this time I'd have a few positive minutes and then a few negative minutes both physically and psychologically, which were obviously linked. I had to work hard to stay positive. But I've never had such an up and down race.

Luckily it worked out well for me. Not so for everyone and I feel for them. Must be deadly to be so close and not do it. It is scant consolation to them that the difference between 2.59 and 3.01 is something like 14.1 and 14.0 on a treadmill respectively. Absolutely nothing, negligible. If someone put a towel over the treadmill screen and told you to run for 3 hours I don't think it would make a difference whether it was 14.0 or 14.1, you wouldn't know the difference. But purely because we measure time in hours we have a mark of 3 hours. If we measured time in seconds only, 3 hours would be 10,800, so 10,000 or 2.47 might be the mark we'd all be going for. (Apologioes if the maths are wrong, but you get the point). That notion, or the similar '3.01 is the same as 2.61' comment would be scant consolation to me, so I don't want to patronise anyone who just missed out, but for what it's worth I don't think I'm one bit better as a runner than anyone who ran 3.01 or 3.02, or worse than someone who ran 2.57 or 2.58 for that matter. Things just worked out for me on the day. Thankfully so, as it was an absolutely fantastic feeling.

Cheers for all the support, and I would strongly recommend the Berlin marathon.

Racing Flat

ike wrote: »

..and...don't leave me hanging...

Sorry, busy day, keep getting called away.

Racing Flat

A P wrote: »

Yeah, this is torture - spill the beans! Here's hoping there's a happy ending!

As above.

Apologies.

A P

As they say in the A-Team, I love it when a plan comes together! I'm really glad to hear it all worked out on the day. The months of dedication and sacrifice have paid off, and deservedly so. Fair play to you, Woddle, Abhainn and all the other guys who completed it on Sunday. Enjoy your well-earned rest!

Woddle

Great account RF, absolutely delighted for you, and I agree it was a very emotional experience, I high fived every kid thinking of my own two back home and not one kid pulled there hand away.
I was close to tears at the finish and walking home, I couldnt believe I did it.
Congrats again you deerved it, as I've been following your log and you have been so consistant in your training, a model runner for us future sub 3 hour guys to follow so hats off to you and enjoy your week off.

stipes212

congrats RF, really pleased for you.
The difference between 2:59 and 3:01.?
Some years ago myself and a friend finished Dublin together in 3:01.
He unfortunately, packed it in and never ran again.
I plodded on, to eventually get there.
Of course that "absolutely fantastic feeling" does'nt come with 3:01
Again well done, heres to a good recovery and a great cc season

SUNGOD

brilliant report and even better acheivement absolutely delighted for you all the hard work paid off

donothoponpop

Best marathon report I've ever read, congrats Racing Flat! As you say, 2:59 and 3:01 are the same, yet not, so well done for breaking this mark. Talk about glycogen depletion, @30k you were considering ditching your shoes?!? I've had a few crazy thoughts during latter stages of marathons, but this takes the biscuit!

Well done, enjoy your week off, great log.