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Quick Beat; Slow Feet
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El Director wrote: »Well dude, catching up now. Glad that that niggle seems to have sorted itself out (i hope) nothing worse than that in the back of your mind. The very best of luck with Barca, looking forward to the report.....go get what you deserve
+1 on that. Best of luck.0 -
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The weekend gone was always going to be a special weekend as I had never went abroad to run a race before, never mind the fact that the race was a marathon. And it was great to meet up with a few more Boardsies and to catch up with those I had met before.
After checking in to the hotel on Friday afternoon I went to the expo to collect my bib. I thought the expo was quite similar to Dublin’s expo which I experienced in 2009. They also had a tri section though, which added a different edge to it. I went round the stands fairly quickly, aiming to pick up an inexpensive pair of compression socks if I could. I managed to find some for €25, so was happy enough with that. A few of us met up for something to eat on Fri night, so it ended up a little later than I had intended, but I got about 8 hrs sleep, so it wasn’t too bad.
Having spoken to Briandrunner during the meal about the hills involved with the breakfast run I was beginning to change my mind and I was thinking about not bothering to do it. After waking on Sat and with time to make it to the run, I had a rushed breakfast and made it to the start of the breakfast run just as the last of the runners went out of sight by the corner of the expo building. I picked up a number and took a short-cut up the steps and waited until the front runners arrived. I was watching out for cunavalos who I had arranged to meet, but didn’t see him so hoped in with Meno and Sarsfieldsrock for the rest of it. I was surprised to feel as tired as I did at the end of it and hoped that the sun wouldn’t be as powerful during the marathon.
Race Day
I had an alright sleep on Sat night and was awake before 6. The hotel had obliged to let me use their kitchen microwave to make my porridge; fair play to them for that. I also had a banana and a wheaten croissant. I then had a Zym and water as I felt this would prevent any cramps during the race, as I had used this strategy for a lot of the tris last year and it generally worked a treat.
I met up with Liam123 whilst relieving myself against a wall just before I headed for the sub3 pen. When I entered the pen it was less than half empty and nearly everyone in it looked like a serious runner. Trying not to feel intimidated I joined the train of runners jogging the perimeter of the pen as a warm up. After a few stretches and a few more trips to the ‘wall of relief’, the pen had filled up and we were waiting for the off. I said a quick hello to the two only English speakers I could see around me. The 3 hr pacers were about 15m ahead of me in the pen.
Before long we were shuffling towards the timing mat and on our way around the streets of Barcelona. I had the Raheny tech Tshirt on and had 6 gels (3 iso and 3 reg) in a belt. The pace band had 4:15 for the 1st km and I went through in 4:09. The pacers were a good 100m ahead but I wasn’t worried about that as I had my pace band and was sure I would catch up with them over the next few k. 8:20 was the 2km time (8:31 planned) and I was trying to hold myself back but was getting caught up a bit too much with those around me. It was around here that I passed the 3:15 pacer, whatever he was doing? The watch at 3km was 12:34 or so (should have been 12:47). I made myself slow down then and came through the 5km mark bang on pace.
The next 5km went by fairly quick; I had taken an Isogel at 6km and went through 10km almost a min up on the planned 42:39, in 41:50. I wasn’t too concerned that I had gone a little quicker than I should have. After this I was hitting each km about 1 min quicker than I should have been, so essentially I was now running at pace. The pacers were still about 100m or more ahead. After the 10km mark I wanted to go for a pee but I didn’t want to stop so at the next water station I took a bottle and when it was empty I carried it with me, planning on using it on the go. I never really got an opportunity to, and I ended up throwing the empty bottle away after the 15k mark. After that the urge left and it didn’t return ‘til after the finish. The 10 to 20km section went by fairly quickly too, but even at this stage of the race I was beginning to feeling the pace (which is in stark contrast to DCM09 where I was fresh as a daisy and felt great up to and beyond the half way point). I was fairly oblivious to all around me; until we turned a corner and one of the runners behind me clipped my leg and knocked me well off stride. Luckily, I didn’t fall. Before I knew it I had let out a yell – he apologised and I acknowledged it and dismissed the incident. I had meant to take the next Isogel at 12km but only remembered to take it when I was at the 13k marker. I passed 15km in 1:03:13 (pace band had 1:03:59) and 20k in 1:24:30 (1:25:19). Just before the half way mark there was a ‘contraflow’ section and I got a shout from christeb and shortly after from cunavalos, and it couldn’t have come at a better time as I was starting to struggle. A normal gel was had just before the 20km water station. I had decided that I wouldn’t take on any of the powerade as I had not tried it in training.
I was happy that some of the course was sheltered from the sun by buildings and the like, and it provided an opportunity to run in the shade and avoid the extra heat from the sun. After the half way mark I got my first shouts of “Come on Ireland” or “go on Raheny” from people in the crowd and that was great, and I returned their encouragement with a smile or a thumbs up.
Another normal gel was had just before the next water station after the 25km mark. I came through 25km in 1:45:43 (still that minute up on the planned 1:46:38). At this stage the pacers were within 10 or 20m of me. Any small drag now was a struggle and I was trying to hold the pace ‘til at least 33km and see what happened after that. Then, as I passed by the 28km marker my calves started to twang with the onset of cramp, so I knew I couldn’t go on at the same pace or it was going to overcome me. I decided to run at as fast a pace as I could while just keeping the cramp at bay. Up to 28km I was still around that minute up on planned pace. I had decided that Powerade would hopefully sort the cramps out and that if so I would then push on back to PMP. 30km couldn’t arrive soon enough to get the Powerade on board, and I passed 30km in 2:07:40, just 18secs quicker than the planned 2:07:58. A few minutes after the Powerade was taken the sense of cramps abated and I tried to push back to PMP but the legs were not responding no matter how hard I tried. I took another Isogel at 32km; and at every water station from then on I was going for Powerade instead of the water to make sure the cramps didn’t come back, which they didn’t. I knew I had slowed considerably but there was no way I could get back up to pace. I could see the minutes slipping by now and at 35km the watch read 2:30:51 (it should have been reading 2:29:18). By 37km I was struggling big time and I was contemplating taking a walking break, but I wouldn’t let myself do that, and I kept the momentum going as best I could. Now when the kids held out there hand for a high five I obliged them, whereas before this I was concentrating more on the run. Every couple of kms as the markers arrived slower and slower, I could see the watch registering another min slower than planned. I took another regular gel just before the next aid station at 37.5km, for all the good it was going to do me then! I came through 40km in 2:56:28, some 6 mins slower than planned (2:50:38). The pace was well and truly knocked out of me at that stage and somewhere around this point Racoon Queen gave me a big shout of encouragement and I could see in her eyes the disappointment for me. I had done my best and was happy to be still running, and ran on to the end wishing the 41km and 42km markers would arrive quicker. 12mins and 18secs after the 40km marker I crossed the line with a wry smile and a small thumbs up. I was happy with the time as I had run to the best of my ability on the day, but it was way off where I thought it was going to be.
After the finish I could feel the pain in my left foot but thankfully I had no pain from it during the run. The only issue I had during the race was a slightly niggle for a few km from my right hip, but nothing too concerning at all. I have been taking glucosamine and condrotin supplements for a good few months now (maybe even a year) and the difference between how the legs felt (the knees in particular) after running DCM09 and Barca11 is a world apart – absolutely no issues with my knees this time round, whereas after DCM09 I couldn’t run for a month after and was in major pain going up and down stairs. This time I had major DOMS on the Sun, Mon and Tues, but yesterday (Wed) I was getting back to normal and would have jogged around the Raheny 1 mile race had I been home from work in time. Today I feel like I could comfortably run a few miles, but I am going to take a well earned break now until March 20th when I will race the 10.6km of the “TourdBoyne”.
There was some craic had in the George Payne Irish Bar on Sunday afternoon. It’s a long time since I had so much drink, but the Coronas were going down far too easy. It was great to meet up with Mr & Mrs Woodle, Meno (aka “Daddy” – after all the organising and helping out he was doing for everyone over the weekend), Rainbow Kirby, Mrs & Mr Racheljev, Sarsfieldsrock, Racoon Queen, cunavalos, Jackyback, Briandrunner, Oisin, theboyblunder, Liam123, xavi olonso (spelling?), christeb and pmqcgc?. I hope I haven’t left anyone out after reaming you all off! Congrats to all of you on your own performances; there were some great runs from ye on the day. I was one of the last to leave the pub and as I walked back to the hotel I asked for directions to a takeaway and my compression socks disappeared from my back pocket (I had been wearing them at the start of the night, but had removed them and placed them in my back pocket). Thanks again to Woddle who kept ringing me on Mon morning to make sure I got up and got the taxi. Only for that I’ld surely have missed my flight and had a bad end to the trip – Cheers.
I didn’t want to over analyse the run, but looking back on my splits I can see that I ran the 5 to 10km section too quick at 4:09/km (6:40/ml) pace; and in general I ran the whole first half quicker than I should have. If I could do it again now, I would run the first half slower. I knew I had to do that, but I can’t figure out why I thought it OK to be running slightly above pace. I am also a bit miffed as to McMillan’s calculated marathon time from my recent races. Maybe I am not as suited to this distance, or maybe I needed to work more on my endurance.
The splits from the website (the end of which reads like a traincrash in slow motion!):
Dist (km) |5km Splits|5km Pace (/km ; /ml)|Cumm Time|Avg Pace Cumm (/km ; /ml)
0 - 5|21:20|4:16 ; 6:52|21:20|4:16 ; 6:52
5 - 10|20:43|4:09 ; 6:40|42:02|4:12 ; 6:46
10 - 15|21:11|4:14 ; 6:49|01:03:13|4:13 ; 6:47
15 - 20|21:17|4:15 ; 6:51|01:24:30|4:14 ; 6:48
20 - 25|21:14|4:15 ; 6:50|01:45:43|4:14 ; 6:48
25 - 30|21:57|4:23 ; 7:04|02:07:40|4:15 ; 6:51
30 - 35|23:12|4:38 ; 7:28|02:30:51|4:19 ; 6:56
35 - 40|25:38|5:08 ; 8:15|02:56:28|4:25 ; 7:06
40 - 42.2|12:18|5:35 ; 9:00|03:08:46|4:28 ; 7:12
Having tried and failed, I have renewed awe for those who have managed to run sub 3. It is something I will have to try for again, but as I have made a promise with Mrs M, I think I will be touching 40 before I have another lash at it. Also a double fair play to anyone who has done or is considering running a marathon at the end of an IM. I can't imagine the physical and mental strength required.
On a positive, it was a very well organised race (excepting the poor pacing), and I would recommend it to anyone, but would add a word of caution on how people will fair out in the sun, after having trained for the marathon in the depths of winter.
Thanks all for your comments, advise, and good wishes to me on this log over the last year and more. It is very much appreciated.
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Just the echo the above posts Mick... Great report and nice to meet u before and after the race..... Where would u c it...15,000 people pottering around and the two Boardies meet for the 1st time while watering the local plants
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Sub 3 will come in the near future..Ur times for the shorter distances are so much faster than mine so stick with it and ul get there soon....0 -
Cracking report Mick and real kudos for that effort! I feel gutted for you that the super training you did didn't pan out on the day as you had hoped but you still ran brave and clearly dug deep. Yourself and Brianderunner have now put scared the crap out of me putting myself out there for a sub3 attempt later this year but I've no doubt its only a matter of time before you do it Well done on your Marathon and enjoy the cycling for a change. With a few bordsies doing the North Tipp Sprint now I feel like I'm missing out :rolleyes: 0
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Super report Mac and well done again on a gutsy performace (and also the legendary drinking
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I wouldn't worry too much about the second 5k, looking at most reports, it was everyone's fastest 5k and it was substantially downhill. I'd say the heat got you in the end, maybe carry an extra zym tablet with you in future and take it just after half way?
As for training, I'd say the more long Slow runs (20 miles+) you do the better, but keep most of them very slow so that they don't take too much out of you.0
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