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Sunday 14th April
Marathon Rotterdam
Result: DNF @ 25.9miles
The marathon that had the potential to offer so much, but in the end gave so little.
Pre-Race
I was a pretty nervous during race week. I spent a good portion of the time getting rid of the demons, focusing on the facts and obtaining a positive mental attitude. I knew training had gone well and I had put in a fair amount of hard work, all my race times were indicating a possible sub 3. If I’m completely honest in the week leading up to the race I did feel like I was in great shape, maybe even sub 3 shape, whatever that was supposed to feel like.
But in the end regardless of the months of training, dark winter nights, diet monitoring and everything else, it would all come down what happened in just 180 minutes. That is the challenge of the marathon, possibly why such a challenge attracts me.
The overwhelming amount of messages of good luck and well wishes on here were so encouraging and I gained confidence in that. I couldn’t have been better prepared. But there was one little elephant in the room which appeared about the week before the race, that being the weather.
My Rotterdam mission started with a 3.30am alarm on Saturday morning when I had to get a 6am flight from Cork to Amsterdam. As a result I only got about 5 hours sleep the night before but I was buzzing so I wasn’t deterred. On arrival to the airport I bumped into a group of lads from Waterford AC who were also Rotterdam bound so had a few words with them.
Rotterdam is actually very easy and quick to get to, a hi-speed train at the airport and within 20mins I was there. Nice and easy. It was my first time in the Netherlands and I knew it was flat but I couldn’t get over actually how flat it was!
Dropped the bags at the hotel and then headed over to the expo. The process was fairly fast and I was in and out after about 10mins with my number after a quick look at the stands, although it wouldn’t be to the size and scale of Dublin, it done the job. Then began the minute counting, trying to get through the day doing very little. I had arranged to meet BeepBeep and Mrs. BB that evening for some carbing so I spent the next few hours in a cafe and catching up on some zzz’s in the hotel after the early morning start.
Met up with the BBs for dinner and we found a lovely Italian place that went down a treat. The pre-race nerves were apparent but we were both fairly confident. This was of course with it being cool and damp that evening, we couldn’t see how it was forecast to be so hot on the Sunday.
Mrs. BB kindly offered to take an extra bottle with her race morning for me so I could get it off her at the 16m mark and I was really thankful for this as it was going to be needed! After a small stroll back to the hotel I shut up shop for the night ready for the task ahead.
Race Morning
It was finally here, race day. Woke up after a pretty good night’s sleep which was a surprise (great bed!) and headed down for breakfast about 2 hours before the start. I had brought my own with me so was taking no risks. Bagel, peanut butter, banana and honey with coffee to wash it down and I was all set! With the forecast hot, I had also drank a load of water the day and week before so I was well topped up on the hydration front and only needed to sip a small bit on race morning.
Spent the next hour putting on the million and one things that comes with marathon running, including suncream! :eek: I had also, over the past month, noted down some good motivational nuggets that I had come across on boards from many different sources and on race morning I went over these in the bedroom to get psyched up. Couple of gems here:There is pain involved but its a satisfying kind of pain. Daniels' has a mantra: Stay relaxed through discomfort. I train and race by this. If Im in a race and the pain hits, all I say to myself is, stay relaxed through discomfort, and my body instantly relaxes, which has the knock on effect of reducing the pain to a bareable level. Pain comes in phases, at least thats what I've noticed. In the half marathon last weekend at about 6miles gone it started to hurt, but I knew from experience that it was just a phase and that it would pass. If I had reacted to that pain and slowed in order to decrease its intensity on me, I would've blown the whole deal. I stayed relaxed and let the pain do its thing, it passed and at 10miles gone the same thing happened, again I stayed relaxed. If you accept the pain, dont fight it, but dont let it control your actions, if you stay relaxed and dont panic, I wont say pain becomes your friend but it definitely becomes bareable and less scary.It took me 5 years to go under a certain time barrier and looking back now it had nothing to do with fitness it was all to do with confidence. I was probably in the shape of my life in 2007 and missed it while in recent years I'd say with 85% of the fitness and a "fcuk it this is happening today attitude" I managed to get over that hurdle and have done it a few times now.
Unbeknown to him, KielyUnusual was also a great inspiration to me, being roughly the same age and making unbelievable progress, he shows what is possible and as a result made it feel that such achievements could be possible for me too. I take great encouragement from this and it drives me on. I had a certain Mr.Gavlor also in mind setting out and to lay down a little marker (which turned out to be no bloody marker in the end!)
The final and main mantra I had on the day was to have No Regrets. At the end of the race regardless of the time or what happened, if I had no regrets and left everything out there then there is nothing else in my power I could do.
With the mental notes in my head I also wrote a couple of small notes on my hand to remind me of these when the going got tough. NR and TODAY were scribbled and I was ready for action. :cool:
Hotel was only a 3 min jog from the start so I jogged up. Weather was overcast and dull and I thought we were in for a winner but this would not turn out to be the case. After a warm up and a few stretches I entered pin C about 25mins before the start and found myself 3 rows from the starting mat! (where else would you get it!) Met BB at the start and we wished each other good luck. Then after an unusual rendition of “You’ll never walk alone” the canon fired and we were off!
0-6miles
My strategy was simple. I had printed a 2:57 pace band. The aim was to keep it conservative running 6:45’s to halfway using as little energy as possible, hitting it at the 1:28:30 / 1:29 mark, however if I was slightly slower it would not have been a concern. Then the aim was to keep ticking over to be at 20 miles at 2hrs 15min and then see what was in the tank and take it home. I felt if I got to here as planned I’d be in great shape to take a shot at it.
The first 3 miles went well and then I came across the Waterford lads I had met the previous day who were going for sub3 too, I decided to join up to share the load and hopefully conserve some energy in the process. They were great on the pacing and we were cruising along. There was not much to see on the course but the crowds made up for it. There was plenty support around.
(6:43. 6:41, 6:46, 6:41, 6:41, 6:38)
7-13 miles
Took my first gel at the start of mile 7 as I grabbed water from the station even though I didn’t need it. Just wanted to keep the energy levels up. It was at the 8 mile mark that the sun broke though the skies and it was instantly like a radiator in my face. The temperature just shot up within minutes and everyone commented on it. But I soon forgot about it and cruised on. It was at about the 12 mile mark that the Waterford lads were reducing the pace slightly (over 6:50s) so I decided to kick on to stay on goal taking my second gel here. It was just before half way that I saw the first concern of the day. I saw BB in the distance. If all was going to plan for him I should not have seen him so early so I knew something was up, and he confirmed this but encouraged me to push on. I was worried for him but had to move on regardless, he would later wisely call it a day at 16miles. But at this point in time, I was feeling good and comfortable and in a great position.
(6:43, 6:44, 6:44, 6:47, 6:44, 6:44, 6:39)
14-20 miles
Crossed halfway at about 1:29:10 which was pretty much on the money, step one accomplished. We were soon on the way back into the city but you could really feel the dead heat at this point again. I was hydrating well I thought so nothing the worry about. The bridge back in seemed to be a bit steeper that on the way out but was negotiated without too much trouble while giving a shout out to some people with Irish flags and giving a few high fives, I was psyched again. Atmosphere was great. Back in town (Mile 16) I grabbed water off Mrs. BB and told her the BB was just behind. Then we proceeded back out of town again for a last loop. It was at this point that I really started to feel the heat it was hot hot hot and I wasn’t the only one. The amount of people walking at such an early stage at this upper end of the race was unbelievable. I was checking off a good few sauntering along and on target taking my third gel at 18 miles, still feeling energetic and fresh but this would soon change. The field was becoming scattered now and I would be isolated on a couple of occasions but I was still doing the passing rather than being passed. I crossed the 30km (no mile markers so also printed a km pace band) at 2:06 and right on target and again at 20 miles I hit 2:15, right where I wanted to be. This couldn’t be going any better I thought to myself. Just keep it together from here on in and you have it.
(6:43, 6:50, 6:33, 6:28, 6:44, 6:50, 6:53)
Game Over
Just after the 21 mile mark I passed RayCun’s nemisis from the Meath Half he was going well but looked like he was starting to suffer. Not sure how he got on. I would soon suffer myself, things all of a sudden started to feel extremely tough and the same effort being put in was not resulting in the same pace and it was going downhill rapidly. I was starting to get hazy and legs started to roar. The string headwind coming back in didn’t help things either. Can only remember bits and pieces from here on in but I recall VadarMLK (Philip) cruising past me at the 36km with great form. Looks like he went out very very conservative on the first half but looked in a great position (he finally got under the 3 in the end which I was delighted about) I, on the other hand was not in a good state at the 37km mark and I knew something was up. I couldn’t have gone from feeling so strong to lifeless and suffering in such a short period of time. Legs were gone and the time was creeping up. However with the cushion I had I was still on target and with only 4km to go I thought “All those bloody winter cold nights were not for nothing, I can’t give in now when I’m so close”. My ultimate long term dream when I started running last year was there for the taking, so soon. A sub 3 marathon. With every last bit in me I gave one last push to drive it home, I dug deeper than I ever thought possible, both mentally and physically. I began to pass people again.
The next thing I remember is being on the second last straight of the race with less than a km to go. Everything just happened in slow motion, it was like an out of body experience. I recall hitting the deck. Man down. I had nothing left to give, Everything was sucked out of me. 2:56:40 on my watch. The remaining 500 or so metres felt like 500 miles. Game Over.
(6:55, 7:05, 7:25, 7:29, 7:11, 7:19)
The Drama
I lay there on the road for only a couple of seconds and a local spectator was over immediately to drag me to the curb but I can’t remember this. This lad was the nicest possible guy ever and I was devastated I never got the chance to thank everyone who came to my aid. He soon had his jacket over me and was off to get a medic, who arrived pretty fast. I recall looking down and seeing an IV in my hand with it all bandaged up, not knowing how it got there.
It all happened so fast, but so slow at the same time. It must have been about 90 seconds after I collapsed when I started getting treatment. Looking back, I was conscious but completely out of it. Initially, I was so much in race mode I was asking them to get me up to get me to the finish, I attempted numerous times unsuccessfully, I was so gutted being 99% there. Even if I was down for 10 mins and it took me 10mins to walk 500 metres I would still have had a 10min PB. Anything would have done at this point to rescue the situation. Seeing people jogging past finishing while I lay there lifeless was torture. Soon I recall a camera crew and reporter arrive with interest and I think the reporter asked me was I going to get up and finish (they must have overheard me trying to get up and had the camera in my face). I don’t know what I said but god knows what came out or what I would have looked like. They were obviously after a story. Don’t ask me if it was aired. They hung around for a bit but soon trotted off when they realised I was a no hoper.
The medics were much the wiser by not letting me up though and after about 5 mins I came to realise that this was actually more serious than I thought, there were lots of people around me. I proceeded to get sick a couple of times on the curb. Things were not good. Once I gave up on the finishing, my frustration turned to fear. Here I was in a foreign country and in an awful state. I hadn’t known at the time what the reason was for me just dropping and that there had been loads others with a similar faith. I thought it was just me, I was the problem, my running was over, what was I going to do now with the rest of my life having something that I had come to love, being instantly stripped away from me. It was all quite scary and the maddest things were going through my mind.
The most vivid memory I have of sitting there was that the medic and spectator kept asking me questions to keep me alert. I would answer the question in my head instantly, but it took about 10 seconds later for it to come out of my mouth. It was surreal. After about 15mins I started to come around and become more responsive and I started strangely making jokes with the responders about getting sick on them if they wished!
About 10 minutes later right in front of me a fellow runner suffered the same finish as myself and was soon dragged up next to me. Dropping like flies was the term that came to mind.
The ambulance arrived and I got carried across the road and into the back, first time ever in an ambulance and hopefully the last. I was soon hooked up to a load of monitors and another bag of IV fluid. My heart rate came down to normal levels slowly and I was taken off to the medical centre for monitoring for about 90mins. All the vital signs where all clear but they wanted to keep me in for a bit just to monitor. While lying there contemplating what possibly went wrong I realised my Garmin was missing, it was taken off when I collapsed and I thought it was gone. After I got released I slowly made it back to the hotel with blankets around be to keep warm. How ironic with the temperature soaring outside, I was freezing now. Passing people with medals rubbed salt in the wounds but 24 hours later all this would be relative.
When I returned to the hotel, my Garmin showed up, the guy had put it in my SPIBelt at some point. When I took it out, it was still running and even recorded my trip in the ambulance! 5hrs and 7minutes of eventful action. It was time to leave it at that. Enough drama for one day.
While laying on the bed trying to work out what the hell happened I glanced down at my hand and spotted a faded TODAY looking back at me. I had a little smirk to myself after all the drama and thought, it won’t be today after all, but maybe tomorrow.
Afterthought
My experience showed me how much respect the marathon deserves, it picked me up, spat me out and it will be a day I won’t be soon forgetting. Questions were still going over and over in my head for some time after wondering what went wrong.
Did I drink enough? Too much? Lack of salts?
Looking back I definitely think I drank enough, I was never thirsty. I don’t feel I drank too much as I wasn’t sloshing around the place either but possibly the lack of salts/ electrolytes could have been a factor. In the end it looks like I’m never going to come up with an explanation as to what fully happened in Rotterdam.
I had hoped that the date would be forever in the calendar of when I went sub 3, but it ended up being in the calendar for totally different reasons, the day of my first DNF.
The result still hurts and getting so close will take some time to fully get over. But get over it I will. It will just make me want to get back and be stronger and better for the next one. At the end of the day, I’ll be able to run again. Unlike some in Boston. Everything pales in comparison to your health.
Could I have slowed down and finished in sub 3:05, possibly. But then there would have been a “what if” in my mind. Not sure which would be worse.
While lamenting on the train journey back to Amsterdam the following day, ipod shuffle came up trumps with the following number:
Quite apt given the circumstances. It was then I realised that I did in fact take it to the limit the day before, gave and left everything out there, on that course. No regrets.0 -
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Super report, desperately unlucky. Hope the stomach is sorted though as I don't want you blowing chunks in Limerick
@ rasher, not sure who you refer to but in my opinion, off the back of blocky's HM in Bohermeen he was right to go for a sub 3 attempt. Maybe the lesson for all of us that continue to push for better times is to step back from that if conditions are not favourable. That said, far easier to do that in a 5k than a marathon.0 -
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Aaargh! That was like watching a movie when you know something awful happens to the hero at the end
I can’t really add anything J that hasn’t been said ad nauseum already. You were scuppered by one of the few things that we can’t control in a race – the weather. You could second guess yourself til the cows come home and wonder ‘what if’ you had aimed for 3:10 instead of 3:00, but when it comes down to it, you made a decision to push on, you gave it your all and unfortunately it didn’t come off. There’s no point in beating yourself up about it. .3 of a mile more and you would have been in jubilation. It’s just all part of the gamble. I get the feeling that if you had pulled back a bit, you would still be second guessing yourself about ‘what if’ you had pushed on for the sub 3! I get the impression you’re an all or nothing kind of guy! :pac:
Just put last week behind you now, it’s bound to be a bit raw at the moment, but the main thing is that you are ok and seemed to recover quickly and you will live to run another day. If it were me, I would take a bit of time off and concentrate on running for fun for a while, but why do I get the feeling that you will be gunning to get that 2:5X sooner rather than later!
I think I read in the Wexford HM thread that you might be coming down to spectate, so if so, I will see you then! I will be the woman in the Boards AC top looking like I am about to pass out/throw up
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