Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.

donnacha

Best of luck Adrian

tomwaits48

Give it a good go Adrian, best of luck, I know everyone in the club will be rooting for you

RedRunner

Best of luck tomw Adrian. Hope everything goes well for you and the great training pays off.

adrian522

Thanks for all the good wishes folks it means a lot.

I'll give it a good go in any case.

donnacha

Well done Adrian! Delighted for you. Enjoy the celebratory beers.

Mrs Mc

Great stuff Adrian great race enjoy the celebrations.

Firedance

Absolutely delighted for you Adrian enjoy the very well deserved celebrations!!

hillsiderunner

You must be delighted with that, I think. Congratulations!

adrian522

Thanks everyone. It may have taken 2 years but I got there in the end. Race report to follow. Eventually .

El Caballo

Well done man, great to see and well deserved. Enjoy the beers!

annapr

adrian522 wrote: »

Thanks everyone. It may have taken 2 years but I got there in the end. Race report to follow. Eventually .

You sure did! Fair play to you for not giving up and hope you are enjoying the beers!!!!!

Realt Dearg Sec

These beers better be fairly good.

Wubble Wubble

Great stuff A. Big PB apparently. Berlin is as good a spot as any to enjoy celebration beers!

tailgunner

Well done today, sorry I didn't get to meet up after. My legs are in a bad way and I couldn't face trucking across town again! Have a good night.

yaboya1

Congratulations Adrian.
Very well raced.
Well done.
Enjoy the Steins

Ososlo

Brilliant time Adrian! Really looking forward to hearing all about it!

adrian522

Berlin Marathon - Target Race for 2016

Build-up:

This is a race I've been targeting for literally 2 years. For those not reading the log from the start, I initially applied for the Berlin lottery shortly after completing my first marathon in Dublin in 2014. My entire 2015 was geared up towards Berlin, and the first half of the year was really good, PB's galore and pretty high mileage.

Unfortunately around July the wheels came off and one injury followed another and eventually I had to call time on that attempt and leave it till this year.

This years training has seen less PB's (well none) and a more gradual build up of miles and taking on a more conservative plan. The first half of the year was about getting in some sort of shape to start marathon training. i would have liked a better 10K time in Dunshaughlin but there was nothing for it but to go heading into the famous "Meno" plan.

Once I got into marathon training things went really well. I pretty much nailed all the sessions and didn't really miss any runs. I was in good shape heading into the taper.

Unfortunately the last week before a race i got a cold and sore throat, this didn't impact me too much on the day but it meant the build up wasn't quite right.

All in all I think it is fair to say that this race meant a lot to me, I'd worked hard for it and I was getting pretty nervous the closer we got to race day.

Pre-Race:

I headed over to Berlin on Friday evening. Arriving quite late meant that I couldn't hit up the expo until the next day and didn't get to bed as early as I'd have liked.

The Saturday I did the breakfast run. While this was a great experience in the Olympic stadium I probably wouldn't do this again. It's a bit too long and there is a fair bit of walking afterwards.

Once done I headed to the expo. Given this was due to be one of the busier times I had thoughts of leaving it until 6pm or so but in the end it was so well organised that number pickup was a breeze. I also queued up to get my pace band from the Asics stand.

Tried to get a jacket too and before I knew it I'd spent half the morning on my feet. I went to the supermarket on the way back to pick up supplies.

This started to get into my head, and along with the sore throat it really had me spooked. I felt I'd messed up my preparation completely and didn't really have any confidence for the next day. I know its silly and happens to everyone but negative thoughts on Saturday were very dominant and I didn't see any way I was going to have a good race.

Anyway early to bed and hope for the best.

Race Morning:

I woke up in a much better frame of mind (thankfully), had my porridge, coffee and watched some cheesy you tube videos and I was out the door. It was a beautiful morning and a great atmosphere on the walk down. I'm about a 20 minute walk to the start.

Similar to the expo the organisation here is excellent,no lines for the bag drop, easily down to the starting blocks with 45 mins to go. Was really looking forward to this now and enjoyed the pre-race atmosphere and went through the race strategy in my head(again).

The Race

Shortly after 9:15 we were away. There was a lot of congestion at the start but I was ready for this, I wanted my first 5 miles to be at the slower end of my target pace range. I wanted to avoid weaving all over the place.

The blue line in the road was there to be followed but I found it better to find a bit of room on other parts of the road. The Garmin was pretty ineffective all day the pace band was going to be what pace would be based on. The first 5km went by fairly quickly, I was concentrating at slow, controlled pace.

5km Split: 24:54 (8:01 m/m)

I wanted to keep it slowish through 5 miles so I tried to just take in the atmosphere a little bit. I don't know Berlin at all so it was all new to me.

There were good crowds, bands, DJ's, drummers and overall a great raceday atmosphere. I took my first gel on 45 mins and took the brakes off with the intention of going more towards target pace of 7:50 after 5 miles.

10km Split 24:23 (07:51)

I didn't realize this at the time but this was probably a bit quick. I noted how far off 3:25 pace I was. (About 50 seconds, no need to panic on that and happy to go at a slower pace right up until 30 or 35k and then push on if I had anything left).

15km Split 24:25 (07:51)

At this stage the effort levels went up slightly in order to maintain the same pace. I wasn't worried about this but wary of working too hard at this stage of the race. I felt I was slowing somewhat but when the halfway split arrived I noticed I was still within 1 minute of A-goal target. Just wanted to keep it steady at this stage. I was still resisting the temptation to push on more or to start digging into the metal reserves.

20km Split 24:15 (07:48)

Into the second half of the race now. The distance remaining seems a little more manageable, once you get to 12 miles to go you start to figure that you have covered this distance so many times in training and we are now approaching the end game. I'm still not hurting but certainly am working a bit harder and feeling fairly tired.

As much as I made any mistake in this race (and I think I ran it very well) it was here. This section was a bit fast and the patience and self control I'd had up to this point went missing a little (but only a little).

25km Split 24:08 (07:41)

The signs of pain are starting to come now. Maintaining the pace wasn't too tough but I knew we still had 10 miles or so to go. I'd run 10 Miles hundreds of times, this would be tough but it was certainly doable. I was still sticking to the pre race thoughts of picking up the pace in the latter stages of the race and this was still too early for that. But I guess when you start to hurt you do have the instinct to empty the tank too early.

Each timing mat I go over I'm boosted by the thoughts of people from here, work, the club, family following along and each time I hit the target on one of these I'm thinking about what is being posted on the events page an that helps me to go again for the next one

30km Split 24:17 (07:49)

12km to go. Not quite able to figure out how many miles that is but I was feeling good. Legs hurting but no injury issues and was feeling good about what was to come. I started to push it on a bit. I was working harder but the pace on the Garmin wasn't increasing. I wasn't sure if this was just general Garmin issues or if my legs weren't helping me go any faster.

Once we got inside 10km I started to really be on the lookout for for each km marker. I figured (somehow) that I'd end up running about 26.6 miles so was counting down based on that. It was really starting to hurt now.

35km Split 24:20 (07:49)

7km to go. The support is really fantastic but no hop of enjoying it. Digging in now but I can feel myself slowing. This is the part of the race I knew was coming, what all the training is for. I need to find something but it is not coming.

I knew I was about 1 minute back of 3:25 pace but had a lot in the bank for 3:30. It's getting hot now, I don't feel dehydrated but I do take a final gel (my fourth) and go for one more water stop. Every mile at this stage is going by very very slowly. I really want the watch to read a pace starting with 07:xx but it is stubbornly stuck above 8. I'm digging in now and hanging on but thinking that this is a phase that will eventually pass.

40km Split 25:35 (08:14)

Once we hit 40km I get a boost, I've long since forgotton about the pace band or trying to figure things out. Just dig in and go as fast as you can to maintain whatever pace is left. The watch is reading close to 26 miles already but still no sign of the Brandenburg Gate. I know there is a bit to go even after that so can't empty the tank yet.

It's so hot and so hard but I know the pain will end soon. Finally see the Brandenburg gate, a lot of people are overtaking me now but all I care about is trying to get there in one piece, nothing there to pick up the pace.

I know that the finish is past the gate not right at it. I can't remember if it is 200m, 400m or 80m past the Brandenburg gate but my watch is already reading 26.60 miles and we get under the gate. At this stage the central governor seems to release what ever is left and I empty the tank completely with a 200m final sprint. Strava puts this at fast than 7 min pace and I overtake plenty.

This final straight was amazing and I knew for the first time I was going to do it and well under 3:30. Epic finish to an epic race.

42.2km split 10:43 (07:51)

Aftermath:

I'm absolutely shattered mentally as much as physically, I'm wondering around the finish area in a bit of a daze. It's really hot, got some water, sports drink and some Alcohol free Erdinger.

Eventually wander out of the finish area, trying to find the meetup point takes about 40 mins. Having to cross the course again means going into an underground station and backup. All worth it though to meetup wuth everyone and exchange war stories.

Meetup with a lot of other boardsies, but as I said earlier still in a bit of a daze and don't even register who they are from boards despite chatting for a long time. Very enjoyable few beers though and a great post race atmosphere made the while thing really worthwhile.

Start to take it all in and look forward to all the things I'd done without the last few months of training, starting with a night in the pub.

Thanks for reading and thanks to meno for the plan, Myles for getting me to the startline in good shape and everyone for all the advice over the last while.

Stats from the race:

Split Time Pace/km Pace/Mile
5k 24.54 4.59 08:01
10k 24.23 4.53 07:51
15k 24.25 4.53 07:51
20k 24.15 4.51 07:48
25k 24.08 4.47 07:41
30k 24.17 4.52 07:49
35k 24.20 4.52 07:49
40k 25.35 5.07 08:14
42.195k 10.43 4.53 07:51

Half Splits: 1:43:05/1:43:51

Finish Time: 3:26:56

Official Results Strava Race

yaboya1

So you ran an extra kilometre and still annihilated your pre-race target?
Excellent. Looks like it was worth waiting the extra year for after all

Congratulations on a brilliantly executed pb. Tremendous performance.

Mrs Mc

Well done Adrian super report and great result. Congrats.

chickey2

Very well done! Worth waiting for.

laura_ac3

Congrats! Big pb and brilliant to get such a good result after 2 years of focus, great improvement.

tailgunner

Very well executed race, well done. Congrats on the big PB.

Firedance

Great report you trained smart and ran very well, absolutely delighted you achieved your goal

tang1

Huge well done Adrian and throughly deserved after your year of injury last year. Well executed race. You can enjoy a few IPA's of a Sunday evening now watching the NFL.

ThebitterLemon

Well done.

great training cycle that merited the result.

Onwards and upwards!

TbL

Kennyg71

Well done, great report and really well executed race.

sideswipe

Well done Adrian, injury ghosts of Berlin 2015 well and truly vanquished!! Great report, enjoy the recovery.

Bungy Girl

Congratulations!!! Delighted for you. Such a great and well-deserved result. Feet up now

jake1970

Well done Adrian great racing, congrats on the PB.

Singer

Brilliant stuff Adrian, great report and a pretty sweet PB. Very clear it meant a lot to you, and you can be very proud of the result. Anything you'd do differently with training/buildup/the race itself?