Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads
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Moderators, Category Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Regional East Moderators Posts: 18,393 CMod ✭✭✭✭
Join Date:Posts: 17128
And so we begin. I have written this largely on memory. After the race, I thought about recording stuff on my phone to save for logging purposes, however a combination of the outcome and also not seeing a need to document it all meant I didn't do that.
On Weds Nov 1, I left Ireland bound for Arona, Italy. After an uneventful flight, I had my first experiences of Italy's trains, or rather, I ended up getting four when I had planned on only needing to use two. Locals were very helpful, including a woman who took me through a metro journey to get me onto the right connection, she overheard me chatting to the conductor. It was after 9pm when I arrived and things were pretty quiet in the town. Had things gone to plan, it might have been 7:30pm. I spent the next few days taking it easy, going to Lidl (no scones) and checking out the area. Weather was a little mixed - wet Thursday (Firestick viewing) and a pleasant Friday, tranquil.
The expo was a few tents parallel to the lake. After scanning the registration barcode on my phone, I was asked 'Have you signed ___?' I didn't know what they meant. Figured this might arise, so I had printed copies for everything. It seemed to be the letter from Athletics Ireland they wanted, even though I had uploaded it to the registration portal some months ago. Collected the bag, bib and t-shirt which included a sponge. I could hear a mixture of languages floating around. My number was 2021, which is the year of my nephew's birth, or as my sister said, a good luck charm. Went the DIY route for cooking as I didn't want to try a restaurant the day before the race. On Saturday I was feeling pretty confident, relaxed - by evening it was wet again and I could hear the slosh of water outside as cars passed.
The morning of was lovely, clear skies and sunny. I threw on a bit of P20, but not extensively as I figured temperatures and the time of year didn't really apply. I had the usual black sack affair ready to go too. I threw it and the sponge into back of the hydration vest for another day. There was a decent enough sized queue for the 7 or so portaloos. People started going into their sectors (waves/groups) which were not really monitored or policed as such. I wasn't sure where the pacers were going to be and in hindsight, whilst I had read the guidance about the times and min/k, I should have asked for more specifics at the expo on Friday.
We began promptly all as one, no staggered process. First up was an out and back loop of Arona. At a roundabout two police motorbikes who were initially stationary, soon hit the blues and twos - felt they were being called to another job. Somewhere along here I thought I saw a 4h:35 pacer, there's a bit of work to do. It was on the other side and looping back that I found two other pacers, a two hour for the half and a 4 hour guy in parallel. I stuck with them for a while including going out of the town. It's an upward bit to leave and there's a bit of support through the main thoroughfare (a different pacer again seemed to stopped on a central reservation and waiting for her place to slot in, I don't know) and as we say goodbye to the start point. Somewhere early on I spoke briefly to a British bloke and wished him well. Not the only British voices that popped up during the race.
The rest of what I've to say here is where the meat of this write up is lacking. In the days prior to the race, I had written down a few PMA notes on a piece of paper. I took an energy block I think around the 10 or 12k mark, which prompted a stitch, not something which happened when testing during training. The stitch eased, went away, returned and finally settled. It was somewhere in these early double digit miles where the pacing picture started to emerge. A touch confusing, I thought. I think it was around 16k where I'm fairly certain the 5:00 min/k pacer popped up. Wait, so are there some pacers with a finish time and others with a pace? Pacing info was hand written on the rear of shirts. The buck stops with me, though. Anyway, after this, I think approx every 1.5k or so, followed the 5:10, 5:20, 5:30 and 5:40 min/k folks. I knew my intentions (5:40) were well gone at this point. Credit to those who ran it well.
After the half way point, Stresa, things thinned out a bit. Two people who seemed to be wearing cycling gear with text rejecting doping and drugs finished up. I had intended to imprint the exact language on my mind to note it here. I don't remember much else. Mentally, I kept telling myself to keep going. This was useful in some respects as I could see myself getting to 30km and so on. In that sense I was a little surprised at the feel of being part of something like was going by fairly quickly, even though my pace was meh. Pretty certain a pharmacy sign at 25-26km said it was 14C wherever we were. Once 32k arrived I figured this is belly of the beast territory. It was a bit of a grind too as the loathsomeness of tarmac was starting to kick in. I did not look at the watch much through the race, but did with around 2k to go and there was some 7:50min/k pace there, which led to an internal FFS, you don't even run that easy in training moment.
Bar one or two points with signage, and occasional local, the only others attached to the event were police and medics. At the finish there was no separation between athletes and family members/others, which was nice. No need at a small event, certainly at my slowness we were a trickle over the mat. Cut off was 5h:30 for roads opening up again. The final athlete was a 70 something Swede with 5:27 odd who was given a shout out. Three others finished after him, according to the results page at 5:38, with 224 of us overall.
Garmin 42.58km, 4:26:56 at 6:16. Official 4:26:57
I had some edibles and liquids from the tent, one looked like apple juice (or might it be whiskey, I wondered) and was warm, so tea, I'd say. There was a decent enough sized queue for the physio area. Good atmosphere all around and lovely to finish lakeside in the sun.
Crank up the scenery up another notch or two and it wouldn't be far off New Zealand Lord of Rings type stuff as you're running it. You can feel the trajectory of how the course curves and it's pretty thrilling to be a part of.
The ferry was €10 at the expo. Suitably glacial in its pacing, it was a nice way to absorb the homeward journey, calm waters and sunshine for company too. Arona was bustling when we got back and a few people were in swimming that side of it. I finally went to the gelato shop later on. My recovery wasn't too bad, first day after was a little iffy and I felt a brief niggle walking to the supermarket. It didn't stick around. Stairs were grand.
The next parts of the trip were Milan (Castello Sforzesco in the pic above), Zurich and Salzburg all by rail. I really enjoyed Milan, the metro is so handy. I did a brilliant pasta and tiramisu class. Milano Nord parkrun (24:49) was a lovely crisp morning, with a briefing for a bunch of us native English speakers. Afterwards on the metro map I saw San Siro being a final stop on another line. I had a 3 day ticket for a mere €13 (also covering trams, buses) recommended by one of a guide tour. I went to have a look, I don't follow football. On the outside, it is a monster of a stadium and must be quite something on match day. There is also a copy of the Last Supper you can see in one of the banks in the centre of Milan for free.
Up next, we had Zurich, which was a bit of a wash out with near non-stop rain and a tour guide cancelling due to the flu and a potential close contact for you know what. From Zurich, we reached Salzburg sometimes with bursts of 225km/h, a speed Irish Rail can only dream of. Salzburg had a cleanliness that Dublin needs to learn from. I did an apple strudel and cookies class, the natural history museum, a walking tour (full rain gear job) and checked out the Fortress. From the tour guide, had time allowed and the weather been better, then some cable cars and mountains might have been on the list. For the weekend, Helbrunn parkrun was on the agenda. At the time I originally researched this Austria only had 3 parkruns, having only recently added Stadtpark. Anyway, there's a bus which stops at Helbrunn, it's not a long journey out of from the city. I had bought a 72 hour Salzburg card. There were just 18 of us, with a mixture of tourists, newcomers and regulars. It's three laps and measured a little long (5.16km), 24:04. It was a more overcast and nippy morning than Milan. All the ingredients which make parkrun i.e. shared stories, humour and when winding down, trying to explain to other members of the public/park users, what it is. Asked by a British ex-pat why I came to Salzburg, simple - parkrun! Btw, it's quite amusing if you try Google Translate on non-English parkruns webpages to decipher the menu structure, etc. Afterwards, I went to the zoo where at one point an air raid type siren sounded briefly within the locality. That was a strange occurrence...
Will I do another marathon, plus a parkrun or two outside of Ireland? All in one trip for a third time? It might be better to do parkrun over a long weekend by parachuting in. More European rail travel is certainly warranted. I've a friend from college who is in Vancouver too. Similar to last year, though, I was bone tired at some points as I typically don't sleep well the first night or other nights in a new location.
Back to the other stuff. I entered the DCM 2024 lottery, unsuccessfully. From the above, I've run better. I've run worse. I know we had some incredible PBs for Lusk this year e.g. someone who went from 3:53 to 3:34. Our ladies captain ran 3:16, getting a medal for her age. At the moment, I feel any DCM PB would a very, very tall order. I'd still like to get from 3:51 to 3:40 or under that in R's memory. Having only run under 4 hours twice, I'm pretty doubtful. Haven't thought too much about early 2024 yet. Equally, I have thought about stopping running entirely. Overseas again for Autumn 2024? Skagen in Denmark? Maine marathon in the US? There is a bloke in Lusk who is similar to me in that we're not particularly drawn to the majors. Time to step off the endurance train, for now.
Post edited by The Black Oil onModerator: Television, Psychology and Dublin County North.
CMod: Entertainment
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