Rotterdam marathon April 8th 2018

Coffee Fulled Runner

I feel sorry for Dunleavy he's in the best form of his life at the moment. Very nice fella too. I wonder will he have a crack at another marathon this year? I don't think he's ever raced the distance but open to correction.

Itziger

Itziger wrote: »

Krusty sand-bagging again I see.

😎

Can I take this back? Sorry KC.

healy1835

Today was positive .......absolutely gut wrenching but positive. I've an issue with my calves that I need to sort out. But what an experience......enjoyed it. I'll be back I hope

PeterParker100

Not a great performance for me today, was feeling grand until 11-12 miles in persuit of a 3:30 finish, then started to wilt. Went through halfway at 1:48 but really struggled after mile 16 to finish in 4:15. May have been the heat or was maybe too ambitious with the target.

Still, enjoyed the experience, excellent event and weekend, if not the most interesting course. Time for a rest for a bit and ease off the mileage.

zico10

Today's lesson; You come at the king, you best not miss.

Very similar race to last year for me; I started off at a pace I couldn't hold, but the inevitable slowdown wasn't as slow, so that's something.

druss

Well, I'm very disappointed with my "performance" on the day obviously. Most of my training pointed to something between 3:20 and 3:10.

From the start, all was well pace wise and HR rate was also fine, although the HR strap kept falling off and I eventually just carried it.

However the main problem was that I was feeling constantly thirsty and I wasn't carrying water. I was running cautiously, starting behind the 3:20 pacers, then passing them out and feeling confident of ramping up in the second half of the race. But thirsty. Always thirsty.

First 10k in 47 mins. Half in 1:40 and then I was walking at water stations, necking three cups and then a cup of that AA stuff. Then I started cramping like crazy. Switched to jog/walk around 26k, feeling bloated from drinking but unable to pass up a water station.

The support out there was fantastic and some really nice people out on the road as well.

I'm thinking maybe this is a pre-race hydration issue? Although, after a succession of miserable kilometres I finally managed back to back respectable times for the last 2 kms, so maybe I just mentally chickened out when I went over my comfort zone distance. Still, 3:42 is not what I hoped for.

But, for better or worse, that's my first marathon. Can't say I feel the urge for another one today! Back to a few nice half marathons for me.

And I did cheer up a bit after a Westmalle Dubbel and a steak.

dublin runner

Thanks all.

I love this race; it's a must do, a race to fully treasure. Man, I love it.

No excuses today.

A PB.

I don't think it's gets harder. In fact, it gets easier. The marathon isolates and promotes your (if any!) weaknesses. That's why I love it; you against the tarmac, nothing more, nothing less.

I will be back. I will run faster.

Today? Not quite but watch this space!

Well done all. What amazing support!

Swashbuckler

Great attitudes from the lads today. Enjoy the festivities all.

RacoonQueen

Gutted for those that it didn't go to plan for. Bank that training and don't rush into a 'next one' just because people keep telling you that you deserve a 'reward' for your training. Do what feels right for you. The reward for your training is already there, you're already fitter, stronger, faster...you can take some downtime and start to rebuild within a few weeks and push on more for another marathon or race further down the line or just go straight back to it. Long distance is a drain for the brain and emotions as much as the body...disappointment from it not working out needs to be recovered from before you give it another crack.

Well done folks, some super pbs on what strava made look like a bloodbath when I signed in and saw krusty and Emmett's updates, then switched to facebook and up popped Ray's. Jaysus.

dublin_runner! Super day for you.

boydkev

That was a tough day, training went well and felt good leading up to the taper but a chest infection 2 weeks out from marathon didn't help.
Started just in front of the 3.20 pacers and tipped along along at my pace, They caught me around the 12k mark and i stuck with them until about 20km but could not hang on so managed to get to half in 1.41.08 and was comfortable and it was around 28k after the bridge and the climb out of the underpass, The legs started to give out. Run around the park very tough, Could not run continuously, But struggled on and finished in 3.49. Delighted to get through it with the problems from 30k on, Looking back i went out too hard, Didn't run the conditions and the chest infection had more of a impact with my energy levels than expected.
Great Race, Crowd were unreal.

Itziger

I've been clicking through the results there; Jeez, rarely seen so many big positive splits. I've done about 20 random searches and all have been pos. splits; most big ones, some eye-watering. Heat and humidity I'm guessing.

Itziger

Found a negative splitter. Irish female to boot: 1.29.02 to 2.57.49. Well done you.

RayCun

Itziger wrote: »

Found a negative splitter. Irish female to boot: 1.29.02 to 2.57.49. Well done you.

She was mentioned in the pub, I think?

Perfect running weather today, naturally

noelearly

Itziger wrote: »

Found a negative splitter. Irish female to boot: 1.29.02 to 2.57.49. Well done you.

Hard to beat the good old negative spilt. Friend of mine did, totally unprepared for the heat. Considering the weather we have had here understandable.

dublin runner

Sitting outside, having a beer. Typically it's perfect running weather!

One day we will get a nice cool day to race in. One day!

One big mention. I found the on course support immense yesterday. Thanks for all the shoutouts - incredible to see all the Irish support.

Shane12

Found yesterday tough especially the last 6 miles, was on target for a pb at halfway but blew up at twenty miles, finished 3:41. If i had been told before the race this would be the time I would do I would be disappointed, but just happy to finish in the end. The support was brilliant especially during those last few miles.

cityrep

druss wrote: »

Well, I'm very disappointed with my "performance" on the day obviously. Most of my training pointed to something between 3:20 and 3:10.

From the start, all was well pace wise and HR rate was also fine, although the HR strap kept falling off and I eventually just carried it.

However the main problem was that I was feeling constantly thirsty and I wasn't carrying water. I was running cautiously, starting behind the 3:20 pacers, then passing them out and feeling confident of ramping up in the second half of the race. But thirsty. Always thirsty.

First 10k in 47 mins. Half in 1:40 and then I was walking at water stations, necking three cups and then a cup of that AA stuff. Then I started cramping like crazy. Switched to jog/walk around 26k, feeling bloated from drinking but unable to pass up a water station.

The support out there was fantastic and some really nice people out on the road as well.

I'm thinking maybe this is a pre-race hydration issue? Although, after a succession of miserable kilometres I finally managed back to back respectable times for the last 2 kms, so maybe I just mentally chickened out when I went over my comfort zone distance. Still, 3:42 is not what I hoped for.

But, for better or worse, that's my first marathon. Can't say I feel the urge for another one today! Back to a few nice half marathons for me.

And I did cheer up a bit after a Westmalle Dubbel and a steak.

Howdy everyone! I ran Rotterdam last weekend and when I got back i found this thread. And, specifically druss' post here completely mirrored my own day to a crazy degree!!

I ran 3.28 in Dublin last year and had my expectations set on a good 3.20/3.15 in Holland. All went well until around halfway at which point I found things very tough (the thirst!!). I finished in 3.46 and was quite pissed off all week. But, with a weeks rest, things look a bit better. I'm doing Berlin in Sept so I'll keep up with threads for that race from now.

There were two gents from Trim A.C. around me at the start. They were looking for 3.20 as well. Anyone know them and if they got on ok?

druss

cityrep wrote: »

Howdy everyone! I ran Rotterdam last weekend and when I got back i found this thread. And, specifically druss' post here completely mirrored my own day to a crazy degree!!

I ran 3.28 in Dublin last year and had my expectations set on a good 3.20/3.15 in Holland. All went well until around halfway at which point I found things very tough (the thirst!!). I finished in 3.46 and was quite pissed off all week. But, with a weeks rest, things look a bit better. I'm doing Berlin in Sept so I'll keep up with threads for that race from now.

There were two gents from Trim A.C. around me at the start. They were looking for 3.20 as well. Anyone know them and if they got on ok?

Same!:)

Just after the race, I was a mixture of angry and apathetic. But since then I'm looking at things a bit more kindly.

My coaches reading of the data is that (against his advice) I hit my target paces too soon. As in immediately. Hydration was an obvious issue. Not sure how hot it actually was at various stages (probably not that bad), but there was the humidity factor as well.

But enough excuses from me. I've changed from "I will never do a marathon again", to "I will do a marathon again" to "why not do Rotterdam again?" pretty quickly.

Berlin sounds like a great idea, but I think I'm going to bring down my 5k, 10k and half times first and then build up the base again.

And I forgot how much I actually liked bits of it. I was wearing a Cork City running top, which got some occasional shout outs and "are you Billy Murphy?" questions. (I'm living in Belgium, so it took me some time to cop the reference!)

Itziger

Folks, you do realise that Berlin can be very hot!! Personally, I'd wait a month and do Frankfurt.

adrian522

Itziger wrote: »

Folks, you do realise that Berlin can be very hot!! Personally, I'd wait a month and do Frankfurt.

Also Berlin is a week earlier than normal too. No matter what race you choose you can't really guarantee favorable conditions, all you can do is do the training and not worry about things you can't control.

At least in September you are coming off a training block through the summer which helps I think.

cityrep

Itziger wrote: »

Folks, you do realise that Berlin can be very hot!! Personally, I'd wait a month and do Frankfurt.

Hey Itziger. I have been looking at that and have seen some years it can be 20+ degrees. The race does start earlier tho and I'll definitely make sure I'm better prepped refreshment-wise (salt tabs, carry a bottle with me etc).

I spoke with a guy at the finish line who told me the Frankfurt course is woeful!!

Itziger

cityrep wrote: »

Itziger wrote: »

Folks, you do realise that Berlin can be very hot!! Personally, I'd wait a month and do Frankfurt.

Hey Itziger. I have been looking at that and have seen some years it can be 20+ degrees. The race does start earlier tho and I'll definitely make sure I'm better prepped refreshment-wise (salt tabs, carry a bottle with me etc).

I spoke with a guy at the finish line who told me the Frankfurt course is woeful!!

Woeful might be pushing it. Wouldn't be my favourite but it's a fair course overall. I don't know Berlin so can't compare. The city centre bits at the start and end of Frankfurt I didn't like much. Haven't made up my mind about an Autumn marathon this year but the offer is impressive. In Germany alone you have 3 or 4 top ones and then there's the Spanish races, San Seb, Bilbao and Valencia.

plumber77

I definitely wouldn't call Frankfurt woeful, it's actually a decent course if a good time is your focus. Valencia pushed back 2 weeks this year so if I was ever going to do it, this could be the year.

cityrep

druss wrote: »

Same!:)

Just after the race, I was a mixture of angry and apathetic. But since then I'm looking at things a bit more kindly.

My coaches reading of the data is that (against his advice) I hit my target paces too soon. As in immediately. Hydration was an obvious issue. Not sure how hot it actually was at various stages (probably not that bad), but there was the humidity factor as well.

But enough excuses from me. I've changed from "I will never do a marathon again", to "I will do a marathon again" to "why not do Rotterdam again?" pretty quickly.

Berlin sounds like a great idea, but I think I'm going to bring down my 5k, 10k and half times first and then build up the base again.

And I forgot how much I actually liked bits of it. I was wearing a Cork City running top, which got some occasional shout outs and "are you Billy Murphy?" questions. (I'm living in Belgium, so it took me some time to cop the reference!)

Billy Murphy!!! That's brilliant that the Dutch know about him!!!

Fair play to you. Get back on the horse and do another (tho not too quick!!). I hit my times after mile 4/mile 5 and I still didn't maintain but comments here suggest positive splits were the norm - not the exception

cityrep

Good to hear Frankfurt isn't woeful. The guy said it zig zagged thru the city and he was not impressed.

I signed up for Rotterdam and Berlin in the same year cos I thought I could do good times but they may both more about building experience now. I'm 37 but I firmly believe I've got a 3 hour one in me somewhere in this lifetime!!

Valencia sounds lovely. And it's in December if memory serves. Could be perfect...

and still ricky villa

Berlin has a better zoo than Frankfurt.
Just in case it's a deciding factor

cityrep

and still ricky villa wrote: »

Berlin has a better zoo than Frankfurt.
Just in case it's a deciding factor

I think we all know that it is the ONLY deciding factor

Itziger

cityrep wrote: »

Good to hear Frankfurt isn't woeful. The guy said it zig zagged thru the city and he was not impressed.

I signed up for Rotterdam and Berlin in the same year cos I thought I could do good times but they may both more about building experience now. I'm 37 but I firmly believe I've got a 3 hour one in me somewhere in this lifetime!!

Valencia sounds lovely. And it's in December if memory serves. Could be perfect...

Ah, lads!!

15 years after my 37th I cracked the sub 3 conundrum. And as for zoos. Check out the BioPark in Valencia. Deal clincher.

https://www.bioparcvalencia.es/

66_Lad

I had meant to reply to this thread last week but didn’t get around to it until now. I appreciate all the useful information gleaned from both this and prior years threads, and other blogs in the A&R group which I follow. I promised after finishing Rotterdam to document my experience of the marathon weekend, as I have never written a race report before and wish I had done so previously. I feel it would be useful to give a little background detail on myself also, so here goes!



Background:


I used run for fun from 2004-2013, but was not involved in a club or doing organised training sessions. I ran a few marathons to complete them in this period with a 3:26 in Portumna Forest being my best in 2013. I would go long periods of no running and then jump back in usually in the summer. I learned a valuable lesson in 2010 when taking 4:29 to finish Connemarathon after going out like a hero…respect the distance, but always finish unless injured…it makes you tougher mentally for the next time you are in a dark place.

I joined a club in 2014 as I moved from Dublin to Wexford and wanted to meet new people. I enjoyed the running and club scene, started doing races and improved quickly. However over 2014-2016 I have a history of suffering from injuries…stress fracture, calf niggles, hip & knee niggle, inflammation in metatarsal etc. I lost literally 18 mths with the metatarsal and got disillusioned with running to be honest. In this regard, I said to myself that all I wanted to do in 2017 was get back running slowly, gradually build up mileage and start enjoying doing an odd parkrun/10k and try keep away from injuries. I didn’t do many long runs in 2017 and in general only averaged 30 miles per week up to October. I got back enjoying running, did a few races but nothing major. I have some decent times over shorter distance since 2015-2017 but always wanted to run a marathon in sub 3hrs. I had not “raced†a marathon since 2013, besides being a 4:30 Pacer for the Dublin Marathon in 2013 and going around with my wife in 2015. I said I would never race a marathon again until I believed sub 3hr was realistic. I had entered Berlin in 2016 but missed it due to the metatarsal injury.

I am a browser on Boards.ie but rarely post, and I keep an eye on some blogs. It was while reading through some of these (dublin runner, jebuz, krusty) in October/early Nov 2017 that I decided after chatting to my wife to enter Rotterdam for Apr 2018. We would make a weekend of it without the kids at the worst, and best case training would go well enough to allow me to run the marathon and realistically have a shot at the big target. I am 38 years old in 2018, so reckoned the sooner the better to tick off the marathon time goal.

I live in the countryside and am lucky to have access to run in a large neighbours corn field from Aug – Mar. Its 0.75 mile perimeter with half downhill and half uphill…so ideal for strength training. I ran in the field two to three times a week from Sept – early Feb, and started increasing the mileage to 40 mpw. I also went to a tough circuits class generally once a week in this period – I find it great for glutes & core. Over Christmas, I upped the mileage to nearer 50 mpw and the long run increased up to 13 miles. I was doing my long run in the field at this stage. I did one session a week with the club – nearly always on grass, long repeats. My long runs suffered in Jan as I did the Ferrycarrig 5m, Leinster Masters XC and Wexford Masters XC on consecutive weekends. My only longer race was going to be Dungarvan 10m in February which I did in 58’33 which indicated I was in decent shape and on target once I could get a few long runs in.

I had a hip niggle after Dungarvan and lost 10 days which was a bummer, but had a great period after that for the next 6 weeks which were the key weeks for me…did 16m, 20m & 21m long runs, as well as doing 10-13 mile runs three times during the week. I probably could have come back from the niggle a few days sooner, but was over cautious from experience. I rarely did double days, really struggle to get up at 6am to go out in the dark, and feel very stiff/tired when manage it. Averaged 60 mpw for this 6 week period, with couple weeks in the 70’s. Then disaster struck – calf niggle which came out of nowhere just as I was starting to taper off on 29th Mar. Went to my physio who worked wonders with trigger point needling – got it sorted in 3 days so I only lost 5 days overall. Got 3 runs in on 4th - 6th Apr, one of which had 4m at 6:25 pace which made me feel I was going to make the start line with very good chance of sub 3hr, and I honestly felt 2:54 was achievable. My short times indicate a quicker marathon time is possible, but due to my lack of long runs and niggles, I know the 2:4x is not realistic until I consistently run seven or eight 20m+ in a marathon block.

One other point – I did no marathon pace miles in my long runs – have broken down a number of times previously and feel this has been a driver of the issue, as body struggles to take the load when hammering it at end of a long run. However the day before my longer run I normally had a tough run, either at tempo or including marathon pace miles. I sometimes used the treadmill in the house when I had nobody to mind the kids, may have helped with running in the heat as it turns into a sweaty run! I did not follow any defined marathon plan either, just tried to listen to my body and not do anything too stupid.


Rotterdam:


Arrived on Saturday into Amsterdam, train down, easy walk to AirB&B, dropped bags and walked to the Expo. Picked up my number & t-shirt without issue, wife registered for the City Run and I watched her do it. Lovely relaxing day, ate at a nice Italian wishing I could join her having a glass of wine, and we had an early night. Slept for 9 hrs and got up around 7:30. Had brought porridge and mixed seeds with me, so had that along with a bottle of water with High5 tab. Coffee and an Aldi breakfast bar and we strolled down to start area. Had a bite of a banana but wasn’t going down well so I binned it. I had run a half marathon in 2017 in 81min (Greenway Half in Waterford, was my longest run of the first 10 months of 2017) which had allowed me entry to Wave 1 Pen C, so very relaxing start area. Went in, some more water with High5 tab, toilet pit-stop, lined up not too near the front and next to the railing as easier to dodge fallers/pushing I find.


Canon went off and I went over the line about 20 secs later. I planned on an easy first mile and went through in 6:42. Next 2 miles were hard to hold back…found it lovely going past the crowds, great atmosphere, perfect road. I had to work to pull my pace back a few times, and ran 6:35 & 6:37 miles, through 5k in 20:50. I made the decision to stop pulling myself back, and run the pace I felt I could hold…hit 6:30 flat for next 10 miles to go through halfway in 1:25:57. I don’t have much memory of these miles besides feeling I was in control and my right quad being a little tight for a few miles but it went away and didn’t notice it again. I had latched onto 3 Irish fella from Milford AC around the 8 mile mark and stayed with them until 15 miles I think. They were running 6:30 also which suited me and I felt decent at this stage.


I should also note that I started taking the sponges they had with water and pouring water over me from the first station…I wasn’t overheating but felt it prudent to keep myself as cool as possible, as I knew it was going to get warm – was a beautiful clear day. I also took a sip of water at every station. I had three 60g SiS energy gels in back pocket of my shorts with intention of taking at 10k, 20k & 30k. Took first 2 as planned – I don’t use gels or water in training, so not sure if the gels make a massive difference to be honest, but think it’s prudent to take them when racing and my body doesn’t react badly to them.


I was still feeling strong over miles 14-16, went through 20-25k in 20:11. Back into the city centre and the crowd were brilliant, felt really energised and my head started saying that if I could push into the 6:20’s, then maybe a 2:50:xx was feasible. I picked up the pace over next few miles and went through 25-30k in 19:55. Now we started to head out to do the lap of the Kralingse Plas and passed the leaders on their way back in... I could see the 40k marker at other side of the road and knew I had 12k more to go, agghh. Had read race reports which said this 10k around the lake and park was tough as the support was not as visible, and obviously you are tiring. I held the next 5k together but was starting to feel the pain, lack of long runs was bound to hit me at some stage I guess. The 2:50 thoughts went out of my head and I kept gritting my teeth to make the 35k mark without losing much time. I had forgot to take the last gel at 30k, took it near 34k when I felt it in my pocket. Did this 5k in 20:26, which looking back on it was great, as this was a key section where I could have succumbed to the inner demons and accepted a 2:56/2:57 and still be content with the result, but am very happy at my mental strength to work through the pain.


I was down to the last 7k now…I was fading yet I kept catching people, the sun was noticeable now but I was carrying sponges for a mile with me to keep squeezing over my head, seemed to be helping as I didn’t find the heat a major factor. My mile pace dropped to ~ 6:50 for the last 4 miles but I managed not to let the watch hit 7:00 at any p

cityrep

66_Lad wrote: »

I had meant to reply to this thread last week but didn’t get around to it until now. I appreciate all the useful information gleaned from both this and prior years threads, and other blogs in the A&R group which I follow. I promised after finishing Rotterdam to document my experience of the marathon weekend, as I have never written a race report before and wish I had done so previously. I feel it would be useful to give a little background detail on myself also, so here goes!
...

Wow. Fair play to you for doing so well. You hammered this race and your post here made for some amazing and inspirational reading. Thanks for sharing!!