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Stockholm Marathon June 2018
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Stockholm Marathon 2018
Number 15, hot
on the heels of Lux three weeks earlier which was run as training. Flew in on Friday and by now we all knew the temperatures were not going to be ideal. As it turns out the 12 noon start didn’t make a huge difference as it was nice and toasty by 8 when I went out for bread and buns for breakfast.
I was quite relaxed partly cos I knew a PB effort wasn’t on and also because my Swedish hosts are friendly chatty types and we spent an hour over breakfast before I said, sorry guys I gotta go and pick up my bib number and chip. Metro was lovely and smooth. Bit of a stroll to and from the Expo and sure enough the heat was significant, mid to high 20’s. For the first time in my career I got a pace band and decided to ask for 3:10 splits. The young guy supplying it was well impressed; almost certainly thought I hadn’t a chance!
Starting pen was not too crowded and after a sexy rendition of the anthem, boom and we were off. Over the mat in 10 or 12 seconds and got into a rhythm which varied little enough to be honest. I had hydrated fairly well and had a small bottle which lasted till about km 16 where I seem to have lost the top and soon afterwards chucked the thing itself.
I had a cap and a sponge, fortunately. The water stations and showers had been increased in number and even then there were moments in the second half where I was dying for the station to appear. But for now, all is good. First 10k little to report. There was some shade and it was funny to watch people hug the side of the road when the shade was only a metre or two wide. In fact, I had a chuckle to myself when we passed a longish line of Asics ‘flags’, like wind surfing thingamajigs, and a line of us drifted over to pick up even that miserable aid.
Strangely, after a bit of cloud cover rolled in from about km 14 to 17 (I could be wrong about these details) and at one stage I even felt cool and had a moment or two where I also felt……… you might have to up your pace and game, mate if this stays like this. This didn’t stay like this for very long though!
A comment or two on those around me. There was an English speaking couple who I was eavesdropping on and the guy was constantly reminding the gal that they were to take it easy and do nothing stupid for another good bit. Good advice, but they were coming across as a bit cocky at the same time, chatting a lot and giving this vibe of ‘we could really pick this up if we wanted to’. I was keeping a beady little eye on ‘em. At one point a bloke with a Norn Irlon accent joined the conversation and uttered those horrible words, “Are you planning on letting the dogs out about km 32?” Now, to be fair to the other bloke he said, NO!!! Still, they were slightly pi$$ing me off at this stage.
Went through halfway in 1.33.xx and felt happy enough. The fleeting idea of picking up the pace had been put back in its box and I am fully confident that this was the right decision. We were now approaching what turned out to be a bloody tough section and I got a bit of a boost when I saw the wife and our hosts. Even blew ‘em a kiss and gave a thumbs up. We did a hot loop here and saw the gang again at about km 30. I also saw a St Finnbar’s vest of a runner on the first part of the loop and I couldn’t resist a ‘chat’. I gave him a shout in my best Cork accent and told him we only had ‘a few laps of the Lough’ to go. I hope he got a bit of a kick out of some utter stranger coming out with that.
Heat was on now and we were getting strung out. I was constantly passing runners as the stats from the splits show. There was just one fella who I ran with for a km or two who pulled away from me but I thought, what the heck, he’ll probably put a minute or so into me if I don’t blow up.
I didn’t actually find the bridge climb at km 34 that bad. The earlier ones were worse. It was very gradual and you knew you had almost a full km after it of descent. So, km 35 at the end of the bridge and the endgame had begun. Unfortunately, so had my old friends the pre-cramp calf problems. I never had to stop and walk but they were getting more and more painful and I had to resort to the butt-kicking, stamping technique that didn’t really seem to work.
I had taken 3 of 4 gels at this stage and they were gluey and warm and a bit disgusting so when I heard the 4th fall to the ground I didn’t worry about it. One thing I did stop and retrieve were these kinda Rennie tablets they were handing out. I felt like Renton in Trainspotting when I grabbed a couple, dropped ‘em and had to go back to pick ‘em up. I went for the oral application though as opposed to what he does in the book/movie.
Sure that’s about it. Last two or three kms were sore enough and as we passed km 40 I thought, now there’s an indication of what the heat does to ya, as I stopped and knocked back a full paper cup of water and chucked another over my head. (Maybe another indication was Kawauchi’s 2.23 finishing time, which I believe is his second slowest marathon ever. Of 82!) I passed a dozen or so in the last 2k and even nailed a few buggers on the track. If it’s good enough for Steve Cram…………..
3.08.41 off a 1.33.28 first Half. Metro back to base and a beer and swim!! before one or two other beverages. Apologies for the long post.0 -
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Well, that was a hot mess for sure! Ran the first half very conservatively in 1:51 or so, but still felt a bit out of sorts by about 7km (!) and knew things were going to be tough. Had to walk quite a lot in the second half, since I felt dizzy at times and didn't want to end up like some of the unfortunate souls I passed on the sidelines. Didn't care much about my finishing time until I checked my watch and decided no way in hell was that first number going to be a 4! So I crossed the line in 3:59, way outside my PB, but the lack of training and the day that was in it ensured I wasn't going to do any better.
I had to laugh at some of the odd items offered en route, including coffee (not right now, thanks, it's 28C), warm Pepsi (ew, not to mention how sticky it made the asphalt just after that station), and vegetable stock (um, it's salty, I guess?). But loads of water and shower stations made the journey slightly more bearable
Like Itziger above (congrats on a fantastic time, by the way!), I was also amused by everyone competing for the intermittent slivers of shade. One guy near me (for far longer than I would have preferred) seemed to find it soothing to roar at the top of his lungs every half km or so; whatever works for you in tough conditions man, but seriously, just slightly distracting!
All-in-all, a fun but challenging day out - I'd love another crack at that curse course someday when I'm in better nick
Well done everyone!0 -
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First stop was the ship's buffet I made a decent effort on the bar scene and chatted with some other runners I spotted hobbling about; contrary to my earlier prediction of being asleep by 9pm, I lasted until 10! But with two small kids in tow I had a good excuse not to stay up and party
In fairness to Pepsi, I did drink the can of the stuff I was given afterwards, but I would have drunk practically anything by that stage! (Perhaps excluding vegetable stock...)
Anyway, onwards to the next day out!0
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