Berlin or bust...

The pressure was building all week as friends and colleagues (and boards posters) wished me well on Sunday. I was feeling nervous, excited, anxious, and totally doubting of my ability to complete this stupid thing I was signed up to do. WHY exactly did I ever say I'd do this?! :eek:

I was travelling with 3 other running nutters enthusiasts, and we got through that mammoth queue in Dublin airport security without incident, boarded the plane and landed in sunny Berlin on Friday morning. The butterflies were still there, but I was starting to feel a bit more positive. We checked in - all good! - and made our way to the expo to collect the race numbers and stuff. It's a great event, and we ended up spending about 3 hours browsing and sipping non-al beer outside in the sunshine :cool: A nice way to start the weekend.

Did a small warm-up run (about 2.5 miles) on Friday evening, just to wake up the legs. Ran from the hotel as far as the start/finish area and back, more to acclimatise ourselves with the location really.

Saturday was a bit of a lazy one and when the rain started in the afternoon we kinda knew the forecast was probably looking spot on. The temperature dropped from about 22c on Friday to 12c or so on Sunday. But the cooler temperatures were taken as a bonus - if the weather for the marathon was like Friday's, we'd all have been screwed!

Up early on Sunday and had the usual 'long run' breaky of porridge, juice and coffee with banana and bread on the side. Got the gear on, packed up the post-race change bag, and headed to the start area at about 7:45. We each went our own way - as a first timer I was in pen H, so I headed down the back as the boys all went to the 'faster people' pens.

I started right at the back of the crowd - I'd say there were only about 300 people behind me! - and by the time I got to the starting mats the gun clock has already passed the 25min mark! :eek:. I set off at a steady pace, I had a pace band for 04:30 (in Kms) but my plan was to keep the average pace below 10min/mi which should get me comfortably under that.

I wasn't running with anyone, but the crowds around me were great entertainment. I spent the entire race passing people (that's the problem with starting from the back!) but from about half way I kept seeing a few of the same people again and again. A group of girls from Denmark were keeping almost the same pace for the middle third of the race and they had fantastic support from the sidelines, which I got a bit of a kick from too . Use what you can, right?

The water stations were a bit of a mess... water in plastic cups for 40K+ people!? With all that debris, I inevitably slowed going through them. But at least drinking wasn't a problem, thanks to an inspired bit of advice from a friend. A simple thing like a straw stashed in my gel belt made all the difference! Brilliant.

I took 4 gels during the race, at 6, 12, 18 and 22, with jellies at 10, 15, 20 and 26.2+. And that last one was VERY tasty! I kept the pace more or less steady throughout, and the avg pace came in at 9:57. Mile 18 was the slowest at 10:29:o and mile 7 was fasted at 09:32(?)

Some stats from the marathon site:
Chiptotal:|04:24:08
Clocktotal:|04:48:52 (I started WAY back!)
First half:|02:12:10
Second half:|02:11:58 (negative split :cool:)
Time per km:|06:15
Speed:|9.59 km/h



And stats from the Garmin:
Time:|04:24:07
Distance:|26.53 mi
Avg Pace:|09:57 min/mi
Calories:|2,681 C


Happy out!
Now I just have to get over the after affects - ouch my legs!

shazkea wrote: »

Thrilled for you Emer, fantastic job and a great PB . I hope you enjoyed the celebrations.

Now is it time to twist your arm for Barca

Thanks shazkea. Think it's WAY TOO early to start trying to cajole me into another marathon - the pain is all too real today! Nothing permanent, I know, but it's definitely being felt :P

Ask me again another time.... maybe.... :rolleyes:

BeepBeep67 wrote: »

Well done Emer super performance, must remember the straw in the future - haven't used one since a bad experience with bendy ones and way too many Barcardi breezers many moons ago!

Hmm, sounds like there might be a good story there.

Yeah, the straws were a brilliant idea. The main challenge was to keep hold on them. The OH went off with his too, tucked safely into his gel belt, but they were gone before he got to the first water station! oops! :rolleyes:
I zipped mine into the pocket of my gel belt, and though they stuck out a bit, it worked well for me. I was perfectly well hydrated all the way around (and I guess the rain helped too!)

village runner wrote: »

Congrats. Good to see one of ye getting a negative split.;);)

Ah sure I'm learning from ye pro's!
Now if I could only run like ye...:rolleyes:

Training log this week so far :cool:

Monday Rest
Tuesday Rest
Wednesday Rest

...that was fairly easy

Thursday 2 miles easy on the grass in the park.
The legs were still a bit tired and heavy, but there's no blisters / soreness / issues lingering, so I'm happy with that.
The run was fine. That's about all I can say about it. I was glad to be out there again, but it was a bit of a slog to get around (and it was just 2 miles!). The grass was nice and soft though, and the legs are definitely felling better every day.

Summary


...I'll have to think about that log title now that I've got to Berlin without busting!:p
Or maybe I'll leave it, as a memento of my first major running milestone?:rolleyes:

My marathon finishing treat for myself - bought a new pair of runners today. I'm an assics girl and got the new Nimbus 12's. They're pink! (I'm such a girlie sometimes:P)