Berlin 2016: Back to Basics

tunguska wrote: »

Nice finish. That little one in green was something else, you looked the green giant running alongside her.

If you think that video is bad you should check out the marathonfobo website :rolleyes: went ga ga for about 30 minutes

Berlin marathon 2011

Before Berlin marathon I had run 8 marathons with a best of 2.47 in London (2009). I generally use marathons to regain base fitness and help me lose weight before trying shorter stuff such as 5/10 miles during the summer. On two occasions I have trained well for marathons with the view of getting close to 2.40. Boston 2007 I was going very well, I was incredibly strong but a serious headwind and absolutely shocking weather meant a 2.49 was the best I could do. I tried again in 2009 for London but the increased mileage led to injury 4-6 weeks before hand and I turned up relatively fit but without all the required threshold work done. I decided to get around that day and see what happened (report here). I ran Madrid last year off 55-60 miles a week on a poxy course on a scorcher of a day and ran 2.48. All the training miles for that marathon had been slow with little or no tempo stuff. Sitting in the pub afterward I was talking with a friend of mine and was wondering how fast I might be able to run a marathon if I put my mind to it and trained properly. He quite bluntly told me I needed to loose half a stone, get faster over 10k and build my speed endurance. That night we decided to run Berlin in 2011 and work on the fundamentals. Berlin was 17 months away!

Fast forward to October a time of the year where I generally fall off the wagon training wise and fart around. I picked the Waterford half as goal race to keep my training going. That eventually got canceled before Christmas due to bad weather but I was in much better shape than I normally would be coming into January.

Phase 2 seen me work on my leg speed with the national road 10k the next target. I ran 16 minutes for 5k in march and eventually 33.50 for the 10k. The week after the national 10k I ran a low 33 minutes for the K club 10k. I knew the leg speed was there. The next month or two I was in a bit of limbo. I had some work commitments overseas and family holidays these were planned for this time of the year, so I would have a good block of marathon training with no travel distractions etc.

My marathon plan was simple. Roughly 12-13 weeks. I generally would have a 16-18 week plan. I have learned these are too long for me I generally get injured or bored. I have read most of the books and plans that people subscribe to here. Some are good some are $hite in my opinion. Through my own experience I mixed and matched some of the sessions from some of the plans with training routines that I know work for me. I physically can’t do more than one hard session a week, well I can but I generally get injured or it takes away from my race performance. I’ve always been like this, even as a kid. I generally did 60% of the training the other lads I trained with did. Marathon plan went like a dream no injuries, no missed days and maybe 1-2 missed sessions as I eased off to ensure I avoided injury. I introduced double days on my recovery days and found these excellent. I did some PMP miles and threw in a couple into my longer runs. This was something I had to be careful about as these types of sessions are the reason I got injured in the lead up to London.

Everything was going well but as with everybody else I wondered could I run 26 odd miles at my PMP. With 2 weeks to go I did a run that convinced me it was possible. I ran 12 miles at a good clip and then jumped into a 10k and glided around to 36.05 on a tough course on a windy day. I was quite literally running at a controlled relatively easy pace. That was on top of a hardish week. I knew with refreshed legs I could replicate that in Berlin if all went to plan.

The race
Night before the race I was a little nervous. I generally don’t get race nerves but I was taking a step into the great unknown and I didn’t know how my body would react at 20+ miles. Went to race start the night before and did a bit of old visualisation. It was picture perfect down there and I decided there and then I was going to leave nothing on the course and most of all enjoy the experience no matter what happened. It’s not every day you get to run a massive marathon in a beautiful city in perfect weather conditions. Heard the start could be a nightmare but noticed bag drop was on one side of the park while the other side had no bag drop. Decided to dump my gear at the start the following morning and stick to the side that had no bag drop as I knew it would be less busy. Got down nice and early did a nice warm up and knew things were going to go well if I kept my head. Got a great starting position. I was actually tempted to give Radcliffe's arse a little pinch but decided I wouldn’t sexually harass a mother of 2 on her racing come back.

Gun went and I crossed the chip mat 5 seconds later. We were off. The plan was to break the race into 3 parts perceived by effort. 10 mile jog, 10 mile tempo and flat out 10k. This is something I had planned since January and had flagged to a couple of people before I ran. Looks great in theory but the last 10km is always the great unknown. First 10 miles were hit in just over 60 minutes and it did feel like a jog. Felt like I was doing 8 minute miles, you beauty. Worryingly though my right hamstring was getting tight. A little niggle I had picked up in training. Next 10 miles were easier than tempo effort and hit them just under 60 minutes, hammer was getting tighter and right calf was now getting a little sore too, muscle was protesting and I though it might cramp. Nothing major but a tiny concern. Was a little worried about pushing too early so took stock. After 21 miles I started to push I couldn’t feel any cramping, it seemed the faster I went the better the hammer felt, result.

Started to crank it up. Had regular updates from my friends on the course. At 36k one of the lads ran after me and told me to try and hold pace as 30-35k was fastest so far, I wasn’t even breathing hard and decided to up it again. It felt so easy. A little French girl/bloke ripped by me and I decided to go with her. She was flying, have a look at the video links above, I reckon the bottom half of my body weighed more than her. No way was I getting chicked by a little bloke. Hit the Brandenburg gate with her and then I full out sprinted to the end. I was giving it the guns coming down the finishing straight. I look like a tool but I really don’t give a $hit. So many things can go wrong in 17 months and I was going to enjoy it.

Afterward I felt fine. I have genuinely felt worse after some training sessions. I reckon there was another couple of minutes in the legs but it’s easy saying that in hindsight. Those extra minutes could have destroyed my race so I’m getting greedy. Standing on the start line I had a few time goals
A) Run a PB
Run sub 2.40
C) All going well run 2.37.XX. I ran my first marathon 9 years ago in 3.37 so thought it would be nice to take an hour off it.
Met all targets so a job well done.

Had a great 2 days on the beer after the marathon. There was a great group from the club and some of the lads had amazing runs. Won’t go into it but one fellah in particular is a fcuking inspiration and what he ran was awe inspiring. Overall everybody was in good form. Had a great night in the Oscar Wilde and then in some café bar followed by a well dodgy dicotheque. Met lots of people from Boards including Braian and Niall, had to pay Brian his 2 pints but he was on the cheap **** so it cost me less than the tenner we had originally bet Also met Liam and Jarlath apologies if I can’t remember names of other boards people. I’m bad with names the best of times and absolutely brutal with pseudonyms. I’d also like to apologise to patrons and staff of the Oscar Wilde and the band queen for my rendition of “we are the champions”. Jaysus, some fecker has photo evidence.

What next 564 days to Rotterdam

Have decided no marathons for the short term. Will do pacing gig in Dublin this year and looking forward to it. After that I hope to run well in the Waterford half. I’m going to work on leg speed in the new year so that I can comfortably knock out 15.30 min 5ks and 32 min10ks. I’m even dabbling with the idea of running some track next summer. I’d love to run a sub 2 minute 800 again. I will do another marathon but I’ve no interest in taking a minute off here and there. The sub 2.40 monkey is off my back next one I do I want to have a shot of going sub 2.30. May not be realistic but should be a goer if I can keep working on the fundamentals.

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