Cool runnings

kit3

Best of luck at the weekend D

yaboya1

Good luck on Sunday Dave.
It's a great race. Enjoy it!

chickey2

Good luck! Just imagine you're on that big dodder loop and keep on going!

Younganne

Best of luck on Sunday, have a great race.

Ososlo

All the best Dave. Have a great race!

AuldManKing

As TRR always told me - Dont Fcuk it up.

I think he meant have a great race and best of luck.

paddybarry

Best of luck Sunday.

ThebitterLemon

Best of luck.

Hope you hit your target


TbL

Singer

Enjoy the race, hope you have a good one!

wowzer

Good luck Dave, give it all you got. It is a great race and a really cool city, enjoy it.

RacoonQueen

Best of luck Dave!

Wild Garlic

Enjoy the run but more importantly enjoy all that wonderful beeeeeer!

davedanon

Wednesday 21st: day 10

4 mile run, with 2 @MP.

1 @8.48
2 @ 7.22, 7.10
1 @8.56

HR 123/144

Thursday 22nd: day 11

Rest

Friday 23rd: day 12

3 @8.36

HR 120/133

Saturday 24th: day 13

2.08 @9.38 - 20 min jog in Berlin.

HR 104/114

Sunday 25th

Berlin marathon*.

26.36 @7.36

HR 151/166


* report to follow

Week's mileage: 47

PaulieC

Tease

tang1

No Berlin report so I take it........

davedanon

tang1 wrote: »

No Berlin report so I take it........

No. Yes. It's coming, it's coming.

kit3

davedanon wrote: »

No. Yes. It's coming, it's coming.

When ???

davedanon

Soon.

davedanon

2016 Berlin Marathon

I've always wanted to see Berlin. Such a singular city, drenched in history and intrigue. A chap I know, a former press snapper, lives near me, and I regularly run into him in Super Valu. Sometimes we chat, sometimes I do that thing where you see someone you know, but they don't see you, and you decide you don't have the time for a ten minute natter, and pretend not to notice them. On this last occasion however, I said hello, and we had our usual chat about the parlous state of the newsprint industry and it's slow, inevitable decline.

Then, we must have gotten to more topical matters, because I mentioned Berlin. "oh, says he. Great town. I was stationed there in the sixties". You wha? I nearly grabbed him by the lapels and pinned him up against the birthday cards display. "Tell me literally everything about it", I ordered him mentally (while outwardly being a little more seemly).

It seems he was working for the americans in some capacity, though not militarily. All the same, he had intoxicating tales of people throwing stones and baring their arses at the GDR guards manning the wall, and being shot at in return. Tales of skullduggery, corruption and all the usual human evils when the normal rules have been temporarily suspended. What a town it must have been back then.

One of my favourite writers is Len Deighton - he of The Ipcress File, Michael Caine as Harry Palmer and all that - but his best work is a series of nine books about a much more modern spy than cockney Harry. Set in London and Berlin, they had the effect of making me yearn to see this extraordinary city. My all-time ideal holiday would consist of disembarking at Tegel or Schönefeld, alone, with two weeks to explore every single location mentioned in the nonology. I say alone because it's the sort of ridiculous notion you wouldn't dream of foisting on anyone else.

I mention all that, only to demonstrate how ironic this whole trip was going to be. Here I was, finally getting to the place I had dreamed about, and I had sort-of three days, one of which was going to be taken up with an extreme sightseeing pursuit which was also known as the 43rd Berlin Marathon. I was going to see both lots, and virtually nothing, of the city. I wasn't going to sight-see. I was literally only passing through, and at 7.15 per mile pace at that.

I suppose I can always come back, though.


And now, you want to hear about this damn marathon, don't you? You do, curse you. Alright then, here's how race morning went. After a 5.30am reveille, I was in the breakfast room at 6.30 for the breakfast of champions. If I was racing DCM, I'd be eating shag all, but this was a pretty nice hotel, and there was loads of good stuff on offer. If memory serves, I had two double-espressos, some bread and cheese, a pain au chocolat, and maybe a yoghurt of some kind. It was a lot for me, but I have to say, there were people absolutely horsing into the scran. I think some people reckon running a marathon is like an expedition to the Antarctic. Enormous amounts of supplies must be ingested. Back up to the room for last-minute prep, then I snuck off into the morning Berliner Luft. One stop on the S-bahn later, I was climbing out of Brandenburger Tor station to the intoxicating sight of the f*cking Brandenburg Gate itself. Hot damn! I walked slowly under one of its mighty arches, conscious that the next time would be quite different.

I had arrived quite early, so I meandered into the Tiergarten and strolled towards my eventual destination. This is a really well-organised race. 40,000 plus people involved, and I barely saw any of them. The Tiergarten where the race starts and finishes is an enclosed city park much like our Phoenix park (only not as big, nyaa nyaa), and in fact it is quite similar. It also encompasses the city zoo, and has a long spine of a central avenue very akin to Chesterfield. So what they do is send you down the equivalent of the North road, which then delivers you to your starting pen. I didn't know a damn soul, so I did my little warm-up, my serial visits to the portaloo (of which there were loads) all by my lonesome. Only minutes before the start did I run into Frank, a clubmate who was attempting a sub-3. We chatted, shook hands, and then, finally, finally, we began the mass shuffle towards the start-line, like the world's biggest chain-gang.

Except, we were all willing volunteers. If possibly mentally unsound.

A word on the weather. Despite all the pre-race optimism, one thing was clear. It was gonna get warm. A cool 10-12℃ at 8am it may have been, as per the forecast, but by 9.15 it was definitely warmer than that, and Berlin weather isn't like Dublin's. It habitually rises during the day by 6,7,8 degrees celsius, and indeed by the time we were drinking Berliner beer post-race it was easily 22-23℃. As for my strategy to combat the conditions, I had brought a kids' drink bottle with me from Dublin, and I filled it with 250ml of water, High 5 2:1, and a high-caffeine isogel. The plan was to take a mouthful every mile, and ignore the water-stations. Berlin has many, many stations, but it's plastic cups of water only. One of this race's few drawbacks.

Myself and Frank exchanged a handshake, said best of luck, and then we were off. You never feel you're quite ready at the start of a marathon. It always catches you off-guard somehow.


1st 5k

I run in miles, like any right-thinking person, but in Yurp it's strictly metric, as any fule kno. My target time of (<) 3:10 handily breaks down into 22:30 5ks. In other words, 45 mins for 10k, 90 for 20k, etc etc. The splits could nearly be worked out in your head en route, if one was compos mentis.
So, I am going to keep a weather eye on the miles times, but the real time-checks are the on-course 5k clocks. I'm trying to run by feel, and how I want to feel is unstressed, but mile 1, which isn't congested at all, comes in at 7:19. A little alarm bell goes off in my head. But I can't think why. Then the first few miles, while they go swimmingly, are just that little bit behind schedule too. Hmm.

22.45

Plus 15


2nd 5k

I attempt to catch up on time lost here, evidently. A couple of on-the-money miles are followed by 2 in the low 7s. It's not really conscious, or forced for that matter. I'm not pushing hard. Just upping the tempo a little. I rake back the time I lost on the first few miles, and after 10k I'm a mere 4 seconds down.

22.20 (45.04)

Plus 4


3rd 5k

The mile times are fluctuating a little bit, possibly of note considering just how remarkably flat this course really is, but I'm still leaking just a little bit of time on every section. Someone is probably asking themselves "why doesn't he just speed up" around now, but, it's not as simple as that with me. There's a saying everyone knows: "Train hard. Race easy." I've only just now realised what it means. I'm trying to race easy alright, but it's not the right easy. It's not the quick enough easy.

22.42 (67.46)

Plus 16


4th 5k

Jeez, here I am bigging Berlin up like it's the greatest city on earth, and now I can't remember a damn thing about it. Seriously, all I'm remembering is the long, long straight, flat streets. One after the other. Ok, there's loads of people. Heaps of them. Berlin puts as many bodies on the street as London, no question (and Dublin is well up there, proportionally speaking), but the thing I like about Berlin is that the Marathon basically owns the city for the weekend. The skating event the day before does similar. In London, you get the feeling that while thousands and thousands of random residents are cheering these largely anonymous runners along, the city itself is sort of indifferent. It's going, ok, you're welcome and all that, but you know, we're busy. Don't expect us to drop everything just because it's that time of year. Marathon Schmarathon. This is London. Berlin's smaller, more intimate. It's more like Dublin. And yet, it's not like Dublin at all. Berlin has some absolutely massive buildings: far bigger than in Dublin. And yet it doesn't feel in any way oppressive. It's the way the city is built. The avenues and boulevards and wide and airy, and grand buildings stand back from you, rather than tower over, as in Dublin. But where was I? Oh yes. Running.

22.45 (90.31)

Plus 31


5th 5k

Hitting halfway, and my other only gripe needs some airing. What's with all the meaningless gantries? As in, there should only be one of these things if it's a time-check. Otherwise you're just going to cause confusion and fear among these increasingly irrational runners, Berlin marathon. Think on. I hit the halfway point in 1:35:32. How do I feel? I'm ok, I suppose. Still carrying my bottle. It's gotten warmer. I'm not thinking too far ahead. In some ways, with Mr. Hindsight in da house, that's not a good thing.

23.05 (1.53.35)

Plus 1.05


6th 5k

Now there's no doubt about it. I'm slowing down. Around about here I've finished my bottle, and now I'm at the mercy of the water station Gods. I've also got two gels, and they're loaded up with caffeine. I will ingest them both, but to be honest I have no idea if they've done me any good whatsoever. Snake oil.

23.31 (2.17.05)

Plus 2.05


7th 5k

Two things of note happen around about here. One is the arrival of the 3.15 pacing group. I hadn't been thinking about it, but now suddenly they were here. Well. I wasn't having that, now was I. I sped up, but after a while I was being reeled in. Once again I attempted to put some distance between, but was caught for the second time. And this was when my race really fell apart. I was actually sort of shocked by the suddenness of it. Within literally yards, my pace slowed by a minute a mile. I was 22 miles into the race. I had 4 miles to go, and let me tell you my friend, when you're doing the march of death? This is a looong way. I also met up with a Raheny Shamrocks guy. I'm conflicted about the encounter, because I had to speed up to catch him, but I somehow needed the feedback from someone I 'knew' because of the singlet. It turned out he was a 2.50 guy who was injured which explained why he was running at my pace. But of course he was extremely comfortable. I bade him farewell.

23.38 (2.40.43)

Plus 3.13


8th 5k

Although that isn't really true, is it. Up to 35k I was running just like I had in London. There was 1 solitary second between the races up to that point. After 35k though, it got ugly. Immediately post-race, I wasn't particularly rational, and basically blamed myself for any number of reasons - not good enough, didn't train hard enough, too old etc etc. With a bit of perspective, I see that the conditions were the crucial factor. I know now that my marathons don't need to be early in the year, or on foreign ground. They just need to be cold.

27.23 (3.08.05)

Plus 8.05

Finish

The Brandenburg Gate is huge. So why couldn't I see the fcuker? At this stage I was oblivious to anything bar the idea that I had to finish this thing, before it finished me. Why did this feel so hard? well, I had been horsing the water at every stop for a while, as well availing of all the mist-showers, and scooping water out of the sponge basins onto the back of my neck. My evaluation is simple. I overheated. But I digress. Finally, the Gate did hove in to view. It is an inspiring sight, it has to be said. Once more I went through it from Pariser Platz to the Tiergarten, and then I was into the finish. It is a final irony that my 'sprint' to the line, such as it was, was at about 7.18 pace. A little outside the ideal, and exactly as I started.

3.20.22

Plus 10.23

healy1835

Great report, pity the heat caught up with you by the end..... have i read it correctly that you only drank the 250ml of Energy Source/Isogel over the first half of the race?

tailgunner

Wonderful report, you have the "feel" of Berlin spot on. Was 3:10 always the target or was that an adjustment based on the conditions?

I read The Ipcress File and one or two of his other books years ago and really liked them. Must check out the Bernard Samson ones.

davedanon

healy1835 wrote: »

Great report, pity the heat caught up with you by the end..... have i read it correctly that you only drank the 250ml of Energy Source/Isogel over the first half of the race?

Yeah, I carried it from the start. It lasted until about 14/15 miles. I could have done with a second bottle, but it didn't seem logistically possible. When I passed the 'own drink' table, it was far less chaotic than I imagined. Maybe I could have used it.

davedanon

tailgunner wrote: »

Wonderful report, you have the "feel" of Berlin spot on. Was 3:10 always the target or was that an adjustment based on the conditions?

I read The Ipcress File and one or two of his other books years ago and really liked them. Must check out the Bernard Samson ones.

They're fantastic. As much for the Berlin detail, and the dissection of a male friendship and all it entails, as any of the spy stuff. There are three trilogies. Game, Set and Match. Hook, Line and Sinker. And Faith, Hope and Charity. Ok, the titles are a bit Archeresque, and the worst aspect of the books by far. But don't let them put you off.

Sub 3.10 was my initial target. My secondary target was any kind of pb (currently 3:14:xx)

healy1835

davedanon wrote: »

Yeah, I carried it from the start. It lasted until about 14/15 miles. I could have done with a second bottle, but it didn't seem logistically possible. When I passed the 'own drink' table, it was far less chaotic than I imagined. Maybe I could have used it.

Yeah i'd imagine fuelling strategy is a dilemma for an overseas marathon when there are more unknown variables at play. I only ever thought that Elites had their 'own tables' in Marathons....Still though 3:20 when you're finishing in a bit of trouble is nothing to be sniffed at. Do you have any immediate goals next?

davedanon

healy1835 wrote: »

Yeah i'd imagine fuelling strategy is a dilemma for an overseas marathon when there are more unknown variables at play. I only ever thought that Elites had their 'own tables' in Marathons....Still though 3:20 when you're finishing in a bit of trouble is nothing to be sniffed at. Do you have any immediate goals next?

I'm pacing 4:20 in DCM. So I need to do a bit of training at that pace - I need to stop saying 'slow miles'. Every time I do the person I'm talking to goes "I'd love to be able to do a 4:20 marathon!"

tang1

Hard luck D, we as a nation just ain't built to run marathons in the heat.

kit3

That sounded like a tough one Dave - the heat is a killer ! Well done - hope you enjoyed the rest of your stay in Berlin

Younganne

Sorry to hear it didn't go as planned. The weather has a lot to answer for when it comes to marathons & Boardsies.

Murph_D

Hard luck with the weather - it all sounds so similar to (if an order or two faster than) my own most recent experiences at the distance. Completely understand the 4-mile death march experience. Humbling. Great report, very insightful.

Duanington

Well done for toughing it out D, enjoyed the report too !

Nice to meet you afterwards, good aul craic. Will you target another one now?