Once in a Lifetime....for now

AuldManKing

Catching up - Congrats on the 1st Granddaughter!!

Dont over do it catching up for lost time for Amsterdam - only so much you can do between now and then.

the Age thing was there a few years ago in Berlin when I applied (& Covid era stopped me).

skyblue46

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121226780#Comment_121226780

Thanks A. As it's 3 days away there isn't much catching up I can do 🙂 In truth I wasn't tempted to anyway as the risk of doing more serious damage was too great.

Interesting about Berlin times and good to know. I had thought they had a 45-59 GFA of 2:55 only. I hadn't previously noted a time required to simply enter the lottery. Still, it gives me some sort of a goal.

Mind that PHT of yours. Mine is over 2 years lingering now. Granted it was more severe in that I couldn't walk on it at its worst but it's still not an injury to take lightly.

Mr. Guappa

Very honest post there S and I can relate to a lot of it. Still though, it took a heck of a lot of work and perseverance to find your way back to the start line of a marathon and that's an accomplishment in itself, given all the setbacks over the last 5 years. Best of luck on Sunday - I hope you smash that 3:15 and beyond, and enjoy those post race pints!

Comic Book Guy

All the very best on Sunday S, will be rooting for ya. As you have said to countless others "trust your training" (I know how much easier it is saying it than having it said to you!!). You're in great shape and in a great place after super consistent block of training, now go and reap your reward......

Kellygirl

Playing catch up here ! Huge congrats on the 2 grandkids!

Best of luck Sunday. Give it socks!

Annie get your Run

Congrats! Looks like it went better than you could have hoped. Enjoy the celebrations and hope you don't get waylayed by former bordsies living in that general area 😀.

skyblue46

So.....Strap yourselves in, this could be a long one 😆

Firstly I just wanted to put a context on my last post. A few of you mentioned both here and in other messages that I was perhaps being too hard on myself. I really appreciate the comments. However it doesn't change the fact that I felt hugely under pressure to get Amsterdam done, and done reasonably well. There is one real reason for this. Quite a large percentage of the people I know through running are those I have met on Boards. I know it is a running community ostensibly but in my eyes it's a marathon running community. So many of the posters began their days on the Novice thread and have continued to make marathons part of their lives. After 2017 and 2018 I have failed to make the start line of a marathon. In reality I haven't even started a training block for one since 2019. I had started to feel like an imposter....the non marathoning, non racing poster on a marathon and racing forum. 🤣

The need to get a marathon done became more clear in my head after my HM in Den Haag in March. Somebody (I think it was ariana) said that I was "back". I didn't feel it and quickly realised that the reason was that I wasn't back to the very thing that got me onto Boards in 2017, namely running a marathon. This was something that needed fixing. My training was going ok, injuries were being kept at arms length so I entered Amsterdam. All went very well until 6/7 weeks out which led me to the point where I posted my previous entry. I hope that explains some of my thoughts.

As things turned out Lazare and Laineyfrecks both decided to do Amsterdam as well. This was brilliant for me as I couldn't pick two nicer people to share the whole block, buildup, race and post race with. E has been a huge support over the past few years as I lurched from one injury to the next. C has been an ever-present bubbly positive personality since we first met on the 2017 Novice thread. Importantly too, both of them can deal with my rather prickly personality 😳

Enough of that anyway. On to the trip and race...... The short spin to the airport, through security and down to the gates were all trouble free. The other two were in great form and the anticipation filled chats were brilliant. The flight was smooth and getting connecting trains to the hotel from Schiphol was a seamless experience. I dropped my case at the hotel and made my way to the expo to meet E and C. Number collection was within seconds and T shirt collection only took 3 or 4 minutes. All in all it was brilliantly set up. The expo was ok, dominated by Mizuno who were a main sponsor and by the official merchandise stands. After the expo we went for some food and then went our separate ways to our respective hotels. I found the evening very long and fought a long battle with myself not to go for a few beers whilst watching the rugby. 🙄

We had arranged to meet at 8.30 the following morning but I was awake early, fed and watered by 7.30 so I decided to head to the Olympic Stadium. I was probably lucky that I did. It was only 2 stops on the train but I was the last person to squeeze into the sardine tin in the station I left from and no passengers were able to get on at the next station. I got to our meeting point a little after 8 and sat there soaking in the atmosphere. My God, how I have missed this! About 20 minutes later I was soaking in rather large hailstones which rained down for a little over 5 minutes and filled the head with doomsday scenarios. The other pair eventually arrived but by the time we did back drop, p-stop and found our way to our pen we were already well out of position and knew that some weaving lay ahead before we might find ourselves running in somewhat clear air.

Before I get into the race report I'll just mention that I put a different data field on the watch. It allowed me to reset the distance and average pace by pressing the lap button as I passed distance markers on the course. I didn't do it at every kilometre but I found it a brilliant tool to use. As a result I will be mentioning 2 sets of splits in the report, one based on Strava distances and the other based on the actual course markers. Both of course are somewhat susceptible to GPS errors. My target time was 3:14:59, km pace was to be 4:37 and 5k splits to be about 23:05. I was using Maurten for fueling and was following their recommendations which was a 160 drink during the morning, a gel 20 mins before the start and then a gel after each 6k up to km 36.

RACE REPORT

KM 1-5: It was great to have the C and E there in the pen for the last minute well wishes and encouragement. The start itself was pretty well done with a narrow funneling about 70 metres before the start line immediately opening up to the full width of the track and allowing for plenty of space to get into your stride. We had agreed to do our own thing, each of us having planned a conservative first km to settle into it. While conservative the order still fell in line with target times as C moved on a little and E dropped in behind me. It very quickly became apparent how far out of position we were as even maintaining a conservative pace meant lots of weaving and sidestepping. The support was fantastic. This was something which didn't change for the whole 42.2k. It was just amazing. The fact that names are prominently printed on bibs and that I wore an Ireland singlet undoubtedly helped. The shouts of "C'mon Ireland" in accents from all over our island would be a constant throughout the race. The constant weaving meant that I missed the 1k marker but I went through the 2k mark in 9:33. I was a few seconds behind but pretty much where I wanted to be. I used average pace for the next 3k as I settled into my rhythm. I passed the 5k marker at 23.37. Interestingly, I found out after the race that Strava had my 5k split at 23.07 so I definitely think the watch face was a benefit.

KM 6-10: Parts of this section were quite narrow as it included a part of the route where runners were at two different parts of the course because of a small out and back loop. It was great to see the faster runners on the other side of the road. By now the plan was to be moving at pretty much goal pace. 5k split was 23:05 and paces were pretty even so I can assume that it was a GPS glitch that caused Strava/Garmin to show that I did a 4:08km and a 6:55 mile in there somewhere. It would also explain why GPS measured that section at 5.28km. 32 secs behind goal pace to this point.

KM 11-15: It was along here after about 13km as we came onto the banks of the Amstel that I noticed C was about 40 metres ahead of me. I wasn't hugely surprised as I knew he was planning a negative split whereas I was looking to run even paced most of the way. The pathway was wider than I was expecting and congestion wasn't an issue. A few systems checks along here had me happy with everything. 5K split was 23:05 again. Still that 32 secs to find but was feeling good. 5.08km by GPS.

KM 16-20: Shortly after passing a guy on some sort of water hover board that could take him 30 feet in the air the heavens opened again and the wind picked up. It was obvious from looking at those running back along the far bank that it was taking some effort to run into it. I think we were quite sheltered on our bank as there was no huge tailwind. At the same time I allowed the pace to increase a tiny bit in order to mitigate against anything that might be blowing against us coming back on the other side. Shortly after the 19k mark there was a hairpin which allowed me to see quite a few runners behind me. I had a scan for E but didn't see her. 22:55 for the 5k (5.1k) which brought me back to within 22 secs of goal pace.

KM 21-25: As we turned back the wind wasn't really an issue and I continued with the slightly faster pace and passed through half way in 1:37:33, a mere 3 seconds off pace. 22:36 for the 5k, partially explained by doing some little sprints to pass a couple of pace groups I encountered. 7 seconds ahead of goal. Happy with the world 😀

KM 26-30: We were now back out onto roads again having left the peace of the Amstel behind us and the noise levels of the support continued to rise. Again the shouts of C'mon Ireland could clearly be heard. Too clearly actually as it alerted C to my presence. 🤣 I didn't want to pass him and then be re-passed when he began his planned kick for home. Pace good, legs good....in two words, all good! Coming towards the end of this section I moved up to C's shoulder and we had a little chat. I told him I was pretty much where I wanted to be at halfway, 3 seconds off pace. I told him I knew he was planning to go hard with about 10k to go and not to be expecting me to pick it up as I was happy with my pace. A few seconds later I noticed he wasn't beside me any longer but I expected him to come past me soon enough. 22:41 split and 31 secs ahead of goal.

KM 31-35: There comes a point in every race where the effort levels suddenly begin to change without having increased the pace. That moment came for me after 34km. Like the flick of a switch the easy effort, acknowledging every cheer and shout and exchanging well wishes to Irish runners stopped! It was beginning to take an effort to maintain pace and it took a while to take my 30k gel on board. 22:55 for the 5k split, 41 seconds to the good overall.

KM 36-40: At this point I was seriously considering giving back the 40 seconds banked to ensure making it home in less pain. Kms in the low 4:40s would get me a sub 3:15 by my now almost delirious calculations. I gagged badly on the 36k gel but managed to get it down. Every thought of slowing down was immediately countered with a thought of C and E coming past me if I did. Just hold the pace you fooker!! Going through Vondelpark and the memories of sauntering through it less than 3 hours earlier were but a blur. The legs were boll0xed. 22:50 for the 5k....this I only found out afterwards as by this point I was on autopilot and concentrating on the current pace field on the watch trying to keep it as close to 4:30 as I could.

KM 41-42: The end was near but so were my limits! I can't remember much about this except suddenly being very aware of the tram tracks and thinking to myself how stupid it would be to get this close to finishing and then fall on a track. As the second to last turn before entering the stadium appeared I felt myself gag as the days gels and drinks attempted to make an escape.....

to 42.2km: Oh fook...as we turn onto the flag lined avenue filled with hundreds if not thousands of spectators my I couldn't hold it down! No way was I letting it out and being a great photo opportunity for someone!! I was well aware that loads of the Finisher Pics are taken in the stadium so wasn't going to have that happen. All my concentration was on keeping my mouth closed, running merely an afterthought. There was nothing left to give in terms of a sprint anyway. I was totally shot at this point. I crossed the line, threw my upper body over a barrier and convulsed as I emptied my stomach! At least it wasn't caught on camera 😂 I gathered myself before looking at the watch and saw I had stopped it at 3:13:12 having covered those last 2.2km in 9:50 at a 4:28 per km pace. A PB by 3:35 and beating a 5 year younger version of me. To say that I was satisfied was an understatement!

I then turned around to see C cross the line. A fist bump and a big hug for one top man completing an 11 minute PB. A couple of minutes later E come charging through the line to end a fantastic marathon for her with a huge PB and a storming negative split. A group hug ensued before we began sharing our stories. It was really special to be able to share the finish line feelings with 2 people who are special to me and the walk out of the stadium, back to bag drop and getting changed was made all the better by doing it with these two people.

I'm not going to get into the lessons, the future or what I would do differently. I'm not going to dwell on the what might have beens.

I'm back....a marathon runner again.

Murph_D

As @Dubh Geannain said to @Lazare earlier, ‘Hang it in the Louvre’.

We have an Amsterdam triptych this year.

Brilliant running, brilliant report. Welcome back. 😉

py

Congrats again on the PB and a cracking return to marathoning. Sounds like a great trip for all.

skyblue46

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121256109#Comment_121256109

It was a great trip alright. I'd happily go on another foreign marathon trip with those two at any time 🙂

Lambay island

Well done, cracking read of a superbly executed race.. Happy for you! No idea how you kept that in your mouth until after finish too- that's an achievement in itself!

Laineyfrecks

Big huge congratulations again S on an amazing marathon! I loved being there with you both & sharing such an amazing event with you. I know you had a lot of reservations & little doubts & I totally understand that given the training over the last few weeks but you really did run a great race, something you should be very proud of!

I know I say it every now & again but I really do appreciate all the support & help you give me with my running, you have a lot going on with your own running then everything else too but you still take the time to put brilliant blocks of training together for me, training I love & it clearly works for me so thank you😊

Here's to lots more foreign marathons...you're back😉

AuldManKing

What a cracking report - a very well ran race, superbly executed - top marks young man - you are indeed 'back'!

Lazare

Ah Sean, that was a terrific read.

So great to experience it from your perspective. Those splits!! A dream comeback. I'm over the moon for you.

I'm bowled over too by the lovely comments, I enjoyed every minute of yours and E's company over there too, a weekend I'll remember forever.

skyblue46

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121257020#Comment_121257020

Yeah, the Sunday night was a real high 🤣 Boston '25 here we come!

Kellygirl

Really enjoyed your report S! What a brilliant race! I suppose it wouldn’t be a marathon without it suddenly getting hard at some point and you having to battle with yourself. You describe it really well. It sounds like a brilliant trip.

chabsey

Great race report, feel like I missed out not meeting up with you guys over there as it sounds like you had a blast. The moments before the start of the marathon are something really special I find, which is weird cause it's just a bunch of people getting together to go for a long run but it makes all the months of training worth while.

MisterJinx

great report S and a super run marathon, well done, what a time and what a come back

Wottle

Super read and performance.

The timing of these reports are perfect, marathon motivation for anyone toeing the line at Dublin.

diego_b

That is a cracking race report and excellent run. Very well done to you and as someone hoping to complete their first marathon since 2019 in a few weeks from now very inspired by it.

ariana`

The need to get a marathon done became more clear in my head after my HM in Den Haag in March. Somebody (I think it was ariana) said that I was "back". I didn't feel it and quickly realised that the reason was that I wasn't back to the very thing that got me onto Boards in 2017, namely running a marathon. This was something that needed fixing.

I can't quite remember your response but I recall thinking I'd somehow advertently insulated you 😕 however I didn't lose too much sleep over it with you being, to quote yourself, rather prickly  😉

It's interesting reading your report. I was tracking the 3 of you, and on the tracker it was the perfect race, so much so that you forget there is a runner behind the splits which were popping up with amazing regularity! So interesting to read about the reality of it - the reminder that those kinds of races and perfect splits don't happen by accident and not without a good amount of pain and toughing it out when the going gets tough. Fair play S. I've been a huge fan since our novice days anyhow, and you keep adding on reasons to be inspired by you, well done 😊

Annie get your Run

Congrats again. That's a great report and a well deserved result. Your opening remarks stuck me though. It took me a few years to come to the realisation that marathons are not for everyone and more importantly - that is okay. You can still be a runner without doing them and I think this place is more than just a marathon runners forum, or certainly it used to be (and if it's not anymore then it should be again). It's a fantastic result for you and more so given the pressure you put on yourself to complete it.

skyblue46

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121259248#Comment_121259248

Touché! 🤣

Thanks so much for your kind words. No, I wasn't insulted at all. It was just me feeling that just as one swallow doesn't a summer make neither did one race a comeback make 🙂

skyblue46

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121259608#Comment_121259608

I get your point. I suppose it's just those that I know best from here, that I have met and run with have all been running marathons over the past few years and I was the odd one out.

skyblue46

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121256091#Comment_121256091

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121256109#Comment_121256109

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121256593#Comment_121256593

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121259081#Comment_121259081

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121257954#Comment_121257954

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121257922#Comment_121257922

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121257845#Comment_121257845

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121257152#Comment_121257152

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121257020#Comment_121257020

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121256801#Comment_121256801

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121256793#Comment_121256793

Thanks very much everyone. It's really appreciated.

The only downside is I still can't get near @Murph_D on the Age Grade result!! 🤣

Comic Book Guy

Top class stuff S. Great to see you reap the rewards from your patience in coming back from injury and the consistency and quality of your training this year.

scotindublin

Brilliant stuff Sean, an expertly executed race. Delighted for you after the last few year, guess who's back Sean is back 😀. Class

Murph_D

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121260646#Comment_121260646

Matter of time, literally. 😁

mister paul

Curious to know which data field you were using on your watch?

skyblue46

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121283185#Comment_121283185

It's called Race Screen. Download it from Connect IQ. You can set a distance and target time. It resets to the nearest mile when you hit the lap button.