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Berlin Marathon 2023 (24 September)
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05-04-2023 10:30am#1
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Okay here goes. This report is pretty long so apologies in advance. I only do this once a year so it tends to be a bit epic.
Berlin was on the cards from the moment I knew I had the qualifying standard from Amsterdam last year. I'm not really bothered about the marathon majors, even Boston has never appealed, but Berlin had always attracted me, probably because I love the city and have been a fairly frequent visitor over the years (albeit for marathon sessions of a different nature!).
The Hanson Advanced plan had worked so well for me last year that it made sense to give it another go. I did a good bit of racing over the winter and then spent a couple of months base building, for the first time ever really. I had been averaging 45mpw over the previous year and I built up gradually to 60mpw by the end of March. I wanted to be able to start the marathon plan while comfortable at this mileage level as I was planning on adding extra miles this time around. During April and May I backed off on the mileage a little and did a few races while doing weekly speedwork with the club. I ran PBs for the mile, 5k and 10k during this period and I used these times to estimate my goal marathon pace for Berlin.
By early June it was time to get into marathon mode and park the shorter stuff for a few months. I again enjoyed the structure of the Hanson plan despite it occasionally feeling a bit stale second time around. This had it's advantages too as I knew what to expect from the sessions and what sort of effort was sustainable etc. I was targeting 6 minute mile pace in the weekly marathon pace tempo sessions, more or less 2:38 pace, and while I seldom hit that pace exactly I was usually within 5-10 seconds of it, so close enough. I'm lucky enough to train with a great masters group in our club so I generally did my Tuesday interval session with them. We did lots of pyramid sessions, mile intervals and alternations, good marathon prep and nice to have some company once a week. I swapped in a couple of races, the Clonee 10k early in the plan (just under 35 mins on a really humid night) and the Tullamore Half four weeks out (75 flat). The latter race gave me a huge confidence boost and demonstrated that the fitness was there.
I've been fortunate to avoid injury throughout the last few years, despite doing no supplementary work worth speaking of, and I don't think I missed any sessions in this block right up until the taper started. I'd been out for a nice run in the Phoenix Park with @Laineyfrecks and @Lazare when towards the end I felt something in the inner calf, just above the ankle. It continued to be sore for the next couple of days and Dr Google suggested it was posterior tibialis tendinitis which sounded quite ominous. I took the week off which meant missing the final two big sessions of the plan and had a very painful session with my physio. I managed a short run pain free the following weekend and a handful more easy runs during race week but there was still 'something' there and the fear of a DNF played on my mind right through to race morning.
I flew into Berlin Saturday morning and went straight to the expo, which was painfully crowded. Got out of there asap and checked into my hotel, a basic but nicely located place next to the Tiergarten SBahn. I jogged down to the start/finish area to get my bearings and caught some of the inline skaters doing their thing. Later that evening as I walked the ten mins to a local restaurant for my second pasta dish of the day I could feel pain in that inner calf area with every step, not the most promising sign.
I watched the rugby later that night, a perfect distraction, and had a great sleep all things considered. I set the alarm for six the following morning and had my usual breakfast of porridge and a bagel, a couple of coffees and then back up to the room to get ready. I had everything nicely laid out: gels, electrolytes, pre race banana, clothes for afterwards, Runglide etc. and I had ample time to double check everything. Despite all that I still somehow managed to apply Runglide twice in various nooks and crannies while both times forgetting the nipples. Talk about a rookie error!
I walked the 3k to the start area, in hindsight I probably would have taken the train a stop or two, as it was a bit further than I'd estimated to the actual entrance and I felt slightly under time pressure in the end. Once inside, it took me a while to find the correct bag drop area for my race number. It turned out there were two separate areas about ten minutes apart from each other. I probably should have studied the map more closely. That done I made my way through the forest towards the ABC starting pens. This turned out to be absolute chaos with hundreds of runners milling about in the vicinity of a row of portaloos and the path seemingly blocked up ahead. It eventually became clear that the pens hadn't been opened yet as they were being used for the start of the wheelchair race. When they finally opened the gate it was madness with people climbing over barriers and shoving past the stewards. More reminiscent of something you'd see at a summer music festival back home than stereotypical German efficiency!
Once finally in the pen I was finally able to relax and enjoy the buildup which was incredibly well designed and really sent shivers down the spine at times. Once we took off it was a surprise to find myself at race pace immediately and not having to weave around people who had overestimated their ability, the benefit of an advanced start position I suppose. I encountered the paint thrown by the climate protestors and was able to pick my way through it without issue. From that point on things just flowed and I settled into a nice rhythm. My main concern was that I was going a bit too fast with the watch suggesting an average of closer to 3:40 than 3:45 and I spent much of the first half of the race fretting about this and trying to hold back.
I remember very little in terms of landmarks, just lots of wide streets, the occasional roundabout and plenty of cheering supporters, bands and djs. It was a riot of sound. I was lapping manually every 5k and checking my splits off a pace band. Between checking these splits, taking gels every 9k and negotiating the water stations time passed fairly quickly. I was very focused on following the blue racing line and managed to do this throughout the race. I ended up running 42.61km so only 400 meters of extra distance which is pretty good I think.
It was around the halfway part that things began to feel tough. I'd gone from worrying that I was running too fast to having to make a conscious effort to stay on pace. I was also having periods of feeling like crap and having the occasional dark thought that it mightn't be my day. Generally these only lasted for a few minutes and were dispelled by some distraction or other and I'd feel okay again for a bit. Then I got that tell-tale jag of pain in the toe area. I've had it before and it's a sign that a toenail is on borrowed time. This was the worst I've experienced though as it hit both feet more or less simultaneously. It was fairly agonizing for a while and I'd probably not have finished if it hadn't eased significantly as the damaged areas numbed over.
The later miles are pretty much a blur, just a constant slog of working harder and harder to stay with the pace while hoping that the body would stay (more or less) in one piece to get me within sight of the Brandenburg Gate. I did slow down slightly over this last section but only by a few seconds per kilometer. I had vague ambitions of upping the pace in the last kilometer or two but by the time that came around I was quite happy to just keep ticking along in the knowledge that the 2:38 was safely in the bag. The finish section is just incredible and I was actually able to focus on it and enjoy the moment, raise my hands and finish with a smile on my face. It had been bloody tough but by the end I knew that it had also been a really well paced effort and I felt incredibly grateful to have gotten through it relatively unscathed, particularly in light of the injury concerns of the past fortnight.
I stumbled around in a haze of emotions for the next hour or so as I enjoyed the free Erdinger Alkoholfrei and the sunshine. Finally I built up the courage to survey the damage to the nipples (I’ve seen worse) and the toes (horror show). I changed into dry clothes and made my way to the fanzone area by the Brandenburg Gate. I had a couple of real beers here and a pretzel and took a proper opportunity to enjoy the atmosphere. Afterwards I shuffled to the Friedrichstrasse station and got a train back to near my hotel. Several more beers followed in a gorgeous old beer hall by the station along with a delicious currywurst and I finally made it back to base around 5pm. Later that evening I had pizza in a beer garden and I even made it to a show (seated, thankfully) to catch a producer that I love playing a dreamy ambient set, a fine way to end a memorable day.
A few reflections:
- Hansons Advanced is the real deal. It’s twice taken me to within 30 secs of my goal time. It would be hard to justify switching approaches next time around.
- Berlin impressed me but I wouldn't really consider it any faster than Amsterdam or all that much better in terms of atmosphere. I was surprised that the road surface was sketchy enough in places. I guess the biggest difference I noticed from Amsterdam last year was the standard of runner. I ran much of the second half of Amsterdam in relative isolation. That never happened in Berlin and it's of course much easier to sustain a pace when you have people around you to pace off or chase down.
- I need to do something about the toenail issue. It had happened to me before but never to this extent. I think the problem is that my Alphaflys are slightly too big and because they don't have the extra eyelet for the runner's knot I wasn't properly locked down and the foot was sliding forward with every stride. I had raced in them before up to half-marathon distance without issue so it wasn't really something I could have predicted.
-Nutrition was perfect. I switched from Maurten to SIS Beta Fuel this year, for cost reasons. I took a Beta Fuel every 9k with the exception of km27 where I swapped in a GU Roctane gel for a hit of caffeine. Once again I carried a 250ml soft flask of Decathlon isotonic drink to let me avoid the early water stations and to get in some additional carbs early in the race.
- This was my third marathon and by a large margin the one where I felt the least amount of pressure and anxiety. First time around in Dublin I was obsessed with going sub 3 while last year in Amsterdam I was chasing sub 2:45 to get the Berlin time. This time there was no obvious landmark goal involved, just a pace that seemed achievable based off recent race times. Despite the lack of that overarching goal, my motivation was as high as ever. I think at this stage I just really enjoy marathon training as a process and that in itself is enough to keep me coming back. If I can keep improving and stay healthy I'll probably have a go at sub 2:35 this time next year.
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