Ironman Hamburg: ‘nough said…
Grandiose! I am now an Ironman!!!!
11hours 23 minutes and 57 seconds.
After 3800m swim (1:15), 185km bike (6:20) and 42.2km run (3:30).
Temperatures: 18°C at the swim start, 21°C at the bike start and 29°C at the run start…
Happy to get faster than planned on the swim, fastest EVER on such long distance on the bike and definitely proud to get the best marathon time of my age group, 9th best time gender and 110th overall… (even though it was the second slowest marathon I’ve ever run…).
Need some sleep. Need to get back home. Need to write down all what happened today.
Race Report – Göteborg Marathon – 2017/10/14
VSM Marathon 2017/10/14
Planned: training-race. Easy long run. Go for the medal and no bother on the time.
Actual: 3:14:22 – 4th women, 2nd age category in Swedish Championships Masters Marathon (silver medal), 1st or 2nd in District Championships (unsure – tbc). Quite ok for the place and nailing the podium. But time-wise… no comment…
Two-loops route, used usually for training. Windy, not very much but enough to be annoying throughout. Went for the place, definitely not for the time. OK ending 😛
Race Results:
place (M/W) 4
place (age) 2 (Silver medal 🙂 )
Total 49 all runners
Age/grade: 73.84% (2017 Hamburg 74.08 / Tokyo 78.07 / 2016 Amsterdam 79.9 / Ferrara 78.2 / Dubai 73.83 / 2015 NYC 75.93 / 2015 WMAC 74,99 / 2014 Chicago 75.97 / Stockholm 76.76 / Rotterdam 78.43 / Dubai 77.74 / 2013 Berlin 75.74/Stockholm:73.1/Boston:72.19/Dubai: 72.35/2012 Berlin:68.29/SF:65.66/London:66.47/Dubai:66.6)
time total (gun) 03:14:22
time total (brutto) 03:14:22
average pace: 4:36min/km… distance-pace…no comment!
Garmin non-official splits:
| Split | Time | Time (split) |
Pace (min/km) | km/h |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 km |
00:21:01 |
21:01 |
04:12 |
ok |
| 10 km |
00:43:12 |
21:11 |
04:14 |
Still ok |
| 15 km |
01:05:51 |
22:38 |
04:32 |
slow-comfortable |
| 20 km |
01:28:40 |
22:49 |
04:34 |
slow |
| Half (21.1km) |
01:33:xx? |
|||
| 25 km |
01:51:43 |
23:04 |
04:37 |
What is happening? |
| 30 km |
02:15:01 |
23:18 |
04:40 |
Euuuuhhh…distance workout? |
| 35 km |
02:38:08 |
23:06 |
04:37 |
Morning run pace… |
| 40 km |
03:03:14 |
25:06(!!!) |
05:01(!!!) |
Euuuuhhhh….what?!?!? |
| 42.2km |
03:14:22 |
11:08… |
05:04… |
Seriously???… |
********************
M Day-8-to-5
Trip to Bucharest. The marathon planned for October 8 was postponed one week later due to another event this same weekend. Could unfortunately not change travel plan for the race. Hence getting there, training 2 days under heavy rain, no visit, alone, bad sleep and then back home on the Monday. Finally marathon-week…
M Day -4
Last session. Rehearsal with race outfit for 5K at expected marathon-pace and 3*4min slightly faster. The marathon pace part went fine but heavy at the end. Did not really want to push much, trained on the race route to get even more miles there. The minutes-intervals went… ok. Too fast pace for the first one, but with a comfortable effort, MP for the second one (including a hill up), and slightly above MP-effort for the last one. Nothing boosting the confidence. But settling in the objective being “make it to the podium and don’t bother the time”. As Micke said “if the elites can jog during championships, why can’t we amateurs do the same?” 🙂 Rehearsal outfit definitely convinced me to skip the singlet and go for as little clothes as possible. The wind might be an issue, but once again, there had been enough training in windy conditions to feel enough-prepared. Run done in the evening after work… The choice was easy: waking up at 5-ish and seeing a “2ºC” on the weather-channel made me keep the head on the pillow and move the workout to the evening. Better weather conditions in the evening, but felt tired after workday… Cannot have it all! Massage in the evening after completing the workout. Evening with friend. Relaxed but feeling a bit sluggish with this no-carb day. What should one do really to get herself in the mood for running???…
M Day-3
Way-too-early up this day… Felt that I had barely slept (which I probably did). Drag myself out despite the drizzle and light cold, as this was the only chance I had during the day to get this workout done. Yeaaaahhh… I know… Marathon week… one workout less is always better than one too many…. But for sure this morning felt like a bad option. Have never had before the thought of “why on earth am I doing out there when I could still be in my bed”… Well, ok. Had probably this thought before, but not that hard feeling of “this is actually a bad choice to be out there”. Felt fine after a hot shower though. Long day at work. And tired in the evening…. Positive of the day? CARBOLOADING started!!! F.i.n.a.l.l.y!!!
M Day-2
Rest day… Nothing really fun, but after the too-early start the day before, a sleep-in until 6:30am, felt like luxury! Working as usual. Meetings back-to-back were probably not the smartest for race preparation, but once again, with the objective for this race that felt almost “ok” with lack of preparation. This is as well what happens when running on home routes. The excitement related to the race never reach the level of a race somewhere requiring travel… Ate a 2 portions-spaghetti bolognese at home, drank 2 bottles of sport-drink… Felt so high on sugar during all day that headaches came to visit about half way through the afternoon… Wonderful preparation… The heavy rains of the night and day as well as the storm-like winds of this day made me questioned (once…) why on earth I had signed up for this particular race… Nothing as stubborn as a long-distance runner…
M Day-1
Definitely feeling the need to run when waking up on this Friday. Too early still, windy only, jumped into shorts and tshirt and took an easy and short leg shaking. Felt good enough. Would have gladly run longer and faster, but that was not the day. Work all day and then the evening came. Carbo-loading working well (maybe still too high on sugar…). Prepared my bottles for the race, with flags and nice cheering words on them. Sport-drink chosen was the Maurten, which I have tested during summer. Felt fine and was thinking, why not? Had planned last food intake around 2-3pm, but finally took a bagel later in the evening. Felt far from “I am going to race tomorrow”, but would do the best of the situation…
M DAY!!!!
At last!!!! Race days have this little something special, which has to be experienced to understand…
Before the race
07:00am – Awaken since a while, but decided to remain in bed as long as possible. Up for breakfast (chia seeds, green mix, Gatorade (2dl) and Maurten sport drink, orange juice, a bagel with honey). And back to bed…
7:30am – Drinking every 30minutes as it should be. Heading to the shower for the longest and warmest shower ever taken before a marathon. Stop the drinking @8:30am. Testing this bladder again… Felt as ready as one can be. Body cream, fixing the hair, warming gel on the legs and anti-chaffing cream on the top (thighs, under HR band, lower back and armpit). Racing gear on (ADIDAS Shorts Response black, Casall sports bra MIK, ADIDAS MIK singlet (to be removed in case it would be too warm), black arm sleeves, Compressport calve sleeves and ADIDAS Adizero Adios Boost Purple (Swifty)). Sunglasses on the top of the head before leaving. The skies were looking grey-ish and not really fun, felt windy but at least it was not a combo of heavy rain-stormy wind-and-cold temperatures… Mp3 ready with Icarus song added the day before… Just in case… 2 gels in my back pocket just in case the bottles would not work.
Finished to fill-in my race bottles, throw a bit of everything in my sport bag, long easy pants and MIK jacket on before leaving. Now it was time. Felt more like a Sunday run out there…
8:48am – Cannot wait any longer. Closing the door and heading towards the tram. Still thinking that taking the tram is the laziest thing to do today, as getting to the start would probably take 15minutes with real easy jogging… Anyway…
9:15am – Getting to Friidrottens Hus to pickup my BIB. As this is the Swedish championships masters for marathon, the ones participating to it will also have an age-tag in the back. Smiling when the gal giving me my BIB is also taking a K35-tag 😛 Nope. Liiiittle older this time 🙂 Meeting with Stefan vdB, getting a pen to write my name on the BIB. Chat with Anette K who ran in Wroclaw (where I could not 😦 ) but today is not feeling on the top of her form. Dropping my bottles. Very professional arranged! A box for each water station. My bottles are nicely marked already and get a little place in each box. Heading to the locker rooms. Can borrow a lock and hop! I can leave my stuff inside instead of outside 🙂 Not fully feeling that a race is going to be started soon. But ok. Visit to the loo. Then more anti-chaffing cream. Anette sets my age-tag on the back of my sports bra. And I am ready. And there is still so much time to wait…
10:15am – Off with the easy pants and jacket. Keeping my MIK tshirt and out for an attempt to warmup. Meeting right away Mikael from Lerum and plan to just follow him and his expected MP 4:20/30. Then I see the best-and-only Robban. 🙂 Enough time for a hug and then getting my music in the ears and of course it starts… raining… Yeaaaah… Not much, light drizzle, but enough. 2Km jog on the race route and that’s enough. Back to the locker room. Getting to the loo one more time… trying to set my head into race-mode. Meeting Karin S, who plans to cruise to the finish line at 4:20-pace, which is as well suiting me well.
10:45am – Out again. Meeting MIK-Gunnar and taking off my MIK tshirt so he was kind enough to keep it during the race. Trying to find the other K40-gal who I need to keep an eye on. Nowhere to be found 😦
10:51am – In the corral… No gal in the front though… Only tall and fast guys. Fun to be there anyway 🙂 Meeting Staffan S, who looks good to go!
10:57am – Checking once again my shoe laces. Noticing a gal on my left and here she is 🙂
10:58am-ish – Ooooook! Now we should really start to run… Because I am soooo ready… Or not at all… a bit unsure actually… Hearing a final “good luck” from Staffan. Got a smile from Tricky on his way into the corral a little behind…. When are they going to drop this ribbon in front of us?!?!?…
THE RACE
First half
11:00am – BAAAAM! Cannot really get that this is a real start. Feeling my legs moving, my feet starting to get to a running rhythm, seeing the fastandcrazy guys moving forward. The start is in the stadium, and we have 300m-ish on the track before we leave the arena. The K40-gal is right behind me at the exit. Hearing a cheering on my name right after leaving. And the focus is just falling into the full body. The music set to “May-2012” should bring me to km28-29, before I need more music-kicks 🙂 Gravel, not liking it, then light up on the asphalt and then down. And we are already on the cycle path. Wet there. Light wind, but there are people around me, so it is ok. Passing the first km in 4:07. All fine. Does not feel fast, had drunk a couple of glups from my Gatorade red and dropped the bottle halfway. So it feels nice to run. Getting up the little slope and then it feels like a Sunday run. With way more people than usual. Had been passed by Karin S right after km1 and by Martina H (K40-gal). But does not matter. There are 42.2km on this race and now I know that everything can happened during this time on the road, especially during the second half and final 10km… Passed by Mikael T and it looks good, but a bit fast for me. So I keep my own pace. By mid-way to the first water-station, seeing the best smile in the world from Gabriel 🙂 Not really possible to talk at this moment, but we promise each other to meet at the end of the race for catching up 🙂 Cool! Best way to meet people I know is to get into a race!!! Have no clue about my pace, quick check when grabbing my first bottle @km4 indicate 4:13, which is what I wanted. Especially because soon after is coming the dreadful slope of Järnbrottsmotet (Yeas, I hate it during training and even more now I am running it during a race….). Taking it slower than I should on the way up, but once again, the objective of the day is not to let gals passing me and make it to the podium. Kept my bottle in the hand until I get to km5-ish. It felt that drinking at km4 would be too early in the race. This also meant I would run a km with a slope up, with my bottle in the hand. Concessions have to be made sometimes… Having had Johanna J from Solvikingarna right before me since the km2 stretch onwards, and I know she can beat me on the half marathon. Not much but enough. So I decided to keep close to her as much as I can and as long as I can. Getting the next km under the feet feels nothing like being in a race. Feeling focused, thanks to the gal ahead of me, but I know I could run faster, but I just don’t do it. Why?!?!? Passing my “8km-mark-from-home” which is “5.5ish km for the race”. I just know this road so well. And here I see coach Ulf F, smiling and cheering on the side 🙂 I am alone at this time, Johanna J has drifted a bit further, but I feel fine. Music in the ears, cheering from the volunteers on the side waving and telling me I am fourth women. Yiiiihoooo! And it just continue. Running this Sunday-long-run on a Saturday with hundreds of other crazy runners. The weather is nice, if it wasn’t for the wind. Passing Askimsbadet and getting to the km-stretch where the wind is always so vicious. Thinking of last week run, when I trained there and saw Sara H and Yannick T. Feeling fine. Reaching km8 and swearing a bit as my “km8-bottle” is laying down on the table. Tricky to pick it, throwing the flag and running along. More cheering and smiling at the water-station helpers. Getting to the annoying wind-sensitive-along-the-sear part. This one is short (400m?) but can be SOOOOO scary when the wind is over 30km/h from the sea… which is not the case today though. A car is passing by my side and its stupid driver is actually…accelerating! On this route where people are running obviously! A very nice guy cheering on the side gets very angry at him and shout to slow down. So he gets a smile from me and a big thanks! This drinking in little bottles is not working well. Not the sport-drink itself, but those small bottles have only a regular cork, which means that I cannot open, drink and leave it opened without getting sport-drink on my hands… Sticky hands since km5-ish and it just gets worse now. Run run run… feels like bla bla bla… Still seeing Johanna not too far… had had another gal in red-ish singlet close-by but after passing me she stopped to take off here extra long sleeves… What was it I say?…. So many found it strange (read “probably crazy”?) when I got to the starting line in sports bra and shorts, but at least I knew how it would be during the race. Around km9, got passed by a gal in blue singlet. No age-tag in the back. Meaning she is not in the Swedish championships. But this also means I am dropping from my 4th place 😦 And soon after, the red-ish singlet gal is passing me. Looking good, until I spot her “K40” on the back…. Noooooo! Not another one! Still on the way to the turning point, so the placing ain’t to be deemed to remain as it is… Seeing the first crazyfast marathoners coming from the other direction. Good. This means not too long before the turn. Meeting Henrik S-MIK from our club relay-team. I thought I would meet him later, which means I am a bit slower than I thought I would be. Still no idea of the pace. I am running comfortably and yes, probably too comfortably…. Seeing Marina H, cheering for her, seeing Karin S, getting a smile. And soon it is the turning point. Confirming that I am at the 6th place total and 3rd for my age category in the Championships. No gal close to me though after the turning. Good 😛 One stretch done, 3 to go! OMG, what I don’t like to run on this stretch. I would rather run a long 21km-stretch along the sea-side and then turn back. Like during training. I feel that I’m gonna die of boredom by running 4 times this same stretch… Running back “home” is just going fine. Slower, but ok. I am alone. No one really to hang with. Had quickly dropped my hands into a water puddle around km11-ish. Was so annoyed with my sticky hands… Meeting Tricky not far from me after the turning point. And then seeing Lars and Björn Suneson. Reaching my 13km-bottle and at the same time seeing the bike preceding the crazyfast half-marathon runners…. Well, the first one was just crazy fast. Stormy-Olle. Wow!… So my plan to ensure that I would reach halfway of my race before the fast halfmarathoners are reaching me felt a bit tougher than thought. For sure they started 30 minutes after us, but still… Seeing Sweco Loco runner and then Christopher-MIK. Searching for Patrik B, but not seeing him in the crazyfast batch and definitely not expecting him in the fast batch. Stopping to look after a while. Just smiling along. Giving a few cheers. Seeing the crazy fast Annelie J surrounded by guys. Not far behind Anna H-MIK… OK. Focus on your race now. More cheering from the volunteers. Drifting a bit and the pace I reached feels almost embarrassing for a race… Trying to get a bit up the speed on the way down. Had been drinking @km15, and indeed I confirm to myself that running with a bottle in the hand is NOT something I like and definitely NOT something I am good at. But I have fun in the running down after km15…. before reaching the little tunnel and the slope towards Järnbrottsmotet. I decided to actually take 5 walking steps and then run. This allows me to catch up with the runners who did run all the way up. From now on, the race-feeling is almost gone. Down the slope and getting my km18-bottle. A bit of a kick when drinking it. I really HATE this stretch of 3km forward: it goes slightly up and I never can get up to speed during training. Well… that is not fully true. I CAN get up to speed, but the feeling is almost always that I am slow like a snail….or an elephant with three legs…or a combo of both… And it does not miss this time neither. Remember last year race when I was there and just cheering. Thanking very much all the people who are on the side and cheering. Have now caught up with Johanna J and I am pretty determined to pass the half-way right before here. Question of (stupid) principle. She is running well, but can see that her steps are a bit slower. Still looking comfortable though. Passing her before km20 and the downhill. When I have the feeling that I am pressing a bit more. Probably I am not even accelerating, but at least the head is in a good place and the mood is fine. I can see the stadium. I just wish it would be for the last time today. Down the slope, up the little one. Meeting the fast marathoners has been for a short while already. Too warm with my arm sleeves, I have taken them off and on the way up the slope I see Stefan vdB and throw them to him. He will put them on the table he said. Martina H is met when my watch indicate 1:31:xx… and I am still outside the stadium…, Karin S, seeing a smiling Gabriel and that is all I needed. Accelerating on the gravel, passing the grinds, hearing the cheering Robban who receives a waving from me and final 100m stretch…. Yiiiihoooo! No idea what snail-pace I have but at least I am 5th on the half-way line! Two stretches done, two to go!
Second half
Grabbing my 21.1km-bottle, tearing off the gel from it and getting myself ready. Hearing Robban’s voice at the end of the stadium aaaaaand I’m on my own again. In with the gel…. Yummy! Water to top it. Throwing the bottle before heading down to the little slope. OMG this feels good! I am running like a lazy snail on a Sunday outing and still feeling fine! Wonderful smile and hands clapping on the way down and then the little up. Passing km22, and the slope up and I feel wonderful. 🙂 Seeing Gabriel coming from the other direction… The brain is so crazy slow to note this and thinks that I have reached the turning point… ALREADY?!?!? Lovely smile I receive and a “too much wind, I stop”-like. Try to get him to follow me, as at the pace I am having, it won’t hurt him a bit 😛 But he answers he will head back to the stadium…. Feeling a bit sad for not seeing him later on on the route, but there are more km to cover. Focus again. Wind is there. From km23 I just cheer on each and every runner who is coming from the other direction… Tell me about this focus again??? I take time to read (almost) all the names on the BIBs, if too tricky they get a “come on guys” or “Go girls”. And just for the smiles they gave back, I think it is worth ruining my pace and my final time for this race. As long as I don’t fall from the podium… Getting to km25 and my bottle. Taking it right away. I can feel that the gel has been giving some extra energy. Loooooooving it…. and here comes the slope of Järnbrottsmotet again… I take two walking steps. OMG I am SOOOOO LAZY! And alone… And down the slope and I continue my cheering. It might look like I am doing a separate race. Really. And towards the long stretch to km27-28-29… Why am I just running on my own?!?!? There I recognize the runner ahead. Mikael T. Looking like there is a bit of trouble in the running kingdom… Trying to have him to follow. Getting a smile back, but it looks very much in pain. But still fighting. So I continue on my own. Right after Askimsbadet and the “km14-mark-in-the-other-direction” here he comes!!! The fastest guy on the marathon race. Look actually crazy fast to me and he does not even looking like he is running a marathon, but a 5km tempo. REALLY cool! Almost as cool as meeting the winner @km30 of Rotterdam when he was passing his km40 🙂 Back to my race. Long stretch with the side wind from the sea. Had been cheering on IronMan-Mattias since km27.5. Being right before and hoping he will get before me for helping a bit at some points. Reaching the water-station km29…and MISSING MY BOTTLE!!!! So I actually stop and take a few steps back. Ironman-Mattias is passing me. OMG I am not happy with this. Throwing the little flag and waiting to have reached km30 before drinking. Gel and water. But the euphoria from passing the mid-point has passed now. I want it to stop. I want a gel. Another one. Something to sharpen my focus. Increase my motivation towards faster pace. I want to get a push from someone. I see a guy with a green singlet and I remember he was following pretty close the gal in blue singlet during the second stretch. OK. Let’s get close to him. Let’s pass him. And…. aaaaahhhh! I don’t like this… He is actually slightly accelerating after I passed him and putting himself so extremely close behind me, feels like I can hear his breathing despite my music in the ears. I tell him to pass me, but he says he is fine there. Yeaaaaah! For you! Not for me!!! So I try to run a bit in zigzag, trying to accelerate a little. I don’t want to slow down as I can feel that I must have reached a distance-pace already… Seeing the two first ladies in the other direction. Trying to calculate the number of minutes ahead they have, but my brain feels like mashed potatoes and calculation are NOT working in this head of mine. I push a little more. I see the turning point. Jon-MIK is here and has finished his stretch for the relay and cheers loudly 🙂 I want it to be finished there. WHY didn’t I register for the relay-team? For stretch 1, 2, 3 and 4? Only a long and stupid 10.6km left… Seeing Mikael T after the turning point. And he has been moving along. Yeaaaaah! Meeting Tricky who kindly throwing me a “looking still strong!”. And then Lars and Björn and plenty of other who have been cheered after I left the stadium. Just loving the gals showing “thumbs up” or “go girl, you rock”. Adoring the guys smiling larger than life and all this is just making me not running faster but making me happier. I am at the fourth place I think. I have seen the two first and then the blue singlet Therese. But could not see the red singlet K40-chick. Knowing I haven’t passed her, this means that either I missed her before the turning point or she has dropped off the race. FOOOOOOOOCUS! I want to stop. I am not tired, but soooooo bored to run here… Getting to km34 and almost last bottle. Cannot feel that I need MORE energy, but different energy. Gosh I haaaaaate this stretch. I hated it the first time and I hate it DOUBLE this second time… Even though it means I am closed to the end. Passing Askimsbadet and from there it takes a LOOOOOOT to get me keeping a tempo which is NOT a slow-comfortable-distance pace. Have stopped looking at my watch since a while. Have no reference for my possible finish time. Looking behind me: no chick. Looking before me: no chick. So that is pretty simple choice: just move this left foot in front of this right foot and get to the end. No chick will pass you during those last 5km. Reaching the stupid Järbrottsmotet slope, I decide I am in training and walk up a short bit. Then run up and then walk and run up. This allows me to actually pass a couple of guys. And then down and then to the final water-station. Km38 and my final bottle. Had taken out my liquid gel from my back pocket. There, it has been feeling a bit scratchy since a while and I really don’t want to think about the reason for this scratching feeling… Running with the gel in one hand. Water on the hair. Had listened to Icarus since right after the turning point… Cutting these final 10.6km into buckets of 8+minutes. It does not work well as I have no idea how fast/slow I run. But this gives a boost every time I start the music again. Taking the gel. Feeling a bit of a boost, but nothing compared to my red gel. Missing it today. There is not much left. Passing a guy from Lerum. Cheering. Another guy with a black singlet. Cheering. When there are 3km left or so, I am dead bored. This is not a race. I am actually alone here and I can see two guys a bit ahead and 2 a bit behind. WHERE ARE ALL THE OTHERS?!?!? So I walk. For 20m or so… and then press the pace for a while until almost the end of the km. And then walking again for 10m or so and then pressing again the pace… OMG… I feel like I am running a bad intervals-workout… And indeed a guys passing me, looking pretty tired asks what I am doing, that I cannot run intervals at the end of a marathon and looking still fit. Reaching the final 1.5km. I see the stadium. Seeing the first gal in the stadium. Getting some cheering from here 🙂 And I accelerate in the downhill. And then this stupid little up… AGAIN… Walking a few steps… Cheering from the volunteer in the corner. Passing the guy in blue singlet, headwind there and yes I still hate it. But now it is the end. Down and gravel and in the stadium. Finally. Less than 100m. Indecently accelerating. Hearing my name. Seeing the poor time I will record on this finish line. Doesn’t matter. Time was not the point today. But it is still always is a little, right?. Finish line. And that’s it. Finished.
Official time received later: 3:14.22…
*************
After the finish line
Walking a bit. Receiving my medal. Seeing Staffan S and getting a sweaty hug. Walking a bit around. Disappointed for the time, even though it was not the aim for today. This could have been run outside a race on a Sunday morning. Drinking some sport-drink (beurk!) and coke (yummy). Not able to eat on the food proposed unfortunately (butter, cinnamon… nothing for me). And that’s it. Walking a bit around. Getting my stuff in the locker-room, and outside again. Congratulating Tricky and then Mikael T. Should I even wait for the podium? After this rubbish run/time? Meeting with the MIK-relay guys, who won their category without too many effort. While waiting, getting off my race outfit and seeing a very bad burn mark on the left hip, from the chaffing of the gels I had in the back pocket… Wonderful… I definitely won’t take a shower here at the stadium and will wait for home. Getting into dry clothes and other shoes. After a while it is time for podium. Getting a nice 2nd place and silver. Waiting more to see the podium with the guys relay. And then time to get back home.
Rubbish race-time. Just have to get over with it. At least the body is aching like after a long run. And hopefully it will be well tomorrow… Walking the 3km back home. Cleaning carefully the burn marks on the hip, the lower back and due to the HR band and then rest with legs up for a while. Walk in the afternoon and “celebrating” with a burger and fries. Looking at my medal back at home… OK, I’m happy 🙂 Good to have done this race before the undetermined rest starting on Monday. No more race planned for 2017… but a good 2018-race plan under discussion 😛
**********
Weather: 12.2°C, cloudy, Feels like 12.2°C, 21 kph W wind, 100% humidity. Probably good temperature for running, but this wind… this wind…
Food:
> before: chia porridge with green mix and gatorade, orange juice , bagel with honey, Maurten sportdrink (5dl?) (7:am) Little bottle of red juice 2 hours before
> right after: 2 glass of sportdrink + 2 glasses of coke.
> 3.5 hours after: burger, French fries, Coke.
> During: gatorade red right after start, Maurten sport drink 160 @km5-15-25, 320 @km10-35, Aptonia gel (salted butter/caramel) @km29. Powergel apple @km21.1. Coffeine Powergel at km39. Sportenine @start & hour 1 & 2.
Gear: ADIDAS Shorts Response black, Casall sports bra MIK, ADIDAS MIK singlet (to be removed in case it would be too warm), black arm sleeves, Compressport calve sleeves and ADIDAS Adizero Adios Boost Purple (Swifty). Sunglasses. Shoes very good for the job.
> extra clothes dropped before start: MIK tshirt
=> Perfect outfit? Absolutely! Had decided that only snow or real cold temperatures would make me run in singlet. The wind was not cold to make the stomach hurt, which was good. The shorts were working fine, but…OMG! Why on Earth is that inside pocket not working for having a gel and not creating chaffing?!?! This is not the first time I have those shorts and not the first time I have gels there. And this HR-band… what is WRONG with it?!?! Probably to skip the HR-band for the next race or have another one. For the gels… still searching…
15/ A pity I did not press a little more. Was in better shape than before Hamburg (I think), but this wind… Had a similar boring-slow pace as in Hamburg, but during the last 10K this just went from bad to worse… Not because it was painful or I was tired, but pure boredom and impossible to re-focus into a “race mode”. But that’s ok. I was expecting this would happen on this particular race and route…
********************
SUMMARY: Once again, the results got well-aligned with the expectations. Nothing more really. Just getting out there and running. Weather was as expected as well (windy) and the route… well… the same as during training… So the conclusions are very simple: Yes it is possible to run a Sunday long run on a Saturday and as long as a marathon, and still feeling fine the day after. Yes it was quite disappointing to get this rubbish time even though it was in the plan. Yes I am not fully happy. Yes it should have been on the highest place of the podium with not much more effort. Let’s close this 2017-season with still a nice ranking on the Swedish level and age category. Forced rest for a while to solve some physical issues and then get ready for the next season. Worse case scenario…there will still be some running possible 🙂
There is alway more races… Italy and France should be kind to me next year, right? 🙂
LOTS of thanks for the support and cheering during the preparation. Especially as the running had been non-existent during summer months due to knee problem and therefore had to cancel the participation to two main races I had in plan after summer. If the wind would have been a bit more clement today, that would have helped… or not.
Huge thanks for all the runners who cheered along the course or smiled or just clapped their hands. This is SO giving extra strengths and happiness. Cannot be explained. Have to be experienced 🙂
Lots of loving thanks to my little ones, not so little, who still considered that being on the second place of the podium after a “Sunday run-paced race” was not too bad. Being silver medalist in the Swedish Championships masters was a great achievement in their eyes (and mine 🙂 ).
***********************
A few “after-race thoughts”
NOTE: Body check? A bit stiff at the end and while waiting for the medal. But I would count this as normal: had to wait, did not get back home before way later than planned and seriously… I should have eaten a banana or two after the race probably… The body felt well throughout the run, which made me happy. The stupid problem with the left knee in July was totally nonexistent. The gigantic blisters which came with the new insoles were no longer in the way a week or two before the race, which was good. Hips felt ok. Knees felt ok. Apart from the chaffing burns, all good!
NOTE: Warmup? As usual… nothing to be done really before such a race. It was nice to be able to run a 2km right before, but unsure whether it made a difference or not. Should have done some strides a bit after. But once again… warmup before a marathon?… There are about 21km at the beginning of the race to get warmed up enough… lol
NOTE: Energy/refueling during the race? As usual, it was very nice to have one’s own bottles along the route. Chose to try Maurten and I guess it can be a good option… if it wasn’t for the small bottles used today which were handy during training but not at all during the race. Sticky hands were annoying. Throughout. Gels taken were all fine and work well. The small messages on each bottle did the tricky, also it worked a bit better in Hamburg where I read all of them. This time, I read only half and did not really bother the others… A bit tricky though to have the water-stations placed every 4km-ish and not every 5km…
NOTE: Beetroot loading? Not done this time. No need for a training-race really.
NOTE: then…gels in the back pocket of the shorts? Had 2 there and seriously, I was a bit concerned before starting, but had tested it during training and never had a problem. Major burn after the race. Hence, will not have gels there next time!
NOTE: …and no gel in sport bra in the front/back? Yihoooo! Skipping the chaffing issue this time! At this place at least…
NOTE: Gothenburg marathon is hereby the most boring route marathon I have ever run 😛 VERY well-arranged event. It is just the route that I really don’t like.
NOTE: Post-marathon recovery on-going and working well. Sunday off with a long walk. Monday travel for surgery. Full easy-recovery planned for the rest of the week at least. With no training at all. Will see how this works…
Looking forward to new adventures …soon…
Race Report – Alingsåsloppet 2017/06/11
Top3 – Happy and not tired 🙂
Planned: a bit unsure actually, mostly because of the heavy rain indicated in the weather forecast as well as the rolling hills of the second half…
Actual: 42:51 – 2nd place (women). Place from start to end 🙂
BEFORE THE RACE
Good night’s sleep. Alarm ringing around 8:30am, which I totally ignored. Took all the time needed to wake up, prepare a bit my gear and bag for the race and change for leg shaking. All fine. Ready around 10:30am. Easy choice: whit MIK singlet (in case it would be cold…), SOC sport bra MIK and SOC shorts thunder. Boston boost on the feet. Better grip than the Adios I feel. Then a bit of steadying at home.
11:30am – headed to the train station and got off at Alingsås. Colleague Lotta was very kind and picked me up under drizzling skies 1h15 later and drove me to the tent distributing the BIB.
1:00pm – Had found the locker rooms, got to the loo, and lay down on a bench for approximately 40minutes. Not too good choice as my back was hurting very much after that. Took probably 5-6 minutes before it got kind-of better.
2:05pm – Warm-up time. Looked at the arrival of the kids’ 2km race and dropped my bag in the information tent. Kept my rain jacket and pants for running the final 5km of the race. Quite ok…for 500m! Thereafter it was running in the forest, rolling hills, wet, then wind, and more forest… OMG! That was worse than expected… and the expectations were not very high… Anyway. Had taken a gel during the last km of the warmup. Felt ok. Met with David G-MIK when dropping my rain outfit. He is heading for the 5K. Unfortunately for me as it would have been nice to follow a bit… if only I could at his pace!
2:50pm – Final stop at the loo and easy run to the start. Placed myself right in the front. Only two gals around as I could see. My prognosis was that the one in black/red would win and the other one would get second. So I just (!) had to hand along for the third place.
1 minute to start… Felt like forever. Saw the largest smile from Lotta and her girls on the side. Always good with this silent cheering before a race. Prepared my music. All ready.
10 seconds to start… Left my sunglasses to the guy holding the start gun. It had started to rain a little…
********
THE RACE
3:00pm – BAM! Start was on! No “release the beasts”-feeling. Despite of the little narrow few meters for the start, it went smoothly. Light drizzle still. After 100m or so, the larger road allowed to have us spreading around. Got passed by the black/red singlet lady. Just have to hang along I thought. Passing the first km in 3:56. That was ok. Did have that in mind and then the nice feeling was gone. The gal had gone ahead with a group of guys and this pace I was not ready to follow. The problem was that no one was having the pace I had… Running under the trees on gravel and then continuing on wet cobblestones…not my favorites… but I knew that was arriving. So that was ok. Had a “deja-vu” feeling from Kungsbackamilen, where 4 years ago the race was as well in the middle of a city, wet with the rain, cobblestones and little me without anyone holding the same pace (is there a problem with me or with all the other runners??!? I wonder…). A bit of turning right, right, left right? Or something like that. Passing km2 and that was not looking good. Could not see the first gal. Had an average pace above 4 and honestly was counting down the km without much happiness (Strange, because I love counting down in a marathon from 42, 41, 40…to go…). Go passed by a couple of guys during those 3 first km, but after that it was quite stable. Had set my mp3 from the start but missed the button and the first song started a bit after 500m or so… Lost my spots which were “finish the first km before the end of the first song, get to km5 at the end of song number 3…” Tried to set the music better from km4, but it felt a bit odd. Anyway. Just too slow was the thought running along. Did not really feel like pressing more. Seeing ahead of me runners…running…on.a.bridge?!?!? Ayyyyy! I missed this one. Dropped a bit the snail-pace I had while climbing the bridge, but got a nice flow on the downhill…especially as I notice it was where the road was joining the second loop and meaning I had 700m to km5…Yooohooo! OK, did not feel THAT “Yooohooo”, but felt nice. Not much of an acceleration getting and passing km5. Beeping from the watch indicated 20:55. 1 minute slower than I had planned. Meaning I was definitely not making this up during the second half. Nice smiles from Lotta and the girls and cheering from people around. Did something I really do NOT do in race… I looked behind me to see whether some gals was close-by. Noted one a bit behind, 100m? 60? no idea… because I heard the voice of Johan P saying “ a runner who turns back and check is a scared runner”… Sharpening was needed!!! Passing the firefighters again but this time we turned left along the forest towards the km6. OMG, it felt like crazy climbing. Had they increased the inclination since I ran this part earlier?!?! Reaching a little bridge-like part… I WALKED!!! Counted 10 seconds, turned once more. No gal. WHY ON EARTH was I walking?!? Tried to get back to the back of the guy with the orange tshirt. Passing km6 and did not want to know the pace I got for this one. Running in the forest was wet, clumpsy and definitely far from a race-pace. Turning right with the cheering of people on the side and finally back on the asphalt. Yeaaaaahhhhaaaa! Reaching the second water station (had totally ignored the first one at km2.5 or alike). Got two small water paper cup. One went on the head and the second one I tried to drink from, without much success. Could not care less. Counted down that 3km to go @5km/min meant 15 more minutes of rubbish running. OMG! What I really not like this wind. And that I am totally alone running. Passed two guys. And then tried to hang along a white tshirt guy. Passing km8 little above 34 minutes. Tried to press a bit the white tshirt guy. Cheered a bit saying it was looking good. Got a “same to you” a bit tired. Passed him in the downhill under the little bridge and then he passed me in the stretch towards km9. Wind. Again. Of course. Tried to set myself right behind him, but honestly it did not help an inch. Apart from me feeling I was running slower. So the final 200m before km9 we were running side by side again. Final right turn into the woods. 1Km to go. Piece of whatever cake it maybe. Downhill. Feeling like running in the mud. Slippery. Seeing the mark on the right which I calculated during warmup that it was 800m to go. Told that to the guy but he drifted a bit behind me. Seeing the asphalt again. The 5K-runners coming from the right and joining the 10K (ie “us”) coming from the left. What a feeling to get shy cheering from the kids running. ALL the way to the end. Cheered on the left, cheered on the right. Accelerated all I could. The white tshirt guy came back to my side, passing the previous “5km”-sign. But that was not it. More strengths in those stupid legs of mine. Acceleration and final left turn. On the wet grass. Run like h*ll. Just don’t fall. Hearing the speaker telling the second lady was coming. And my name. Yoooohooooo! Largest smile ever. Passing the finish line. I am done!
=> official time: 42:51 – place 2.
Weather: 16.1ºC, cloudy, feels like 16.1ºC, 23kph S wind, 88% humidity. Drizzle at start and in the middle. Rubbish-annoying wind almost throughout
Food: Aptonia Salted butter caramel during final km of the warmup. 1banan, 1little juice straberry/passion fruits and 1 glass water right after arrival
> during (!): 1 little jellysquare around km5 and 1 dextrosol around km8.
Gear: SOC shorts thunder, SOC sports bra MIK. Shoes all good for the job. Very good grip.
Shoes: ADIDAS Adizero Boston Boost 5 TSF- Pink/Black (Snappy)
16/ A bit concerned about whether this level means anything. Unsure the breathing was correct. I know it may sound heavy, but that I can continue for a while despite the sound 😛 Did not press much and I know it. What it is that can make me push more and cross a bloody 10K-finish line on the knees crawling??? (and if possible in a fast fast time too…)
********
AFTER THE RACE:
Changing hipster, shorts and sports bra to dry ones…in the information tent. Got a nice pic taken by a kind lady there. A bit of chat with Lotta and her girls. And then happily hearing my name once again to get on the podium. Second place. 3 minutes behind the first one. More pics and got driven to the train station again. A bit of food and watching rubbish on tv after a well-deserved hot shower at home. Not tired. Went out for a recovery run of 13km to get the 30km of the day… Body still not feeling tired.
NOTE: nice race. Weather was not really a problem (apart from the wind…as usual). But the rolling hills of the second half were not fun to have. Couldn’t they make us run AROUND the little hill instead on on it?!?!
NOTE: My GPS recorded 9.98km… Once again. A bit surprised to have shorter than 10K. By 20m this time.
NOTE: What to think about this second 10K of the week? Not much. A good tempo-run. Definitely getting in the legs the hilly race 5 days ago and the fast interval workout on treadmill 3 days ago. Should probably have skipped at least the intervals. Top 3 still is making one happy. A nice present card to Mio for buy stuff. Had no chance to get under 40 on this route, but 1 minute too slow in the first half, a km with walking during the second half… Definitely some time to gain on this route. Will see if easier training helps before next 10K…
Race Report – Fiskebäcksloppet 2017/06/06
Happy and not tired…
Planned: 42min or less…but at least faster than last year
Actual: 43:44 – 9th (women) Amazing enough this is the place I have had from start to end via all check-points.
BEFORE THE RACE
Awaken by the light despite the “light-won’t-go-through” curtain. But at least it was not around 4ish am… Took an easy leg shaking to wake up body and mind. Spent morning steadying at home, cleaning, fixing and packing my race bag. And fix my legs. Cannot really go to a race without having them aerodynamically fixed… In race gear around 9:40am… Just had to kill time before getting the bus to the start. Chose to take my MIK outfit and run in my Boston. They are fast during training, so they would do for a training race…
1:20pm – Met Helen-MIK and chatted a bit. Got my BIB. Met Jenny-MIK and Anna-MIK.. Cool to see them…and here went 2 places… Nothing to do but chat.
2:15pm – Time to warm-up. Dropped my bag at Måns-MIK and went for a run to get the body and mind ready. Unfortunately it made me only MORE aware about the wind that would bother me during the race… Ran the first 3km of the race and then turned back seeing it was getting short on time. Headed towards the woods and could not find my way back 😦 Eventually found an exit. Got my bag back, dropped it at the baggage drop and that was it. Took a powergel apple as it felt that breakfast was a while ago…
2:56pm – Got to the sub40 corral. It was empty almost. A few gal came in and then guys joined. None of them getting to the front line. Why would they use gals as wind-shield?!?!? Anyway, sun was finally shining and the wind was on. Countdown had started…
15 seconds to start… Final check to my laces. Thought I should have taken my mp3 with me…
********
THE RACE
3:00pm – START was given! Saw the fast gals leaving the area ilke crazy, followed by fastest guys. Nothing for me. Had decided to go easy during the first 2km to have strengths to accelerate after that… Sure! 5 gals ahead of me, one passing me on the side… felt like déjà-vu from last year (apart from the fast that I was 3rd last year…). The evil first hill got taken heavily, but not being the only one suffering. Some guys were already heavily breathing… Quick check at my watch to ensure it had started… 3:56-tempo?!?!? at the top of the hill… The only thought that came to mind apart from smiling was that I would pay for this later… Slowed down a bit in the downhill, turn right, nice side wind and right again towards the second slope of the race. Passed the first km in 4:07…4seconds slower than last year…. Matters not. There were 9km to catch those seconds up. Downhill and annoying blaster telling me to stop for a short while. Nope. I don’t think so. Had been doing toilets-stops all morning due to drinking properly before the race and then 2 extra stops close to the start. Not a chance the blaster was full of anything! Running back to Sjöbacka and on gravel…. Yeaaaahhh…NOT! Side wind and then tailwind. First cheering from Magnus and Berndt and Måns from MIK. Highly appreciated. Was running alone. All before me were too far away already and I had no plan to check behind me. Got passed by a couple of guys and tried to hang along. Km2 was passed. No idea of the pace as I decided NOT to check. Full headwind during this part. And of course, no wind-shield… Just once more on this part and this will be the final stretch. Less than 8km to go… Turning left and more gravel… Longing for the asphalt!!! Got passed by a couple of guys again, but their breathing indicated they were already close to their max. My breathing? Unsure, but I was not close to my max. Passing km3 at the roundabout and the first change… turning right and a crazy headwind welcomed us. Not happy. Still no clue about the pace. No check on the clock and could barely feel the buzz from it at each km-mark. Focus on the running. Crossing the road and feeling they left cars passing after me. Good! That meant that not many runners were close to me at this part. Passing Fiskebäcks Church and the cheering on both side was well appreciated! Third uphill of the race and second worse. Took it nicely. Three guys had slowed down and stopped ahead of me. And they did not feel that it was bothering to have them walking in the middle of the little gravel path in the forest… Was ready to yell “hold your right!” when 2 aligned behind each other on the left and the 3rd one ran a bit ahead and stopped on the side. Thanks guys! Passing a couple of guys there. Feeling strong. OK, not THAT strong. But OK-strong. Until getting to the left turn which made me run so slowly it felt that I was walking. Not a chance! Not now. The asphalt was so close! And turn right and steep downhill. Yoooohoooo! Taking the cheering that the guy with a white Volvo-tshirt is receiving for me too. The world is better when sharing (and cheering), right? 🙂 And at the end of the downhill, abrupt left turn. Taking a little jelly square. Not necessary not required, but it keeps me awaken and focus. Tricky with the guys ahead of me as they are three running all over the place. Trying to get a little passage but tricky. Passing one finally when running under the bridge and over to the bike path. OK, it was probably not very nice to cut the path, but he could have kept his right, right? And first water-station. The guy before me is just stopping (!) while grabbing his water paper-cup. I ran along and get two water cup. One for the head and one thrown on my legs. SOOOOO Nice! Takes probably 3minutes before the legs are dried again and the hair left free and now wet and helping very much to keep my neck refreshed. Another uphill after the school turn. Nothing steep, but looooong. The Volvo guy is receiving still cheering. And people are out for supporting. Really nice and helpful! Some have their water-hose on and watering us. Yelling (kindly) to do it lower as I do not want my sunglasses wet. This message goes in for two of them. But the third one understand the contrary and I get a full shower instead of only the legs… At least I still smile! And this is when I first hear the cheering for “Melker”…. Seeing a little (not THAT little) boy passing me. Strong and smiling. I tell him “Good work” and he is kindly half-turning and answering “Same to you”. Trying to keep up with him is not even in my plans. I just want to get some of hi cheerings. His friends are running on the side for having some high-fives, and then on the left side as well. Very polite friends cheering for me when I pass… Feeling like a heavy wet elephant on the way up the Mount Everest that would have been under 25ºC sunshine and wind… And finally getting to the top. One more hill vanquished… 2 to go! The downhill and I feel strong. Passing the Volvo-guy and keeping the blue-tshirt guy right before me. Little up and then right turn. I pass the blue guy in the forest and then it is asphalt again. Yiiiihooo! Downhill… Where was this 5km-mark? And is the 6km-mark coming soon??? Turning left along the little harbour… expecting the wind, but nothing ahead. Yiiiiihooo again? Unsure about my place. Except that I could not see any gal ahead of me any longer and was not going to check behind me. 7Km-water station was there. Getting two water paper cup. One for the hair which had had the time to dry out since km4 (!) and one for the leg. Too late I realized that I should have drank a little of the water… And right after the water station… the wind arrived. Aaaaaaah! Not a chance I can accelerate to catch up with the guys ahead of me. 5 of them and they all set themselves behind each other like a line. But even then, they are too far ahead with this wind. Getting to the gravel/small-stones-which-make-it-impossible-to-run part and the dreadful stairs are arriving. WOW! Logs of steel. I had prepared myself so well for NOT walking up. I kind-of run the first two steps and that was it. I walk miserably the rest, holding the ramp (!) and not even start running when reaching the asphalt… I am done! Lightning McQueen? Yeaaaah…sure! In slow motion and backwards probably! I turn and see only guys behind me. Which at least make me happy. And then I feel a kind hand on my back and gentle push. SOOOOOO NICE! The guy in blue tshirt is helping me up the hill! OMG! So kind. Like starting the engine again and I was on. Km8 was within short distance. The gentle push from the guy had given me enough strength for at least NOT stopping in this last uphill in the forest. Passed one guy there. My legs felt tired, my thighs were starting to burn. Did not want anything else/more but getting a cold shower on the burning muscles that were my body at this moment. And the steep downhill arrived. Took it carefully. Thanks for the cheering of the boy at the end of the slope, I got a bit more strength. Change of the course this year with running around the parking lot. Which felt a little better…until we had to “climb” the little baby-slope towards the bus-stop. Felt like heavy. And the wind was not helping. One of the guys before me listened to music and breathed heavily and had no clue he was running a bit all-over as well 😦 OK, I’ll get him at the turn… Right turn and he cut me badly…Headwind and left turn and I pass him 😛 And along Fiskebäcks harbour. Nice with many people out today. And then up again, tried to place myself behind a tall guy, but it did nothing to stop the wind. So I stop hiding. Passing km9-mark. Yiiiiihooo! Only one more km of misery! And then this little running down a 1.5m (?) steep stuff…Beware of not falling. And the final stretch. Headwind (what else?!?!) but this was less than a km to the end. Encouraging the guys by my side. I just want to have this done. Final right turn on the gravel. One of the guys is cheering and passing me. Final left turn. Did I say I hate gravel?!?! Headwind. Did I say what I feel about headwind? Thanks for the cheering of MIKs on the side, I try to keep myself straight and focused. But not a chance I am running fast. I hope I am still running though… So fearing that a gal will pass me right there. But whoever is behind me is ALSO having this headwind. Cannot be THAT easy to run… (or maybe I am the only one feeling this wind….) Got passed by a tall guy 100m from the end. And then we run on the right on the grass… Did I say I hate running on grass??? And then passing the Finish-line. H.A.P.P.Y!
=> official time: 43:44 – place 9.
Weather: 21.1° Mostly Clear, Feels like 21.1°, 21 kph SE wind, 46% humidity – of course the sun got out right before our warm-up and race. Otherwise it was nicely hiding behind the clouds… But this wind… Keep it locked at home next year!
Food: Powergel apple right before start of the race. 2 kex-chocolate + 2 glass water right after arrival
> during (!): 1 little jellysquare around km5 and 2 dextrosol around km7.
Gear: SOC shorts small trapezes, Casall Iconic sports bra black MIK. Shoes all good for the job 🙂
> warmup done with GV-black wind jacket. Took it off after 3km. Too hot!
> perfect outfit to have skipped the singlet!
Shoes: ADIDAS Adizero Boston Boost 5TSF – Pink/Black (Snappy)
15/ Not sure for setting the effort, honestly. Far from max and as usual with headwind, it feels like you are pressing, running like in porridge and still having a decent pace. OK…skip the “decent pace”-part for this year’s race 🙂 But seeing how it felt after the race, I cannot have pressed much the body today. But the wind does make one tired.
********
AFTER THE RACE:
Changing hipster and shorts to dry ones…behind a car. Taking a nice pic with other gals from the club. Taking an easy km or so with one of them as cooldown and then easy jogging to the bus-stop. Would have gladly run back home and add some volume for today, but there are other plans for the week. Cannot really make the body tired today.
NOTE: still liking this little race. Lots of fast chicks this year. Cannot understand HOW they ran with this wind…making me think that I could be extra sensitive to the wind or lazy for not pushing the body more when the wind is out and play. Have to work on this.
NOTE: My GPS recorded 9.88km… Not often it registers shorter on race… Have I really cut the race course by 120m???
NOTE: Not disappointed really. Of course, sub42 was the plan, and without the wind, I still do think that it was feasible without aiming for the stars. Good top10 place. If there had been less wind, the other gals would have probably run slightly faster and my placing would have probably been the same anyway 🙂 At least I was the coolest mum on the race according to GET. And they weren’t even there…
Race Report – Hamburg Marathon – 2017/04/23
Smiling until the end!
Planned: 3hr or less… Health ok, training ok, head a bit off, but it felt achievable
Actual: 3:12:21 – 87th women, 2nd Swedish female, 16th age category & 1,127 (total 15,000 runners). Weather not being clement this day, ruining my plans already from start, saw the sub3 disappearing already then. Took decision to change the plan after 17km run and continue as an easy long run. Surely disappointed, but not fully. There will be more races…
Race Results:
place (M/W) 86
place (age) 16
Total 1119 (out of 15.000)
Age/grade: 74.08% (2017 Tokyo 78.07 / 2016 Amsterdam 79.9 / Ferrara 78.2 / Dubai 73.83 / 2015 NYC 75.93 / 2015 WMAC 74,99 / 2014 Chicago 75.97 / Stockholm 76.76 / Rotterdam 78.43 / Dubai 77.74 / 2013 Berlin 75.74/Stockholm:73.1/Boston:72.19/Dubai: 72.35/2012 Berlin:68.29/SF:65.66/London:66.47/Dubai:66.6)
time total (gun) 03:12:21
time total (brutto) 03:12:28
average pace: 4:33min/km… almost distance-pace…no comment!
Official splits:
| Split | Time | Time (split) |
Pace (min/km) | km/h |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 km |
00:21:26 |
21:26 |
04:18 |
14.00 |
| 10 km |
00:43:07 |
21:41 |
04:21 |
13.84 |
| 15 km |
01:05:10 |
22:04 |
04:25 |
13.60 |
| 20 km |
01:29:53 |
24:43 |
04:57 |
12.14 |
| Half (21.1km) |
01:35:08 |
05:15 |
04:48 |
12.54 |
| 25 km |
01:53:13 |
18:06 |
04:39 |
12.95 |
| 30 km |
02:16:41 |
23:28 |
04:42 |
12.79 |
| 35 km |
02:39:40 |
23:00 |
04:36 |
13.05 |
| 40 km |
03:02:37 |
22:57 |
04:36 |
13.08 |
| 42.2km |
03:12:21 |
09:45 |
04:27 |
13.52 |
********************
M Day-6&-5
Started carb depletion slightly earlier and a bit differently. The weather being extremely windy, it did not allow for terrific workouts, the moral was pretty down and honestly, there was time to really questioned what I was doing at all.
M Day -4
Final session. 5K at expected marathon pace. Piece of cake, right? Well, scheduling this session became a bit tricky. Early morning (read: “about 5am”…) was out of question. The weather forecast the evening before showed -3/4°C and for any other session or even a similar workout but NOT in the final week, I would have gone for it. But as said earlier, the moral was not to the top. The lunch weather forecast was however promising warm 9°C, no wind and sunshine. The deal was done! Meeting all morning and then went to change. Well outside the building, only grey, light wind and poor 5°C were welcoming me. Brilliant choice of clothes with singlets, shorts, arm sleeves and calve sleeves. And sun glasses… It worked but with 3 stops during the fast part. Slightly faster than expected, feeling all fine if it wasn’t for the wind out there. Back to the office, work all afternoon. And that was it. Final session. Not really seeing the training done for the past month in that session. But ok. The positive with this day? Start with carboloading. One day earlier. And having received product from Isostar I decided to test them as well the day after. Massage in the evening. Really painful pressure point on the right hip. Yap. Not really the way you want it to be 4 days before a race…
M Day-3
Working from home this day as happened to develop an allergy after being back at the office for two days (they were renovating there…). Better be safe than sorry. At least the allergy reaction decreased and the scratching almost disappeared. Change of plans regarding the preps, turning the 8-10km easy into a real slow 5K to shake the legs more than run with them… Slightly sensitive in the foot, wearing an ankle support seemed the good approach. (Probably the “better” approach would have been to skip the run and rest…). Started Carbo-loading with the Isostar Malto-Carbo-loading I won. Lots of drinking. All fine. Did not feel the “rush of happiness” that generally comes with carbo-loading, but ok. At least the body tolerated the Isostar.
M Day-2
Travel day…Not much sleep, missed the tram, started to stress a bit, got into the bus to the airport and felt better. Check-in completed. On my way. Met lots of runners in the queue to the control and remember that London was also run this same day as Hamburg. Fell asleep before take off. Listened to music all the way. Gloomy welcoming from Hamburg with fog and 7ºC. Easy travel with train and metro and walk to the room I rented. Dropped my stuff and walked to the Expo to get my BIB. Very surprised that the Expo was only 1km from home. Got my BIB, a few pics, bought some sport drinks High5 to try it during next 2 days and headed to Decathlon. And then back home. Had eaten half-baguette with ham for breakfast and one with honey on the way to the expo. Rested 1hour. Needed more food. Found a pasta restaurant not far from home. The Penne al Forno was a HUGE portion and after eating half of it, I got the rest in a little box to get home. Short walk to Lidl for buying bread, banana, snickers, orange juice and home again. Met my host’s boyfriend and we had lots of talking about running. They are nice hosts 🙂 Then time for more work. Fixed a bit and then bed time. A bit late, but I had rested in the afternoon.
Drank second day of the Isostar Malto-Carbo-loading. As well as a couple of bottles of the High5-lemon. Feeling a bit heavy. Mostly because of the pasta though.
M Day-1
Wanted to run now. For real! Awaken early with the lights through the curtains. Change gears and took an easy 7.6km run. First to the little lake when km39 was indicated. Headwind during the 39 to 41. The little slope/incline of the km41 could be felt already today. Will be interesting to see how it would feel the day after with 41km in the legs… Could not run to the start as there was the kids’ race. Waited a bit and ran to km1 and then back to the start. And then back home. Spent the rest of the day resting, preparing my gear, drinking High 5 sport drink and preparing my bottles which I dropped at the Expo in mid-afternoon. After that, I felt ready. Quite light. Decided to have final food intake around 1-2pm and then only drink loads of sport-drink. High5 felt quite ok and the body did not reacted. Fair enough.
Bed time around 9:30pm. Could hear the neighbours partying. My hosts came back not too late but close to midnight did go to the neighbours and telling them kindly to lower voice and music as they had a marathoner trying to sleep before her race (NOTE: I got this info the day after from my hosts 🙂 Cool people!)
NOTE: counted 37 showers during the day… with sunshine in-between…and of course wind… Promising weather for the race…
M DAY!!!!
Finally!!!! All Race day start with this word!
Before the race
05:00am – Waking up early as usual. Ate breakfast of champions (chia seeds, green mix, 1 banana and High5 sport drink, orange juice, a little piece of baguette with honey). And back to bed…
5:30am – The usual happening now. Drinking High5 on regular basis every 30min or so.. To avoid the problem from Amsterdam and Tokyo with too full blaster, I stop the drinking 30min earlier than usually do.
6:30am – Time to get ready! Shower, cream, fixing the hair, warming gel on the legs and anti-chaffing cream on the top. Racing gear on (SWE hotpants and singlet, arm sleeves pink and wind gloves, a neckwarmer, my Compressport calve sleeves (a first for a marathon!) and ADIDAS Adizero Adios Boost Purple (Quicky). Got my sunglasses on the top of the head. The weather was planned to be nice but windy. So they would help for skipping “crying eyes” throughout the race… Set my mp3
Got on the top of my racing gear the 2XXL easy pants I bought at Decathlon. WAY too big, but ok. Extra jacket as well which would get thrown before the start. And that was it. One caffeine gel in the back of the bra and one gel in the back pocket with the Dextrosol. Take my little red-disgusting-juice and time to go!
7:10am – Tried to jog to the start. But having the bag in the back and those too-large pants which I feared to get chaffing problems, it did not turn as a warmup really. Stopped the watch after reaching the start area. But it took a while to get all around the Hall building to drop my stuff. Left my bag, kept on the warm pants, extra tshirt and wind-jacket. First stop at the loo. No queue. Perfect. Did not feel that the start was quite close actually. People were all around and in no hurry to neither warm up nor get to the start corrals…
8:10am – New attempt to warmup after checking where was the start…and it started raining… Yeaaaah… Got to the loo one more time… and then another time, more like a “stress-stop” than a “need-to-go-stop”. At least this blaster would NOT annoy me during the race… I thought.
8:30am – In the corral…which was pretty empty… I felt that no urgency was raised and went out for a FINAL stop at the loo closed to our corral opening. Back to the start after that.
8:45am – Hummm… The wheelchair athletes started to line-up and in my B-corral, there were still lots of place between runners. Start was given to the wheelchair, the A-corral started to fill in and the invited athletes got to their start…
8:55am – Off with the too-large pant and the extra tshirt and the wind jacket. Body warmth all-around was sufficient 🙂
8:57am-ish – Eeeeeeeeh…sorry? But what it the blue rope still doing in front of us. We want to get closer to the start. But the volunteers are not letting us move. We have to wait for the gun shot they said…. H*ll no! Several are passing under the blue rope and I am one of them. Enough stress in the body and mind for not having this rope in front of me/us!
THE RACE
First half
09:10am – BAAAAM! Yes! All starts seem to sound this way. The runners are unleashed and I am happily one of them. I am happy. My legs are running. Finally. Pressing start on my watch, although I am a bit unsure whether I did not wait too long for starting it. And with the bad surprise from Amsterdam with the watch choosing to pause itself after the start, I do check quickly after 300m whether it is still on. Yap! Race on! Trying NOT to get too excited. Got passed before km1 by one of the Swedish gals I knew would be in the lead. Nothing to do about this actually. 1Km done. 4:09 according to my watch. Fine. This stretch is nice… until the drizzle starts to join us… well…actually it feels like light rain…or more heavy rain… Before turning right after the first km mark, we are already getting cheering from the skies in shape of small or medium hailstones falling. THAT’S A FIRST! Never got a race with this! Hoped/counted that it would stop fast… But nope. Passed km2 a bit too fast in 4:04 but with the hails falling on us, accumulating on the asphalt and making it slippery… It feels out of this world! Is this really happening? Can’t we rewind a bit here? Change the weather-channel, maybe? Groars are coming out from the running crowd. And laughs. And “you must be kidding?!?!”. Yap! Not only me having this “I-want-to-get-back-to-start-and-have-a-decent-weather-I try to keep focused. Skip looking at the watch. Carefully looking -maybe too close – on the asphalt ahead of me. It is covered by a little white stuff which looks like snow. Main objective has shifted: Time does no longer matter. Just do NOT fall on this rubbish-slippery-little-white-cover. Passing km3 and still hailstones falling. I don’t want to stop. I want IT to stop! And this part until km6-ish is slightly up. Which I am well aware about. My plan is disappearing piece by piece. My wristbands do not longer mean anything. I am expecting the 3:00-guys to pass me in a minute or two. Passing km5 in 21:25. Sub3-plan kiss goodbye! Taking my first bottle. More as a moral support than because I need it. A few glups of sport-drink and hop! Cannot feel that I am tired, but this 2km-long hailstones rain has frozen my body. My muscles which I was very careful NOT to have chilled out before start (for ONCE I was well-prepared with all the extra clothing before start) are not responding as they should. My brain is not functioning positively. I want to see this stupid turn after km6 and have a downhill. The left turn arrives and then straight ahead…no downhill?!?!? Nope. Well, yes. A little one at a moment but it comes more abruptly than the progressive down slope I was expecting. I am not happy. But I run. I am far off my schedule. Lots of thoughts in the head. I don’t want to see the 3:00-guys. Not now. Not that early in the race. And suddenly they come… One carries a white balloon with 3:00 on it. And we are barely at km10. What is wrong in the picture? Haven’t they got the hailstones too? Or was it only raining on me? Yeaaaah…must be that. Getting my second bottle at the water-station. I am not thirsty. I want to go back to the start and do it all-over again. Sun is shining now. Wind on the side as expected. Wet on the asphalt. And snail-pace me is actually running. And THEN I am passed AGAIN by another 3:00-guy who actually has his white balloon in the air. He is more likely to be on-time with the expectations of the group. We are passing km13-ish. And I get a renew energy. I am keeping up with their pace for a couple of km. Passing km15 and my third bottle. They are getting a bit ahead of me. But that’s ok. Nothing is hurting in me. The body is responding properly. But my watch is indicating a way-too-slow pace. Seeing the distance with the 3:00-group increasing and my blaster ringing a bell, I have a couple of choices: continuing to purse this group and hope the blaster holds at least until the half-marathon distance or taking a stop at the first blue box I see and get along with whatever strength I found after that. The distance keep increasing and a blue box is in sight. Exactly at the right corner. Quick decision to get into it. And then time seems to stop. I count the seconds. The blaster is not the main issue. That ain’t ok. I am now over 1 minute in my count. I don’t want to get out of the blue box. It feels safe inside. And maybe nothing is happening outside. Or time has stopped there. Or… or… or… Knock knock on the door gets me out of lethargy. I have to leave. Opening the door feels like one of the biggest efforts so far today. Welcomed out by a brilliant sunshine, a wave of wind and too many runners who make me realized that time has not stopped. My watch indicate 4:26min/km as average pace after this stop. Not many choice now. Setting my mp3 plugs in the ears. Setting the proper DJ Eclipse long run music and that’s on. No more race for me today. This stop at km17 has completed the killing of both the pace and the will/determination to get under 3 hours or even close. The mind is now focusing on getting this done. Just running. A Swedish gal and a Swedish man are passing me. Linné-singlet is easy to recognize. But the gal I was expecting her to be a bit further behind me…not passing me now…even before halfway. At least they both cheer for me and I can keep my smile on my face… Passing km20 in too long time for being a race. The competitive spirit is no longer there. Has stopped functioning for a while apparently. Reaching halfway in 1:35-ish. This is a good training pace basically… Nothing more but nothing less. Realizing that I have never run that slow a first half since…. Dubai 2013…Rubbish first half…
Second half
Starting the second half is full with hope. Having had headwind or sidewind all the way now, I am looking forward to get to the 35km point and down to the end for having this refreshing helpful tailwind. Have been passed by two Swedes (well, probably more, but those two guys from IS Göta-Helsingborg looked way more fit than me. And they cheered. That was nice). My bottle of km20 had a gel on it and it helps a bit. Nothing strong all good. Counting that I have 3 bottles left to take. That’s a good and positive thoughts. Trying to catch up with a guy on a bike with a little car behind him. Seeing the red heart-shaped balloons he has, I read “30”… OMG! The 3:30-guys are ahead of me?!?!? When did THAT happened. Slow is ok, but not THAT slow! Taking a little while before I realized that it is “30” as in “don’t drive faster than 30km/h”-sign he has. Ha ha ha! Funny…NOT! (well, ok, this is funny, but my brain at this particular moment does not really register the joke). And then I have a new plan: I could ask the guy on the bike if I can sit in his little car behind and that he could bring me to the next 15km or so… yes… That sounds like a plan… until I am reaching slowly but surely the bike and passing it… Hummm… OK. Better/Faster on foot than on bike. Boost given for the next 3km 🙂 Running in this part of the city is nice. Reminds me of Rotterdam. Green trees. People outside cheering. All is working as it should. Except for my legs which are only on “distance-pace mode”. But that’s ok. Km25 and my new bottle with more cheering on it. I remove the Swedish flag and give it to a little girl on the side. Got a smile for it. So worth it! When reaching km30, new gel with yummy salted butter/caramel taste and new calculations. The small jelly squares taken every km or so between km22 and 32 do help. I think… The hailstones have fallen once or twice more, if it was not rain as well. The wind was definitely there. Don’t ask me how. It can NOT be headwind all the time on a one loop course…except here…in Hamburg! My brain gives me still a finish time of 3:15. Not bad. But honestly, not good. So a little thing in me is waking up and I feel my legs lighter and moving faster. Meeting a guy on a regular basis here. And for a stretch I get his company and that feels…Hmmm… ok. Not THE pace I want which is way faster, but the pace I changed and want for the end. Feeling even that we accelerate slightly. A bit of smiling to each other. That is nice. Steady-slow @4:36-tempo… Yap. Distance-pace. But today it is a bit (…) longer than my morning run 🙂 And we turn left at km31. Headwind bothering all of us, but I KNOW that it will be kind for us after this turn….and….and….nope! nothing. Headwind again! Or side/headwind…. WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE EXACTLY?!?! The long stretch down the lake is nice…if it was not for the wind. I can see the IF Linnea chick and the Swedish guy a bit ahead of her. I want to pass her. Slight acceleration. Nothing really. But my running-buddy cannot follow. He stops suddenly on the side of the road. Still 20m behind the gal. Nooooo! I wanted him to help me passing her. And to help me passing the Swedish guy after that. And would probably have found others to pass after that 😦 A bit sad, but not stopping. And keeping my pace. Reaching the Swedish gal and cheering a bit. And hope. She looks a bit tired. I feel on the contrary better and way better than during the first half of the race. Is that so that I now need 21km warmup before feeling fine for a marathon?!?! Km35 and my last bottle. Message on it this time: ”LAST ONE”. A bit tricky to take the gel off the bottle. And when I eventually succeed in opening it and getting gel in my mouth, the taste of cherry is…disgusting like crazy!!! Why on earth haven’t I tried this taste before during training? Thought that with a different taste it would be waking me up. And indeed it does. I have swallowed a little of the gel. Drank a bit of water. And press all the leftover of the gel in the mouth. Take water and mix the whole thing in the mouth. OMG! This is disgusting! Taste really ugly! Decided that the “placebo” effect would have to do. I spit all on the asphalt. Must look like I am spitting dark blood. Continuing my run. Have never given so many high-fives in a race. Not even in Berlin 2014… And THAT was a lot! The 12km countdown is the best ever. There is another countdown starting at “1km done, 41 to go…”, but this one is niiiice! Counting kilometers left multiplied by 5min-tempo… I know I am faster than that, but have no idea how my brain will do the calculation if asking to multiply by 4:36-tempo. Less than an hour. 10km left. Less than 50minutes. I want to get to km39. To feel that I am finally close. I am passing people now. This beautiful and windy path, with those high trees on both sides. I like it. I know km39 is soon there. I am not following the blue line any longer. I am ON it. Not a chance I will run longer than I should 😛 Seeing the lake on the left side. It feels like spring. Short hailstones rain again. Does not matter any longer. I would not care less. Km39 is there. I have 15 minutes to finish. IF I was at 5min.tempo. But I won’t allow this to happen. Passing guys and turning right. Headwind. Don’t care. Turning left. Km40 is there!!! Euuuhhh nope. Not yet. Down the street. I take out my final liquid gel. Cola-taste. I know it taste bad, but it has so much caffeine in it, that I SHOULD be able to press a bit more. Recognizing the final stretch from yesterday. Seeing km41. People are slowing down. I don’t. I push even more. No at all full power, but definitely faster. And it goes slightly up. But I know it. And it feels. But I know it. Passing one IF GÖTA guy. Feeling that I am unstoppable. THAT is the feeling I should have had from start! And a faster pace too! Getting passed by a guy with Swedish colours. Cheering from him give me an extra bright smile. I just want to pass people. Pass gals mostly to have a slightly better Turning right. Over the little bridge. Windy. Seeing the final final street. Cannot estimate the distance to the red carpet. But I know it is mine. OK…not completely JUST for me, but my brain doesn’t know that at this particular moment. Passing a Danish gal. Yeaaaah! And seeing two other gals ahead of me. Those ones won’t be there. I feel like a rocket, but really run like a fast snail in reality. OK…like an average snail, not even a fast one. But this red carpet! OMG! Feels so good! Smiling right and left. Have no music in the ear since I passed km41. Just feeling the cheering all around and that is why the finish lines are so addictive! Done!
Official time received later: 3:12:21…
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After the finish line
Not even looking at my watch. I am under 3:15 and that is enough to be an ok-long run. Feeling a bit off in the groin right side. But others are in way worse conditions. Getting a smile from two swedes, a thanks for several guys. And that’s it. Walking to the Hall, taking a bit of sport drink, chocolate bar and a paper cup filled with small pretzels. I am done. Stomach aches keeping me away for a short while. Walking to pick up my bag. Getting a well-deserved massage. Walking home. Shower, warm clothes and feet up against the whole for 45 minutes. The rain is falling again. And stops. As so many times yesterday and today. Feeling tired, surely not happy of the time, surely not satisfied because I feel the body is not completely emptied of strength. I am fine. Rubbish race-time, but decent long-run time. That would do for today…
My very kind hosts let me stay longer than planned. So I get a good nap. Wake up at the smell of freshly done waffles. Got offered one by my host and we start chatting. They are very kind and cool to talk to. Would have gladly stayed longer. Especially as I am to be traveling back to Hamburg on Tuesday morning… But the original plan has not changed. Thanking my hosts, getting to the train and then the airport. Lots of wait and then through the control… longing for a large piece of meat with French fries…to see that only coffee shops are available after the airport controls… Settling for 2 hot chicken wraps and a half-liter Coke. I am tired. I am on my way home. I have for the first time run a marathon as training… I am happy 🙂
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Weather: 5°C, cloudy, Feels like 1.7°C, 16kph W wind, 81% humidity. Did not feel THAT cold at start. But surely freezing during the hailstones rain from km1 to 3 and then better under the sun and then more rain and hailstones and sun and wind all the time… Estimated average temperature would be 5-7ºC probably. My estimations anyway.
Food:
> before: chia porridge with green mix and orange juice, 1 banana, 1 piece of bread with honey, High5 sportdrink (5dl?) (5:am) Little bottle of red juice 2 hours before
> right after: banana+pretzels+2 glass of sportdrink
> 3.5 hours after: 2 waffles without eggs with sugar on. Orange juice
> During: 1 strawberry jelly right before start, High5 Lemon sport drink @km5-10-15-25, Aptonia gel (salted butter/caramel*2 and cherry-disgusting) @km20-30-35. Coffeine Powergel at km40. Strawberry jellies: 1 at km22 and 1 every km or so at km23-24-26.
Gear: ADIDAS SWE outfit (hotpants & sports bra), Casal Iconic black Sports bra MIK, arm sleeves pink, Compressport calve sleeves, neckwarmer, sunglasses, shoes all good for the job.
> extra clothes dropped before start: 2XXL Decath easy pants, old Djaz tshirt and wind-jacket.
=> Perfect outfit? Definitely! Had hesitated pretty much all the days before leaving home about what to wear. But hotpants was definitely on. For the top it was a bit tricky through. But on the race day, that was it. Perfect outfit. My alternative outfit was similar (singlet and hotpants) but black… Tricky to run with the arm sleeves but very handy to get on and off depending on the weather. Having the calve sleeves during a marathon was a first. Worked fine…although it was far from marathon-pace. Will probably skip them next time. VERY GOOD to have the extra clothes before the race, especially for the legs, and avoiding the frozen legs from Tokyo…
14/ Unfortunately, nothing high on the effort level. Not even during the “faster” parts of first km. The change of plan to get this race as training long run made the effort level close to decent long run. Would have gladly had higher effort and faster pace…
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SUMMARY: The expectations set were aligned with the training that had been done. Had hesitated between Prag (fully booked), Düsseldorf (not too fast route) and Hamburg (a bit close to Tokyo but fast route). Hamburg was the easy/only choice. Ready to get fast. But the weather the week prior to the race was very changing and honestly on the race day, this was not the weather I can perform in. Running can be done in any weather (…ok…heavy snow and minus 15ºC or more are stopping me from running outdoors…) but for racing, that’s different. For sure others are less sensitive (like our fast Swede D.Nilsson getting to the finish line in 2:15 and qualifying for World Championships this way…. but this also means he did not have the second and third hailstones rains we – slower runners- got around 2hr 30 and later…). Yes it is disappointing. Yes I am not happy. Yes I know better than stopping at the loo. Yes yes yes… But marathon is a brutal story. To get it right, everything has to be falling into piece at the same time. A puzzle ain’t complete if one part is lost… Anyway, the wind was not on my side, the rain was not a problem but the hailstones were, the stop at the loo was necessary… Easy said: that was not THE day. But once again, happy to have completed the run in decent time for a low effort. 10 minutes slower than Tokyo… But feeling way better the days after 🙂
There will be more races…
(Buckets of thanks for the support and cheering during my preparation. A bit tricky with the tapering weeks and lots at work, but that’s the price to pay for being running athlete with a full-time job 🙂 Preparation worked as planned even though the motivation itself went up and down. The weather was not my friend this day. And I cannot help or control on this. New adventures on the way… with short and medium races in-between 🙂
Of course a huge thanks to my fellow runners Swedes and not Swedes who passed me or got passed by me, who smiled and cheered, who huged after the finish line, who heard from them after the race…. Yes, running a marathon is cool. Passing the finish lines is addictive. The way to achieve all this is a mean to this end. Whatever the “end” might look like. No training goes to waste. Special thanks to my little people at home, cheering any time, laughing sometimes at the look I have when getting back from training but always so present. You might not understand this right now, but this will come one day and you will 🙂 Loving you unconditionally!
And thanks to my German hosts for making my stay perfect in Hamburg!
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A few “after-race thoughts”
NOTE: Body check? Did I really run a marathon? Surely it felt right after the race. Must have been walking a bit funky/funny back home. Slight pain on right hip/groin side, but all fine while walking. Tired a lot after getting back home and showered. Good with some sleep. No hip pain during the race, but on the other side I ran this one slow. During the hailstones of the start, I could feel something coming in the legs and deliberately slowed a bit for 1) not falling and 2) not increasing this “whatever-pain-it-is”. Worked fine. Same as after Tokyo, Achille’s heels did not scream at all. All quiet…
NOTE: Warmup? Impossible to count the jogging to the start as a warmup, nor the back & forth acceleration between the loos before start. Simply said: no warmup for this race. On the other side, have learned my lesson and the extra clothes (including the extra large pants) were the best I could do to keep myself warm before the race. Maybe this helped to start the way it did… Unfortunate that the 3-4km at the start were under hailstones and getting me so cold. Those km are generally used to warmup the body…
NOTE:…and then the “loo incident”. OK, this was not an incident. It was well-needed. Unsure whether it was the High5 sport drink not liked by my stomach (although I had drunk this during 2 days without problem) or the cold from the start making my stomach unhappy. Anyway, something was seriously wrong. And this stop was needed. Could not have done differently. Maybe slightly faster…but even unsure for this.
NOTE: Energy/refueling during the race? Very handy to be able to leave personal refreshment in advance. I chose to use High5 sport drink lemon even though had never used it before the 2 days before the race. Could not find Isostar and wanted to be sure to be able to rely on the sport drink served on the route (High5 lemon) in case my bottles would get missing. No problem to find the bottles which were perfectly pimped. The small motivational message were doing a great job. A problem with the last gel with cherry taste which was extremely disgusting. Should have known better than testing during the race…
NOTE: Beetroot loading? Took two small bottles days prior to the race, could be the thing that troubled my stomach? Although this was no new thing to me.
NOTE: then…gels in the sport-bra, on the back? Had 2 in the back, just in case mine would ot be available on the bottles. Worked perfectly. Slight chaffing pain after the race, but unsure how this came.
NOTE: …and no gel/dextrosol in sport bra in the front? Yihoooo! Skipping the chaffing issue this time!
NOTE: then…small jellies in the back pocket of the hotpants? Worked fine. Although it feels a bit heavy at start.
NOTE: Hamburg marathon is hereby the coldest and windiest marathon I have ever run 😛
NOTE: Post-marathon recovery on-going and working well. Trip back home on Sunday evening, 3 hours sleep before getting ready for work, flying back to Hamburg for conference on the Tuesday and then back home late on Thursday evening… Good that there was no jet-lag involved in these trips!!! Recovery of several days before a first test run 5 days after the race. No problem. Can really feel that the pace used was NOT the one that makes the body tired…
Looking forward to new adventures …soon…
Race Report – Tokyo Marathon – 2017/02/26
Happy finisher with double rewards!
Planned: 2:57/58, definitely sub3. Second target? Good place in the Run as One – Oversea category…
Actual:……3:02:31. Placing: 113 all women, 20th age category, 1st Swedish woman, 1,527 out of total 33,947 finishers. Far from the expectation, far from being satisfied, too far from sub3 and a hip not collaborating at all during the second half, and still a sprint in the last km with a defecting knee and limping towards the finish line… Still… a whole adventure from start to end completing the 6 World Marathons Majors 🙂
Race Results: place (M/W) 113 place (age) 20
Total 1,527 (out of 33,947)
age/grade: 78.07% (2016 Amsterdam 79.9% / Ferrara 78.2% / Dubai 73.83 / 2015 NYC 75.93 / 2015 WMAC 74,99 / 2014 Chicago 75.97 / Stockholm 76.76 / Rotterdam 78.43 / Dubai 77.74 / 2013 Berlin 75.74/Stockholm:73.1/Boston:72.19/Dubai: 72.35/2012 Berlin:68.29/SF:65.66/London:66.47/Dubai:66.6)
time total (gun) 03:02:31
time total (brutto) 03:02:37
average pace: 4:20min/km
Official splits:
| Name | Time | Time (split) | Pace min/km |
| 5 km | 0:20:56 | 20:56 | 04:11 min/km |
| 10 km | 0:41:53 | 20:57 | 04:11 min/km |
| 15 km | 1:03:18 | 21:25 | 04:17 min/km |
| 20 km | 1:24:34 | 21:16 | 04:15 min/km |
| 21.1 km | 1:28:28 | 04:37 | 04:12 min/km |
| 25 km | 1:46:10 | 16:40 (21:30) | 04:18 min/km |
| 30 km | 2:07:29 | 21:25 | 04:17 min/km |
| 35 km | 2:30:10 | 22:41 | 04:32 min/km |
| 40 km | 2:52:56 | 22:46 | 04:33 min/km |
| 42.2 km (Finish) | 03:02:31 | 09:35 | 04:22 min/km |
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August 2016…
Receiving an email confirming my qualification in the “Run as One” program in the semi-elite overseas category. Felt really cool and happy as I had tried twice before to get in via the lottery and it was my final attempt. Not much done until final months of preparation. Yes…one more thing: never been in Asia, don’t speak nor understand the language and still will be running my 6th World Marathon Major there…
M Day-6&-5
Travel to Tokyo. Worked in the morning before boarding and then 2 flights, 3 movies and 13 hours later I landed in the country of the Rising Sun. Felt a bit surreal, although an airport is an airport… Exchange my JRPass voucher to a pass ticket and got on the Nigari express to reach Tokyo. Then smoothly bought an Suica card for travelling by subway and reaching my apartment close to Kayabasho station. All prefect. Until I started to chase for some food… All written in…Japanese and having no idea what was in it. Pictures ain’t helping neither some times. Ended in a little cafeteria and got a beef bowl with rice. A bit heavy. But that would do. Emptied some of my stuff and changed to get an easy run out there. Well-placed, my apartment was close to the intersection km28/10 of the race. So I took the km28 to 30 (straight long street) and then went over on the Hibiya park side where km41 would be and ran the final 1.2km. Crazy freezing and crazy windy. Was not expecting this at all. Took pics all along, so not much of an effort on this one. Body felt fine and no issue to get to sleep later on. Carb-depletion was not done fully thought, but reducing a bit the intake of carbs. Work in the evening to finish my day.
M Day -4
Early awaken and well-rested. Too early maybe. Changed and got a morning run along the race route again. The plan was 8-10km but it turned into a long(er) 15km repérage. Ran from km10/28 to km14, skipped the straight line to km 15 & back and took the km16 to the mid-race instead. Beautiful weather outside (read: sunny and chilly…4°C out there…). Felt good and once again the body was all ready for running. Too many stops during the run though in order to let the cars pass at the traffic lights. Good protein brunch cooked at home and then time to work a bit. Decided to go for some sightseeing too…on foot… Which work very well. Ended in 15km walk and frozen little me decided to call it the day after that. Not because I was tired, but the legs were expected to run a race in four days after all. Back home and light dinner. And then evening meetings and work. Time for bed after a while.
M Day-3
Once again awaken pretty early. Very sweaty, which made me think I might go down for a cold or something and that was NOT in the plans. Drank a bit before heading out. Easy run to the Imperial Palace and then final fast distance trial before the race. Turned into 2*2.5km instead of 5km as the wind was really bothering me and honestly, I did not feel like fighting it today. Ran under drizzle and 14°C warmth in the air. Really nice…if it wasn’t for the wind. Could not get to the proper pace, either too slow or too fast. Ran back home and that was it. Breakfast and work. Changed my plans there as well and headed to the expo to get my BIB instead of doing it on my rest day on Friday. Took the bus down, walk the last bit, got my BIB and got lost in a very large and very loud expo. Bus back home, lunch and dead-tired little me laid down on my bed for a quick nap, which turned into 1.5hrs… Up for some work for the rest of the day. Unable to sleep early this time. Watched a movie on my laptop.
M Day-2
Rest day! Yipiii?…. Not really. Had nothing to do really, so worked a little bit and then took my shoes on and headed to Zojoji park for a bit of walking. The aim was MAXIMUM 5-6km walk. Got to the park, took lots of pics and then headed towards Moji park and the Maman araignée sculpture (with such an arachnophobia of my kind that was NOT considered as good therapy…) and then back home. Work the rest of the day. Once again got dead-tired around 3pm, slept 2hours and then back to work. And it was already time for bed. Again… Counted down the hours left to the start…several times! The positive with this day was the carboloading had started. Chose to drink the “sport drink” served during the race throughout the day. Work fine. Meals were pretty simple though: pork bowl with rice for lunch and noodles for dinner.
M Day-1
OMG! Only one day left! Prepared my breakfast and left it for a final leg shaking on the marathon course. Went to km10 and ran up the street towards km8 or so and then turned back home. The program said 4-6km and accelerations. A bit difficult to do the accelerations in streets which have stops at every traffic light…and honestly I completely forgot to do them… Nice leg shaking. Felt a bit off. Was it really tomorrow (already?) that the race would be? Rest of the day was pretty much based on “doing the least possible”, which was annoying as the sun was shining and it did not feel (that) cold outside. Spent time at the close-by Starbucks and then back home. Got my gear ready, carefully reading once again (!) all the instructions to get to the start and how it would work at the end. Food-wise it turned into a larger portion of beef bowl with rice and miso for lunch, additional drinking of sport drink during all afternoon and evening, a soy chocolate and chocolate chip scone at Starbucks and a bun stuffed with red beans later during the day. Mostly drinking during the afternoon and evening. Felt all fine. Ready? Not really, but that would do. Double-checked (again?!) the route to get to the start. And put myself into bed and watch 3 episodes of Game of Thrones to relax a bit. In deep sleep before 11pm. That’s a first for a night before a race…
M DAY!!!!
Finally!!!!
Before the race
04:05am – awoke up a bit, well-rested. Decided to remain in bed until the clock ring… Not really actually. Too much thoughts in the head, feeling at the same time that the mind was empty. Hummm…
5:05am – Up now for breakfast before the alarm rang. Breakfast of champions once again (chia seeds, green mix, 2 bananas and Pocari water, orange juice. Had not found a bread I wanted but bought 4 small pancakes… not reading the Japanese text (!) saying they were stuffed with something looking like jam and cream-like stuff. No time for finding a replacement. Cleaned up as much as could of the cream&jam off the pancake, covered it with honey and that was it. Not really ready for more sleep though.
5:35am – ok. Time to get ready. Got a video call from E, which made me very happy and for sure I got a bit late, but cheering at this time of the day is just priceless! Hot shower, drops in the eyes, fixing the hair, warming gel on the legs and that felt like everything was ok for going. Skipped the drinking every half hour and drank a bit more at once around 6:10am, hopefully all would be out before the race starts. Race outfit was a simple choice (had taken only one…): SWE hotpants and singlet, arm sleeves and wind gloves, a neckwarmer and ADIDAS Adizero Adios Boost Purple (Quicky). Got my sunglasses on the top of the head as counting for some sun. put 2 gels in my back pocket, one in a sock in the back of my sports bra, dextrosol and final red gel in the front. Had extra gel and strawberry small stuff in a little bag as well for before the start. And that was it!
6:10am – the wait was killing me (already) so I took on extra tshirt I would throw before start, my long pants and my black cosy jacket (had noticed the day before that unsmart I had forgotten to take a running jacket with me to get to the start… and yes, it was written on the checklist for preparing the luggage for the trip…).
06:15am – TIME TO LEAVE! Headed to Kayabasho subway station. Got stopped by a Japanese lady running who just would not stop in encouragements and word of kindness. Very nice indeed to hear this right before the race 🙂 Cheering is always good. Her final words were in English with “good luck”. Metro to Otemachi station for then changing to the line which would bring me to Shinjuku, where the start was. Started to see a bit more runners with their bags and the closer we got to Shinjuku, the more we saw 🙂 At least I was on the correct direction!
07:01am – Finally out of the subway and then long walk to the Gate 2 where I was getting in. A bit chilly, but I was covered enough. The atmosphere was a reminder of London where all runners get to the train stop and then all walk in the same direction towards the start area with all the luggage trucks. Crazy long queue at the first loo made me continue to walk and quickly after, there was just nobody there. First pitstop to empty this blaster of mine. Found my truck #3, but felt that it was a bit too early to leave it (as it meant taking off my clothes and staying with bare legs in the cold. Without running yet). All was well indicated and despite the number of people growing in the area, it felt well organized. And there was always someone to ask indication to.
7:33am – Off with the pants and cosy warmjacket. I put one gel in each of my arm sleeves, leaving only one in my back pocket. Felt like a smart move. Quick photo from a very kind volunteer and headed to my start group. A bit of wait to get up the stairs and got directly to the loo. Second pitstop. Cannot understand a blaster can hold THAT much… Then I headed slowly to my start.
08:03am – Assigned to Group A – Run as One, which meant having the invited athletes, then the elite athletes and then…us! Very cool indeed. Another cool thing was that they separated the ladies and the men for the start. We had the left side and the men the right side. This was to avoid accident at start apparently. And then the wait started…in the cold. A line of Japanese was already sitting in the front and I took the row right behind. Pretty freezing legs and I really regretted NOT to have planned for this. Decided to do a few rounds of running in our corral while it was still empty. Not much of a warmup really, but at least it was making the body a bit less lethargic and after turning around a bit, it felt warmer. Still one hour to go…
8:17am – Still a lot of wait. Sitting here in the cold asphalt with my legs covered as good as I could with my too-big tshirt… Found out that there was no toilet close to our start corral, but it felt all fine. Stood up a bit to look at the elites warming up. Very surprised actually to see them doing rounds and rounds and rounds for quite a while, one hour before the start. Very jealous to see all of them in long pants and warm jacket…. Cannot tell that I was the only one! Most of the runners around me had extra tops but bare legs. Not all of them, but still.
8:26am – a bit of chat with my Japanese runner-buddy close to me. Not understanding a single word but getting that she wanted to know my expected time to finish. Having a 2:50 written on my arm, she left her eyes to the skies. I re-insured her by showing my real wristband for 3:00-2:58. Would not go faster today with this cold for start. After a bit of while sitting, we just got closer and closer so to warm each other. Which was cosy and nice. Other runners were doing the same. She happened to be running her first marathon ever… Felt pretty cool to have this done here in Tokyo.
8:40am-ish – alignment of the wheelchair athletes. Once again, pretty cool to have them one meter before me! I think I recognize a couple of them. A bit of buzz on the left side… the elites were lining up. WoooooW! How COOL is that?!?! Yes it is not the first ever time to have elite of this level starting beside me, but here he was! The former WR-holder Wilson Kipsang and other fast guys around him. They just look amazing, calm and focused…and so-like “normal people”!
9:ish am – Hearing the Japanese anthem. Feeling that I need to get to the loo. Now! Really much. Looking right and left. All runners are standing and I feel like sitting down…. Guys do it ALL the time in the start of races, which would gals not be able to do it… But nope. Not freaking bold enough to do it. That might work. Maybe.
9:05 am – start of the wheelchair race. The elite athletes are now lining up in front of us. Seeing Sara Hall there. In the middle of Kenyan and Japanese elites. The male runners are freaking gorgeous! They look fast and are actually fast too! Turning around quickly, so many people behind us. 30,000 runners!!! How cool is that?!?!? Throwing my t-shirt away. Eating the two small strawberry jellies. And that was it. Seconds left… No countdown… Still we are not allowed to get close(r) to the elite athletes and stand 10m behind them…
THE RACE
First half
09:10am – BAAAAM! We are finally unleashed! No push, no pressure. Loving those starts. Feels like there is more pushing on the right side when the male runners are starting. To have a pretty freezing body to be asked to run at 4:10-tempo right from the start ain’t one of my specialties… And indeed the start with the confetti, the roar from the crowd (probably just in my head…), the pounding of thousands of feet on the asphalt… Talk about thrill! Turning pretty soon on the right and there we mix with the guys. Still pretty good. Checking that my watch has started properly and yes. Indicating sub4 start, which sounds pretty logical and ok. The first 5K are regular downhill, so the plan is to get as much ahead of time by km10 and then getting into MP. Not planning to burn all my energy there though. Downhill running is however the worse when having a blaster ready to explode. Seeing a first loo on the right side and guys running towards it. Have always felt that it was strange to have people getting to the loo so close to the start being given. Now I was right in it. 900m to the next toilet. That would be my stop. Not a chance I am running much longer this way. And Beeep! First km clocking in…WHAAAAAT?!?!? 3:17? Yeah sure! D*mn buildings and stupid GPS. Pressing lap when the km1-sign is appearing. Feeling that I am about 4min-tempo and that is fine. And here they are, the next stop for the loo. Cannot do anything else but stopping. Counting the seconds and probably lost 20-25seconds there. But way better after that. My km2 was fine but this stop is killing my km3-pace… I ran right back in the crowd. I have however lost the gals I was following. I have lost the pace I had. I have lost the flow I got from start. All these will never come back during the race. Feeling a bit off. The GPS is completely wrong, the km-signs are not placed properly. Even when I am lapping them on the watch. OK, running alongside of a couple of gals, felt ok. Have no clue how fast (or more likely “how slow”) I am running. So I wait until getting to km5. Good. Right under 21 minutes. Surely slower than I wanted, but considering the stupid-but-necessary stop at the loo, that would be ok. How will I get back those 20-30 seconds I lost is the next challenge… If this is not done before km10, then I doubt there is other place more appropriate for that in the race. Have taken a few glups of Pocari water at the station and it goes well. Not really necessary, but you never know… (Well, you eventually know, but then it is generally too late!). The sun is shining. Feeling a bit warm with the arm sleeves. Both gels have now gone down along my arm sleeves and are right at my elbows. BOTH of them! Not practical at all. Km7 of now passed. The flow is gone. I cannot find a good way to get INTO this race. Hoping that it would change when reaching the parts I have run during the prior days. We separate from the km10-race by now – they have the right side of the street and we -marathoners- have the left side. Shortly we reach km8. But this does not really ring a bell. I have run here yesterday, stupid mind of mine. Remember the feeling! Now! There has been quite some turn right and left since the start. My compass is off…on the top of everything else. As good as I enjoy the sun then! Feeling at least that the effort level is pretty low. Kilometers after kilometers. I try to figure out how to get into a decent pace which would make the body pressing a bit, but nope. Getting to km9 and the Starbucks on the left side. Feeling like stopping by for a Soy chocolate… Not right now! Focus! Under the bridge and we are getting close to km10. A little up towards the “Go! Go!”-sign I have seen a couple of times in the past days and we turn left, when the 10km-runners turn right. Taking off my gloves then…and losing my blue/yellow bracelet that T has given me… Looking back at it on the asphalt, considering running back to pick it up, but nope. Sadly continuing forward. 10km has been reached. Passed slightly under 42minutes. Stupid slow donkey I am! 1 minute off the pace I wanted there! But here is my “hoods” 🙂 Feeling comfortable after turning left and getting to the first little bridge (of many before we would get back to this specific spot). Did not feel THAT heavy as the day I ran here. Have taken a bit of Pocari water again at the 10km-station. All according to plan…apart from the slow pace. The stretch to km14 or so is just disappearing as in a trance. Hearing there somewhere the first “Heja Sverige! Ser stark tut!“ (“Go Sweden! Looking strong!”) from a gal on the side. She got me smile 🙂 And I wave. The tricky of this race is the feeling of running in another planet or universe. Not understanding a single cheering (even though I know the thousands of people in the street ARE cheering), not understanding a single sign written on the posters, seeing mostly Japanese around (and apologies is other Asian were in the race and I mistakenly count them in the Japanese). I feel off. Reaching km12 and the countdown is continuing: 30km to go 🙂 Feeling too good for being in a race actually. Enjoying the sun too much. Looking a bit too much around. Calculating too many time how far off the expected time I am. Too much thinking really! Reaching the separating street where we go straight towards km15 and the other come back and turn towards km16. As expected the female athletes are there. Beautiful sight. Then lots of Japanese elite men and then I try to focus again on MY race. Feeling rubbish. Why on earth continuing if I cannot make it to the time I want and can? AWAY WITH THIS THOUGHT! Turning back at the end of the street. Noticing that we have reached Kamirarimon Gate. WHAT?!?! Have we run THAT far? I was there on Wednesday and took the subway there!!! Passing a few gals. But not many enough. Taking a few glups of pocari water at the 15km-station as well as throwing a glass of water on my too-hot head. Feeling great afterwards. And now we are turning left towards the halfway point. My wristband indicate that I am still good for a 2:58 finish. Have not seen the 3:00-pacesetters and do NOT want to see them. Doubting I will pass the halfway for 1:28, but should definitely be under 90minutes. Small bridges up&down all the way to the halfway. Passing km19. Preparing my gel to take before km20. OMG it feels warm. Have to dig into my left arm sleeves to get the gel. NOT practical at all! Taking the gel. The opening is not working properly and I have to use both hands for pressing it inside my throat 😦 Soon enough I will get water…I think… and I thought wrong. Passing km20 still in half-decent time and then turning left for this stupid 500m back&forth. Couldn’t they have had the route heading forward for 500 more meters instead?!?! Full sun on this little stretch. Feels like I am in another world. Feels pretty quiet in my head even though I see people screaming and cheering. Turning back and trying to accelerate towards the mat. And passing the first tables of sport-drink…WHERE IS THE BLOODY WATER?!?!? Ooooh….here after… Slowing down to drink properly and the race is on. Haven’t seen the 3:00-guys yet. But from time to time, there are groups of guys coming heavily behind me and it sounds like the 3:00-group… Turning right again. Seeing the km21-sign. Yihoooo! Still in this race. Passing halfway a bit above 1:29. But still under 1:30 😛 One half done, one half to go!
Second half
This second half starts with a little slope to get under the bridge and then straight… Getting into a good pace (I think?) and passing km22 actually happy. I know this place, I have seen the nice park on the left the other day and there is only 20km left to this race. Straight and then left. Feeling a bit off. Taking dextrosol at km23 and then 24. Cannot see km25 getting close soon enough. GPS is stupid and crazy again. What is my d*mn pace????? (Apart from being snail-like…again!). Taking sport-drink at km25 and right after, I can feel they are there: Right behind me. In my footsteps. Seeing in a shop window a guy with a golden balloon attached to him. NooooO! The 3hr-guys are here!!! Nothing better to stimulate and increase the pace than knowing you have a bunch of guys steering at your butt/legs/back/whatever they steer at. Km26 is getting in a better pace. They SHALL NOT PASSSSSS! I actually smile and laugh inside at this thought. Km27 is gone with this little stupid bridge close to home…and they get closer. Turning towards km28 and accelerating…. Passing the km28-sign and they are still behind me. The long stretch coming I know it. It is killer if not focused…and that is when it happens. Right before km29, the first pacesetter passes me. The lap on his back indicates “My gun time is 3:00”, meaning that if I keep up with them, I should get to 3hrs (as I believe my net time will be pretty much the same as gun time). Sun in the face, trying to keep up, but the right hip ain’t liking it. I am not running that fast, what is its problem then?!?! The street feels like 10km-long. Have they stretched it since Tuesday when I ran there? Pretty sure they did… The 3hrs balloons are still there. Passed by 2 gals who are hanging along those balloons. Doesn’t matter how many guys are there. Only gals are counting. And finally reaching the 30km turn. Have missed the km29-sign. Taking the second gel I have in my other arm sleeve. Not much easier to reach as it is closer to my wrist than my shoulder by now… Taking my time to open it…and even WALKING at the 30km-water station. What is WRONG with me?!?! Have reached the final 12km. Counting that the snail-like pace I am having might mean It’s gonna take an hour before I finish this thing… REALLY? Seeing the elite guys on the other side moving towards their final 2km is helping boosting my low enthusiasm to a little higher level. Now I am no longer focusing. I know that and it makes me not happy at all. Should has well stopping it now… Well, no I don’t think so. Because there is only 10km left now and that means really nothing compared to what has been run already. So stop weeping inside your head and finish this! Passing the Zojo ji park. Really? I have seen it two days ago. Don’t need to see it AGAIN! The sun is warm by then. Seeing the elite women on the other side and that is just beautiful to see. Sara Hall is the only one I know by name and face and this is spectacular to see her running! OK, back to my stupid race. The 3:00 balloons have disappeared. No idea how. Suspecting the guys have left them blowing away so I would not know how far from me they actually are. Good move! It won’t make me feeling more down than I do right now. The right hip and the muscle right under the bum are not happy. But now I see the turning point. This is it. Not much left. Have checked the “counting down” km-signs on the other side of the road and they will hopefully keep me focused until the end. Final stretch. I see the 5km to go-sign. Nothing. Less than 25 minutes. I hope… Passing again the Zojo ji park. Seeing the other runners on the other direction and am so pleased I am now on this side. The sun is warming my back and it feels good. Cheering coming with a smiling “James” and a “Go Sweden, go” could not come more appropriately! I have been cheering for a Spanish guy just earlier telling him “go go Italia”… So the mind ain’t really in the game, but at least I can take the cheering from others! Not sure at all what pace I am running at. Just focusing on the two gals before me and decide to not let them disappear from my side. Getting closer to them. Cheering from the left for a gal passing me on my right does not make me happy. I keep on running and she will NOT pass me. It does not feel that I am pushing at all here! Swedish cheerings are heard once more on the left side from the gal I saw earlier. Could not make me happier! If only it could make me faster… Reaching for my red gel. Taking it fast and hoping to be able to get water and here it come. The water station. Feeling fine with grabbing the water cup, slurping some of the content and continuing to run. I see the 2km to go-sign. This is nothing. Passing one gal with her paceholder. Where is MY paceholder?!?!? It feels like I have been running on my own ALL the way!!! I love the cheering at this moment. I count down and give me less than 10 minutes to reach the end. I will crawl to the end if need be, but I will NOT let any new gal passing me nor slow down. Km41, corner of Hibiya park. I LOOOOOOVE THIS PART! Passing one gal once more but keeping it safe still as I really do not want her to pass me right before the finish line. Turning right and then left again. No more sun in the back. THIS is the final stretch. Fresh in mind from Barcelona, I dig deep to accelerate and make this 800m(?) count. Passing two gals and then the cheered one is coming back on my right!!! NOT.A.CHANCE! I am strong and I can prove it. More power to the engine. Cannot hear anything but one “Go Sweden, Go”. Lifting my hand to thank. And by half way to the end of the street, my left knee is stopping to work properly. WHAAATTTT?!?!? I feel like I have to stop. Rest this stupid knee. No. Not now. Feels like I am limping…because I probably do! Running on those stones on the street ain’t helping. Passing guys as well. I am almost finished. No clue how long is left. The only thing I see is this giant blond gal in front of me. One more place to win. Just one more little place. Passing her on the left right when we turn left to the final final fiiiiiiiinal stretch. No cheering here. Sounds dead-quiet in my head. I just want to get to the finish mat. No idea WHERE it is. Go go go! You’ll fall later after the….finish line? Here? Now? Already?!?!? Pressing my stop button. Shaking a bit while slowing down. And smiling. Done!
Official time received later: 3:02:31…
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After the finish line
My watch is stopped. Don’t want to look at it. There’s no point. Disappointment is not HUGE as I thought it would be. I have limited the damages and that’s what count. Getting a large smiling thanks from James from Mexico, my running buddy since km30 or so. Then from other runners from Japan. That feels pretty good and cool to hear that I helped them getting to the end 🙂 Looking strong tells me one guy right after hugging me. OK. At least I made people happy today! Talking with James and meeting the long blond gal I passed in the final stretch. We are turning right to get to our bag trucks. Receiving a cool Finisher-towel (no tshirt). And the long walk is starting. NY marathon-long walk-like… Quick stop for a finisher photo. Chatting with those two guys along the way to the end. The blond gal from NY had Tokyo as warmup race before London in 2 months, where she is aiming for 2:50. The Mexican guy had 3:40 for goal as he had been in bad shape (sick) the past 4-6 weeks. What is my excuse then for my ridiculous/boring slow time?… Getting my bag. Pics with James and then final hug before I aim back to Hibiya park to get my 6-stars medal. Have started my watch after getting my bag and it will actually show that I walked 3km (!) to get back to Hibiya park. Probably more as I took the subway path as well. Tricky to get there as the streets are closed and I have to get back to where runners are arriving. A king volunteer is bringing me back…to the finish line (!) and then heading towards the left-side turn of finishers. Walk walk walk… and getting once again some refreshments, another finisher towel and space cover. Say no-thanks for an additional medal and then…finding a kind volunteer to get me to Hibiya park. Looooong way underground and finally to the Hibiya park. Finding a guy with “6-stars” sign who tells me where to go. Which was actually a bit incorrect and I get another kind volunteer to help me around…the loooooong way around! We chat a bit and he tells me he is a runner too. 10,000m and 5,000m are his specialty at the moment but that he wants to get to the marathon one day. 33min to the 10K… not bad I said. Yes, but you can finish a marathon he answers 🙂 And after moremoremore walk, we finally reached the 6-stars area. Greetings and thanks. Getting my second (heavy) medal. And that’s it. I am done. Where do I go now? Final pic with both medals in front of the fountain, quick stop at the free acupuncture tent and I am finally out of the park. Seeing the runners still moving along. Happy to be finished, I am telling myself. Why was I so slow? It feels fine now. The limping of the final stretch, the excruciating pain in the hip after the finish line and all the way to the bag pick-up area…all that is gone…
5km-walk to get back home (instead of the straight 2km…no idea how I got so wrong!) added to the 3km to get to the 6-stars area… Good resting pace and move for those tired legs of mine who did not deliver properly today. Emptying my bag when reaching home and off with my outfit. Laying on the bed for a while, drinking some more water and then shower and getting out for some food. Found a fun fish restaurant pretty close to home, which I dare to enter. Ordering skewers and dumplings, a coke and a Japanese tea. No need to celebrate as nothing has been properly done today. The body still needs food… Finishing my day with a steamed bun filled with red beans (I feel crazy about them now!) and that’s it. Tired in the head, tired in the body, but tricky to get some sleep. Until the whole body just shut down. Good!
A disappointing day in the capital of the Rising sun country, but still an adventure to remember and a 6-star medal to show that this 19th marathon was not THAT bad after all. 4th best time ever in a marathon and best time in all world majors. OK, this was not a totally bad day after all….
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Weather: 9°C, Sunny, Feels like 9°C, high humidity. Pretty cold and chilly at start, but as soon as getting the legs running, it felt as usual nice and perfect for running. Took a bit however to have the bum properly warmed up while the legs took less long. Estimating the average temperature throughout the race as 9-10°C. Not much wind. Sunny.
Food: > before: chia porridge with green mix and orange juice, 2 bananas, 4 small baby pancakes with honey, Pocari sweat (5dl?) (5:10am)
> right after: banana+Pocari sweat
> on the way back home: steamed bun with red beans
> 5.5 hours after: skewers+dumplings+rice, coke and japanese tea
> During: 2 strawberry jellies right before start, Pocari sweat @km5-10-15-25, green gel @km20-30-35, red gel at km40 (right before the water stations). Dextrosol: 2 at km22 and 1 every km or so at km23-24-26. Full Dextrosol halfpack left…
Gear: ADIDAS SWE outfit (hotpants & sports bra), Casal Iconic black Sports bra MIK, arm sleeves blacke, Decath windgloves pink/black, sunglasses, shoes happy to run on the feet. As usual, they just were great. A bit strange feeling at start as the asphalt was not really plain and nice. It felt a lot under the feet then…
=> Perfect outfit? Without question…Well it was the only one I had! Apart from black shorts and other singlet. The arm sleeves felt good until the sun warmed a bit more and it felt then quite warm. Had them down to the elbow as soon as I had taken the gels. Using them for the gels was NOT optimal! Hotpants looked good and worked well too. For once!!! Singlet was all fine, although I could have run as well with only sports bra. The gel carrying worked. Not optimally, but ok. The Dextrosol carrying was once again a disaster and I will NOT have them in the front of my sports bra in future races… Burn marks once AGAIN… DO I ever learn?!? Forgetting to have extra long pants to keep myself warm before the start was not good. To keep in mind and be better prepared next time.
14/ Up to the halfway I tried to have a decent effort level. Probably got to 15 or so, but after getting passed by the 3hrs-guys, not a chance that the effort was higher than a 13/14. Did not want to have more pain in the hip while still wanting to finish this race. This is disappointing not to have been able to get higher on the effort level. But better safe than sorry….
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SUMMARY: This race was expected to be an adventure. To a country far far away. All alone. And it ended this way too. Disappointing results, but finalizing the race was as usual one of the objectives. And this one was completed at least. It gives more experience to the whole journey. The race itself was perfectly arranged. From the expo to the new route. I am very angry at myself for this stupid stop at the loo 2km-into the race. What was the alternative really?… I never get into the race really, and probably because of this stop. The 20-25seconds stop did kill probably most of the first half. Unsure how the hip would have worked out without this stop. The weather was definitely on the positive side. After a few freezing days in Tokyo, it was a delight to be running under the sun (well…OK…it was dead-freezing at start however…). The wind was there but not annoying at all.
On the downsides, the GPS freaking out was also not cheering for me today. Could hear some other watches beeping properly at the km-signs, when mine was just crazy. Good to have wristbands for reference… The hip was not functioning properly and unsure how to explain it. The walk like crazy after the finish line should be revised. NO need to walk so much really. Hopefully they will re-assess this arrangement for future races. The walk back to Hibiya park was just stupidly too long (but still worth for the medal I got 🙂 ).
All-in-all, Sunday long run in Tokyo provided some miles under my feet and more experience for the future. Head has rested now, body is under recovery. Cannot wait to race again…properly this time! 🙂
===> Loads of thanks for the cheering and the support received while I was preparing this race. Not many knew about it and that was the plan. Preparation did work very well, despite the stupidly crazy cold weather at home, the race-prep in Barcelona was ok but might have made the body a bit tired 2 weeks before Tokyo. Well, missing the expected time, missing the placing I was planning, I still completed the race, and that counts fully. Celebration needed, even if only little J The season is still young…
Thanks to all the runners who cheered during the race. Mostly foreigners (ie not Japanese). Thanks for the lovely Japanese gals I met right before start. Unable to speak the same language, but running was what made us happy. Together 🙂 Great thanks to the gal cheering in Swedish along the course and for the pics received afterwards. Priceless! Thousands of thanks for all the cheering people along the course. Not understanding a word but still getting your warmth for continuing the running! And final thanks to you, my special people, who are standing there in my mind when the running gets tough or the running gets fun or the running gets easier. Your support and love are counting so that no word can really describe.
Big thanks to E for video-calling me in the morning of the race. A large smile and encouragement kept in my thoughts, which got me to the end! Loads of thanks for my little personal cheering-squad at home, always supportive and encouraging during training and race. Priceless!
******
A few more days in Japan, sun shine or grey skies, a lot of walking… I might wait a bit longer before this tattoo on my hip saying in Japanese “The limping snail”… Time for recovery now. The body feels fine, no hip nor knee trouble two days after the race, and despite the walking and walking and more walking around in Kyoto. More rest will be still on the menu for a few days… thereafter…new adventures shall begin! THANKS!
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A few “after-race thoughts”
NOTE: Let’s start with the body. Because it always is the body that might stop from achieving this particular goal. Tired after the finish line mostly because of the final 1km-sprint (or whatever you may call the limping-stuff I did). The hip pain was not planned and am a bit unsure how it came into picture. The knee pain was also a surprise (a bad one) as it really felt I would not be able to walk at all after all this. But nope. Nothing. To be checked, but still. Thinking it is a bad compensation of the body of some kind. Have to work on this. A positive note? Achille’s heels did not bother me at all. Good sign, right?
NOTE: Warmup? Would more likely call it a “cool down” what I had today! Freezing was an understatement! Felt pretty jealous to see the elites running back and forth during probably 20-30 minutes in their training clothes, while we were freezing sitting on the cold asphalt. Lessons learned: I will have a full outfit on my on the top of my racing outfit for the next race! Not a chance I will freeze this way again! Took probably 1-2km for getting into a good rhythm…which was killed due to the stop at the loo…
NOTE:…which brings me to the “loo incident”. HOW ON EARTH CAN THIS HAPPEN?!?! Had timed well the drinking, got to the loo twice before start…but still…. Having over one hour of wait made it pretty clear that the blaster would not master it. Unsure what could have been done differently. But that will NOT EVER happen again to stop during a race. Promise to myself.
NOTE: Energy/refueling during the race? On this, I am actually pretty happy and proud about how it went. The sport drink during all the first half worked properly. Still a bit tricky to drink in the paper cups, but worked anyway. Then the gels taken were all fine and well planned. Did not take the extra one I had in the back of my sport bra. Not needed. Could probably have done without the Dextrosol and take sports drink instead. What did NOT work was the carrying of the Dextrosol. Won’t happen again. Promise to myself.
NOTE: Beetroot loading? Still unsure this helps or not helps. Will probably cut it for the next races. Although beetroot juice is good to drink 🙂
NOTE: then…gels in the sport-bra, on the back? Same as earlier races. No issue with that. Only that I did not take this gel…
NOTE: …and dextrosol+gel in the sport-bra, in the front? Read thought above… won’t happen again. I mean it this time…
NOTE: then…gels in the arm sleeves and back pocket of the hotpants? Arm sleeves were a good-to-have for the race. But should have attached the gels to the arm sleeves maybe. Backpocket of the hotpants worked fine.
NOTE: Tokyo marathon is hereby the LONGEST marathon I have ever run (since Berlin 2013…) – 42,88km 😛
NOTE: Post-marathon recovery on-going and working well. 20km walk each day after the race for two days… the body is happy to move! Time to plan for a massage. More days ahead without running and then have to take care of that hip of mine. So that it won’t annoy me next time.
New adventures on the way…
Race Report – BCN Mitja Marató de Barcelona 2017/02/12
Nice medal, DAB before start and smiling after.
Planned: sub90, 87-88 maybe. Training-race as warmup to next race to come…
Actual: 1:28:50 – within the expected time-range, but a bit slower than could have been. Still…sub90 is a good time for a training race. The body was all good from start to end, and as usual (!) a bit indecently not-tired after the finish line and despite the final sprint.
- Took at least 20 sec to reach the start mat.
- Took at least 1.7km to get into a race rythm.
- Took 10km to get to cruise pace.
- Took 11.7km to start slowing down the pace but still feeling fine.
- Took last 2.5km to enjoy passing so many guys.
- Took 1.1km at the end to get passed, keep the gal in sight, start to sprint with 600m left, pass her not without fight, pass another gal and miss a place to the finish at less than half a second.
- Final sprint of half a km @3:41… liking it…but also meaning I had way enough strength to run slightly faster before…
A good start for the year anyhow!
Place: 55 – all women, 6 – age category, 3rd Swede & 1,234 out of 15,242 finishers. A good way to start this year…
Splits (official)
| Split | Time | Diff | Min/km | Total |
| 5km | 00:21:00 | 21:00 | 04:12 | |
| 10km | 00:41:52 | 20:52 | 04:10 | |
| halfway | – | – | – | |
| 15km | 01:03:13 | 21:21 | 04:16 | |
| 20km | 01:24:27 | 21:16 | 04:15 | |
| Finish | 01:28:50 | 04:23 | 3:59 | 55 |
Way slower than RIL in October already from first 5K. On the other side the route was slightly up then in Barcelona. All in all, a good and comfortable pace throughout…
Totals
| Place | 55 |
| Place (age) | 6 |
| Place (total) | 1234 |
| Time total | 01:28:50 |
| Average pace | 04.13min/km |
In short: Niiiice! Sub90 to start the year. Stable throughout, even though lost quite a lot during the first 2km. Good run in Spain!
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BEFORE THE RACE
The 2 days before…
Traveling down to Barcelona with G on Friday. Went smoothly. Took the long bus ride to the city center. No sun shine directly, but that was still better than back home… Found the apartment and then we walk the long way to pick up the BIB and then back home and eat. Pizza for late lunch and pasta on the menu for dinner. No creativity whatsoever… Body felt all good for running, although a bit sluggish as it often is prior to race.
Saturday started with an easy run, done from home to the start and then running the first 5km was the plan. It showed that the 5km from the start were nothing to fear which was nice to know. Thereafter Lost a bit my way and the “easy 4-6km” turned into 9km… Took it easy the rest of the day. Relax and preparing my race gear. Still unsure regarding the weather.
Race day
4:45am – Already??? Up early for breakfast, as I wanted to get into “marathon-testing” mode. Chia seeds, green mix and sport drink. All get down and that’s it. Then back to bed. When the alarm rang again, it was time to get ready. No rush. Long hot shower and on with racing gear (NY singlet, SOC blue army shorts, black arm sleeves and neckwarmer as well as my superduperfast shoes ADIDAS Adizero Adios Boost – Purple (Quicky). Setting two Swedish flags on my left arm and I am good to go! Woke up G, check for the 100th time my bag with changing clothes, that I have my BIB on my singlet… and then we were both ready to go.
7:00am – A bit chilly outside, good to have long pants and jacket on. Would gladly get back to my warm bed… but did not. We walked nice and easy to the start with G. Lots of people. Passing the train station (?) where the bags can be left. So nice to have G there and to let him all my clothes before running. Real luxury treatment!
08:00am – Arriving in the park and keeping my clothes on, started to run…OMG…so easy pace I would have lost a race with snails probably! After a few 100s, got to meet the lady having the world record on this route in 2015 (record that fell 2 days before today’s race… Talk about motivation!!!). Anyway, cool to run right behind her for a short while and at the same pace! Yes! I can follow WR-holder…during her warmup…and for 200m… Final pitstop. A few pics taken in front of the fountain and time to get to the start corral. Off with the long pants and the jacket. Final warm hugs. And that was it.
08:30am – melting in my start group. 1:20 to 1:30. Should work fine. Meeting a Swedish gal, who says not being in the best of her form. Well, she still is in the next-best start group… Seeing the pacesetters for 1:20 and 1:25. OK. Lots of couples actually in this start group. I mean boyfriend/girlfriend. You meet your equal in races probably 😛 They all look so crazily fast anyway.
Deciding to NOT get to the front line. Letting the chaos from start disappearing before I arrive. Quite a lot of runner in front of me then… Those from my group, the “less than 1:20”-group and the elite-group… All those are in front of me. And plenty behind too.
Feeling warm now in the corral. All are pressing against each other as the start will soon be given… Feeling good. Or?… Countdown is suddenly given…at FIVE…four…three…two…one…
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THE RACE
8:45am and BAAAM! Confettis in the skies…
Start is given. But not much happening actually. Starting to WALK!!! And it probably took twenty long seconds before getting to the start-mat (and yes, I was in the second fastest start-group! Right behind the rackets-runner!). Pressing the start button on my watch and heading towards the right side of the street. There is an abrupt left-turn pretty soon after the start and contrarily to other races, I decide NOT to get the shortest path there. Have read enough on this race to understand that it might not be worth it. Had in mind to take it easy first km, but this time…it felt WAY too easy. Checking that my watch has started properly and yes… and it shows 4:20-pace (!) on the first stretch after the left turn… Euuuuuuhhhh…What?!?!? This ain’t easy. This is snail-like pace! Turning right to the main large street and here it feels better. Runners have lots of place to spread out and that ease the running. Reach km1 in 4:17…after an acceleration! I know the first 5-7km of the race, so nothing to fear, right? First cheering from G there right at km1. Now the race is on! A bit off to understand what pace I am having, but the second km is passed @4:07. That’s better! Passing the big statue and then we turn right towards the long slightly slowly steady up part. Probably the trickiest part of the race as it comes right from the beginning. So the plan (in my head) was to take it easy for the first 5km and indeed I do. A bit too much maybe… The long stretch to km4 disappears however quite nice and it feels that the legs and rest of the body are happy to run. No racket-pace, but decent one. Getting passed by the 1:25-pacesetters when we take the little street on the right and I am just hanging along. I know it is not my pace and it is not what I am to run, but it feels fine. Turning right again to the main street Gran Via. Feeling nice and fine. Passing the 5K in 21min, which is a bit slow, but decent enough for being the first 5K. From this part on and for 5 more km or so, it is expected to be faster and downhill. I am having a gal in black outfit and with a bandana on my left and she looks like having similar expectations for the race. She looks tiny but so d*mn strong! No stop for water at the 5K-water stations. No need. Settling in a comfortable pace. OK, passing km6…and soon…we…should… be.soon..turning…right… Helloo!?!? Where is the right turn? Finally arriving. And downhill too. Have a Swedish older guy in front of me. New plan: Keeping him in sight and not letting him go! As well as having the gal with black outfit and bandana on my side. The downhill towards km7 is nice. Getting down to 4:00-pace and then 4:02 pace. Passing the Arc de Triomphe (the one in Barcelona…not the French one!).. Lots of people cheering there. Stretch along the Arc de Triomphe is longer than expected, but the turn left is nice. I am now heading towards km8. Good flow in the legs. The mind is happy. I can do this! I know how to do this! A bit less people in this street, but way more than I thought it would be. I am warm and I have taken off my arm sleeves. In on the front of my sports bra. Waiting for my lovely cheering-squad who should be somewhere there. Passing km8. All good. Sliiightly up, but so note easy to detect it. Looking right, looking left. Needing some smile-energy here! And here he is. The largest smile on his face and the best cheering in the world! All for me! Throwing my arm sleeves to G. Telling him that I am late on the schedule. That should count for 1-2 minutes slower than planned, but still under 90minutes. He just started to walk and then run along the race route. ON the pavement. And I can just NOT stop smiling and keeping my eyes on him. Soooo crazy cool! Cannot feel I am in a race. It is just a nice fast run with lovely G 🙂 OK, he makes it look like d*mn-crazy and I am actually at my race-pace, but it does not matter. All the energy in the world is getting concentrated in those minutes he runs with me and that feels like a blessing from above. He slows down on his pavement, continuing to scream nice things and here I am. Km9 has been passed and I am back on the road, alone. Finding the Swedish guy a bit further than I thought. But still in good sight. And having “my” gal with black outfit and bandana still on my side. Time to turn towards km10… The slight up is not really felt. Indeed, it is not THERE it is going up!!! Wake up, you! Reaching km10 under 42minutes. OK. No crazy pace, but still in good form to get under 90minutes. Right turn after the 10K-mark. Good! Just another one 10K like that, and that’s it! F.O.C.U.S!!!
Would have liked to have G running a bit longer by my side… The stretch after the 10K is not fun. Nobody on the side of the course. The skies are grey… and I am losing my pace-buddy! Felt safe and nice… until… her bandana fell on the asphalt and…she…stops and run back (!) to get it!!! Noooooo! Don’t do this! I am alone here. I am a bit sad actually to have lost her. I try to find another runner to follow. Only guys are surrounding me. And none are having a pace which I can adapt to. I see ahead of me the runners turning left. THERE it is… the little slope after km11…So short, almost missing it! And then the right turn is bringing a crazy “déja-vu”. Running on the street with a separation wall (?) with the other road with the cars. I feel like I have been there before. But not exactly. Took a short while before I connect that in Chicago marathon there is a similar part, but on the other direction! In Chicago we have the road with the cars on our right and here in Barcelona, we have them on our left. Stop this Memory lane trip and focus on the road!!! Right turn and downhill after km12 is SO welcome! Try not to run foolishly fast in the downhill…but it is very tempting! Down to “sub3-marathon-pace” by then. The kilometres to km14 are slower than I want. It is windy a bit, but I cannot really blame it on the wind here. I am the one running… Reaching the right-turn at 13.5km and on the other side of the road, I can see the first female runner Florence Kiplagat turning right…at her km16.5 or so…Yap! She is not one, not two but THREE kilometres ahead of me… Those lost twenty seconds from the start… 🙂 I like the stretch here. I feel the light tailwind pushing us forward. I see the 1:20-pacesetters and their followers on the other side… The thoughts are simple there… I want to be ON THE OTHER SIDE WITH THEM!!! Cannot see any female runners on the other direction for a while. OK, focus on your race, you! Tailwind is nice but the guys around me seems to actually slow down here. Heeeeeeeee what???? A group of 4-5 guys are passing me right before the U-turn towards km15. Just hanging along. Because there…is…headwind! NOT LIKING IT! Once again, and as in many other previous races, I could not get into a pack for running (there was NO pack there) and the guys are not necessarily helpful neither. Passing km15 a bit slower than planned, but that was expected by now. I get to a higher gear to hang with the guys who passed me. Have 3 before me (thanks for the wind-shield!) 2 on the left and one who annoys me as he is on my right but not really passing me nor running behind me. One of the guys before me is getting his foot into a long plastic stuff that was expected to be between two grinds. We (in the group) sees what is going to happen. We all cream at once. He fell right before me. I jump above him. Turning back and he is up already and giving a smile that all is fine. Wow! Hard-core guys here! And we are turning at the km16.5… which is the windiest street of the race. I can feel the wind blowing away my feet against each other from time to time. Deciding to keep it “safe” and ran right behind two tall guys. Which meant as well slowing down, but for a while it felt ok. After what seems to be 100km or so (1…), I got tired of this pace and I pass them. Where is km17 by the way? Have I passed it? Checking my watch, but it is a bit off compared to the km-signs. Probably 200m off… Deciding that km17 is way ahead of me. At least I won’t be disappointed if it some earlier! Beeeep! Km17 on my watch. Keeping on running. Turning left at the little roundabout… and here it is! Km17 has been reached! My brain is just having enough clarity still to get that it is 4km to go. Training last week was aiming to get those 4Ks at 16:30… Not a chance that will happen today! Less than 20 minutes is the best calculation I can do. Waiting for the km18-mark and the “terrible” little slope that so many were fearing apparently. Seeing it coming from a little while as runners are turning left ahead of me. And I was actually unsure of what I had read. Turned left and took this baby-slope on the top of the toes (yes, I let dudes passing me there…but their legs did not like the pace up and they were passed by little-me soon after 🙂 ). OMG this feels so good. Turning right and lightlight down. LIIIIIIKING IT SO MUCH! The final 3km were reached. Straight and flat. Hardly noticing the sea scenery, but honestly, I wanted to have this finished. Seeing double at a moment, two backs with the same tshirt, the same shorts and running, making me feeling like I must be completely off,… but nope. There WERE two guys there! And I am passing them.. Yooohooo! Cheering along. Passing people IS fun! Even better if it could be gals… Turning right. Almost final stretch. At least the km20 is right there. Can see it. Getting the final cheering from G. Woopwooop! A French guy caught up on me too with more cheering words. Feeling so good. Feeling so strong. Surely off my expected pace, but still it feels nice…. Until…as in other races… happens what I REALLY do not like… a gal passes me! There! On the spot! 1.1km to go! The French guy by my side encourages me to “take her, but not now. To wait until the final 600m-stretch”. Which I am planning to do… Steady…steady…steady….. Had watched the arrival of a couple of this particular race in Barcelona and how the race was won at the end by the final sprint. Took it easy until the final left turn. Accelerated progressively there. The gal noticed it as she was looking at me. Waited for the final 400m to push a bit more and pass her. Seeing all those air-arches in front of us…WHICH ONE IS THE FINISH LINE?!?!? Just push. As long as I could hold at least that pace. To the end. And there was another gal right before me. Another place to take! Yoooohoo! Pressing a bit more on those strong legs (which were…hummm…where exactly during the race?…) and pass her too and the final line was there…and the other gal got me by what?…half a second? 😦 Does not matter much. The clock was ticking right after 1:29, but having started after the gun, it gave me a nice sub 89! I am happy! The usual “where is the second half of the race”-feeling is right there. Waiting for me. The people around me appear to be tired. When I am not…
Official time: 1:28:50 (gun time 1:29:15… Those stupid 20sec of walking to the start…)
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AFTER THE FINISH LINE
Getting a hug from the French guy. He has a yellow BIB meaning he was good for a sub80 (!) halfmarathon. And today he arrived behind me. Not that tired as it appears like. Turning like and walking towards the Arc de Triomphe. Getting my medals and water and fruit and that’s it. Heading to the medal engraving tent and THERE I get my sub89-time. Nothing to really climb up to the roofs with, but still. Sub89 is sub89 😛
Getting on my yellow poncho. Feeling a bit cold. Finally finding G after having waited a bit at the alternative meeting point, when he waited at the original meeting point. Hugs, pics and the walking back home. Nice with long and hot shower. Resting my legs a bit. And then walking to the city center for some celebration food. Visit at the Sagrada Familia was nice to have to finish this day! Would have been even better with a hot and shiny sun…
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Weather: 12.9°C Cloudy, Feels like 12.8°C, 13 kph E wind, 82% humidity – good weather conditions. Although the wind was not crazy strong, it did impact on the race. The grey skies were not much fun neither…
Food: breakfast (chia seeds + green mix + powerade + banana) @4:45am, red juice @7:45am, after: water, banana right after the race. Late lunch around 2pm (?)
During: little sport drink right before the start, gel @km10, 15, 20. Not really needed, but it was for training ahead of marathon.
Gear: NY blue singlet, SOC army blue shorts, arm sleeves black, neckwarmer (on the head after half way). Shoes delivered as usual. Did I write already that I just love them?…
Shoes: ADIDAS Adizero Adios Boost – Purple (Quicky)
16/ OK, a bit higher than expected, but it was a race after all… The first 10km was not that high really. Probably 13/14. Don’t know how to get higher and really pushing for faster time here. Just falling into a comfortable marathon-pace is NOT the solution. More work to be done…
******
A few “after-race thoughts”
NOTE: Still subscribing to the “sub90-club” :-). A bit slower than expected, but making it is good enough for this as being a training race. Don’t want to be dead tired in a warmup race, right?
NOTE: Weather-wise, not really the best ever. Temperatures all fine, but the grey skies and the wind with them was not much fun. Barcelona… Hello?!?!? Sun should be shining and it should be warm!!! The wind was not a decisive factor for a slow pace, but was definitely not helping me…
NOTE: Time and place? Well, it did end within the range I expected, so should not be too picky…But yes, I am! The first 5K were too comfy and the 5K from 10-15km felt like slower than should. OK. I am satisfied. Next time will try to be all-in…or close to it.
NOTE: Warmup? Not much of it. But having my extra clothes on until close to the start were a decisive part of NOT freezing before start. Good with a little leg shaking before the race, but should have done slightly better/more probably.
NOTE: Drinking & energy during the race? As being a training race, I took it with the energy feeling I am expecting during the marathon. Took gels, but should have had sport-drink. All fine. Not sure extra energy was required though.
NOTE: Liking this race. Can definitely be on my “future race” list again. If Barcelona can guarantee no wind then, that would be great. Oh…and more sun too… Good cheering along the race (apart from quiet parts…but all races have such…), good organization, nice route. Highly recommending this race!
>> Loads of thanks for support and words of encouragement to be distributed here. Even though I kept this race a bit on low profile, it was great to have some people knowing about it 🙂 The greatest and most special thanks goes to G who came along, endured my pre-race mood, my race-morning mood and my post-race mood. Again, with such cheering on the side, one can do great things! A bit of easy run now, continuing the warming up and then should come the first big adventure for this year 🙂
Race Report – Amsterdam Marathon – 2016/10/16
Happy and soon finishing
Planned: 2:57/58, definitely sub3. Second target top 20, third goal top30…
Actual:……2:59:56. 22nd all women, 6th age category, 2nd Swedish woman, 488 out of total 12,182 finishers. Ok-result but not fully satisfied as missing sub3 in gun time by 13 seconds and had a too relaxed 5km before reaching 40km-mark and waking up for final 2.2km sprint to the Olympic stadium. Still, it is another sub3 and that cannot be ignored…
Race Results:
place (M/W) 22
place (age) 6
Total 488 (out of 12,182)
age/grade: 79.9% (2016 Ferrara 78.2% / Dubai 73.83 / 2015 NYC 75.93 / 2015 WMAC 74,99 / 2014 Chicago 75.97 / Stockholm 76.76 / Rotterdam 78.43 / Dubai 77.74 / 2013 Berlin 75.74/Stockholm:73.1/Boston:72.19/Dubai: 72.35/2012 Berlin:68.29/SF:65.66/London:66.47/Dubai:66.6)
time total (gun) 02:59:56
time total (brutto) 03:00:13
average pace: 4:16min/km
Official splits:
| Name | Time | Time (split) | Pace min/km |
| 5 km | 0:20:57 | 20:57 | 04:11 min/km |
| 10 km | 0:41:37 | 20:40 | 04:08 min/km |
| 15 km | 1:02:26 | 20:49 | 04:10 min/km |
| 20 km | 1:23:51 | 21:25 | 04:17 min/km |
| 21.1 km | 1:28:28 | 04:37 | 04:13 min/km |
| 25 km | 1:45:08 | 16:40 (21:17) | 04:16 min/km |
| 30 km | 2:06:56 | 21:48 | 04:22 min/km |
| 35 km | 2:28:40 | 21:44 | 04:21 min/km |
| 40 km | 2:50:34 | 21:57 | 04:23 min/km |
| 42.2 km (Finish) | 2:59:56 | 09:22 | 04:16 min/km |
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M Day-5
Carb depletion day 1. Had eaten slightly less carbs for past two days. Feeling almost the irritability growing during those days…(or maybe I am always irritable…). As final quality run, I did an interval run with former colleague, run which turned out to be pretty bad for the self-confidence. Would have probably interrupted the run if I had been alone. Wind most of the time, tired, missing my carbs (yeah, let’s blame it on the carbs!). Nope. Rubbish and sluggish feeling. Disappointed at myself for not being stronger. Coach commented it could be the body tired from the last half-marathon run 1.5 week before. Maybe.
M Day -4
Morning run at 5am and 6°C in a pitch black city still sleeping. Good start of the day and perfect to forget the rubbish run of the evening before. Nice easy and light feeling. Few 200m accelerations at the end got the legs very happy. Slight “electric chock” feeling in the left calf and foot made me a bit worried as it happened as well during the last interval the day before. Continuing cab depletion. Work all day. Massage pre-race in the evening with laser treatment on the Achilles heels and left calf. Got also taped light on the left calf to help and relief for this “electricity” feeling. Probably a nerve malfunctioning.
M Day-3
Extra rest day. Never took rest on this day-3 prior to a marathon… Worked all day. Took a walk in the cold after working my day. Pack my suitcase and best of all… started carboloading!!! Noted everything single little piece of food I ate today in order to check (afterwards) how much energy I am actually taking. Body feeling fine. Really want to run.
M Day-2
Travel day! Yeaaah…. For once had booked a flight mid-morning, i.e. could sleep as normal and not wake up before the sun and birds to get to the airport. Light breakfast before leaving home and then toasted ciabatta with ham to complete this at the airport. Slept most of the flight. Well-arrived in Amsterdam, long queue to get my train ticket, 30 minutes later I had found my place in Rembrandtpark. Dropped my bags and took the bike my host let me borrow to get to the expo. Got my BIB, met a Swede “Anders” who hope for sub3 too. Waited a while without seeing Henrik D, went through the expo and cycled back home via the Olympic stadium (unfortunately closed for this day as preparing for the race). Changed gear, bike back to km1 of the race, left the bike, ran 10km easy on the race route and then back home again, with a stop at an Italian deli for a large portion of tagliatelle Bolognese to-go. First real meal since the ciabatta of this morning… Had eaten many bananas and drunk isostar during the day. And the day ended with nice chat with my host Rick before I went to bed around 10:30pm. Less than 48hours to go…
M Day-1
Started the day with sleep-in until 8:30am… Had waken up a couple of times during the night, fearing I had slept too long and missed the start. Running gear on and hop! To the chilly and foggy Dutch morning. Ran easy 5km with a stop at Lidl for some bread and sweets. Finished the run under drizzling rain with a few 100m accelerations. Took 4 of them to get to a fast and decent pace…on slippery pavement… Late and large breakfast at 11:30am and then rest at home until late afternoon. Final meal taken around 3pm. The plan was to have only liquid stuff and easy-to-chew food for the rest of the day. Met Tricky with big brother Christer for their dinner at 5:45pm. Ordered pasta, but took it away with me as I did not feel like eating more. Especially not so “late”. Bike back home in the dark and without light in my bike. Finished to prepare my gear for the race. Review for the 123rd (???) time the route fir the race and when to take my gels. Felt good. Felt ready. Did not feel fast, but enough to make it under 3 without problem tomorow. In bed by 9:30pm. Checking the race route again. Sleeping around 11:40pm (awaken when roommates came around midnight and showered for a while)…and a final check to the race route…and ZzzzzZzzzz…
M DAY!!!!
Finally!
Before the race
00:15am – awaken by the roommates back home and showering. Back to sleep.
2:22am – nice time but still not for waking and going up. Back to sleep.
4:10am – opening the eyes and still not understanding that time was passing sooooo slowly. Back to sleep.
5:25am – awaken before the clock rang. Good! A few minutes sleep-in. Did not want to get fully awaken. Walked quietly to the kitchen, blended some Isostar, ate my breakfast of champions (chia seeds, green mix, isostar. Had no white bread nor bagel, so took 2 slices of brown bread with honey. Glass of water). This should get me up to 200g carbs. All set. Back to bed…
6:00&6:30am – drank water and isostar. Half-asleep/awaken (probably more asleep..)
6:57am – did not want to wait any longer. Got up and headed to the shower. Eye drops for skipping the crying eyes during the race, cream all-over the body (including anti-chaffing cream), fix the hair, set the Swedish flags tattoos (2 small ones on the left arm and a larger one on the right back shoulder). Hoping they are in the correct sense… Jumping in my racing outfit (SWE hotpants and singlets and ADIDAS Adizero Adios Boost Purple (Quicky)). Sunglasses on the top of the head as expected some sun (and some wind). Had 2 gels in a sock in the front of sports bra, 2 in the back of the sports bra and 1 in the little back pocket of my hotpants, with a full Dextrosol. Double-checking again my changing gear for after the race. Getting an extra long pants, a tshirt to throw before start and my running wind jacket. Ready?
08:15am – TIME TO GO! Of course the elevator is the slowest in the whole wide world this morning… Getting to the bike, the air outside is pretty nice. Sun shining, but a bit chilly. This time I found my way in the park without any problem. Reaching closer to Vondelpark and seeing more and more runners walking in the same direction. Parking my bike at the bus stop of “km1-of-the-race” and walking the rest to the stadium. Had thought of jogging a bit, but it is pretty much impossible. Getting to the bag drop area. Taking off my extra clothes apart from the old tshirt Dad gave me, leaving my bag after a quick chat with a Dutch guy telling me that if I made a great time in Rotterdam, I should expect a “best-ever” on this course. Into the stadium, getting myself directly in my starting corral (Yellow) and queuing for the loo….for 16 minutes!!! Good to be on time. Because the queue behind me is getting longer by the seconds passing! Thinking that peeing 30 minutes before start should be well enough. Back to the corral and out again to try to find Tricky in the corral behind. No success.
9:08am – Back to the Yellow corral. Which was for expected time 2:40 to 3:00…Eeeeeuuuh what? How can it be such a large range? It is like setting in the same start a Ferrari and a fast…Volvo (?). Anyway. After a nervous warmup jog, settling in the corral. Chatting a bit around. Saying hi to a Swede (not difficult to recognize with the Swedish outfit he has 🙂 ) Chatting in French, Swedish, English and even a little bit of Spanish. Just loving this moment. The music playing is not always the enthusiastic one you may expect, more likely to be for a nice evening bal or such… Laughing at it with French guys talking about “Bal-musette” 🙂 Not many women here, but the few I noticed look more Ferrari-like, than Volvo-like… Feeling a bit out of my league here (ok…feeling COMPLETELY out of my league!). Hearing a voice I recognize and getting a large smile from Kent M. Nice with a friendly known face. Ready to rock for a sub2:55-like 🙂 Have my pacebands set on my arm. Runners are getting closer to each other. Asking kindly to a French guy before me for having his anti-chaffing cream. Had put some before leaving home, but feel that it is better to be safe than sorry and have some more under the arm pits and the inside of the thighs. Throwing my old tshirt away.
09:25am – presentation of the elite. Could not see our Swedish star (Louise Wiker) in the front corral, but with all those giant guys all around me, that’s understandable (we should have corral per height… the short people first, so we can see a bit better…).
09:28am – Countdown started since 09:00am just continued. Of course it is completely the wrong time to check my shoes as at the same time all the runners are walking forward. Loosing Kent there, but still seeing my French friends. Gels in place where they should be. Still having my little 3dl water bottle with 2.5dl Isostar lemon in it. Taking a glups and deciding to keep it with me for a little while…
09:29am – Everything seems soooo quiet (or is it just in my head?)…
THE RACE
First half
09:30am – BAAAAM! Well, actually, a bit unsure I heard it. A guy on the left did make a noise slightly before the start was given and then could feel the runners moving forward. Same tactic as in Lyon and keeping my elbows a bit on the side. Passing the mat and pressing start on my watch. Had heard about the sluggish start in the stadium and indeed. It just feels like I am walking. Already hearing impatient runners pushing a bit, but I feel fine. Seeing Kent disappearing. We run about 150m in the stadium before leaving it. Careful on the pavement out there. Seeing people cheering already. I feel like a snail would have left the stadium faster than I actually did. Don’t want to check my pace as I might scream if I see how slow I probably am… And anyway, it is better to wait until the first km. Passing under the “500m left” sign and want to check a bit my time anyway. Juuuuuust a little pick…. and good for me! The watch is indicating a distance run of 0.00… and time 0.00… What the….?!?!? Starting it again by pressing start-button. OMG… I am not happy. Can we start this all-over again? Am I in a stupid dream telling me NOT to do that in real life?!?!? Hearing Henrik D’s voice, a good luck and he is passing me on the left. I feel so puzzled for a bit that my legs just run on the habit, rather than for the race. Seeing Kent M on my right. What? He should be far away already. We reach km1. Kent is NOT happy neither with this start. The worse he has had ever. All I want to know is what my pace is. Where is km1-sign? Are we there yet? Passing my bike. No km1-sign I see. Be careful on the road with the tram rails. Running like in a dream or something. Not really in the race at all. Kent is gone. No need to follow him. I have no clue how fast or slow I am. Entering VondelPark and hearing a cheering in Swedish. A guy in black tri-outfit and a cap is talking to me. Still I feel like on a cloud. He asks me what will be my finish time and I hear myself answering “under 3”. Good, we can run together he adds. He starts to talk a lot. Asking if I have run under 3 before. Passing km2, pressing my lap button. OK. At least from now on, I am set for every km. Getting close to km3 and seeing Christer-the-big-brother. Large smile back. A little wave with the hand. And this is soon the end of the park already. Km3 has disappeared in 4:14. The Swedish guy said we were exactly on 4:10-tempo at the entrance of the park. OK. Have to wait until we reach km5 to see exactly how much time difference my watch has to the gun time and take that as reference. Getting to km4 without much trouble. It is actually right under the Rikjsmuseum. Difficult to see as it feels a bit dark there, but not feeling the pushing and crowdedness that people had talked about. When leaving this little path on the other side, THERE you can talk about crowdy! Cheering people on both side and then a runner with a wheelchair with another participant starts shouting to all to move along. Indeed he is fast and being on his way will probably end badly. Passing him on the left and then we turn right and then left and then after a short stretch, left again. Right along the river. Still no clue about my pace. I am just running. I feel however that my bladder is not just functioning, as I really feel like stopping for peeing… Not a chance, not after less than…42,2km! Not taking long before…yappp… the glamour and joy of running….and having a bladder not cooperating at all… Doesn’t really matter… it feels it’s too late anyway. Reaching km5 right after 21minutes on the large clock. OK. Meaning my watch has approximately 3 minutes difference with gun time and that I am right under 2:58-finish time. Looking good! Drinking the little bottle with Isostar and throwing it away. Brilliant plan! So I skip the first water-station! The Swedish guy (“Jonas”) is from Gothenburg and talks a lot. OK, he might not talk a lot, but while I ran, feeling pretty wet (and that ain’t funny), counting down the km to the finish line, the last thing I want is to be talked to. Cannot see the km6, but my running mate tells that we are a bit fast but that’s ok. We meet the fast elites coming back on the other side, turn right and then left and then little bump and left again. Passing a couple of guys and left and we are back to the same road again, seeing a flow of runners coming the other way around. We are good. Running is flowing fine. I feel completely wet and actually I don’t care. Continue to run and hearing the advice that I should alternate sport drink and water at every second water station, so that the stomach handles it better. I actually want to tell him to shut up, but it feels pretty rude to do so. So I do it in my head. I know he probably means well, but I don’t want to start talking about my marathon resumé because I never do and that will not do any good/bad and that’s it. Keeping my mouth shut. Or probably smile. Have turned on a long(er) stretch now. Pretty stable flow of runners all around. Got asked if I am still ok. Answering yes. This was nice asking. Hearing the watch buzz every km or so. Well.. Slightly before every km-mark. Which makes me soon realize that if my watch is always 10-15m before the km-mark and ends at 42.2km, well… the real distance would be way longer… Getting to km10 even before the sign as the comments have already started (or have they ever stopped?). That we are right on time if we do this or this. That we are good for under 2:58. I just want the calm in my head and seeing what the gun-time clock indicates. 41:xx… D*mn! I wanted to pass this one right under 41 minutes and I am off now: Sure, it is still under 2:58-end time, but above my plan. Jonas seems happy on the other side as we nailed the exact time he had thought about. Ok, then. Taking my green gel and a bit of water. Probably not enough though. But felt ok. A bit more running and then we turn back 180-degrees. Feeling like in Rotterdam where there was such a turn which felt completely unnecessary and really strangely placed on the race route. What I want now is to reach km14, see the river and hope for wind-free. What I was not expecting was the stone-paved street. What?!?!? Are we going to run on this? Recalling that someone had told me there was a short path with those. OK, stop whining and run. The sun is shining. More cheering before the right turn into the riverside road…which is still with those cement-plates-or-whatever-they-are… NOT liking it. I can feel that my knees, my feet, my hips are not liking this. And the road is not even plane. It is slightly bumping in the middle. I try to find the most optimal way to run, but whatever side I choose on the road, my hips feel like they are going to pop out or something. Have passed this km14, meaning that on the other side of the river it is km24! Yoohoo!… OK…Not helping at all…but the mind is at peace by remembering this clue. Jonas has disappeared by now. I think I recognize Henrik D slightly before me. Trying to catch up, but this first half is the “cruising” one. Meaning no rush. I want to pass all those guys in the last 10K, so let them run 🙂 I am hanging along a group and then another one and then passing guys who passed me aso. Feeling fine. Have taken 2 Dextrosol at km15. Those were some extras I had put in my sports bra with the gels, just in case. Have passed right above 1:02:xx at this gun-time-clock. Still ok. Still running. Around km17 we can see the fantastic elite men running on the other side. WHAT.A.SIGHT!! Even with the river between us we can see the easiness they have for running. This is just beautiful. We laugh with the couple of guys around me. Asking each other what we are doing here when it looks like the party is on the other side of the river 🙂 I like the sun on my face. What I like less (or not at all…) is the side wind, slightly in our face. Doesn’t matter, I think. Let it do what it wants. We’ll have it helping us on the other side of the river. Seeing a couple of lonely elite runners. And then the female elites. The tuning point bridge feels sooooo far away. I am even thinking that I am recalling wrong the map and that we might turn far far away from where we are. Km18 is passed. We hear some karaoke-music (?) from a little boat on the river, singing “It’s not unusual to be looooved by anyone”… Ooooook! Could we have some little more entertaining music, more drums, more whatever and less of this? At least runners around me are smiling at it! And here it comes… another one little bump… slightly up to the bridge to cross the river (yeaaaaah! It feels like a LOT of elevation gain…for too long… Leaving the guys passing me and getting their legs tired on the way up… and catching up on the way down (is that possible that there is WAY less elevation on the other side of the bridge?!?!?). Could already feel that the wind ain’t going to help on this side. Liking the “Go go ladies” and “Come on, you look good” cheerings. Liking less the plates on the road we are running on. Suck it up! I think. Stop complaining to yourself and get to this halfway under 1:29. I have lost my hope of getting close to 1:27. But under 1:29 ain’t gonna fly! Passing km20 under the time written on my armband! Yooohooo! I’m still in this race! 1:23:xx. Feeling strong. Counting that a 4minutes-run would get me to the halfway. Seeing all the other runners on the other side of the river makes me smile. Feels like a while ago I was there myself. Taking another green gel. Where is the water?!?!? The brain is getting clearer and realizing that the “4 minutes to go to halfway” is actually completely wrong. There was 1.1km to go, not 1km. And there is no chance I am fit enough to get down to this pace. I see the km21-sign. Feeling so happy. Passing under the arch for 21.1km. UNDER 1:29! Yiiiiihaaaa! I have made it. I am not tired. I am happy. And it’s sunny. Feeling a rush of adrenaline. Accelerating a bit. Only one half to go!
Second half
This surge of happiness had made me accelerating…I thought… but apparently I took it pretty easy after that. Getting closer to a group of guys and recognizing Henrik D there. Right when I am to start talking to him, I hear a “Heja Sverige!”. I answer thanks at the same time as Henrik D and turn to him to say with a smile that the cheering was for me 🙂 So, here we are after half way and three Swedes together. Few words exchange but I get along with the pace my legs have and let the guys behind. Catching up with two Italians who have a nice pace, I think. And they receive plenty of cheering as well, so it is good to run with them. Well, they don’t know I do. They are chatting about stuff, and my limited Italian knowledge together with my tired brain do not really let me comment. Just running. Noting right before passing under the bridge that they are actually on a “too-much-cruising” mode and I leave them behind. Continuing towards km25. Have taken 1 Dextrosol every km since km23. Running along the river is pretty nice and peaceful. Still feeling like on a cloud and not really in the race. Km25 is reached and as for the previous water-stations, I take a paper cup of water, a glups, throw the rest on the head and catch another cup to do the same. Catching as well one or two sponges. Feeling very good. Now what is left is 5km to the next meeting with Christer-the-big-brother. Good to cut the race in small pieces. Have thought about it at km14…one third done, two third to go! To reach km30 it is the simple “5km to go” with reference to where I train. And by km26 I was “at the roundabout close to home”. At km27 I had reached the big gardens. And so on. This part reminds me again of Rotterdam. Less people. We have turned to the right on the map and no longer are along the river. Just road and this lovely asphalt. Too quiet and peaceful and the pace is dropping. I know it and don’t do anything about it. It is under control. Then I see a friendly face I recognize… Christer! But??!?! What? Am I already at km30? And nope. He had made it to km28 for cheering for us and I am still to reach km30. After this meeting, I hang along with guys but often they are slowing down after a short while and I am to catch another guy or group. Not necessarily accelerating, but not really slowing down neither. Reaching km30 where I take another gel. Yellow. I am still on time for a good 2:58 finish. 15-20seconds off, but I feel fine. I know I am actually slow here, but the pacesetters of the 3:00 have not yet passed me. Have seen them and their balloons around km6/7 and since halfway, I should be 1 minute before them. Just have to keep it this way. Talking to a guy who I caught up with and indicating there were only 12km to go. Receiving a fade smile and he cannot keep up. 12km to go. That is nothing. That is less than an hour. That is a morning run. This is what I have trained for. Just a back and forth in Dubai. N.O.T.H.I.N.G! Run run run! Passing km32 and catching up with a French guy. He looks fine and he has a great pace. He looks a bit surprised to see a chick here, but we talk a little bit for a while. 10km to go. Quickly thinking of the pace. OK, 43-44minutes max. Otherwise it won’t work to be under 3 hours. Running in the houses-area reminds me once again about Rotterdam. Although here there is way less people cheering. But I don’t care. I have a mission and that is to make it to the finish line under 3 hours. Just thinking of it. Relaxing though when thinking of J’s words and not thinking of the time. Just enjoy. Well… I would probably enjoy WAY more if I knew what was my current pace. But the clock is still showing 3 minutes or so after the gun-clock. Close to km35 I take another Yellow gel. Missing to drink water, so I grab two sponges and press them in my mouth. Disgusting as it could be expected, but it does the trick. We are now turning left on the map. Got passed by a Swede who cheers for me (good idea this Swedish flag tattoo on the shoulder!) and tells me to hang along. He is going for 2:57 and indicated he had passed the 3:00-guys and has 3 minutes before them. Yap. But I have not. Welcoming very much the little downhill and under the bridge and the Swede with grey singlet disappear. Not like a rocket, but still…faster than me. We are back in the city. I know there is less than 7 ridiculous km to go. This is absolutely nothing. And still… a gal is passing me… NOOOOOO! Trying to hang along. This works. For a little while… until we run down under a little bridge and…I get passed… by another gal!!! Which actually look like the same age. DOUBLE-NOOOOO! Passing km36 and I hear this guy saying “what goes up must go down”… not understanding really as we have just gone DOWN and then UP… The two gals are right before me 15-20m ahead. For the next 2km. I am mistaking km36 with km38. I hope to see the entrance of Vondelpark, but it is only this stupid asphalted street which is in front of me. At least it is going slightly down. My legs are just running and I am no longer thinking. Preparing my final gel – red. Taking it when seeing the km38-sign. No water in sight. And this all-but-liquid gel in the mouth. Doesn’t matter. Have taken an extra Isostar gel in one of the water-station and hop. In the front of the sport bra. I can feel by now that this was a veryveryvery bad idea and will probably feel sorry when I get undressed and into the shower. But for now, focus is on the snake-like street bringing us – FINALLY! – to Vondelpark. I want to see km39. Trying to find Christer-the-big-brother, but honestly not really doing it. I just hold onto this feeling of passing-people-in-the-last-km-is-the-best-feeling-in-the-world. Km39 is passed. 3km to go. NOOOOOOTHING! But isn’t this km the longest of the race? Feeling like it! Seeing a bit ahead of me the Swedish guy I met in the start corral. The fast one Kent M introduced me too. I know there must be something wrong if he is here…as I am here too. And I am not THAT fast. But the brain ain’t thinking straight on this one. It just tells itself to accelerate to keep up with the fast Swede. Not looking good actually. So passing him and telling him to hang along with me. Less than 2km to go. I can feel he is following. Passing km40 exactly on the 3:00-finish time… I am disappointed. I am not happy. So I push a bit more. I talk to my Swedish runningmate, not really sure what words I am using, but it is probably as much for him as for me. Stupidly going to the water station before leaving Vondelpark. Grabbing a sponge. WHYYYYYY?!?!?! I don’t even need it! Cannot remember the name of my Swedish runner, but he is right next to me and that helps! I think I am smiling. Less than 2km. We will make it under 3:00. Running on the street with the tram railway feels trickier now. Hearing myself screaming/shouting at runners who have stopped running and walk now that they should keep their right. I don’t want to fall. Not now. Not ever. We get to the roundabout where I parked my bike. 1km to go. Cannot see km41-sign. I don’t care. I just run. Straight forward. Under the shadows of the trees. Turning right. Seeing the “500m left” sign. Seeing the clock ticking. Calculating that even in a good and fit shape I would not be running the 500m as fast as I have to right now to make it under 3hours. Sun in the eyes when running. Hearing my name from the speaker and the cheering. Yooohooo! I even wave! And turning right. Passing the “I AM AMSTERDAM”-sign. The stadium gate is there…Entering and getting passed by a guy. Pressing to another gear or whatever it is. There is less than 150m to go. Reaching the inside line of the track. Getting the sun in the eyes again. Seeing the signs counting down. Seeing the stupid clock ticking… and noooooO! 3:00:00….01….02… Feeling completely disappointed, but feeling that the legs are strangely still running. Why on earth are they doing that? The clock has passed the 3hours. Seeing 3:00:08…09… and then getting on the finish mat. Stopping the clock. I am deeply disappointed. And not even tired.
Official time received later: 2:59:56...
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After the finish line
Stopped my watch. Looking around pretty puzzled and not happy. Runners all around showing signs of tiredness. I am bending a bit on my knees and then up again. Seeing Svend, my Swedish running mate. At least we made it together to the finish line. He even smiles as he said his watch shows under 3 hours. Yapp… But mine is showing a stupid 2:57:07 and I have no clue of my finish time. Apart from that it is above 3 hours. Soooo annoyed. Getting a cheering from a few runners, thanking for the run, asking how it went aso. I think I am smiling but the heart ain’t there really. I want to leave the arena and go home. We walk together to the exit of the stadium, receiving our medal, taking pictures. Outside the stadium waits a bit of food and drink. Getting an Isostar Orange and a banana. Final chat and hug to Svend. He said he felt pretty bad and that was good I passed him and we finished together. Yapp. For this I found it was a fun end. But nothing else. Cannot understand how I could not make it to under 3 hours when the pacesetters of 3:00 have not passed me. Walking to get my bag. Then to medal engraving. As I had planned and trained for a great finish time, I did plan for an engraving. It feels like a waste of money. Giving my medal and waiting a few minutes on the other side of the tent. Sun is shining. I am probably the only unhappy here. Hearing my name and getting my medal… seeing surprised a 2… and then a 59… and does not really matter what is after. I burst into tears and scream. Getting a hug from a runner close to me. Feeling so d*mn happy. Standing here. Legs still fine. No pain in the body. And a sub3 engraved on my medal. The sun may continue to shine! Drinking the isostar bottle, asking for a photo and then taking off my hotpants and singlet to get into dry clothes. Not really comfy with sweaty underwear, but better this than getting cold and sick. I decide to skip the massage and walk back to my bike. Encouraging the runners on the way to the stadium. Re-assuring them that there is less than a km to go. Bike still there. Cycling easy under the sun back home. Shower. Clean clothes on (carefully as I got burn marks on the chest “as expected” and on the inner-thighs… as it apparently always happen with this hotpant). A bit of food (the pasta from the day before, topped with an egg and 3dl isostar taste like a Queen’s meal!) and rested under the cover with legs up to rest.
After a bit of resting, bike to Vondelpark to meet with Tricky and big Brother-Christer. Took a bit longer as the afternoon race is still going on in the park. Dropping my bike at their hotel and we walk to the bar I found with “ribs at while” menu. Suiting pretty well to celebrate: ribs with French fries and a large coke. Lots of talking. A bit of walking to a coffee place for dessert (mine is a chocolate muffin with chocolate topping and hot chocolate for drinking…) and then enjoying the darkness falling down on the city while talking out ourselves about the race. Cycling back home and throwing everything in my suitcase. A bit of chatting with my host and his mate. And then in bed. Could not fall asleep before midnight, but it does not matter.
A good day in the Venice of the North…and almost making it for the goals set…
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Weather: 10.0°C, Sunny, Feels like 7.8°C, 14 kph SE wind, 87% humidity. A bit chilly at start, but as soon as getting the legs running, it felt nice and perfect for running. Estimating the average temperature throughout the race to be 13-14°C. Windy along the Amsel. Sunny.
Food:
> before: chia porridge with green mix and banana, with Isostar Lemon + 2 slices brown bread with honey (5:30am)
> right after: banana+water+Isostar orange
> 3 hours after: ribs party 🙂
> During: isostar in my little bottle @km5, green gel @km10 & 20, yellow gels at km30&35, red gel at km38 (at the water stations). Dextrosol: 2 at km15 and 1 every km or so at km23-24-26-27-28. Full Dextrosol pack eaten…
Gear: ADIDAS SWE outfit (hotpants & sports bra), Casal Iconic black Sports bra MIK, sunglasses, shoes to perform on the feet! Just so great. Forgetting almost they are on. Feels like flying, like not touching the ground…
=> Perfect outfit? Could have done without the singlet. It was convenient when it was a bit windy to have it on the stomach, but mostly felt a bit “warm”. The hotpants looks good, but were annoying again and despite anti-chaffing cream, they gave me burn-marks on the thighs and in the lower back. And rubbing slight under the belly-bottom. Have to find new ones. Looking as good… Carrying the gels was very poorly achieved once more…
14/ Decent 13/14 for the first half. Felt in control and good. Would have been even better without the bladder incident… After the half-point it was too comfortable and there was no real possibility to get along with runners at the pace which have been good until the end. Settling into a comfortable pace made the second half actually feeling “easier” than the first one. Thought about Berlin 3:03 and cannot feel like today was harder or even the same effort level. Felt well and controlled. A deep around km35-40. Not enough water drinking? Did not feel dehydrated. Could not really push as much as I wanted from km40 to the end, but got the pace up to the end. And still missing the 3:00…
********************
SUMMARY: Had looked forward to this race. Had limited the number of longer races (read: marathons…) after Ferrara in march in order to focus on this one. Had done the training accordingly. Had not gone down in time for the half-marathons races as I wanted, but was satisfied enough to feel like having back a good level kind-of “2014-like”. Felt fit. The race was nice. The route was perfectly fitting me (apart from the stupid plates along the road). The wind? I can even forgive this one, as it was nothing compared to training back home or in other races (including Rotterdam). Can at least feel satisfied to finish in this time without major or minor pains. The body felt like handling the pace pretty happily. Maybe a bit too comfortable… The preps the days prior to the race felt all fine (apart from the intervals session). All was set for a good race. Apart from the watch not starting properly. Focus was there, the legs were there, the head was there. Feels good to be in the sub3-club….so good that you wish to get to a starting line very soon again!
(Loads of thanks for support and cheering during the preparation weeks and months. Tricky to prepare with so many changes happening in the past four months, but the “every-second-weekend-race” since August did provide a good base for this race Missing top20 is a pity, still being in top25 is great. 3rd sub3 and 3rd best marathon time ever. OK…probably there is some stuff to be celebrated here
Thanks to all the runners who cheered (more or less) during the race. To the Swedish guys along the route. To the French ones and the Italians too. To all those who gave a smile or encouragement when I was passing. To the people cheering along the road. Special thanks to Christer-the-big-brother for cheering along the course and taking pics. For you too, special people who are counting very much and always giving supporting words or tips when needed. A special thought to Z who would have celebrated her birthday this same day. This sub3 is for you!
Special thanks to my little ones left at home and being the best-ever crew one can wish for. For their faith in me and their constant words of encouragements. Receiving a smiling “I’m proud of you” is worth all the medal (and sub3) in the world!
The return to Sweden was -as often- done under grey skies and cold(er) temperatures. Sunshine? Nope. Rain on the other side… Time for a well-deserved rest now. The body felt indecently fit after this race. Good sign? New adventures already in mind… THANKS!
***********************
A few “after-race thoughts”
NOTE: Let’s start with this body of mine. Which did not feel tired at all after passing the finish line. Cannot really comprehend this. After shorter races, yes I know. I don’t push enough to get tired. But here we are talking 42.2km. A bit of pain should be felt somewhere. Tired? Yes. I am no robot! But pain, nope. Not even the Achille’s. The calve behave properly, the bum/thigh muscles were just as fine and the hips never screamed. OK…listing all this makes me think that there must be something wrong somewhere… Won’t complain. Can be a bit of luck. Let’s see how the next sub3 ends… 🙂
NOTE: Warmup? What’s that? Nothing at all this time. The nervous jog was not enough to warm me from the chilly temperature. OK. The 500m for start did act as warm-up probably…hi hi hi… Anyway, the body could settle in a proper pace around km1.5 or 2. Would have been good to know how the first 500m went…
NOTE:…which brings me to the “watch incident”. HOW CAN THIS HAPPEN?!?! Still don’t know how it turned itself into pause. Did I push twice? Did I start and then with people around it pushed on stop? Don’t know. But will definitely be extra careful in the next few races…
NOTE: Energy/refuelling during the race? This I am very satisfied. Have to do some calculations, might have taken too much, but never felt any deep. The little bottle in the hand until km5 worked as a charm. The gels were planned for 20-30-35-38/40 and taken at 10-20-30-35-38. Had an extra one just-in-case and took one isostar just-in-case-just-in-case A full Dextrosol pack went down and it worked fine. Particularly happy not to have had any stomach cramp. Never felt thirsty. Did take liiiittle water at every water station (read: a glups max!). Satisfied for this part.
NOTE: Beetroot loading? Tested this time as well. Honestly? Don’t know what it does. Have run faster races without. And as usual, cannot know how it would have gone without…
NOTE: then…gels in the sport-bra, on the back? Worked well. Sitting pretty tight and not moving around, which means no chaffing. Cutting the ventilation expected in the back of the sports bra however…
NOTE: …and gels in the sport-bra, in the front? As usual…. I know, I know… did not work this time neither…Suspecting however that it worked fine until I took the extra one (isostar) as this one was not in the little sock…
NOTE: Post-marathon recovery on-going and working well. Felt a bit stiff when sitting a bit long or when going up from the bed. But nothing different from during training Day after? The body felt all fine. Massage on M day + 1 and M day +2 are really worth it. Just a few more days without running and that will be it as…
new adventures will soon to come…
Race Report – Run In Lyon half marathon 2016/10/02
Final turn towards the finish line…
Planned: sub90 definitely – had set the mind on 1:27 and podium – second place. Training-race.
Actual: 1:27:14 – PR on the route by 2min 47 second AND new second best time ever on a half-marathon! 12 seconds faster than Copenhagen two weeks before! Strong and very stable paced first half with a mid 40s 10K, let it roll for the next 5-6km, tricky run in a close-to-2km-tunnel, understanding I was placed 4th since a while, acceleration at the end and that was it! Very satisfied with the race, the place and the time! No need to run faster, training is training! This one was more than good-enough…and the feeling throughout the race was way better/stronger than last year!
Place: 4 – all women, 2 – age category & 284 out of 11,235 finishers
Splits (non official – from Garmin)
|
Split |
Time |
Diff | Min/km | Total | sex | cat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5km | 00:20:02 | 20:02 | 04:01 |
– |
3 |
1 |
| 10km | 00:40:41* | 20:39 | 04:08 |
– |
4 |
2 |
| halfway | 00:42:46 | – | – | |||
| 15km | 01:01:29 | 20:48 | 04:10 |
– |
4 |
2 |
| 20km | 01:22:48 | 21:19 | 04:16 |
– |
4 |
2 |
| Finish | 01:27:14* | 04:29 | 04:05 |
284 |
4 |
2 |
*official time
Interestingly the 5K was passed 30 seconds slower than Copenhagen, the 10K 33sec slower and the 15km 1second slower. The 20K turned 7 seconds faster and at the end got 12 seconds total on a route which was definitely not fast and flat as Copenhagen!
Totals
| Place | 4 |
| Place (age) | 2 |
| Place (total) | 284 |
| Time total | 01:27:14 |
| Average pace | 04.08min/km |
In short: yiiiipppiiiiie again! Another sub90!!! Felt very stable paced for the first half, got cruising on the second one. Strong finish. And a NEW second best time on a half-marathon (ya ya ya… still third best time ever when counting the first half of Rotterdam marathon… working on it!)
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BEFORE THE RACE
The day before…
Pretty early up after a nice good night’s sleep. Final check on the racing gear, locked the suitcase and after light breakfast (chia seeds & green mix), a bit early so I decided to take another tram to the train station… and it took the time to reach the ground floor for noticing I had forgotten my passport!!! Pressing nervously the button to get up again, key in the door, ran to get the precious passport and out and down again. Had now to rush for getting the tram I wanted. Calmer feeling in the tram. Walked to the bus station. All fine. Would even take an earlier bus than planned. Airport check-in worked fine. Still don’t understanding why it takes sooo long time to drop the bags when having checked-in online… Long queue for the passports check and then just had to mix my sport drink and get to the plane. Easy first plane ravel (I slept most of it). Then had to run in Bryssels to get my connection, but it worked fine eventually. Sat in the second plane reading most of it on “how to crack the marathon code”. Arrival in Lyon went smoothly and after a huge hug I noted the awfully boring weather outside. Rain. Did not matter much actually as the race was the day after… Quick drive home to drop the suitcase and jumping into running gear and then direction Lyon – Place Bellecour for picking up my BIB. Not the same sunny weather as last year. Light drizzle making the red ground very disgusting to walk on. Getting my BIB, noting that I am missing the “Renault Trucks 100ans” inscription 😦 Heading to the information for getting me into the Préférentiel start-group. And then a bit of walking around after picking up my race tshirt. Buying Tiger balm and new brand of gels. Then back in the car and driven/dropped off on the race course at about 5km-mark. Music in the ears and hop! Ran easy the next km as I wanted to check this crazy evil hill around km9 which I really did not like last year. Measured it now and it was “only” 250m stupid uphill. All fine! Passed the bridge and got picked up by my best ever crew a km later. Good feeling on this day before the race. Now was left to get a bit of food (pasta and minced meet), drink a bit of orange juice and prepare my racing gear for the day after. OK. All fine. Late snack with toasted white bread and honey and tea. And got form my best-ever crew 4 bottles of Gatorade! In bed around 9pm. Then sleep.
Race day
Waking up at midnight, 2am and then 4am… Feels like a pattern, right?! Felt well-rested anyway. Took a light breakfast of chia seeds, green mix and Gatorade and got back to sleep for a little longer. 5:30am and it was time to get showered and set those running gear of mine (SOC SWE hotpants and sports bra and as previous race the superfast ADIDAS Adizero Adios Boost – Purple (Quicky). Set my two small Swedish flags tattoos on the left arm and that was it! Perfect colouring added the nails and the racing gear. Double-checked my bag with changing clothes, added my BIB to my gear. And that was it! Ready to shine (or something like that…)
6:15am – All in the car to reach the city. Still pitch black out there, refreshing air due to the night rain, but quite fine temperatures with 13ºC. Got stopped by the police when reaching Place Bellecour as it was no longer possible to drive closer. Got dropped off and with half of my best-ever crew I walked slowly to the meeting place. Headed to the Renault Trucks tent, where kind helpers were already very much working their butt off for welcoming the wave of runners who would soon enough arrive. Best-ever crew was growing instantly! 🙂 Met with friends and former colleagues. Tried to find one or two who would be running at similar pace than the one I was planning, so that it would be easier/funnier to run. Maybe? Got indicated that a marathoner Paul would be passing the half in 1:27. Perfect! Got introduced and agreed to meet in the start corral. Olivier A, my pacesetter from last year, was unfortunately injured and would be “only” running the 10K this year. Great.
7:40am – Time to get warmed up. Final hugs to my best-ever crew, pictures while freezing a bit and started to jog easily to the start. This time I had an old tshirt from Dad on me, in order to limit the “freezing-to-death” feeling. Found my corral, continued running a bit along the race course, quick pitstop, and then back on the footbridge. Two additional nervous pitstops before getting inside my corral.
08:15am – Noted 3 other gals already there. Found Paul there as well I his plastic bag 🙂 Quick chat about the race. “Do your own race” was the advice and that he would be starting easy. Perfect! This is exactly what I generally do not do! Good to follow someone then. Met then the lady who won last year. She was not pushing too much today as she was heading to NY marathon a few weeks later. Great! Like what I did last year! Saw as well an elite-chick in the corral in front of us. OK…here go the two first places, I thought. Just have to keep track on aaaaaall the other gals!
08:17am – A bit of talking from the speaker. Got an official commenting the fact that there are 50% (?) of the runners being female…and his next comment being “wonder who is keeping an eye on our children then?”…. Not very well appreciated comment by the runners (and I am surrounded by 99% of male runners…Great with supporting guys!). The funny speaker makes then all of us runners going down in order to do the biggest wave ever. Looks like the elites are not understanding the jokes said in French as they are looking at each others a bit puzzled. Finally even they get on their knees to do the wave! Supercool!!! Aaaaaaand woooow! Real fun.
08:27am – Off with the old tshirt. Got a kind guy throwing it away for me. No freezing feeling with all the runners in pack and so closed to each other. Final check to the watch while walking slowly to the start mat…
*********************************************************
THE RACE
08:30am – Aaaaaand BAM! Start is given. This time I think I heard it (not too sure). Have wrongly appreciated the distance to the mat and I press the start-button at the “BAM” and not when I pass the mat. Not mattering much as I estimate being 1-2seconds after. No real push. Following the lady-winner-from-last-year as she makes her way in the wave of guys. Good technique, running with the elbow a bit on the side for having a bit of space and avoiding people to come and push too close to her. Got a smile from Paul and we have started. I have music in my head and that feels good (I mean really “in my head” as I have no mp3 with me). Easy funny run towards the little bridge. We probably look like cows going finally to the other side of the field where the grass is greener 🙂 Carefully running up and then up the pavement. We have already good place among the runners. Careful still along the bridge for not falling and down on the other side. Easy-peasy-that’s-so-funny! 🙂 Having Paul slightly before me looking back from time to time. I feel the tempo is not crazy fast as in Copenhagen, but doubting seriously it is slow as I thought it would be. Daring a look at my watch when passing km1 and seeing a 3:56-tempo… Eeeeeeeuuuuh…what? This ain’t easy start. OK, we still have time to slow down. We WILL eventually slow down. Right? Passed on the left and right by (too) enthusiastic runners and on the slope on the side of the first bridge, I hear the cheering of Mum, closely followed by a few cool runners who cheer for me on my name after hearing her 🙂 Best of luck to you too! Passing Dad on the right and more cheering all around. All good and fine. Passing km2 a bit slower, but still at 4min-tempo. Paul is a bit more before me and I decide to skip following him as it would mean running faster than I planned. And I want my 87 minutes (blank or not!). Running along the river looking like a snake is once again an experience. Pretty calm and empty of people, the next 2km are just kilometers to run and that’s it. Avoiding the fall on the pavement, and the railways. Avoiding the runners who still try to pass on the left, the right and why not, just putting themselves right before me and slowing down afterwards… you name it! Could see the long line of runners along the river and the first fast ones far far away already! Sun shining out there. Quite enjoyable. Got to the little down-under-the-bridge-and-up-after-that. This is what is killing one’s tempo. Those small ups&downs on the road. Finally reaching km5. Recognizing from the day before where I had been left and then ran all the way to the bridge. Felt in well-known territory and that felt nice. Nothing really happening there. Apart from a tall runner passing me and me passing him and him passing me again and so on. Until we reached km8 with Île Barbe on the right and where I noticed that this guy had no clue I was existing apparently! He had headset on and probably loud music (ok, this one is for free…). But I got really angry when he ran on my right and on the little way up with the island on the right he just cut down in front of me and place himself there. NOT A CHANCE! The road was wide open, no car and seriously there was way enough place for all. So he got a loud “HELLO THERE! WATCH OUT!” from little-me and from this moment, I did not get bothered any more. Down the little slope and more run run run. And here it came…the little nasty-evil hill around km9. Well… it arrived, and disappeared. I felt way stronger and fitter than last year on this one. Last year I needed all the cheering from Olivier A for getting to the top (and no I was not going to walk then, but would have probably slowed down quite a bit). This year was not such year. I even took the final 50-60m on the top of the toes. Feeling strong, knowing that after the uphill…comes the downhill. Which I took very controlled actually. Took a first Dextrosol there (more for training in how and when taking extra energy than because it was needed) Happy to have gotten a few places there, we continued along the river to soon reach km10 and the little bridge Paul Bocuse. Clocking my 10K under 41 minutes. That was more than good enough. And hop! Bridge and then downhill. Got kind cheering from both the guys I passed and the very few passing me. Took another dextrosol at the water station after the bridge with a little (not enough) water and that was it. Half was done and half was to go!
Everything seemed to go as planned. No rush, Just happy to run. The stable pace from the first half continue a bit, feeling that I just had to roll easy-peasy the next 6km to the tunnel. Which I did. I think. Met a older marathoner around km11. He asked me what I was running and answered the half. He quickly calculate and cheered a bit telling at this pace that was a sub90 guaranteed. I ran along with him for a while. Got a little deep around km13, focus was not 100% by then. Took a Dextrosol and calculated that I was going to miss my plan for reaching km15 (under 62 minutes). Which made me a bit sad. Well, still a bit under 90 minutes, but not in the 87-range. Which I really really wanted. I reached another km-sign and could not really read it. Did not want to check my watch neither. I was so scared it would indicate km13 and that I would be way off my plans. But good to see it was km14 and that – for sure – I was slowing down, but I was was still in the race! My race! Km15 was reached within target (Yiiipii!). Had been passed earlier by a guy to whom I asked whether there was/were gal(s) behind me. A bit surprised he recognised that nope. He hadn’t seen any for a while and that I might have been alone on this race 🙂 Good! I understood by then that I was still in 4th place as I had been passed by a gal around km5. I had here in sight for a long while, but it was tricky to catch up with her (which I understood why a bit after the finish line…). One last Dextrosol right before the water station and then we were at km16. This is where the marathoners and half-marathoners are separated. Said good luck and good bye to my runner-in-crime. Got it back as well. And that was it. A little deep when entering the tunnel…this is in the middle of it that I lost the second place of the race last year. So really wanted not to let it happen today! Started the tunnel with a bit tired legs. Last year Olivier A helped a lot with cheering and encouragements and keeping the pace (which was quite slow then) was going fine. Here it was only me, myself and I and no help from outside. Passed by a few runners who encouraged me pretty kindly. Passed km17 a bit slow in the middle of the tunnel. My watch was still indicating the kilometer-mark properly until then. After km17, it started to show very slow pace and honestly I did not know what to believe. But 4:27-pace I was pretty sure that I was NOT that slow running. Tricky to breathe inside the tunnel. Tricky feeling to run and not seeing the start nor the end. Tricky not to know how long is left. Tricky to have strange-funky-watery music played inside the tunnel….and here it came… I could actually SEE the light at the end of the tunnel! For real! And it was sunshining! Yooohooo! Got along with a guy right before the end of the tunnel and we encouraged each other. OMG! Less than 3km to go when we reach the bridge… and then downhill and turning right. Lifted my arms to wave to the little crowd there and got the response I wanted 🙂 Uplifting cheering! The motivation was on the top. And there I could not yet see them, but heard them from far away. My best-ever crew was at their right position! One at the start almost of the bridge and the second one in the middle. Could just not stop smiling! Sunshine had reached the building! And the slope ended and then the bridge. “Strong legs, lift the knees” – I recalled all the words from Olivier A last year at this special place. Passed two guys. And then it was a little down and then around the roundabout and left and then abrupt right-turn again, where a guy throw me a “You are the 4th! You are the best! Only 2km to go!”. I still had no idea how far I was from the 3rd one. Passed km19 without really noticing until I did it (note: this was a large air-filled arch above the street apparently…). Reaching place des Terreaux. Was very careful not to fall on the slippery ground. Looked at all the runners who were turning then and running “back” towards km20. Could not see a single chick. And same procedure after turning back…no gal after me neither. OK. Tried to accelerate and then turn right into Rue de la République. Noticed by then that I had forgotten to take my red gel. No time now. Passing km20. Still looking good. Had difficulties to calculate how fast I should run to get under 88 minutes, but under 87 was lost for sure. Not too much fun to run on the hard pavement of this large pedestrian street. But there there was way more people at the end. And if I was to miss 87minutes-blank anyway, I could at least enjoyed the waving and cheering of the crowd! Turning right, along Place Bellecour. Sun shining. Passing two more guys and another left turn. Hearing someone screaming at his friend he was good to reach 87 minutes and I took this as my new mission. NOT letting this guy too far from me. Final left turn. I remained on the right side this time. Less people there. Another gear had been passed. Could accelerate without any problem. Where was the clock? Could not see what I was aiming for… And that.was.it! Stopped the watch. I.AIN’T.TIRED… Where is the rest of the race?!?!
Official time: 1:27:14 (i.e. a new second-best half-marathon! 12 seconds faster than Copenhagen two week before!!! and on this route! Brilliant!)
**************
AFTER THE FINISH LINE
Caught up by the speaker after the finish line, who recognised me and told me I had missed the podium this time and was fourth in the race and that was still good. Grabbing the mic, I answered that I trained a bit and reached the finish line 3 minutes faster than last year…but that the other chicks had apparently trained a bit too! And that with an invitation to next year’s race, I would probably even run faster! 🙂 Yap! Happy and very satisfied and absolutely not tired. Feeling nice and light, jogged (!) to the massage tent. On the way I met the 3rd lady, who was looking pretty exhausted. Had finished 2 minutes before me. And that was then I noticed that I had been following a guy with a pink tshirt and not her with her pink tshirt… Congratulating her and heading to the refreshment table. Water and cereals bars. Then queue to the massage. Got a long and nice massage of both legs. Was asked if I had been running as apparently the leg muscles were not showing sign of it (apart from sensitive Achille’s…). Banana and more cereal bars and a cup of Coke and jogged back to the Renault Trucks tent. More people than this morning there! Between the half-marathoners arriving and the 10K-runners on the departure. And still the best ever crew with red jacket from RT 🙂 Met my own best-ever crew. A few pic. Sun shining, meeting more colleagues and friends. Sunshine and happiness were floading here! Wonderful Sunday morning!
What next? Quick change of clothes in the tent (yaaaaa.. it was full of people, but honestly I did not really bother. I could not get back home in sweaty/wet outfit and risk to catch a cold. Better strip and have dry clothes on. Ate at almost all little table (pain aux raisins, scrambled eggs, drink juice, got a cake). SO very well-organized! Then time to drive back home, have a well-deserved shower, nice lunch and took a bit of rest for a while. Best finish of the week ever! Once more confirmation of good form. Just want the sun to be kept high and shiny up there and all will be fine!
**************
Weather: 15.0° Cloudy, Feels like 15.0°C, 5 kph wind, 94% humidity – perfect weather conditions. Could not ask for better, really. Wind non-existant, sun shine just as much as perfect. What to ask for more?
Food: breakfast (chia seeds + green mix + gatorade + banana) @4:30am, red juice @6:30am, after: water, banana right after the race. Later in the RT tent: mini pains aux raisins, scrambled eggs w/bacon, orang juice, water. Late lunch around 2pm (?)
>During: little gatorade right before the start, Dextrosol 1 @km9, 10.5, 13 and 15+.
Gear: SOC SWE hotpants + sports bra. Shoes delivered as usual. Just adoring them!
Shoes: ADIDAS Adizero Adios Boost – Purple (Quicky)
14/ would sound a bit cocky to set a 13 for the whole race, but having set a 14 for Copenhagen, this one was surely on a lower effort level. Probably a good 13/low 14. Did not feel making any effort throughout the race. Just running. For sure there was a deep at a moment, but never it has felt that the effort level was very much higher than the rest of the race. Very satisfied to have run slightly faster on this route compared to Copenhagen which was pretty flatter (but windier!). No tired body, apart from tired and sensitive Achille’s. No sign of racing the day and days after. Good sign?
******
A few “after-race thoughts”
NOTE: confirming my subscription to the “sub90-club” 🙂 And even better to get close to this 87 minutes once more and within so short notice! Very good for a training-race!
NOTE: Weather-wise, nothing to complain at all about! Perfect temperature. Sun shine. Humidity but ok-level. No wind. What else to ask for?
NOTE: Time and place? This went precisely according to plan. Finish time is fully satisfactory, especially for a training-race. Place in the race is fully satisfactory as I had really no chance for the two first places on the podium, and for the third one this year, I would have had to push a bit more actually… So yap! All fine!
NOTE: Warmup? Same procedure as last year with Olivier A. Worked perfectly. For sure was freezing a bit before start, but the warmup ended up quite close to the start (well, close enough). So good!
NOTE: Drinking & energy during the race? Not a chance I can tell I have been drinking properly during the race. Throw most of the water on my head for cooling down. And that felt enough. Took a few gloops at km15-water station and that was enough. Got cramps under the feet during the after-race massage and the first question I got was “did you drink properly during the race?” and my answer was “nope. Did not need to drink”. Dextrosol was easy to take and I definitely did not need the final gel. For the double distance however, I would have taken it.
NOTE: Real nice and cozy race. Not very many watching on the side of the river, but that’s fine for me. They compensate with a warm welcome when reaching the final stretch along Place Bellecour, and that is working well for me. Highly recommended!
Lots of thanks as usual for all who gave supporting words during training and those who actually cheering along the race. Thanks for Marianne C who took two very-well located places for cheering and that was just great! A very special thank too for the Renault Trucks helping team, who made the life of runners so much easier before and after the race! Always a pleasure to meet them! And of course, a huge thanks to my best-ever crew on-site (and the one off-site too!).
Run in Lyon slogan this year was : “RIL, what else?” and indeed, I could not think about anything else. But the warm-up is still going on…
Race Report – Copenhagen half marathon 2016/09/18
A happy runner here!
Planned: 1:25-1:27. the faster, the better…
Actual: 1:27:26 – Second best time ever on a half-marathon! Fast and well-controlled start, fastest 5K ever, fastest 10K of the year, fight with stomach cramps around km14 or so, accelerations in the last 3km and final sprint in 4:04 to reach km21 and still enough to increase in the last 100m left. Very happy with this race, the place and the time. Surely could have run faster, but more than good enough on this one!
A bit different route than the one I ran in 2014, quite windy for a lot of places, back with those stupid inexplicable stomach cramps, strong mind to ignore them and keep on running. OMG this felt so good to reach km20 and being able to sprint to the end!
Place: 57 – all women, 6 – age category, 5 – Swedish (ladies – with 2 in sub80… and the two others at 1:25+ & 1:27+…) & 682 – all runners
Splits (official)
|
Split |
Time |
Diff | Min/km | Total | sex | cat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5km | 00:19:32 | 19:32 | 03:55 |
447 |
37 |
3 |
| 10km | 00:40:08 | 20:36 | 04:08 |
565 |
44 |
3 |
| halfway | 00:42:12 | – | – | |||
| 15km | 01:01:28 | 21:20 | 04:16 |
638 |
52 |
5 |
| 20km | 01:22:55 | 21:28 | 04:18 |
681 |
57 |
6 |
| Finish | 01:27:26 | 04:31 | 04:07 |
684 |
57 |
6 |
Totals
| Place | 57 |
| Place (age) | 6 |
| Place (total) | 684 |
| Time total | 01:27:26 |
| Average pace | 04.07min/km |
In short: Yiiiiiihaaaaaa! Another sub90 and a best 5K ever!!! First half disappearing like crazy. Windy quite a lot throughout. Stomach cramps in the middle. Strong finish. Second best time on a half-marathon (well…third time ever if counting the first half of Rotterdam marathon…)
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BEFORE THE RACE
The day before…
Early up to get to the train station. 3 hours later reached Copenhagen. Could not find my bus-stop, and not afraid of walking the 3.2km to the room I rented…well, I walked. Dropped my bag, hop on the bike with my host and some of his friends and cycled to the expo to get my BIB. Not much time spent in the expo. Bike back home, unpacked necessary stuff and rested for a while. Slept indeed for 45minutes… Up to buy food, not finding sport drinks (apparently there are 100s sorts of beer, but not sport drink…), bought pasta bolognese and ate @3:30pm. Wanted to wait before running. Back to bed and more deep sleep. Awaken right before 5pm, got ready and hop! Ran easy to Godthåbsvej which was were the km7 of the course was. Crazy wind on this road… Continued on the half marathon route until km10 and slightly after. Good enough for today. Ran through the close-by park after that and then back home. Felt all fine. If it wasn’t for the high probability to have a windy weather tomorrow… Crossed the road and found a shop having Powerade Blue. Took two bottles! In bed around 9pm. Slept almost right away. Although having a bed almost 1.6m above the ground and without any barrier on the side made me sleep pretty close to the wall (just in case…for not falling…) 😛
Race day
Awaken every second hour from 1:30am. Don’t know why. Was feeling fine. No stress. Up at 7:00am for breakfast of chia seeds, green mix and Powerade. Then back to bed. At 8am came my host home, so I decided it might be high time to get showered and ready. He was already all set for the race! Quick shower, fixed the hair, cream all over and racing gear on (SOC SWE hotpants and sports bra and as previous race the superfast ADIDAS Adizero Adios Boost – Purple (Quicky). (would have gladly taken the Swifty (the other pair) but the little hole in the net on the right big toe felt a bit big for a race… They stayed at home then…). Put on my Swedish flag-tattoo on the left arm to complete my Swedish nails and Swedish racing gear 🙂 Final (?) double-checked of my bag with extra changes for after the race.
9:15am – After drinking red juice, jumped on my slightly-too-high bike my host found for me (Thanks!) and we got to the start. Good to have him with me as I would probably lost my way to the start. Quite windy and felt that my eyes were crying pretty much, despite having my sunglasses on. Not too fun. 5Km later, we dropped our bikes close to the expo-place. Thomas (my host) found another pacer-friend and after a pic of me in front of the Wall of Runners, a bit of good luck, we separated and I tried to find my way to the start. Not too difficult. Just have to follow the stream 🙂 Got to the Village and went straight into the Runners’area for dropping the bags. Quite empty. Very large area only for the runners. Very good and well-arranged! Lay down on the grass and under the sun and rested for a bit. Did not listen to music although it was tempting. Just looked at the flags flying around…meaning the wind was out there and ready for us. Met the 1:25-pacesetter and noted how the 1:30-pacesetters looked like. Basically the plan turned into: neither of those guys should pass me during the race… Easy plan, right? It did work once 😛
10:15am – OK, time to get this sluggish body up and warmed up. Dropped my bag to a kind lady after taking a pic. Found the “< 1:30” start-group. Quick pit-stop in the woods. And off I left. Freezing as usual. I will learn…eventually…to keep some extra clothes on when I am warming up. But that was not today! Crossed the road where the start would be given and with my teeth chattering, I started to move myself. Had kept a little bag with a little left of powerade, two gels and napkins. Running nose ain’t fun neither. On the field I warmed up were also warming up…the ELITES! As usual it feels so crazy cool to even SEE them (in real and not just on the big screens or on tv). Seeing the ease when they run their warmup at a… 4:30/4:15-tempo, looking like nothing (I tried to follow a couple of gals…not for long!). Saw a group of Danish guys surrounding a Danish lady, who I assumed to be one of the stars of the show for today. And then… finding a friendly face warming up: Louise Wiker 🙂 Could not help it. Went to her and got both a smile and a hug. Always cool to see her before a race. This smile of hers as well as encouragements got me flying for the next 100m…before the wind came and got me to freeze again… Finished the warmup with another pitstop in the woods (and no it ain’t just me doing this). Found Mikael L in the start-group “<1:30”. Then a bit of more walking around. Drank the little left in my bottle and finally got into the start area for good this time.
Waiting for the start…all focused!
11:00am – OK, checking around the fast chicks who I will only see from behind (and probably only now before we start…). Noted two Swedes. Had as well as couple of Danish gals who were running their district championships as well. Easy to spot with the flag on their back indicating their age category. Got to meet two Swede giants from Malmö (Ola & Antonio). Always nice with some large smiles before the start.
11:10am – Presentation of the stars of the race: with so many contestants to sub60 and some for a world record on this route, the pace was already set before the race even begun! Not too bad neither on the female side. Sun shining. Felt quite warm in the start-group with everyone getting closer to each other now.
11:14am – Slow walking to the start mat, getting my watch ready aaaaaand…
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THE RACE
11:15am – BAM! Eeeeeuuuuh… WHAT? Where is the final countdown? I had my eyes on my watch and saw the seconds ticking up and as it changed to 11:15am, then the start was given. Well…. ok then! Game on! Easy and nice push forward and the start mat is passed. Started to run, got plenty of place already from start. Had a younger chick on my right and hang along her for the first km, keeping an eye on a Danish with DM (District Championships) on her back running side-by-side with another Danish guy also competing in the DM. So nice feeling that the head did not really realized the race started until we passed km1 or so. The first 200m or so showed a slow 4:2x (?)-tempo, but I know it can changed anytime at start. The aim was not to feel pushing hard as long as possible and still running fast. Keeping an eye on the gals ahead of me, I noted Mikael L passing a few meters on my left and I thought that I was definitely off chart for the “start easy and accelerate after” as there was no chance HE was running slow (well, not me-slow anyhow). Did not bother much than that, knowing that once again the first km can be filled with enthusiasm and be a bit fast. Crossing the first little bridge went nice and easy. All under control and Beeep! Said the watch. Did not check it as I did not want to know how fast (or slow) I had passed this first km. The “I-feel-high-and-I-don’t-know-why” continued on the other side and then we turned already (!) towards km2. WHAT? Still no clue about the pace I had. Eyes on my “pacers” who were the Danish gal & guy and two other gals ahead of me. Felt strong and nice and…not liking the wind we already had there. Before start, the English speaker said that the first third/half of the race would have tailwind, a bit of side wind after the half and then headwind on the final stretch. A bit surprised hearing this as I actually expected the contrary…on the other side, I was not there to compete for the win or a world record. And training in the wind had been done…way enough at home in the past few months. So bring it on! (OK, not too much though…). Still clueless about my pace I just flew through km3 which I recalled being the turning point toward a long stretch and a bridge. Loved passing this bridge with all the cheering. Got passed by a bunch of Norbro (?)-runners there and that completed the show! So much life and smiles and cheering. Peeeerfect! Reaching km5 was still feeling high and so high (and if this feels this way when running that fast, I want to run this pace every-single-day!!!) After the 5km turn, the wind bothered me. I felt km6 never came really. I felt slow. I was a slug among the fast (probably Danish) cheetahs allover. Saw that I was not the only one to “struggle” with this wind there. Tried to get along a group, but none were really with my pace. Saw km6-mark and did not even smile. I thought I had reached closer to km7 by then. More turn and finally I recognize the street I trained in the day before. Km7 was at reach. Quick check on the watch then and…whAAAAAAT? Sub4 pace? That cannot be! By experience from last time I raced here, I assumed that the pace was 2sec slower than what the Garmin indicated. But on the other side, the Garmin was beeping pretty much where the km-signs were… Turning left on the unpronounceable Gofthåbsvej the wind just come full scale and headwind. All runners got in kind of one line of one or two, on the street. Impossible to catch up with the one ahead of me and honestly not wanting to slow down and get behind others. Got up on the pavement which was nicer to run on, but by doing that I got full-scaled-headwind too. Wonderful choice… Turning finally right to Falkoners Allé and getting on the left side of the street. Quick check on the watch. Still sub4-pace. How much “sub” was not really possible to calculate… the brain was not ready and set for this. It felt like walking fast almost on this street. No more wind, but the enthusiasm was going down. I wanted to get to Frederiksberg Allé. I wanted to see the flags everywhere. I wanted to pass 10km fast enough for having a bit to potentially loose in the second half. Passing km9 still sub4 but definitely too close now. The long Allén was nice to run in, but not as nice as yesterday when I trained there on the pavement and not similar to the World Championships two years ago. Danish flags all-over was indeed nice to see. But at this time of the race, there aren’t enough runners to fill in the large allée. Remained on the right side as I knew there was an abrupt turn after km10. And here it came. Cursed silently when seeing that I missed the sub40 by only few seconds. But that was more than good enough. Second best 10K in my life probably! And then we all disappeared to the left after that. Lapped the halfway at 42:12. No sign indicated it was half-way, so I just kept an eye on my watch. Quick calculation with a half-functioning brain and for sure, that was a nice first half. Motivation back to the rooftops!
Prepared my yellow gel for the next water station. Not sure I really needed it, but it might take time to kick in. So why not. Placebo effect ain’t to be forgotten there. And during a half-marathon it is always a good way of testing how it can work for the “real” distance which is double as long. Taking gel, water, whatever-which-is-needed ain’t a piece of cake at this pace. So better train for it. Reaching km12 or so and I got some water. Had taken water at the previous station I think, no drinking but got it on the head. Felt nice and refreshing. Did that in most of the following water-stations… On the long stretch with km12, runners start to line up one after one or so. Well, it started already after turning after km11.5 or so. Every one aiming to the right side. Looked pretty odd actually. After the km12 water station, the 1:25-group caught up on me. Could continue to hang along, which was ok. A bit disappointed though that they got me so early in the race (ok…very disappointed…) Seeing the runners ahead of us turning right onto… a bridge! Noooo, I don’t want to get on a bridge. Well on it, it felt actually nice to run down. Still in the 1:25-group. The fastest pacesetter being 10-15m ahead of me and another one right before me on the left. No chick in this group I noted. Had dropped the thoughts of hanging along the DM-gal and other Danish chicks from after km5. Could still see one or two not too far though. Plan B – don’t let any chick pass me. The long stretch along the water was not much fun and was way too windy. Even though I was quite close to the guys of the 1:25-group, it still felt that the wind was troubling my run. Getting closer to km14 and BAM! From nowhere came like a knife-like pain right in the middle of the stomach. Noooo…not again! My pace was still fine for sub86 by then. I tried to straighten a bit while running, then crocking my back a little, then running a little more on the right side or pushing the hips a bit more in the front. Nothing worked. Lost loads of time there. Passing somewhere under a short tunnel, all watches got crazy and did not beep the km (14?) and all of them sang together when leaving the little tunnel (kind of “London marathon feeling” there 🙂 ). OK, toughen up. The 1:25-guys are still in sight. And you are still having legs which are not tired and a brain which is still functioning. Stop thinking of what is in the middle. Those cramps have to disappear and if not, just screw them and think of something else. Is it running bare stomach and catching a cold that is starting those cramps? Don’t think so. I trained in similar outfit in different weather conditions. Wow! Stop thinking so much and focus on the race! Recognised the path where runners were waiting for the start in 2014, turning left and getting to km15 which was pretty much where my sub90 group was in 2014. Not many people on the side, nor on the road. Not much left. I like this part two years ago and I like it now as well, I decided. Started to count up from this moment…km1…km2… from 2014-race 🙂 Caught up with a guy after the water-station, heard myself screaming to him “BARA SEX KVAR! KOM IGEN!” and receiving a large smile from him. For sure I meant “Only SIX km left! Come on!”. And nothing else!!! Catching up with an older Asian runner in red outfit around km17. Have met him since km6 or 7. We ran side-by-side, but I felt that he was then slowing down when I was at his side, and each time I accelerated, he did too. This was not ok then, and this is absolutely NOT ok now! I lost him when the cramps started. And here he is. But now I don’t want to be dragged back. Passing the little bridge along the train station. I really like this part in 2014 and still liking it very much…even though it is actually slightly uphill. Taking my final gel at km18, getting a bit of water to it. Got passed by a Spanish gal a little after km18 and have another DM-gal ahead. OMG I just want to pass them. And VROOOOOM! The next 2km are down to a sub3-marathon pace, which is nice. But not fast enough. The legs feel indecently strong. Where was this strength around km14?!?! The stomach ain’t complaining any longer. I liked this stretch in 2014 and like it even more today as this is the final km! A bit strange to convert a previous route to a current route when they are not completely alike. Progressively accelerating to km20 (I think?), having an eye on a guy who actually passes me there and I make my final fight to get at least side-by-side to the finish line… unless I get it faster. From there it is just back to me, myself and the asphalt! Not many runners side-by-side on this final stretch. Still catching up a few places on men. Turning right and over there is the finish line…. Soooo far away and so close. Pushing a bit more. Feeling that a shorter gal passed me on the right side… close to the km21…NOT.A:CHANCE! Passing the next gear (there is ALWAYS a next gear…) and passing her back. Seeing the clock ticking. I know it is over 1:27, but how much over. 1:23…24…25… and finally see the 1:27:30 when I pass the finish line. Pressing stop on my watch. No need to look at it. I.AM.(morethan).HAPPY!
Official time: 1:27:26 (1 second faster than my watch 🙂 )
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AFTER THE FINISH LINE
Happy, smiling and not tired, euphoric almost to the top, I find my way to get energy bar, something to drink, a medal and then back to the Runner’s corner. Way more people there. I feel high and happy 🙂 Getting back my bag, catching an apple, drinking 3 mug of energy drink and then heading to the massage tent. Not long queue. Meeting Lisa R form Sweden who completed the race in an impressive 1:17. Hearing that Louise W got to the finish line two minutes before her. Massage with focus on the calve, although I feel that the Achille’s are more likely to be painful within short. Changing to dry and clean clothes in the tent and leaving the area. Heading to the expo place to get my bike… when I note that I have to cross the street with the finish stretch to get there… Brilliant idea! Walking back up the street. Jumping (kind-of) above a fence, finding a little place in the now sprinting runners and crossing the road. Jumping (kind-of again..) above the other fence and running easily back to get my bike. All fine to cycle back home…although I lost a turn and took a longer way back home… Shower, noted a burn mark right under the sports bra line, which I cannot explain (but it does burn under the shower), drinking a bit of powerade, throwing all my stuff in my bag, writing a note to my host (he is pacer to the 6min-group and will probably get back home late(r)), locking the door and that was it! Walked back to the train station. Bought my ticket for getting back home and hop on the train. Got to step out as the others in Copenhagen airport for checking the passports. Took this opportunity to get to Burger King and take a kid’s meal. On the train again, new passport control after reaching Sweden and new train change when reaching Malmö. Sms to the right and left. I received (finally!) an sms confirming my final time. Indeed when I reached home, I wanted to check my time and it indicated 1:22:55… Euuuuuuhhhh…What? This was my time passing km20. And nothing after that? Was really not happy and hoped that they did not have an issue with their timing-system (…it had happened in two races before that the timing-system was wrongly functioning and I got an incorrect time… but at least it was a time. Having a curve showing my pace up to km20 and then dropping down to zero after that showing DNF-like ending was NOT on my plan…and will never be!). Anyway…time was now showing as it should and I was happy to find out both time and ranking. Getting as well as PB on 5km (19:32!) which is 23seconds faster than previous fast 5K in a race (first 5K of Rotterdam 2014 in 19:55…). Placed 5th in Swedish females with 2 sub80 (had no chance on those ones…) and 2 within less than 2 minutes from my finish. Definitely happy.
The day ended with “Tricky” finishing his Sunday long run and suggesting an unplanned celebration with nice food (almost Copenhagen 2014 all over again 🙂 ). Perfect to complete this already great day! Nothing wrong with the form here!
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Weather: 17.2° Sunny, Feels like 17.2°, 6 kph ENE wind, 63% humidity – optimal weather for running if it was not for the stupid wind a bit everywhere on the route. Surely slowed down a bit those guys running for the win and the WR. Surely slowed down little me too 🙂
Food: breakfast (chia seeds + green mix + powerade + banana) @7:15am, red juice @9am, after: yogurt (beurk!), 3 sport drink mugs, 1 energy bar right after the race. Burger King king’s meal around 4pm (?)
During: little powerade right before the start, yellow gel at km12, red gel at km18.
Gear: SOC SWE hotpants + sports bra. Shoes delivered once again. Just loving them!
Shoes: ADIDAS Adizero Adios Boost – Purple (Quicky)
14/ let’s set a 14, but honestly doubting it reached this level as overall. Up to halfway, the euphoria or whatever-it-was that got me running made the effort level on a comfortable 11/12. Not feeling at all like running at the pace I was actually running. After that, a couple of km got harder because of the stomach cramps and the effort (probably more mental than physical) got higher, but the final 3+km were back on the high-motivation level and the run felt like flowing, close to effortless. Euphoria was probably back by then… Surely a bit sad to run “THAT” slow on this route where I really thought I would make it closer to 85 minutes. But the overall feeling is greater than any time possible. I like this race (apart from the *@¤!!?%& wind…) and would more than likely run there again in the future. No wind please… Body felt nice afterwards. Tiredness was never there (ok…the shin splint-like the day after remained for 2 days…).
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A few “after-race thoughts”
NOTE: another sub90 in the pocket. And this one is even better than the previous ones done this year, because I know (deeeep deeeep down) that this is what I can do. Hopefully the spare has disappeared now. All-in was reached a bit at the end, but never there really at the start. More of this kind of feeling please!
NOTE: Anyone can complain on the weather. The thing is that nothing can be done about it. So better toughen up and deal with it. Surely having a windy route was not fully on my plans for this race. But enough preparation was done, so that was ok. I did not like it, but could not do anyting about it anyway…
NOTE: Time and place? If it was not detailed clearly enough earlier… MORE than happy about both. Training is showing up and rewarding (sometimes) 🙂 So proud of myself to have toughen up on the “continue-running-despite-of-the-stomach-cramps”. Still have to figure out what it starting them…
NOTE: Warmup? Good enough for today’s race. Have to keep in mind for next races to have extra clothes on me to throw before the race start… so I am not fully freezing during the warmup… Felt ready to start today. Warm enough!
NOTE: Drinking & energy during the race? As usual it was not really feasible to drink during the race. Apart from the moment when a nice guy had taken a bottle of water, drank a bit and then gave it to me as he heard I missed taking one at the station. Only decent water-drinking I did during the race. The mid-course gel is not necessary. But good for marathon training. The final gel give a kick and is definitely good to have 🙂 The thickness is legitimate as it is not a “liquid” gel as the other ones I have. Regular gel. Still more work to do for the plastic mug drinking…
NOTE: Great race, loved it two years ago, still loving it this year. Not just for the fast time on the course. Organization worked well, the expo was slightly (?) bigger than two years ago (or maybe more crowded because it was Saturday afternoon?). Highly recommended!
Loads of thanks for the sms and kind words received right before the race 🙂 Always appreciated! May the warm-up continue then!…
Race Report – VSM halfmarathon Hultsfred 2016/09/03
Happy Swedish Champion (Masters K40)
Planned: sub90. Not completely a training-race, but surely not full all-in.
Actual: 1:29:58 – PB on this route (1st time run :-P). Good start, stable first half, confident up to km14, then fight with stomach cramps from km15 and final sprint in 4:06 on the last km. Very satisfied with the place, not that much about the time. But under the circumstances, that will do.
Swedish Masters Championships in half-marathon… Nice 2 loops-route, with 70% gravel and the rest asphalt (yeaaah!). Windy as NOT expected for the stretch down (and of course you get it twice…). Inexplicable stomach cramps requiring a drastic slow down in pace, but enough fighting spirit to get to the end and even sprint to get under 90minutes. Never loose hope!
Place: 1 age category (i.e gold medal & Swedish Master Champion in half-marathon K40) / 4 – all women / 42 all runners 🙂
Splits (unofficial – Garmin)
|
Split |
Time |
Diff | Min/km | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5km | 00:20:30 | 20:30 | 04:06 |
3 |
| 10km | 00:42:13 | 21:43 | 04:20 |
5 |
| halfway | 00:44:08 | – | – |
5 |
| 15km | 01:03:28 | 21:15 | 04:15 |
4 |
| 20km | 01:25:35 | 22:07 | 04:25 |
4 |
| Finish | 01:29:58 | 04:23 | 03:59 |
4 |
Totals
| Place | 4 |
| Place (age) | 1 |
| Place (total) | 42 |
| Time total | 01:29:58 |
| Average pace | 04.15min/km |
In short: the time first: real rubbish – should have gone way faster. Now about the placing: Yoooohooo! So glad to get first place and a gold medal. Real cool to be “Swedish Master Champion in half-marathon (W40)”. Surely as cool as being “Vice-world Master champion in marathon (W35)” last year!
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BEFORE THE RACE
The week before…
This special race started actually a week before. Had in mind to run it, had it on my list from spring-planing, but it just disappeared when setting the races calendar for September to October. Completely forgotten it. Came under a discussion with Tricky and after checking the location of the race and the participants, I contacted a registered one for possible co-driving to the race. Took a couple of days to finally got confirmed that I could have a place in one of the cars aiming to the race. That’s how training plans changed a 32km-long run into a Swedish Masters Championships in half marathon…
The day before…
Easy run in the morning with picking up bagels at half-way and then regular workday. The legs felt fine and eager to run. All seemed in place for a very nice race the day after (even though it was not THE race of the year, it is still a Swedish championships…). In bed not too late. Checked at least three times that the alarm was set properly…
Race day
Alarm rang at 4:10am. Felt all fine and ready to run. A pity the race was not starting THEN! Took it easy to wake up mind and body. Breakfast of sesame bagel with honey and mint tea and a banana. Added green mix with green C-vitamin as well. And a little sport drink. Breakfast for champions! Got myself ready with today’s racing outfit being ADIDAS Supernova Blue line shorts, Casall Iconic black sports bra MIK and superfast ADIDAS Adizero Adios Boost – Purple (Quicky). Added in the bag an extra change of running clothes as well as arm sleeves and MIK singlet. The bag weighted way too heavy for a race and 3 hours drive… But all the “just-in-case” were included! Had extra food and gels for the race, sport drinks and a change of clothes.
5:15am – Left home to get to the meeting point where Anders P would be picking me up. All fine. Met Mikael Z as well and off we went. Lots of running talk in the front of the car. Nice drive to reach the start area (well, I was resting on the back seat!).
8:15am or so – Reached destination, met with other Lerums runners and picked up our BIB. Quite grey skies, little drizzle. Was wondering a bit regarding the outfit to have. But decided to go for the original choice: sports bra & shorts. Added arms sleeves for the warmup. Got help from Anders P for attaching my age category on the back (this is very good to keep an eye on who is in your age category…and pass them if possible before the finish line 🙂 ).
9:20am – time to get to the ladies change room. And get this warmup done. Easy 3km on light legs. Took a km from the start and then a little bit from the halfway and down. The race being a two loops-route of 10.5km with a 5km loop from start and back and then a 5.5km loop from halfway and back. Dropped my bag and skipped the arm sleeves. The sun was out! A bit a lot of gravel on the route… that would be an experience! Took a gel about 30minutes from start. The stomach felt a bit hungry and empty…
10:05am – start of the marathon race. Just a little more wait…
10:10am – ready to start now. All half-marathoners were also ready. Find two others gals in my age category and those ones are the ones to be watched… Of course trying to follow Karin S was NOT in the plan, but to have 2-3minutes difference to the max would be nice! So for sure the plan was to win the age category and get under 90minutes.
10:14am – final countdown. A couple of runners are getting into position…Sun is shining…
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THE RACE
10:20am – GO! Nice and easy start. No pushing, just well-behaving runners here! Got a good luck from Anders P and then see him disappearing in the steps of Karin S. Running the first 200m on gravel is fine…well a bit too fine as it goes a bit too slow for my taste. Turning left and we get to the asphalt. All fine just running, tricky to get the second turn right as a guy is actually cutting my way and then he settles in a slightly slower/annoying pace. Impossible to pass him without going either on the left (and thee are three on the breadth…) or on the right (and this means running in the field…). I don’t use the “elbow-forward-and-pushing” method. Not on my list (well, at least not when it comes down to finding a place to run right before km1!!!) Passing km1 right above 4min. All fine. The wind is taking its due now and trying to find a wind-shield (or two…) ain’t easy task. Two gals are approaching (one K40 and one KS – senior). They are apparently running together, so my plan is to keep them close and definitely not let them in front of me before the finish line as it would mean not loosing one but two places then (on the total…). The KS-gal is getting on my left after passing this first km and she is quite close to the “slow-guy-that-passed-me”. Not enough to get in-between. Just have to wait for my turn. Turning right and we reach soon km2. I see the opportunity there to pass the guy and the two gals as well. Good. This one is in line with my plan, i.e. all km between 4 and 4:10 until halfway. We pass a little bridge and turn again. Meaning we are soon at half the first little North loop of 5km. And we reach gravel…again. And the wind is coming as well…again. Head or sidewind? Does not really matter. There are no possibility to hide behind someone as by now the head runners are far away and there is only a long line of one or two runners running on the path. Ok, deciding to make it through the next km on my own, even if it means slowing down. Not hearing when passing km3 but noticing that km4 is slightly before what Garmin says. So correcting the lap there. Good good. Feeling fine, despite my feet sliding back a bit on the gravel. Have to really learn how to run on this! Have been passed by a gal during the straight line after km2.5. AAAAAAAnnoying! But she has “KS” on the back, meaning she ain’t in my category. I let her go then 😛 Then follows a bit of “snake-like” running (i.e. the route is a bit zigzaging there. For sure we have had a little uphill as well (or call it a slope or whatever…it just went up and then down between the farms we have passed at km3 or so. Good to know for next time we pass here! More running under the trees and starting to hear the speaker. i.e. the first north loop is soon finished. Reaching the start area, hearing my name, clocking km5 on 20:30 but had no idea as I am fully focused on the next part with the wind 😦 More gravel and still not possible to find any wind-shield. Talk about chivalry manners! Not a single guy ready to sacrifice his placing and/or tempo to cut the wind to a lady in need… The long km (including the km6-sign) is really annoying with the side-wind. And seeing the flags flying perpendicular to the ground AIN’T HELPING! Reaching now a part under the trees where it “feels” easier to run (but it is still stupid gravel and I still cannot run efficiently on this..:) Km6 & 7 are getting pretty slow and way above the tolerance levels I had planned. Seeing 4:2x at this moment of the race is NOT a good sign. Feeling good though, but still not finding the correct steps on the gravel. Passing now runners from the marathon since a couple of km. Getting some cheering and that is cool. Have been listening to music since km2 as it helped covering the wind. Seeing the faster runners of half-marathon coming from the opposite direction. OK, they must be like 2.5km ahead of me or so. Seeing Karin S, Anders P and co passing on the other side. Getting some cheering and thumbs up from a Lerum guy. Soon reaching the turning point. No longer fun… The two gals KS & K40 have caught up on me and pass me a bit before reaching the water station. Nooooo! Kind enough for cheering and encouraging me, so I am settling into their steps. Taking a glass of water, missing the mouth totally and getting only a little. Am more focused on NOT falling or turning badly my ankle on the grass we are running on at the water station. Dangerous here! The two gals are running in the pace I should have, so I try to keep a correct distance right behind them. Still too slow here but surely reaching the asphalt soon…and when we do… I feel my legs having a new life again! Yooohooo! 10-20m is separating me from the two ladies from the moment we reach the asphalt. I get closer to them and by the time we reach the km20-mark (this is for the second loop), I have caught up those stupid distance between us. We are running all three side-by-side and I can see that the KS-gal is the one driving. The K40 is hanging there but the steps she is taking looks so long and easy…I want mine to look THAT easy! Passing km9 a bit slow still but it is only 12km to go and 1.5km to halfway. Back to gravel, difficult to accelerate there. Km10 is passed a little above 42minutes. Good. Still as in the plan. Taking the first dextrosol there. Will do so for the next 5km every second km. Reaching half-way in 44:xx, which my head uses to calculate the potential finish time. Ain’t working too well, so after a few 100s I stop even trying… The KS-gal has taken two glasses of water at halfway and throw them when still on the gravel…and one bumped onto my head. Really surprised! But just laughing at it. She falls into excuses but that’s all ok. No need to worry about an empty plastic cup that flew on the top of my head 🙂
We are back to the north loop and the asphalt again. The K40-gal is dropping in her pace a bit, having the best cheering ever from her KS-friend. I am just hanging there. Have stopped the music in my ears since km10. Passing km11 and it is me and the KS-gal now. Side-by-side. Loving it! She has THE perfect step (ie. Completely in sync with mine… or the contrary…I don’t know). Even her breathing is in sync. Of course from time to time it just change, but she is good! Exchanging a couple of words. We are so close that our arms are touching sometimes. The K40-gal is no longer in our steps. I cannot see her (I have no eyes in the back of my head…) but I can feel that we are alone. We are holding a good pace…well…for a marathon… this is too slow for my plans, but it feels good and I am still in first K40-place and 3-4 for the women. Passing the little bridge again and turning right on the gravel again. So nice to know this is the last time we pass this part. Looking at the marathon-signs and calculating quickly that they are 500m different from ours. I count down to the end of this loop and to the end of the race, then to the end of the next little loop and the end of the total marathon. Takes me up to km13 or so where the farms are to remember/realize that I am not in for the full marathon. We are passing a few guys there, both marathoners and half-marathoners. Getting greetings along the way. That warms the heart and the head! We are just good. Back to the “snake-like” part. Passing guys there and who even move themselves to let us pass. All smiles on! Getting closer to the end of this north loop. Hearing the speaker getting closer and closer. Feeling fine still, also a few signs are popping up as I can hear my running buddy pushing me a bit more there. Am I dropping in pace? Getting to the start area again. Hearing our names, taking a glass of water and hop on the head. Feels good. And we are on the south loop now and the stomach starts to cramp. Slightly but becoming more and more distinct. We have now run over 15km and I am a little bit slower than planned. 1Minute maybe? Had in mind to pass it in 1:02+ and we are both over 1:03+. Putting this on the gravel is a bit much. Getting to the km6-sign again I have now dropped a few meters from my running buddy. The wind is not helping. I want to stop but don’t know how much time it would take for starting again. And I don’t do pitstop in a race. Don’t want to throw up neither. The stomach is just not happy. Want to bend and just stop. Putting back music in the ears. Choosing the craziest song I have on it. Good But seeing the leading guy of the half-marathon passing on the asphalt street above my stupid gravel path is giving me even more motivation. I am at km17+ so he really has 2+km to go. I want to be where he is instead of where I am. Looking at the fast guys passing by from the opposite direction is helping my mind to focus on something else than this stupid stomach. Reaching the “under-trees” path now. I don’t even bother looking at the watch. I know I am close to snail-pace. Just don’t let any K40 pass. The KS-gal has not accelerated but she is getting further and further away from me. I am just dropping in pace. Seeing soon Karin S straight and cool in her running, Anders P right in the back. More Lerum guys showing a smile. OMG! Thanks for the help! Focusing on reaching the next km is my mission now. It is just that I am not seeing the km-signs any longer. I just want to stop and do whatever it takes to make those cramps stop. Reaching the grass-area closer and closer to the water-station. The KS gal is too far ahead. I know I won’t be able to make it up before the end of the race. Please give me a marathon instead!!! Trying to reach my gel on the back of my sports bra but it ain’t working. Cannot find it (and there is NOT much place there). Passing the water station ignoring the water. My focus is down and the running on the grass ain’t working well, with an ankle turning a bit strangely but once again I make it and continue running. Don’t want to turn and check if any chick is close to me. Seeing the K40-gal on the way back. And then another lady. And another one. I have NO clue how far we are from each other and I won’t let myself check this. Focusing on the KS-gal who is soooo far by now (well, not THAT far, but by now the mind is not really willing to cooperate. Cannot focus on the stomach AND on estimating the distance at the same time). Finally reaching my gel and feeling that it is stupidly thick like h*ll. How can that be? They can be from liquid when it is quite warm to more gel but here it feels that it is hard like concrete!!! Having trouble to even get some in the mouth. Taking finally a little of it. Mixing with the saliva. Getting cheering from chick on the other side of the road. One more try with the gel before I throw it (sorry… I throw it in the forest part and I did not intend to do it. The mind is even thinking of running back to pick it up and reaching instead the next rubbish bag). Nooo… straight forward. I know the km9-sign is close after we have reached the asphalt. I just want to see it. The legs are getting a new life when reaching the pavement. Hello km9-sign. Just so loving it when I see it! It is 1.5km to finish. Still seeing the KS-gal. The aim is more to pick up place with one or two guys. But not that many ahead of me unfortunately. Passing km20 and turning right. Now it is is. Quick check at the watch indicate over 1:25 close to 1:26. Meaning that if I run a crazy sprint to the end I might make it under 90minutes. Yeaaaahhh…sure… it is not ONE km to go, it is onekilometerandninetysevenmeters, meaning it needs to be completed in 4 minutes or less…the total distance… Superwoman-strengths suddenly came out. What is wrong with me? Where were those strengths 5km ago? Don’t spend too much time reasoning on this. Running behind a guy and reaching …gravel again. But for the last time this time. So great feeling this one. Seeing the little 21km-sign. Loving it so much. Not too fund of the clock though. Ticking up. 1:29:54…55…56… Hearing my name, wonderful…and passing the finish line. Stopping the watch. 1:29:58. OK. I did not make it. Sub90 is gone. (swore little then, noticing it only when I see the smiles from two functionaries after the finish line. Sorry…). At least I got the win in my age category.
Official time: 1:29:58
****************
AFTER THE FINISH LINE
Not fully tired, I am however walking a bit bend as the final sprint has destroyed completely my stomach. The cramps are close to unbearable. But I still smile. I think. Getting my nice medal. A glass of water and a banana. Waiting a little at the water-table, half-bent and hoping this will disappear. And it does not. Getting a big hug from the KS-gal. Who also apologizes again for throwing her plastic mug on my head. Trying to laugh, but it hurt the stomach so badly that I congratulate here and move to the changing rooms. Meeting Anders P, who recommends to continue to walk so that the stomach would feel better. I don’t even ask his time and turn back for it. Annoying me not even able to be happy for hearing his cool new PB. Changing rooms now. Good that they are empty. So much for the glamour of running (if any), spending time in the loo after the race as the stomach is just emptying itself. The worse is that it does not feel much better afterwards. Getting my bag then because I feel that I should change. Meeting two small girls who are so willing to run that I leave my bag again to their dad and take them to the tack for running a few laps. Real fun. Nothing wrong with my legs, the hips are fine. But the stomach ain’t having fun. By half-way of the track I realize that I am running with twin-girls… (I thought I was so in need for carbs that the mind was playing games with me!). Getting more water, finishing my run. Shower (very hot one), this helps for the stomach apparently. Karin S has run an impressive 1:25-race and all the ladies in the room are mostly happy about their race. Changing to warm clothes and the stomach almost feels better. Taking a protein drink and time to get under the sun. Getting a hot-dog as well before meeting the Lerum guys who are all smiling and laying down on the grass. A couple of PBs (and very good ones). I just want to lay down here on the grass under the sun and rest. Race awards are distributed (missing the 3place by 38 seconds is a bit annoying me…) but climbing the highest step of the podium for my age category and getting a nice gold medal is helping a bit to forget (both the rubbish time and the 3rd-place miss). A few more that I know are reaching the podium too (among others Michael T and Annette K) which is cool!
Time to get back home. Anders P and Mikael Z get some energy for the road. I get a coke, but really feel so bad that I would rather remain laying here on the grass under the sun than sitting in a car for three hours, even with nice company. Good drive home with only one stop and more coke to drink. Celebration will have to wait until the stomach is ready for it… That was still a great day for racing and not regretting to have taken this race before a 32km-long run 🙂
*************
Weather: 17.8° Cloudy, Feels like 17.8°, 14 kph WSW wind, 94% humidity – well, it was actually sunny and nice. But windy.
Food: breakfast (bagel w/honey + tea + banana + green mix/C-vitamin) @4:30am / banana +sportdrink during transport. / After: banana soon after arrival+protein drink after the shower. Then coke right before leaving home and another one after 1/3 of the drive.
During: Aptonia melon after warm-up, Dextrosol: 1 @km10-12-14, red gel @km18.5 (no water)
Gear: ADIDAS Supernova blue line shorts, Casall Iconic sport bra MIK, arm sleeves. Shoes felt all nice and ready to rock!
Shoes: ADIDAS Adizero Adios Boost – Purple (Quicky)
15/ Stable 14 up to halfway, then less effort during next 5km as slowing down for stomach pains, the final km was a blast, but not too sure it went that high on effort level. Annoyed to have missed 87 & 88 minutes, but still and for sure, a sub90 by 2 seconds ain’t THAT fun, but it is still a sub90 😉 Gravel ain’t my favourite terrain. But it treated my Achille’s well (no sensitivity whatsoever after the race!)
******
A few “after-race thoughts”
NOTE: Third sub90 on “training-race”. Even though not fully happy to be that close to the 90minutes… Definitely not all-in on this one.
NOTE: Weather-wise, I cannot do anything about it. Sidewind was no fun to run in. Happy to have trained in this still. But more work to be done to be stronger there.
NOTE: Time and place? Rubbish for the first one and wonderfully happy for the second one 🙂 Have a clear understanding on how the pace dropped and why and when. Nothing could have been done differently from this part to the end. Very happy to have not stopped and completed the race this way anyway.
NOTE: Warmup? Maybe a bit faster than I should have. But felt ready for running at expected pace from start: Would have gladly run a couple more km before the race though.
NOTE: Drinking & energy during the race? Drinking was as usual close to in-existent. (this is a copy/paste for all the race I think!!!) and using plastic mugs is even worth than paper ones. Cannot fold them correctly and cannot drink. Dextrosol worked fine. Red gel was too thick, but definitely kicked in at the end.
NOTE: a repeat from Halmstad/Prinsensminne regarding the stomach pain. Although in Halmstad the pains arrived 2 hours after the race and remained for the rest of the day: But absolutely not this level of cramping as I had today.
NOTE: Cool and cosy race on a quick fast route. Good organization. Recommended!
And to finish a huge thanks to Anders P for driving me down there, otherwise I would not have run this race 🙂
A happy runner after the race 🙂
A nice and well-deserved gold medal!
Race Report – Prinsensminne 2016/8/13
Happy sub90-runner 🙂
Planned: sub90. Training-race. Tempo longrun
Actual: 1:29:00 – PB on this route (1st time run :-P). Half frozen before warmup, drizzle and strong headwind for the first half, cliff and sand for the second half… Still not understanding really how it all worked out so well!
Windy-rainy weather for an wavy route with beautiful landscapes and views all around. Easy and comfortable pace throughout the race. No pushing really, even when accelerating a bit in the middle . Counting on sub90 but lost the hope of 87:xx after km17…still hoping for the sub 🙂 More than happy. And definitely ready for a second half of the same kind!
Place: 5 – all women 🙂 / 3 age category / 42 all runners 🙂
Splits (unofficial – Garmin)
|
Split |
Time |
Diff | Min/km | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5km | 00:20:52 | 20:52 | 04:11 |
8 |
| 10km | 00:42:01 | 21:09 | 04:14 |
8 |
| halfway | 00:44:19 | – | – |
6 |
| 15km | 01:02:56 | 20:55 | 04:11 |
6 |
| 20km | 01:24:41 | 21:45 | 04:21 |
5 |
| Finish | 01:29:00 | 04:19 | 04:19 |
5 |
Totals
| Place | 5 |
| Place (age) | 3 |
| Place (total) | 42 |
| Time total | 01:29:00 |
| Average pace | 04.13 min/km |
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BEFORE THE RACE
The day before
After workday, easy run under the rain in order to ensure there would be no problem with the planned outfit. Picked-up the rental car and got the evening to prepare my racing bag. In bed @8:45pm, dead tired. Awaken again around 11:30pm – had to check the alarm were set correctly…
Race day
Alarm rang at 6:15am. Felt a bit off, but took only few seconds to get up and direction kitchen to take out of the fridge all the needed stuff for the sandwiches. Then shower, wake up GET and get them to have breakfast while I got myself prepared. Breakfast turned into a sesame bagel with honey and mint tea. Green mix with red juice and orange juice was also there. Time to get all the necessary stuff in the bags (food for GET, race stuff for me). Checked at least 4 times that the race outfit and backup outfit were in the bag: race outfit for today will be SOC shorts small trapezes, Casall Iconic black sports bra MIK, sunglasses (in case of sun or wind only), Boston cap (in case of heavy rain only) and on the feet, the superfast ADIDAS Adizero Adios Boost – Purple (Swifty).
7:15am – all in the car and ready to drive south to Halmstad. Quite calm and easy drive, under the rain. But ok. Arrived at the race place around 8:50am. Parked the car and walked to the start area to pick-up my BIB. Quick recognition to see that the arrival would be on a grass field and the start on gravel (with sharp turn right after the start of the race). Just had to wait to 11am for starting the warmup. Not much fun for GET to remain in the car while I rested. Changed to racing gear, applied the necessary anti-chaffing cream. No hesitation for the outfit. 17ºC outside will not have me wearing more clothes on, even if it rains cats & dogs… Enough time for 3 pistops before the warmup even started…
11:00am – start of the 10K-race and time to get to the start area for dropping the bag and warmup a bit. Got a plastic poncho on as it was slightly rainy and I did not want to look like an ice cube from start. Final kisses and goodbye and headed to the start area. Dropped my bag to the appropriate tent and orientated me on where we would be running. Met Robban A, Jimmy V and Annika-Ultra. Quick hugs and started my warmup, rain poncho still on. Took the first 2.5km of the race. Good to see that it would start on gravel, then middle of the forest, then asphalt and then back to gravel and then sand along the sea. Strong headwind and rain while running was definitely expected, but not fully appreciated. Had read the weather forecast planning wind of 30km/h… (if only they are heading to the finish line, that’s better!). Took the final 2.5km of the race in the woods, quick pitstop, got passed by the fast 10K-runners. Finally back to the start/finish area and warmup completed. No longer frozen. Kept the poncho on anyway.Taking a powergel with a little water. Breakfast feels a bit far away now…
11:45am – final pitstop before heading to the start. Meeting Jesper E and got a large hug and smile. All the warmth in the world in it 🙂 Not much to do apart from getting under cover for the final minutes before start.
11:50am – nice surprise to see GET coming and cheering for the start. Final kisses and then it was time.
11:55am – OK, nobody really seemed to head for the elit-start but a bunch of runners were anyway in the 4min/km-corral… Checking a bit the competition (yes, it is a training-race, but always nice to see who’s in it… Hoped for being in top 10 secretly. Last 2 previous year finish-times were decent enough for ensuring that. But you never know…).
11:57am – large smile and cheering from Jesper E. Surprisingly no pushing at all in the start corral.
11:59am – ok a bit of movements towards the starting line, but really? No pushing?!?!? Final try on my mp3. Off with the rain-poncho…hearing the countdown…
*********************************************************
THE RACE
12:00pm – GO! Well, quite easy jog towards the starting mat. Still no pushing… Liking this race already! Seeing Jesper E on my left side. Nice to know 🙂 Passing the mat, starting the watch and the mp3 and starting to run. Not a chance to even guess the pace I am having, turning right and preparing to throw my rain poncho to GET on the right of the path. All fine, got my last cheering-squad smiles and I’m on my own. Following Jesper E for a little while, but guessed it won’t take long before he gets into a faster pace than I plan to have. Thinking to have the 2 first km completed in 4:10-pace and then fight the elements to keep up the pace up to km5. Then if all is going well, try to accelerate towards km10 and see after what is left. Yapp! Sounded like a plan! Running starts in the little wood path, still no pressure and no pushing. A bit careful for the slippery parts I noted during the warmup. Passing the first little wooden bridge (of many during the race…). Got passed around km1 by a bunch of runners which I think started slightly after me. Passed by 2 gals (a blue singlet and a black cap) and right after one with a white singlet (got to her at the end though…). Hmmm… ok. No clue how many gals are already before us, but I am then already 4th in the group here. More running in the wood and we finally reach the asphalt…and the headwind. There it is tricky to run. I have a group of 5-6 runners (including the 2 gals) before me, but they are 20m ahead and I am not too sure I want to follow their rhythm already. Have to make a decision, because the wind is not fun to fight alone. Being in the pack would mean running faster than my plan, but at least I would have a wind-shield. Chose the second option to run on my own and fight the wind by myself. A quick look behind me showed there was no runner close enough to make me slow down and join a pack behind me. OK. Passing km2 in 8:15 or so… Great. A bit faster than planned, but it feels good. Rain pouring. Seeing Jesper E disappearing when we are to turn left and soon after the pack of runner before me…and then me. Quick after a new right turn and we are on the gravel part under the trees, with the sea on the left-side. Nice view indeed. Skipping the first water-station. Focusing on the two guys before me and checking that I am not dropping to much behind the two gals. The two guys before me seem to run together as one is just stepping right in the footsteps of the guy before him. Annoying a bit as the pace is not the one I want. Not daring to pass them that early though. Decide to have patience and run slightly on the side of the second guy instead. This way I keep a full visual on the back of the blue singlet gal. Only a few meters ahead of me. The stretch towards km5 is going like on rail. No check on the watch, just following the two guys and the blue singlet gal. That would do. Trying to adapt to this environment which I am not familiar with. Terrain, I can do. Not good, but ok. But sand?… Feel a bit slippery under the feet, but the pace is fast enough for not needing to bother. No much passing during this time apart from a couple of guys maybe. The gal with a black cap is quite ahead of us, but still in sight. Reaching the cross-roads of km6. Another little bridge to cross. Straight forward on terrain, seeing a goat crossing the road across a few runners in front of me. Funny! Quick check at the watch and I am on time. 4:10/11-tempo. That is fine. Fearing to reach the little hill which pops up on the elevation chart of the course. Have not been able to find a corresponding hill/slope at home, but when turning finally left and seeing the little slope ahead, I think that OK, here is the start. Just take it easy and nice and the rest of it will follow. Seeing the blue singlet gal and the two guys getting a bit further from me, but it does not matter. I have my rhythm and I’ll get back to my former place soon. By the time I have finished to think we turn right and I am looking a bit surprised that there is no hill ahead. No slope. No nothing. Was the scary slope the one we just run up? The one I took “easy on the top of the toes”? Seeing shortly the sign km7 and yes, it confirms what I though. The main difficulty is apparently behind me. The pace has dropped a bit to 4:12 but according to the description of the course, the fast km are soon arriving after km8. The blue singlet gal has passed the black cap gal by now. We are on asphalt since a while and when we turn left to the bike path, it just feels…good! Those long stretches…just what I like! Taking first Dextrosol around km9. Considering quickly what to do then. Accelerate to get the fast km, fast or run mostly moderate and keep strength for the end. Screw the second option, and get the fast km fast, and see what is left after them. Noted that I passed the 10km slightly on 42minutes. OK, could have done faster, but that felt all ok. New dextrosol. The past 2km have just disappeared like magic, and the same for the two gals which I passed during this time. The blue one was quite close so that felt fine. But the black cap one was looking strong in her run. Even better feeling when passing her. First half is done. Lapping it on my watch for checking it later…
Turning left and short after right again. Slightly up. And I try to remember how much longer is left before we see the sea…and here it comes…BREATHTAKING! This view is so wonderful that it is almost annoying to continuing running without stopping and taking it all in! Continuing the run though 🙂 Having a guy right before me that I want to pass, but not sure I will be able to keep on this place (and pace) on the way up (as who says “running down”, says “running up right after”…). Passing him on the way down the cliffs and I take all my focus possible to run up the path towards the next km. Thinking of what this smart ultrarunner told me a few months ago “you get good at what you train for”… And indeed, I have trained those ups & down and this wind and all this. OK, would have been great to try the race route as well, but could not make it really. Happy like h*ll to reach the top without stop, without whining and with actually a large smile on my face. Continuing under light cover and then back to the sea side. The wind is now from the side and slightly behind, coming by waves, which is a very nice push towards the finish line! Passing a swimming place and heading forwards. Trying not to check the watch, but knowing I have dropped in pace. Still looking good, but not super-fast good… On the way to km14 and passing two Iron man guys. Getting some more cheerings when they see it’s a gal is passing them. I answer by a smile and a thanks. I think… Next. Seeing a few Solvikingarna guys running together ahead of me. Good formation. Next goal is to get closer to them. Which is happening sooner than I expect. I must be breathing so crazy heavily, because the fist guy I am passing is actually looking back to look at me. Trying a smile towards him. Unsure it worked. Passing him and a few to go. Down to the harbour and hearing there that there are not that many women ahead of me. Great! Good news of the day. I can feel the blue singlet gal is right behind me, but not dropping on the pace, I continue the best possible on this terrain which I am not to well-trained for. Reaching km15 finally. The same crossroad as km6. Seeing the little bridge I have passed not such long time ago and now heading towards the final km of the race. And as I feared, the blue singlet gal is passing me right then. Fairplay I cheer for her (always fun to give a push to other): Get some cheering back. Trying to hang along, but honestly, cannot do that on this terrain. Another dextrosol (took one at km13 too). Feeling fine, but not like it is a life-or-death race. Nice and easy. Seeing km16-sign and getting closer to a Solviking then. Will hang to his footsteps until the end. The cheering along the route is priceless. Music in the ear is definitely driving the pace. Taking red gel at km18 in order to have time to swallow it before the water station of km18.5. Really thick gel. Loosing a bit of time taking it. But the drinking worked fine. Not enough maybe. But it is now less than 3km to go. Calculations are going in my head. Maximum 15minutes if I am at 5min-tempo. Have actually no idea what pace I am having. Surely the average pace is now closer to a 1:29 than the 1:27. but still. Not yet over the 90minutes… The run in the woods is a killer. Turning right and left and right and left. Feeling like running in the stomach of a snake. Increasing the volume of the music. Focusing on whatever I can. Screw the time now and just don’t let anybody passing me. Seeing a gal with a white singlet on the side of the path about 2km from the arrival. Not looking well, but can hear she starts running right after I passed her. Tunnel-vision? This is an understatement! With the trees all around, the little narrow path we are taking…there is no need to adapt the vision…we are IN a tunnel! And seeing the 20km-mark. The few little wood-bridges have been passed . Without falling…Yoooohoo! The best vision is yet to come, with seeing GET on the left side of the road (thanks for the green rain jacket easy to spot!). Getting extra strengths from them. Soon after hearing and then seeing Jimmy V and more cheering. One more little turn, a few more meters on this stupid grass… Seeing the clock ticking…1:28:56..57..58…PASSING THE FINISH LINE! Stopping my watch. 1:29:01. Done!
Official time: 1:29:00
AFTER THE FINISH LINE
Walking a bit around as the legs never really like to just stop like that after running so well 🙂 Getting my medal. Seeing the large smile of Jesper E and getting a nice sweaty hug. Having a guy helping me to take off the chip attached to my shoelaces. Sitting on a chair. GET finding me and congratulating for my 5th place 🙂 More chat with Jesper who got to the finish line before me in a very decent and fast time. Got a few pics too 🙂 Passing through the tent getting a banana, a little orange drink and a little cardemumma bun (which goes directly to G as I already feel bad smelling it…allergy ain’t that fun!). After the tent, getting more water and spotting fastfeet Robban A who got a new PR! Heading towards the massage tent where I happily see Annette K who kindly help me with my tired calve and little sensitive right Achille’s heel. Meeting Peter S who also run with new PR. Wow…so many fast people there!
Time to get back home. Walking to the shower place, changing and then under a heavy rain getting to the car. Drive home with a short stop for celebration meal at Max (hamburger with extra bacon, French fries and large coke :-)). This was a good day for racing!
*********
Weather: 16.1° Light Rain, Feels like 16.1°, 23 kph WSW wind, 94% humidity – Drizzle almost throughout the race, strong headwind up to km8-9, then sidewind/tailwind on the way back
Food: breakfast (bagel w/honey + tea + banana + green mix/red juice/orange juice) @6:40am / banana +water right after. Sportdrink Lidl orange while showering. Max original menu + fries + coke around 4:30pm
During: power gel apple after warm-up, Dextrosol: 1 @km9-10-11-13-15, red gel @km18 (water @km18.5)
Gear: SOC shorts small trapeze, Casall Iconic black sports bra MIK. Shoes perfect for the run!
Shoes: ADIDAS Adizero Adios Boost- Purple (Swifty)
=> hole in the net – right foot 😦
14/ Nice tempo run. Effort-wise, felt all fine throughout. Surely could feel that training of the past weeks in the wind and ups&downs are helping. Not fully pushing during the race. Definitely calculated and well-controlled run. Great feeling, a bit annoyed to have missed a few seconds to get under 1:29, but all in all, a great long run at tempo pace in foreign elements!
******
A few “after-race thoughts”
NOTE: Second sub90 on training-race. Really want to have this done during training too…
NOTE: Had asked Jesper E to fix some nice weather and not too much wind…Turned out to be quite ok weather for running. OK, the headwind of the first half was not fun, but not crazy strong as the one I have had during a few workouts in the past weeks at home. The rain was not a problem neither. More like drizzle. The heavens just got crazy after the race with really heavy rain on the way back home… Outfit was perfect for the race 🙂
NOTE: Time and place? Well, both were as planned. But feels a bit annoying to have missed a few seconds for 1:28:xx and the gal before arrived 1min 11sec ahead of me. Cannot understand the pace dropped that much in the last 2km. My explanation is that it was mostly due to the snake-like path not really making it easy for increasing the pace…
NOTE: Definitely a great training-race. Enjoyed it from start to end. Meeting friends before and after was the cherry on the cake! (and a personal cheering-squad on site is always great to have!)
NOTE: Warmup? For once (I think?), I felt really satisfied with my warmup. Maybe could have added a few accelerations or so, but overall, good. Could definitely start at the pace I wanted from start. Not feeling anything from the right calf at all 🙂
NOTE: Drinking & energy during the race? Drinking was as usual close to in-existent. Tried to grab a papper mug with water 3 times. And got a few glups in the throat twice. Dextrosol was probably not needed, but it helped concentrating on something else than the wind, the competition ahead of me, the drizzle, the cliffs… Could have skipped it fully.
NOTE: crazy stressed stomach starting 2 hours after the race and rest of the day. Unsure what has gone wrong, but very happy it did not impact on the race.
NOTE: the start of the race was exactly the way I like. Calm and easy. Despite starting with the elites and crazy fast runners. No pushing, no pressure. Did not feel it, not even in the woods of the first km when the path was pretty narrow and tricky to pass people. Very well-behaved runners there!
Definitely a well-arranged race, a very nice route to run on and despite the wind and the rain, somewhere I can absolutely consider running again!
Race Report – Falkenbergsloppet 2016/07/30
Finish Line…F.I.N.A.L.L.Y!
Planned: under 40
Actual: 42:08
place: 18 – 6th age category – (1st whining category)
BEFORE THE RACE
Quite ok night. Early up anyway. Got up and change for an easy leg shaking and hunt for bagel. No bagel apparently, so had to settle for a breakfast of white bun with honey and mint tea at 8:30am. Always tricky to get this food-stuff right with races in the afternoon. Would rather start at 5am and get it done! Slight feeling in the right calf. Not liking it, but nothing really to do about it. Finished to pack my bag and got myself ready. Picked up by Micke and his kind cousin C to drove us down to Falkenberg. Easy and calm drive. Arrived there, got to the place to register myself. Went smoothly. Micke went to another place to take his BIB as he had registered before. Well. After that, we had still 2 hours to kill before the start of the race. Walked to the start. Changed to running gear and got ourselves a nice spot under the sun. Laying down on the grass took most of the wait-time. Saw Musse and his family arriving. And it was time to get ready. Rewinding the plan in my head: Slightly under 4 during the first 4km and then drop of the pace until 2km to the arrival. That would work 😛
1:15pm – As usual, a bit unsure how to warm up, but at least 3km are necessary to get the whole machinery in place! Dropped our bags. I took my green apple gel (approx.45min to start). Got some sun cream on my burn mark on the back from a kind lady functionary. And we started to run. Took the first 1.5km of the race. Recognition is always good! Then back to start and that was it. 3km of nervous running. Sun was quite warm by then. Left Micke for a final visit to the ladies room. Hug to Annette K who would be running as well. And finally back to the start. A bit stressed as I could not see Micke…at all! Was looking for a yellow back…but he had a white singlet today. Met fast Susanne B. Cool! Finally found my pacemaker. Large smile on. Just 10km to go! Saw Robban A a few feet ahead, but honestly, 2 minutes from start, I won’t go and say hi. OK. Shoes? Check! Pacesetter by my side? Check! Ready to get under 40? Nope, but better setting check on this one anyway…
1:59pm – what is it with me? WHY am I looking at my shoes all the time?!?! A little less noise prior to the start. There is something with those shorter race…where people are talking WAY too long and too close to the start… 🙂
15 seconds to start… OK, don’t feel really like running now…
The RACE
PANG! Start is given and we are…walking easily a few steps towards the start mat (Good that Micke said not to rush as the time is anyway starting when we pass the matt…). And we start running. And all the other runner apparently want to go out as well :-): The short short stretch before the first right turn is a little tricky. Having Micke on my left. Good. But having guys in front of me not really wishing to take on the next gear apparently. Despite the start being given. So I run a bit with my hands in front of me for not falling and not hitting someone. Turn right. Getting against my will on the pavement. Quick check to see that Micke is onboard too. Good. Now cobblestones… here we come! Down to the bridge goes fast. Too fast. But does not feel THAT fast. Stupid check at my watch indicate a stupid 3:36-pace. OK. WAY too fast. Taking the right side with large stones instead of the small ones. Another turn right into another cobblestone-street. Here we can see the arrival… from the other side…and new turn right and down and turn left… Good we have checked this a bit before the race! Have seen the fast chicks disappearing already before the second right turn. So now just have to keep along with the ones right before me. And up and left and once again seeing the finish line…Sooooo close! Passing the first km in 3:51 or so. Got a nice approval from Micke. All looking fine. And that would be it actually! The next 9km won’t feel ever this good! Back to the asphalt. And turn right towards km2. What is happening there I don’t understand. Breathing is already heavy like I am finishing a race or so. Micke must have noticed it and he gave short but direct cheering that everything looks good. Well, the stupid little voice in my head does not agree, but I will keep on listening the smart(er) little voice outside my head (i.e. Micke…). Downhill which I was not expecting. Two chicks quite close and who will remain close throughout the race. Downhill for sure, but feeling that… I need to pee! WHAT? I went already 125 times before the race. And do not need it now! Feeling like I should stop, but this is a downhill, so much for the glamour of running. Got cut in the right curve by a not too gentlemen-ish guy. OMG! This is heavy! Does not feel this way during a marathon. Not even the last 2km (well, those ones are so close to the finish line that they are the best). And STOP thinking of other distances! The head is definitely not willing to help on this one. Have taken already a little paper cup of water and (un)smartly thrown all on me. NOW I have wet shorts! The long stretch towards km4 does not feel easy as I expected it to be. And this was the “easy and fast” part of the race… Quick stupid check at the watch while passing km4. Shoot! Missing the time I planned. Should have passed under 16minutes. In order to have enough to loose afterwards. Micke noticed probably all this, because he kindly give words of encouragements now and then. Staying right where I want, right in front of me, looking back or on the side regularly. And we see the bridge again. Km4. Yoooohoooo! And eeeeeeh what? We are not taking it? Not only we run a little slope up (and down) but we are continuing along the water. OK, so much for my great preparation on checking the course of the race. How will we cross…the..water?!? and I see it then! Another bridge! And the separation :10K on the left and 5K on the right…extremely tempting to take the right and get this done. Indicating a bit late to fellow runners behind me that I am in it for the 10K… following Micke. Don’t have any other choice, right? And turn right…and WHAT? Another “mountain” to climb on this stupid bridge? And gravel? OK, getting in a better mood after having Micke turning back and saying to hang in there. Passed by a gal on the right and taking this stupid slope to the bridge on the top of the toes. Screw the time, I think. It ain’t worth it. On the bridge it feel fine. Actually better. Then continuing to run run and more run. Passing the 5km in 20:25, quite ok, but had hope to be slightly faster…for the next km to go are NO piece of cake. Micke must hear and see it ain’t going well. I actually want to just slow down…SOOOOO BADLY! Checking what time is left. What distance is left. “Screw the watch and the time” I hear Micke saying. Yeah yeah I know. And I do. It feels warm. At every water station, I take one or two paper cups of water and throw them on the head and the thighs. It feels that there is no air. It feels warm. I want to stop a short short time just to get the body to sweat as it should and then continuing. Please? Lots of people on the side. That is good! Getting to km6 feels like a simple nightmare. And it is less than half to go. But still. Don’t feeling that the body is crazy tired, but something is wrong. The head is wrong. The breathing is wrong. The only positive voice is not really in my head but outside. And I thank Micke for it! Passing km7 feels a bit better…until we turn left…and get headwind. AAAAAAAAHHHH! Will this never stop? Having Mick ahead of me, I consider briefly using him as wind-shield. But I am so bad as doing this, so I don’t. Just remaining close enough and right behind on the side. Don’t think it makes any difference, but that’s it. Crossing the road and getting under the trees…and downhill! Yeaaaah! Nice and in the shadows…and in a quite narrow path from time to time. Tricky to get 2 runners side-by-side there, but Micke is taking his pacesetter role to the greatest! Letting two gals passing. Hoping to keep them close enough until the end. Passing a blond gal that seems to be pretty tired. She will pass us back and stop again and pass us again and stop… Running under the trees feels indeed nice…but the wet muddy path does not feel that great. Some parts are a bit slippery and the only focus is then to look down and do-not-fall. Hearing km8 is close-by and that is soon finishedJust have to hang in there. Counting down says Micke. (Well, my head is starting then the count down…41 to go…for quickly reminding itself that it is a 10K and that there are 2 km to go…). Passing somewhere an outdoor theatre. Just want this whole misery to really finish. Then I hear that km9 is short ahead. Passing km9-sign feels great. The legs feels strong and actually accelerate. OK it won’t probably make any difference on the pace, but the feeling is WAY better now. Just keeping Micke in sight and listening to what he is telling me. The little positive voice is back in the head as well. All is fine! And we get to the little up towards the bridge (I should really find places to race where there is NO slope at all…not even a single one. Not even a shadow of one…) and the bridge and the cobblestones again and down on the right this time, along the water. Wow this feels nice. Less than a km. That is looking good. And could probably made this misery under 42 minutes as well… until we turn left and I see the stupid short-and-brutal uphill we have to take. A brief thought came that we must have run wrong. But Micke is already running up, turning and getting me to run up as well. That it is soon finish. That I have to prepare for the final stretch. Turn left and that is it! The finish line is there. No idea how far it is. Hearing to push as much as I can. Getting between two guys and crossing this (stupid) finish line. FINALLY! Getting a banana, a little medal and a rubbish time. 42:08.
=> official time: 42:08 – place 18 (V40 – place 6)
AFTER FINISH LINE:
Stopped the watch. Did not even want to look at it. Best part of race came with a hug from Micke and a smile. I was probably not really receptive at this time but still. Found also the red cap of Robban A. Got a sweaty hug and a check at his watch. Wow. That’s all what I will say! Founding back Micke and went to congratulate Mustafa “Musse” who won the race. Third hug after the finish line 🙂 This should definitely become a habit! And found also the brightest smile from Sara H. And another hug 🙂 At least this 10K ended well!
Weather: 18.9° sunny, Feels like 18.9°, 13 kph W wind, 73% humidity – sunny, windy, hilly… Good weather for running and getting a nice tan! Would have happily run longer and better (and yes, a bit faster too…)
Food: mint tea + french white bun w/honey after (@8:30am) / banana @11:30am / Powergel green apple @1:15pm / banana+ water right after. French hotdog + twix during the trip back home
during: nothing. Tried unsuccessfully to get water in my mouth, but did not really work.
Gear: SOC SWE hotpants and sports bra. Shoes felt great. Nice and fast (kind of) and light. Loving them!
Shoes: ADIDAS Adizero Adios – Purple (Quicky)
17/ First km was definitely a low effort one. But somewhere around km2 something took over and the effort was greater. Not much physically but mentally. And as usual, when it gets this way, I slow down to a kind-of marathon-pace which feels quite accommodating and comfortable And making the level of effort not that high. So physically, definitely not that high. Especially seeing how it felt after the race and later during the day. Mentally? Yeah, there was definitely a higher effort than expected for such a stupid little short race…
***********
NOTE: Not for being chatty but hills and me ain’t best friends and will probably never will. Cobblestones aren’t my friends neither. And will never be. Heat, warmth and sunshine can definitely be a hinder, but rather this than the two previous hinders! Very good training with this race – I hope. Why is that so the last three races have been shorties and hillies?!?!?! Am I picking the wrong races?!?!
***********
AFTER THE RACE:
Back to the locker rooms. Shower. Cream. Clothes on. And back to meet Micke and found the entrance of the parking place where cousin C was waiting for us. Drive home was as calm as on the way down. Quick stop to buy a French hot-dog and a twix. Drank more water. And we were back home. Thanks to Micke this day was not a complete disappointment. Great experience again with a great pacesetter. More of this kind! Considered taking a short leg shaking in the evening, but turned the thought into eating a bit more in prevision for Sunday’s long run.
NOTE: The HR has apparently not been working from the start of the race. Thought that it had stopped after the water paper cup that reached my stomach rather than my hand, but nope. Nothing. It worked well during the warmup though..
NOTE: Nice and well-organized race. The stupid slow pace I had allowed a real appreciation of the landscape actually. And this was nice! Highly recommended for the landscape! Unsure I would give it another try even after knowing the cobblestones, the hills, the wind and the stupid “mountain-to-climb” right before the final stretch 😛 But surely the people cheering all around made a lot for the race!
NOTE: The water-station part… OK I was not planning to drink. Even though it was a bit warm, the race was quite short. However it is always nice with those showers around the course as well as the numerous water-stations they placed as well. The problem was definitely to catch the paper cup first. Then to get them to the lips was not even in the plan. The huge miss was when a kind lady gave me a paper cup and I received it ALL in the middle of my stomach. So yes, it felt…WET! Passing the finish line with a hotpant soaking wet ain’t the most fun. But hey, this is part of the wonder of the races 😛
NOTE: About the “whining category”? Yeah, this one was created especially for me today. Cannot recall a race I have been complaining (inside) so much! Great with a pacesetter who has this in sight and did not let me down and continue to cheer throughout the race and after the finish line.
NOTE: and a final one: this stupid sub40 was not on the map today: Already knew it after we passed km1 probably and by km2 the thought was just to finish the race and not letting more gals passing me. As told before, I want a nice 10K race with NO hill and NO wind. Sunshine is a plus 🙂
…will probably get a (fake) tatoo on my (tired) calve saying on the left one “10Ks suck!” and on the right one “Marathon rules”…
Race Report – Fiskebäcksloppet 2016/06/06
Happy first 3!
Planned: under 45 (as the recognition run the week before was done in 47 minutes)..although thinking that close to 41-42 minutes was doable
Actual: 42:50
place: 3rd 🙂
BEFORE THE RACE
Good night’s sleep with eyes opened at 5:35am (sun and light outside…). Back to sleep for a little longer and finally rolled myself outside the bed around 8am. Running gear on, quick kisses to ET and off to the asphalt. Nice in the air and sunny. Took a real easy run to get some croissants for breakfast and that was it. Nothing fancy. Breakfast of pains au chocolat (there was no croissant…), one egg and ice mint-tea. All fine. Final prep for GET and started to turn round round round at home, waiting for leaving to the race. Good for vacuum-cleaning and getting some laundry done 🙂 Checking for the 5th time my hang-along-bag. On with race gear apart from the shoes. Finally 12:00pm and time to get to the tram. Really calm and quiet city on this Swedish national day. Then bus to the start area. A bit odd with all this calm. Was expecting to hear a bit from the bus-stop, but nothing. Walked a part of the race route and still nothing. A few pedestrians taking a nice walk under the sun. But no runner. And finally the start area.
1:15pm – got my BIB and tshirt. Found Lennart B-MIK and chatted a little. Then went to lay down on the grass and under the sun for the next 45minutes. Quick pitstop in the woods before changing my shoes to racing shoes and I was ready. Left my bag and went for an easy warm-up on the first 2.5km of the race. The best part of the warm-up was three small boys stopping me at the top of the first hill asking me if I was running the race: Yes, I answered. Are you first or last? they asked. Well, the race has not started yet, I answered. Isn’t it cheating to start before all the others then? they concluded. Received a large smile from me and they promised to cheer when they’ll see me later on. Felt all fine while running. As expected the headwind was really killing me. But I was hoping for finding some backs to follow during the part km1,3-2. Additional and final quick stop in the woods. Find back Christopher-MIK on the football field when I got back. As well as Lennart-MIK and Helen-MIK. All fine under the sun. Warmup well-executed!
2:45pm – took a short 600m easy + accelerations additional warm-up (or “leg shaking”) and that was it. Back to my bag and decided to go for having music in the ears. Mostly because I was expecting to have some solo-running during the race and did not want to slow down. Meeting Hanna O from Solvikingarna and Carina from Sävedalen right before the start. Appeared we were fours ladies in the “<40 minutes” start-group.
2:55pm – final check to my shoes. Ready with the music. So nice and airy start-group! Nobody pushing and no body contact neither before start 🙂
30 seconds to start… oulala! So short time? Really?
The RACE
Aaaaaand that was it! Start is given. Got passed by mostly guys. Hanna O is heading there as well and I have another gal on my side (she arrived 2nd in Näsetloppet in May and Hanna got 1st place there). Not a chance I can hang along. But actually I did …f or 1.3km 😛 We started with 270m of gravel/dust and then a 150m stiff-but-short hill. Fortunately asphalt. Took it on the top of the toes, the other gal took it easier and passed me anyway by the top of the hill. As expected, this first hill was already separating the runners a bit. Got a large smile and “Heja” (“Hurrah-cheering” in Swedish) from one of the boys from earlier who recognise me. And downhill after that. Felt all nice. Had been passed by Måns-MIK during the running uphill. Decided to keep him in sight as he ran well in 44minutes last year and 41 minutes in recent race this year. Just had to keep his back not too far away. New turn right and new slope. Not as stiff this time. Runners were more disparate already. Downhill and back to the gravel/dust area. NOW the stupid wind came into play. Had the gal in orange quite close 10-20m ahead of me. But the wind!!! tried to get closer to a guy in front of me to skip the wind (and skip eating his dust too…) but it did not work that well. Came closer to the gal when we rounded the area. Running on the grass felt actually a little better (for once!) but that was only short. After passing km2 and noticing that the 4:02-tempo (really?!?!?) of the first km had dropped to 4:03 (not a disaster, but it should have been WAY faster on this part and had expected sub4 for this particular km…) but ok. Run run run and got along with a few guys then, which I will follow for a while. Måns was quite a bit ahead now. 100m? The gal in orange had drifted further and passed him. By km2, the objective was to keep this third place among women. Of course I had no idea how was the field and if there was anyone close to me…and there was anyway 8km to go… Passing the football-field from the start. Got cheering from Anna H-MIK (winner of last year race with a real indecent time…). And soon it was finished with the gravel/dust part. THANK YOU FOR THE ASPHALT! (and the warmth coming with it…). Crossing the road and got passed by two guys running sooooo crazily easy that I felt that I really should accelerate a bit. Passing them on the right side and then passing the Fiskebäcks Church and turning left. SHADOOOOOOOOW! Yoooohooo! For a few seconds and then it was more running on this crazy slow-and-progressive uphill. Before getting a stiffer one up into the woods. The nice part was that 3km had disappeared. Only 7 to go. The less nice part was that it was uphill and in the woods. Meaning had to check where I set my feet as well as checking where the guys in front of me where putting theirs. Passed a few. Ran once again on the top of the toes (it feels that the Achille’s heels prefer it this way actually…) And turning left, no really sure I was smiling there…too much focus on setting the feet correctly. Måns was back into sight. We got kids running along some runners and right when we arrived they started to run a bit on the path we took. Sorry guys if I asked you to move away from the road in a quite decide voice (and hopefully I added a smile to it?…). After that I was not too sure how the path was going, as I always mix two parts of this race. Run on asphalt again, turn left and then right and back into the woods…Really?!?!? had to shout a couple of time “Hold right” (always followed by a “Thanks!”) as the path was pretty narrow and I really did not want to loose time there running behind slower runners. The annoying part is if I was shouting at them to hold their right, I pass them and then they would pass me afterwards… Whatever! Got out of the woods, km4 was done! A bit unsure of the average pace I had, but did not really care. Once again, had Måns in front of me and no gal had passed me (yet…). Running down into a little tunnel under the road and then 90-turn left and short after 90-turn left. Took a dextrosol and right there was the first water-station. One cup on the head and the second one…on the head as well (apparently the brain was no longer responding as I wanted to drink a little…). Turn left and long stretch along the school-yard. It felt pretty warm, but not hot. Definitely not hot like during my recog-run a week before. Felt all fine, had a decent pace going and I was happy. And soon counting down the km as we passed km5 and I was on the upper-range of my calculation (on a flat course, I would set between 20-21 minutes, and I was closer to 22minutes now. Still getting me under 45 minutes though…): This 5th km felt pretty slow…and it was… So I got energy back seeing I reached closer to Måns. Happily telling him that he could do better than that (honestly he should have been 200m away from me by then…). Getting back from him that there was still some km to go. We passed km6 and shortly after reached the long stretch…with HEADWIND! This part I know it, I train there, I have even run intervals (back&forth)…and it is ALWAYS headwind on this direction (except from during my recog-run…). Plan B: tack the back of a runner there, whatever pace he decides to go, I’ll take it. Tried to set myself behind one, but another taaaaall guy was already there. So my only chance for wind-shield was to get close on the right-side. Far from optimal, but it worked a little bit. Strong wind that I really did not like. I slowed down a bit and got myself between the two guys and WOW what a difference! No wind (almost)! But shortly after, my wind-shield stepped aside and I did not have any body left. Slowed down a bit and the tall guy passed me at the end of the long stretch. Took dextrosol and two water paper cups…once again…brainlessly throwing both on the top of my head and getting nothing but an empty cup when reaching my mouth… Matters not! 7km had been passed… Short path along the sea on gravel/stones…and here come…the “dreadful stairway”… Have never run up those stairs during training…ever! They are not easy to run up as having strange breadth. But today… I walked them up…holding the railing on the side! WHAAAAAAAAAT AM I DOING?!?!? Cheering from a couple there got me starting again, as well as being passed by my “wind-shield”. In the little woods and more running. Passing two guys. And then again… WALKING UP the second little slope…for 10-15m or so…I never stop there during training!!! Why do I do that now?!?! Reaching up the top of the slope, I turn and see a gal with blue tshirt…This sets fire to the powder and I got on the top of my toes again. Just loving this feeling. Passing a few pedestrians. Aaaaaand running downhill sooooo crazily fast, passing my “wind-shield” and seriously hoping that I will not fall. (after checking the pace of this specific part of the race, my watch registered a “fastest pace” of 3:04 (!) which I think was actually correct and for this little downhill…). Rushing on the asphalt like a fool for not dropping on my pace, seeing Måns and another guy a bit away from me. Trying to accelerate and shouting to the nice guy helping the cars to pass (or not) to NOT let the car pass (Heeeeeello there! I am coming at full speed here!), Got a nice smile back 🙂 Running up the little slope and then shortly after turning right. This final part of the race is a bit tricky as running along the harbour and the buildings, making lots of 90-turns all the way. Got a serie of high-five with adult (!) spectators sitting on a bench (sooo cool!) and one more right turn. Shouted to Måns to accelerate (well, this was more for me this one, but it felt strange to shout it to myself…). One more turn, a little bit up and then left among the boats and then left and right and left and straight….Aaaaaahh! Will this never stops?!?! There was a change from last year course path. Turned once more left and around and right and that was it. The final km was reached. Shoot! No gal passing by so far and less than a km to go. Tried to take some on Måns, which worked, but close to getting back to the gravel/dust path, I stopped my music and had a problem putting the mp3 in my backpocket. Dropped the pace a bit and got Måns running away. For the 5th time during the race, I got some kind people indicating me that I was the third gal to come. And that was the final stretch. Gravel and dust. Took time for giving a large smile to the photograph there. Could not run much faster on this gravel stuff 😦 Where was all my acceleration powers?!?! And then running on the grass for the final part. Hearing that some cheerings were increasing and was a bit scared to see a gal passing me right before the arrival. But nope. Accelerated and got a guy reaching the final line with me: Hearing my name as third. That was it. Enough for today. Dust-taste in the mouth. Getting my banana and chocolate cookie and water bottle. Realizing I did not stop my watch. 42:55. So. Now it is done.
=> official time: 42:50 – place 3
Weather: 18.9° Sunny, Feels like 18.9°, 16 kph SSW wind, 52% humidity – sunny, windy, dusty… Great weather for running and getting a nice tan! (OK, I could have done without the wind…)
Food: grahamsporridge+banana+blueberry jam @11:15am / banana+kex chocklad+bläää bubble water right after
during: dextrosol at start of the race as well as at km4 and 7 (slightly before the water station)
Gear: SOC shorts small trapeze, Casall Iconic sport bra black – MIK. Shoes felt exactly the way they should: fast and completely flying. So light!
Shoes: ADIDAS Adizero Adios – Purple (Quicky)
14/ OK, to the risk of being called cocky, I really think that the race overall did not reach more than a good steady effort level. Definitely less than interval-training, but more than regular training. The 15km run over lunch this week felt definitely tougher than this race today. So yes, there is still more to get out from this body and legs…
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NOTE: Hilly is as said before not my speciality nor preference. But today it went quite well actually (apart from the dreadful stairway and this stupid stop in the woods (which I can still not explain to myself…). Gravel and dust are not on my favourite list of terrain and will probably never be. Add wind to the whole thing… Yeah, you got the picture! But seriously, it went faster than I really thought it would, but should actually been faster if the wind would have not been there to run it all…
Very good training!
*********
AFTER THE RACE:
Changing clothes in an open tent (aaaaahhh…runnners…they can really do everything anywhere…) as all the water throwing on the head had gotten my gears pretty wet and I did not want to run back home this way. Quick chat with Christopher-MIK and Lennart B-MIK. Then meeting Helen-MIK and waited for the prices to be presented. First the category “under 17”. and then us… “over 17” 😛 Helen kindly took a few pictures and that was it. Time to get back home. By foot. With a backpack heavier from earlier with an extra pair of running shoes as price for the 3rd lady. Not too bad for a run under the sun on this Swedish national day!
NOTE: 95% of max according to Garmin. Once again. Still unsure what is my HR max anyway…
NOTE: Nice and well-organized race. Would definitely have this on my list for next year. If they can arrange without the wind, I’ll sign up tomorrow! 😛
NOTE: one hour after arrival, the body felt good enough for running 12km back home at a quite decent pace. Meaning that the race did not take at all much on the body and should/could have been pushed a bit more. Having run 10,000m on track at 43min a month ago, probably means there is a little laziness somewhere not willing to push much more on those short distances…. Have to find it and convince it to stop. Sub40 expected to the next 10K please! (no hill and no wind, thanks!)
Race Report – Göteborgsvarvet 2016/05/21
Happy finisher
Planned: sub90. Hopefully closer to 87, more likely 88. Training-race.
Actual: 1:29:44 – PB on this route 🙂 17 seconds faster than last time. A fall at start, a well-executed first 5km, a slow mara-pace following 5km and a little “bored” rest of the race. Kept on the plan for not arriving last at Swedish Championships though…
Adequate weather conditions with sunshine and a bit of (annoying) wind. Not really pushing throughout the race, a bit unsure why. But so it was. Kept on hoping for a sub90 and dropped the hope around km18 and got it back when seeing km20-mark indicating 1:25:07. And made it under the bar! Happy!…and ready for the second half…
Place: 26 Swedish half-marathon Championships, 78 – all women 🙂 / 10 age category / 1467 all runners 🙂
Splits (official – Swedish championships place)
| Split | Time of day | Time | Diff | Min/km | Km/h | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5km | 13:20:53 | 00:20:53 | 20:53 | 04:11 | 14.36 | 29 |
| 10km | 13:41:44 | 00:41:43 | 20:50 | 04:11 | 14.39 | 28 |
| 15km | 14:03:13 | 01:03:12 | 21:29 | 04:18 | 13.96 | 26 |
| 20km | 14:25:08 | 01:25:07 | 21:55 | 04:23 | 13.69 | 26 |
| Finish | 14:29:45 | 01:29:44 | 04:37 | 04:13 | 14.26 | 26 |
Totals
| Swedish Championships | 26 |
| Place | 78 |
| Place (age) | 10 |
| Place (total) | 1467 |
| Time total | 01:29:44 |
| Average pace | 04.15 min/km |
**********************************************************
BEFORE THE RACE
Awaken at 6:30am. No longer tired. Waited a little bit before jumping into running gear and head out for a very short and slow jog for waking up the legs. Quick stop for buying 2 bottles of Powerade and then home again. Nothing special really to be done. Felt like preparing for a long run. Breakfast taken at 8:45am – chia seeds, soy milk, banana and honey on the top, glass of orange juice and a tea. And then…wait…and more wait… at least for long run or early-start races I would have eaten my breakfast in the middle of the night and got back to bed. Spent time watching tv instead. And checking 20 times or so whether my race gear were ready or not… Outfit for today will be ADIDAS Supernova Blue line shorts, Casall Iconic black sports bra MIK, calve sleeves Compressports, sunglasses and on the feet, the superfast ADIDAS Adizero Adios Boost – Purple (Quicky). Their first race 🙂
11:15am – time to get ready. On with the gear. Pin the BIB on the sports bra. Final kiss before leaving and hop to the street. Met Henrik S not long from home. He preferred to walk to the start so I started to jog easily to the start. Not many people out there compared to 2 years ago (where the weather was very sunny already and hot). Today it was fair and nice. Humidity could be felt almost. Cloud cover was not helping. Reaching the start and checking the IK Jogg-meeting point. Quick chat with Peter-Jogg and then the tent for meeting colleagues. As the grass was wet, the shoes and socks got humid as well. Good to have 2 extra pairs…just in case… Chat with Henrik S finally arrived. Large smile from Patrik B getting ready as well.
12:30pm – off with the extra clothes and time for final pitstop and short warmup. The woods around the tents were not much of empty places… Did a quick back and forth jog and then headed towards the start area. Lots of people there. Checking out the gals running with yellow BIB and a Swedish flag (i.e. they were to run the Swedish Half-marathon Championships with me). Ran with my Powerade bottle and little leftover in it. Back and forth and back and forth. Not much place to warm-up really. Tried a few accelerations, but not very successful. Felt a bit lost with all the people around actually.
12:45pm – start getting ready to the start line. Drank the rest of the Powerade. Ate a sugar stuff Isostar. Noticing that lots of runners are already very quiet….when others are talking about their weekend like the race ahead is a walk-in-the-park-like…
12:55pm – “Back one more meter” says the official for the third time. Not many want to go back. Have lost my spot on the second line when a tall Swede set himself right before me…and his two buddies arrived and pressed themselves right close to him…So much for the chivalry-manners… 😛
12:58pm – more pressure from all around. Counting down. Cannot really hear anything any longer. Just staring at the guy with a gun and barely hearing the countdown…
**********************************************************
THE RACE
1:00pm – BAM! The start is given. The feeling of being wild horses leaving finally the corral is definitely there. No pushing but having this human wave transporting you. Pressing the start button on my watch. Starting to run. And out of nowhere I see two male runners falling already on my right. Cannot see much of it before realizing that two small elite-women have also fallen badly in front of me. I can jump above one but that would have meant setting my foot on the second one who was right before me. Loosing my balance. Feeling the pressure of the wave moving forward. Falling and seriously fearing for my life for a short while. Bam! On the hard asphalt. Got back on my feet thanks to runners behind me (thanks whoever helped me there). Seeing Lona on my right on her way to fall. Seriously?!?!? What is happening. Everything went so fast and so slow at the same time. I check my watch and I am already on my feet. 70 meters done… Being passed by a brilliant smile and cheering from MIK Christopher. Tried to smile. Nothing is making sense in my head. Feeling tears coming close to the eyes. But strangely I am already turning left. Should I really run this? Feeling that a bad start cannot really make a good race. Well, a bad start cannot make anything good. Seeing Karin S from IF Kville ahead of me. Then a few elite gals from Stockholm. And we are at the first right turn. I am actually running. No tear made its way to the eyes. Good. Still having very confused thoughts during the first km. Cannot really understand where I am, just that my feet are running. My plan was to take it easy up to the exit of Slottskogen at 4:10-tempo. Thereafter if I could reach the bottom of the bridge around km4 at average pace of 4:06, that would be great. Then a slow up the bridge and then catch up progressively to an easy 4:06 by the foot of the second bridge. Well-thought plan for reaching the arrival under 90 minutes and close to 87. But I am now running up to Plikta. Passed by a light-and-fast-feet Lona. Smart move of her to pass on the extreme left. Passed by MIK-Jon. Nice smile again. OK, I am (almost) back on track. Running down to km2 goes like on rail. Counting down already: 19km to go… Passed by IF Linnea Staffan S somewhere there. So nice once again with a cheering and a kind smile. Sälsdammsbacken has started already. For once I decided to run on the right side….as everybody seems to believe there are faster than light and always push and press on the left side. And indeed…the right side is pretty nice to run. Apart from the guys distributing Kex choklad and really killing my rhythm. A bit slower than planned to reach the top, but feeling that it disappeared quite fast anyway. Downhill now. Passing the penguins with average pace 4:11. All according to plan. Apart from the original fall at the start… And now it is just down. Almost fell on the right turn to the street as a giant runner just pass me on the left and not-so-kindly set himself RIGHT in front of me…while turning. OK, I get a sorry and be careful. But I was NOT really in the mood for thanking him! Straight line now. Just rolling down. Feeling a bit warm. The head needs a bit of cooling as the mind is still a bit confused by the fall and not really focused. Mariaplan. All fine. Feeling warm, but ok. Reaching close to km4 and MIK-Magnus is here for cheering. Yoooohoooo! I think I might have smiled! Taking 2 dextrosol here. Not sure they are needed though. Checking the pace on my watch and it is indicating a nice and steady 4:06. Hmmmm… ok. Nice! Pressing “lap” at 4.3km in order to check who is the faster on this distance: G or me (as he has started running Cityvarvet – 4.3km – at 1pm as well). Glass of water taken and thrown on the head. Forgetting to get some in the mouth. The first up to km5 feels fine. Then a little tougher as it becomes steeper. But soon is the bridge. Km5 is passed slightly under 21 minutes. All according to plan. Now the bridge. We are about 4-5 gals running up…and I am the last one of them. But that feels ok. Looking on the right and seeing the other bridge…far away…just want to be THERE…NOW! Reaching the top of the bridge and passing 2 gals. On the downhill it feels good. I accelerate as planned. Not crazily fast, but enough to be sub4. Turn right and then straight line. THERE IT STARTED. The slowing down. Cannot understand it always happen during Göteborgsvarvet. I reach the water-station. Quick mouth-rinsing with sport drink and water on the head. Turning left and straight to Eriksberg. Yiiiippi! I saw the km7-mark (I always miss it…). Wow! 4:2x-pace has been reached now. I know that the satellites are a bit odd on this part with the buildings, but I should absolutely not be THAT slow. And no Per M to be seen for cheering and pushing me further. Feel extremely lonely there. The group of gals are ahead of me. Passing the banana station. Not even funny. Turning right and reaching the shadow of the parallel street. Slight up and crazily slow. Trying to keep up with the few gals that have caught up with me. I don’t like this. Trying to find positive thoughts. Intervals ran with Christer B and MIK-Christopher T. THAT was fun. Ok, turning right already and back to the sunny side. And the concrete water-side. Passing the sculpture and running on the straight line of Sannegården feels fine. I know I am slow. Not even sure I am at marathon-pace (although the watch tells this to me). “Come on Girl” is one of the cheering that helps the most at this moment. And hearing my name. Turning and seeing a brilliant smile from Markus R from work. Nice! Cannot really let the gal ahead of me running alone, right? Accelerating a little bit and soon reaching the 10km-mark. Under 42minutes. OK, but way slower than planned. I should be closer to 40 than to 42 I thought. Turning right and getting to the cobblestones. First half is done! At last! Only one half left to go!
Passing along Ericsson. Quite empty this year. Running a little behind the gal with pink sports-bra. Trying to keep up. No. Not trying. I AM keeping up. The wind we are having on this side of the bridge is killing me. Not the strongest. But enough to bother. WHO said we would have tailwind here?!?!? More running and missing the km11 and km12-signs (unsure there were any). 2 dextrosol for keeping me awaken. Dry in the mouth. But it feels ok. Passing another gal and the pink sport-bra one is now behind me. Reaching SVT-house and it feels too warm for being ok. Need to chill out. Where is the water station? Passing it actually as there was a bit of crowd there. Aaaaaand I got passed by the light-and-fast gal with pink sport bra. Again… Average pace has dropped to 4:14 by now. Completely off the plan of reaching the second bridge in 4:06…which I know is possible as I have done it in other half-marathons. Sub90 starts to feel a bit of an utopia by now. So I take precious seconds for passing under the arch for a photo and some high-fives. And back to the bridge. 😦 If only it could become flatter by the time all the runners ahead of me have run on it. That would be great. Have lost the gal with pink sports-bra. Not ahead of me. And when I thought I would start walking a bit, I hear my name. Turning left and seeing the large smile of Christer B. So kind to give cheering on his way up. Hopefully I answered something nice back as well. Looking at his way up, I just want his legs! They are just light and fast and eat probably bridges for breakfast every morning! All good. I calculate that if he makes it in 1:27 I would be above 90minutes. But the way he runs makes me think that the fastest plan is on its way! Happy! Caught up by the gal with pink sport-bra on the top of the bridge. Noticing now that she has music in her ears. I WANT MUSIC IN MY EARS TOO! I know it helps crazily much! Running down and around the foot of the bridge. Passing the first tables of water and getting one paper mug and all on the head again. There she comes again. Passes me and will never let me pass her again. Running slow now. Well, don’t finding the motivation to run faster as sub90 is soon out of reach. So it felt as good to just “finish” and keep some strengths for more run later in the day or the day after. The weird thing is that there are strengths left. I just don’t want to use them. Looking right and left. Reaching Kopparmera and seeing the large smile from Sandrine B. Yooooohooo! Nice again. More motivation. Sub90 ain’t lost until I said so (well, or until I drop the pace even more…). The way up to Poseidon statue feels fine. I am running on the side or close to another IF Linnea chick. She makes it looks easy and light with a poney-tail and long hair moving from left to right all the time. Seeing Lona on her way down and soon turning. Got passed by Henrik S and more cheering. Focus on the way up. Hearing my name once more. Unsure who but I turn and smile and wave. Now the turning point is almost there. Catching a large smile in the crowd and one more cheering in Jay P 🙂 Wow! That IS cool to have so many cheering on the way up. One glass of water taken. Two sponges taken and the way down is now reached. 4.3km to go. Nothing. G has run that earlier. And my cheering-squad should be waiting at the planned spot for me to pass within 1:15/18. Cannot let them down really. Once again feeling that Vasagatan is the most boring place on Earth for running, but knowing they are waiting after it give some strengths. Skipping the water. Just want to see them. Taking off the neckwarmer from my hair and throwing it to them. So nice with their warm smiles. Now it is time to run a bit faster. Forget the sub4 as it was planned. Just get to the end. Not too much above 90minutes. That should work. Final stretch before the bridge. Cheering from Solvikingen Stefan 🙂 And the bridge. Which I take…on the top of the toes! And it works. I knew I was not running out of strengths. Far from it. And down to km20. Seeing the clock indicating 1:25:xx right when I pass it. This tired brain of mine is calculating quickly that running the last 1.1km in 5min would give right on 90minutes. I can better than that. Seeing the IF Linnea poney-tail gal probably seeing the same clock as she is accelerating as well. Passing people there. Always feel so good. Now Villa Belparc. And hearing not much from the crowd. Just focused on finishing this. Little slope at the end. 500m to go. Reaching the gravel part. 300M to go. Don’t know how I got into the stadium, but I am in it. Quick check on the watch and I should make it. Seeing Solviking Hanna passing me in her final sprint. I am fine with pushing slightly to get under 90 minutes. By 16 seconds. Mission accomplished!
Official time: 1:29:44
AFTER THE FINISH LINE
Got water sprayed on my face. Meeting Henrik S. More smiles from IF Linnéa group. Hugs to Lona and Stefan. Congratulating to great times. Walking slowly to the end. Got hug from Christian L from jogg. More smiling! Off with the stupid scrath-band with the chip. Which once again got me a nice burn mark on the ankle. Starting to feel again the pain from the fall at the start of the race. It was gone during the first 5km and felt a bit in the downhill from the first bridge…and remains throughout the race. Nothing stopping the running. But annoying enough to wonder what is going one. Getting my medal. Grabbing a banana and chocolate cookie. Glass of sport drink. Chat with Henrik S to get back to the tent. Crossing over the human wave. At the tent, meeting a large smile from Patrik B who ran in indecently 1:14 (!!!). My cheering squad has also reached the tent. Perfect. Off with the wet clothes. On with dry ones. A short massage. A hot-dog. And walk back home.
Weather: 12.8°, Feels like 12.8°, 14 kph S wind, 82% humidity – probably 12/13ºC at start. But at the arrival it felt much warmer. 15/16º? Windy on Hisingen side. Humidity? Definitely!
Food: chia seeds+soy milk+banana+orange juice+tea @9-ish/
water/powerade: 2dl every 30min (alternate)
During: 2dextrosol @km4 and 12
Right after: banana, 1 full glass of ISOstar. In the tent: 1 hot dog. Later dinner: chicken legs & curry potatoes in oven
=> should have drunk more water after the race
Gear: ADIDAS Supernova Blue line shorts, Casall Iconic black sports bra MIK, calve sleeves Compressports, super fast ADIDAS Adizero Adios boost Purple (Quicky).
15/ Effort-wise, it did not feel sky-high. Falling at start made the first 5-600m feeling like being in a parallel world with plenty of foolish people running away from something… Just hanging along! Up to the bridge was moderate effort, and then it just felt like drifting and reaching a nice steady marathon pace. Tough up the second bridge was probably to 16, but then down afterwards was all fine. For sure the climbing of the second bridge was not easy, but at the pace I was having, there was no real effort done. No pushing for going faster. Not really tired at the end. Not even by the sprint in the stadium (a bit unsure I even sprinted there… According to the watch the final stretch in the stadium was fast 🙂 ). Quite OK-race. Really disappointed that it did not go faster, but considering the bad start, it might have impacted on the rest of the race. No excuse here. Just trying to figure out how the first half of most of my latest marathons are always faster than this stupid race… OK. Sub90. Mission accomplished. Could definitely not say I pushed hard on this one. No need to run this race any more!
******
A few “after-race thoughts”
NOTE: Still have to get this done sub90 on training. Any volunteer? 🙂
NOTE: weather conditions were not optimal, but not too bad. Should have stopped throwing water on my head after km10 as when reaching Aveny and km17/18 my shorts were heavy wet and that was not comfortable to run in!
NOTE: Official results… Hmmm… Placed 93 (total women) after the race. After a check at the results, found out at least 15 results which were run by a guy instead of a woman. Dropping my place to 78. Surely nice, but hey! Stop doing this. That ain’t fun. Run under your own name or change with a guy. OR do not run that fast and get in the Top 100. This means disqualification right away.
NOTE: Official results… Hmmm(2)… got into the categor D55 (women 55). Hey! Changing age the day after the race does not make me THAT old (yet)… Changed the day after (as the age category was apparently incorrect for many)
NOTE: a good training-race. Enjoying fully the sub90 of my own as well as the other fabulous subs from friends 🙂
NOTE: warmup? Felt quite ok actually. The jogg to the start and the few back&forth and accelerations were ok. For starting at a decent and almost race-pace.
NOTE: drinking & energy during the race? Well the drinking was inexistent. Mouth-rinsing worked better. Dextrosol were a bit overcourse actually. Could have run without.
NOTE: falling at the start was not a great experience. Have to work on this (i.e. not the falling, but the starting with crazy adrenaline/testosterone filled runners…).
Race Report – Solvikingarnas 10,000m 2016/05/05
Planned: spontaneous 10,000m race….
Actual: 10,000m – 43:27
First track race. All to be improved!
Arrived pretty early for late registrations. Went perfectly. Got my name in the board within 2minutes in first heat with all ladies.
Changed shorts and attached my bib to my MIK sports bra. Hesitated to remove the compression socks.
Lined up with all others. Met my lap-counter. And it was 30 seconds left to start. Paved myself in Lane 1, add apparently nobody wanted it.
Quick start. Passed by Hanna Ö from Solvikingarna around 100m in ans Karin Schön after 200m. Had no clue about what pave I had. Magnus from MIK indicated 90 sec after first lap. Which was way too fast. Second lap was still nice and completed first km in 3:54. That won’t last I thought. And indeed. Running round round round made it more difficult to appreciate the pace. No back to hang along with. Got passed by 3 Solvikingarna and one IF Kville during the race. Nothing really happening. Missed the water cup after 6 laps or so. Got a dextrosol from E after 10 laps and 17 laps.
Felt that the pace was not in sync with tee effort I wanted to put into the race. The 9km intervals session from Tuesday was probably still in the legs. Just run and did not push much at all. Sure no easy especially with the sun and then the wind every second half.
Got passed twice by the two first ladies and maybe one more.
So nice seeing only 1-digit for the laps left to run. Although when my lap-counter said 2km to go, I felt better and actually could accelerate…
Arrived happy and not really tired. 3 minutes more than expected. At least there is now a time to beat on track!
The best with this race? Cheering from G&T close to 100m-mark and E at the lap-counting.
**********
Weather: sun and warm and windy
Food: banana pancake @7:30am / chicken leg in oven+potatoes+zucchini after coming back home
During: 2 dextrosol
Right after: 3-4 sport-drink cups & 1 banana
Gear: ADIDAS Supernova Blue line shorts, MIK Casall iconic sports bra black, compression socks compressport. Shoes all fine for their second outing!
Shoes: ADIDAS Adizero Adios Boost – Purple (Quicky)
16/ Tougher than planned. Probably not the best day to choose for a spontaneous race…
NOTE: body felt indecently fine during the race. Thought the hip would complain, but nope. Very sweaty during. Took a few water cups to throw water in the head and the thighs for cooling down. Worked perfectly.
NOTE: a bit of work needed to master this type of race with laps. Not having many runners was not helping neither to maintain the pace.
Rest during the afternoon under the sun. All fine under the sun!
Race Report – Näsetloppet 2016/04/30
Näsetloppet 2016 – Happy MIKs!
Planned: under 45, revised to “all under 47 is good” (review done after the warmup and recognition run prior to the race…)
Actual: 46:06 for 10.6km
place: 7th 🙂 – Happy!
BEFORE THE RACE
Pretty good night’s sleep. Heard the rain falling all night long, i.e. that would be crazy wet when we would be running. Up around 8am, reading, breakfast at 9:30am with chia seeds -choco/banana mix. Nothing to do really until leaving to the race, so spent the next 1.5hr cleaning at home (bathroom, vacuum-cleaning, dust cleansing, dishes… Well-use of the time!). Had prepared my race clothes yesterday, so it was “just” to prepare the extra change-clothes for after the race. Packed all into a bag and off to the tram. Arrived at the end of the line, took an easy walk for the 1.5km to the race start. Met Christopher T from MIK arriving at the same time and using my alternative transport choice: the bike! I had hesitated a bit between taking the bike to the start (adding a 24km ride -from/to the race) OR having the possibility to run back home after the race. Chose the second option. We headed to the place for the distribution of startkits. Changed my registration to Elite-group where Christopher would also be. Direction the changing rooms. On with race outfit and on the top long pants and warm winterjacket. Met Christopher outside and we talked about our recent marathon-adventures until we could leave our bags. Chose to do a warmup/recognition run from the start to km2.5 and the first hill. Easy tempo, all fine, chatting all the time. A bit muddy and wet, and windy (although it was a bit covered in the side of the forest). Then tested the heavy first hill and turned back down to the start. All fine. Just have to wait for the gun to fire then! Separated from Christopher now. Found a toilet in the club cabin where there was actually no queue at all. Fixed up my hair and that was it. Ready to start.
Headed to the warm-up area where people were starting to line up. Was asked if I was an elite by an person from the race sponsors and if I could talk to a little girl for which this was her first long race. Cool 🙂 I went there, talk to her a bit, cheering and then it made my day (and apparently hers as well 🙂 ) Felt very honoured to do that 🙂 Time to get to the start. No real extra warm-up, but ran until the first turn. Quick pitstop into the woods and then back to the start. A few up&down the first slope and that was it. Time to get to the corral. My watch indicated 1:55pm already… Quick chat with a girl from Solvinkingarna. Not many ladies in the elite-group but guessing that all will fire off pretty fast and I will eat their dust. Not that it is my plan, but on this particular course, there is not a chance I will hold their tempo!
Going forward to the starting line. Final cheering from/to Christopher T. 45 seconds to start already. Light light rain falling. 30 seconds. Everything goes so fast, but it feels so slow at the same time… Did I really register to the race yesterday evening?
The RACE
Start is given and all run ahead of me 🙂 Getting use to it. It is just that for such a short distance as here (10.6km) there is no way I can catch up… Good start, feeling fine. No pushing. Everybody in his/her best behaviours! Easy to the first turn. All the elite group has passed me apart from one lady. She does it after the first right turn into the border of the forest. Easy run. For a short moment I am alone and the start-group behind us catch up on me. All fine. One gal gets to my side and she has a good tempo. Well, this is not km2 yet and the hills are a little after. Passing the first km sub4 was expected, but it did not feel the effort level was high. Second km is on terrain already, so definitely slower still decent 4:16-pace. Turning right after the 2km sign and it is light rain falling. And headwind blowing. Only focus is on breathing correctly (and pretty calmly actually!) and getting ready for this stupid first hill. Almost considered to stop right there at the bottom of it. But nope. I take it nice and easy (read: “tough and breath-heavy”), trying to keep up with the lady that passed me at km2. The race is having a nice dressing code: all runners have their running tshirts on (green for men and pink for women) except for the elites. So it is quite easy (for the ladies) to spot where other ladies are in the green wave of men runners 🙂 I keep to the one lady close to me as the one I can see if too far ahead. Finally up this hill. Want to stop and just be happy of this achievement. But nope. There are still some kilometres to run! Passing km3 a bit too heavy-breathing to my liking, but I am hanging in there. Downhill now, taking off my nose the neckwarmer as there is no much wind that annoy my breathing. And I can also smile to people on the side who are cheering for the runners. All fine. Got passed by the gal right before the water-station. Which I am skipping. And I got ahead of her. Takes 200m before she is in the lead again. Now we are running along the sea. Nice. There I did my training last summer prior to Öloppet Sprint. I know this path. And I don’t like it particularly… (well, during training it is nice. During race it is not). And uphill after the little beach. Killing my steps. But I want to keep close to the pink gal. On the top finally (and no it is not a 1km-stiff hill, but it feels like it!). And downhill. All fine. Still fine. Getting out of the seaside and back to the parking place with the water station. Taking one water cup. Try to drink and most of it get into my face and my left eye. I actually laugh at myself then. Pace has dropped with this stupid thing and I have to catch up with the pink gal. Which is done quite soon. Passing the halfway mark feels good. I get closer to her and tell that “one half is done, one half to go”. Receiving a nice smile and thanks and good luck to you to. 🙂 All fine on this race. No one is really passing us. We run along each other. I take the lead and run left carefully on two small wooden planks set on a muddy/watery small area (great to have that in a turning point as well…). And it is back to asphalt (thanks!). Run run run and more run. The brain is not really happy that the legs continue to run. The legs are not fully understanding why the brain does not tell them to stop. And I am here in the middle of the conversation… Counting down the km. That feels so crazy short! Compared to marathons where the countdown is quite long to get to 1 figure km… Passing km7 happy. And warm. Off with the singlet and the gloves. MUCH BETTER! There are ups & down. Not too tricky, but not knowing really where to turn is annoying. Should have done some recognition for the full route prior to the race… Too late now. I know we are getting to an awful hill like the first one, when we reach km8 or so. Have the pink gal behind me now and am a bit ahead as I cannot see her in the corners of my eyes when I turn right. And wow! Getting to another hill-slope-call-it-what-you-want-but-it-is-not-flat! Decide to actually walk…10 seconds. One guy passes me. And then I continue. This gave the pink gal the time to catch up with me. We hang along and when she passes me, she is cool enough to encourage and tell there is so little left to run now. Grate her with a nice smile 🙂 And finally the downhill from km9 or so. Which – with my head doing calculation – means 1.6km left to go: Yeaaaahhhh! This is tricky to actually consider a race of 10.6km instead of 10km. Not that I have checked my watch since km2. Have no idea how long we have been running (Oh, yes, I did check at km5+ where it was “kind-of” the middle and I passed 22:38. Meaning that 45minutes was still achievable (the higher hand of 45 minutes, but still 45 minutes…). Down down and more down now. Passing between cheering people close to shops. And suddenly we arrive to the little tunnel under the road. Tunnel that Christopher had shown me during our warm-up. Yippie! Not much long then. When turning left to the final straight line, I try to see if there is any pink tshirt behind, but nope. None to be seen. Passing two guys on this final stretch. And it feels so incredibly long. Was it THAT long during the warm-up? Has someone stretched the street to add a few100 meters?!?!? Got passed by a crazy fast guy about 50m from the final right turn. He is young. He probably does not understand what he is doing 😛 It makes me happy to see this actually. And got extra strengths to push after the final right turn. Hearing the speaker saying another female runner is coming. Lifting my arms and giving a nice smile to the people cheering. And that’s it! Missing the 45+minutes but so very happy to cross this finish line.
=> official time: 46:06 – place 7
***********
Weather: 10.0° Rainy, Feels like 7.2° , 23 kph S wind, 66% humidity – quite nice weather to run actually.
Food: chia seeds+choco/banana mix at 9:30am, banana about one hour prior to the race, right after the race: 6-7 pieces of energybars (homemade – yummy), banana during cooldown
During: 2 dextrosol right before start, 2 about km3,5, 2 around km8,5
Gear: ADIDAS Supernova shorts Blue line, MIK singlet black, compression socks compressport, arm sleeves black, SOC windgloves, neckwarmer Icebug.
Shoes: ADIDAS Adizero Adios Boost – Purple (Swifty)
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16/ Difficult to set an effort level here. I would rather find a full marathon easier on the effort level than this race. But having definitely not push much, it cannot get that high. Would have very much like to have a flat race and see how was the form for a 10K. But that was not today!
NOTE: Hilly is far from my speciality or preference. Gravel and terrain follows closely. During training that is one thing. But during a race… Good to have done this one anyway. Very good training!
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AFTER THE RACE:
Getting home-made energybars (yummy! Especially the one natural with oats!). Getting my medal, drinking some water. Meeting with Christopher at the bags-drop. A bit of chatting. We take a couple of photos and then easy cooldown round round round the football field. Enough. I am cold now 🙂 On with some more clothes, getting more of those energy bars. And goodbye to club buddy. Changing to other clothes (i.e. putting dry clothes on wet racing clothes… wonderful feeling!). Watched the podiums ladies and guys. Headed to the bus stop. No running back home. My butt is feeling too cold and it ain’t fun to run in sweaty wet clothes. That was it!
NOTE: For an unplanned race, on a very strange distance, on a non-preferred hilly route, after a couple of weeks with annoying hip… that was a good Saturday training run!
NOTE: According to Garmin I was in the max zone from start to end… 95% of max… Would be good to finally do this HR-max test and see what it is for real…
NOTE: Can actually think of having this race on the plans for next year 😛
NOTE: Just loved the cheering from a young boy about km8 somewhere, saying “Come on, you Gladiator-girl” 😛
Race Report – Ferrara Marathon – 2016/03/20
Finish line with a smile
Planned: original plan was sub3, revised after calf strain two weeks before the race to 3:06 (qualification time for Swedish championships)
Actual:…3:00:45. 5th all women, 1st age category and 57 all participants. Pretty satisfactory considering the following weeks after Dubai and the previous weeks before the race. Not too bad 🙂
Race Results:
place (M/W) 5
place (age) 1
Total 57
age/grade: 78.2% (2016 Dubai 73.83 / 2015 NYC 75.93 / 2015 WMAC 74,99 / 2014 Chicago 75.97 / Stockholm 76.76 / Rotterdam 78.43 / Dubai 77.74 / 2013 Berlin 75.74/Stockholm:73.1/Boston:72.19/Dubai: 72.35/2012 Berlin:68.29/SF:65.66/London:66.47/Dubai:66.6)
time total (netto) 03:00:45
time total (brutto) 03:00:45
average pace: 4:17min/km
Garmin splits:
Split time diff min/km
10K 41:33 41:33 4:09
HALFWAY 01:28:00 46:27 4:10
30K 02:06:36 38:36 4:13
Finish 03:00:45 54:09 4:17
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M Day-5
A few days before…
Carb depletion day 2. Nothing fancy. Good workout on treadmill (crazy early…). Visit to the osteopath to fix the right hip that started to annoy me a bit, he also got som work done in the back and the left foot. Pretty painful afterwards and rest of the day… What did I do?!?!
M Day-4
Morning easy bike. Work. Then massage as usual. A bit pain/knots in the back, really hurting front of both thighs… Wonderful day…
M Day-3
Morning meetings over. Fast lunch workout session. And finally carbo-loading! Packing and in bed too late (as usual…).
M Day-2
Travel down to Italy after full and intensive week at work. Really early start, missing driver for the bus to the airport made me wait 45 minutes in the cold…at 4:00am, then full sleep in the first flight, race in the airport of Munich to get my second flight, more sleep and finally landing in Bologna. Carbo-loading day meaning chia seeds for breakfast, extra bananas during the day, lots of water, gummy bears and sport drink. Met JP at the airport and travel by bus to Ferrara. Settled in our room, picked up our BIB and found an open restaurant for tagliatelle al ragu. Serious headache from lunch onwards, not disappearing with food nor drink. But a nice nap late afternoon got me rid of it. More tagliatelle in the evening close to the nice castle where the start of the race would be two days later. Not too late in bed after lots of chat about everything possible and a heavy sleep.
M Day-1
Morning run before breakfast with JP. Good to have him to regulate the pace. Easy run to the start, then checking out the route to km2 almost and back and then checking out the final 1.5km and back. Could not resist an acceleration for the last 700m. Nice feeling under sunny skies. Back to hotel, breakfast with chia seeds, Gatorade, tea, white bread and honey. Then a bit of resting, walking, resting, late pasta lunch and resting (read: “counting the hours to start now”…). Prepared the gear for the race. Double-checking my watch, mp3, gels, race route (just ask me where is what…I just have to close the eyes to answer!). JP went for later dinner but my “schedule” was different. Off with the lights and…it was not yet 8pm… Drank probably 2l water and same in Gatorade this day…
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M Day!!!
Before the race
5:20am – waking up before the alarm. Well-rested. Wait for 5:30am to go up and eat my wonderful “200g carbs” breakfast: chia seeds mixed with Gatorade blue and cut banana, little white bun bread with honey and drinking extra Gatorade. A little zip of water as well and back to bed.
6:00&6:30 am – not full asleep nor awaken. Drinking water and Gatorade orange.
7:00am – JP wake up and got ready for breakfast. Cannot stay longer in bed so getting myself ready too. Shower, hair fix, cream to avoid dry skin. On with racing outfit (new Casall Iconic black sports bra, ADIDAS Supernova Blue Lin shorts, pink/purple socks and ADIDAS Adizero Adios Boost Purple (Swifty)). Sunglasses will get on the top of the head. Turning a bit in the bedroom. As advised by JP, getting sun cream as well. For once I also have Vaseline on the thighs and under arms. Won’t get burnt this time 🙂 Tricky again when come the question of where to put the gels. Two on the back and two on the front of sports bra. In a little sock. That should work. Dextrosol in fron little pocket. And 2 strawberry jellies in my hands. This is the plan B in case the sport drink/plan A is not working during the race. Leaving my yellow bag with a change of clothes that JP will bring me after his race. The plan is that he get his half-marathon done in 1:5x, got back to the hotel, got hopeful a bit of rest, change and I should then arrive fresh and smiling when he comes back to the arrival. All planned!
8:45am – Already?!? Leaving the hotel. A bit chilly outside and grey and foggy… Hummmm… Wondering if this is the correct outfit. No turning back though: if I can get through training at home in similar outfit and the weather we have, this Italian foggy morning will be a piece of cake! (Hoping for sure that the sun will anyway show itself…soon…). Easy run to the start. Got lots of staring looks (& yes, it felt a bit cold and I probably should have taken a t-shirt to throw before the race, but who cares now? Not me.) Back and forth running with JP and that’s it for my warm-up. 30 minutes to go.
9:30am – we separate, hug and best of luck. Diving into my own little bubble and finding a bar to get to the loo and get warm until the start. Got complimented (in Italian… So it is a guessing, but I took that as compliment) about my outfit. Waiting and looking through the open window…
9:15am – getting down to the street again. Finding my way to the first line for the start. Hearing the speaker indicating that the favorite for the marathon is a female from Croatia, two males from Italy and for the half-marathon, I only get “Kenya” and see those crazy-fast looking guys making a little place in the front. Being asked by the speaker “Va bene…Karima?”… “(Smile) si si, va bene” I succeed in answering. Then he gets another “victim” 🙂
Two chicks press themselves in front of me. They are in for the half. Seeing three fast chicks with purple numbers… Ok, those are the three first for the race I thought! Let’s get a fourth place then. Making me smile at least! The Croatian gal is checking up my hand where I have my “I hope I don’t need to crawl to the arrival”-time of 3:00/2:58/and let’s-dream-of-it-2:56.
Nice smile from the pacemaker for 3:00. Surely a beautiful smile, but my plan is to NOT see it during the race and keep it behind me. My wristbands make me feel confident. Mp3 ready. Hoping for a first half in 1:27/28. And get the second one slightly slower as I expect to be alone there…. and it is a loooong way back to the arrival to be fine alone. Better be prepared.
9:25am – final check to my shoes. Gels set. Jellies in each hand. No longer freezing.
Countdown to 10seconds has started…
THE RACE
First half
09:30am – PANG! Start is given. Feels the warmth of the crowd. Get a good pace. No pressure. No pushing. Had placed myself a bit on the left as we are turning left after a few hundred meters (of running in stones 😦 ). Arriving on Via Calour, the crowd of runners is taking over. No pushing, there is enough place for everyone. Got passed quickly by the 1:20-pacesetters of the half-marathon. Take half a second to let this number sink in and dream a bit… Ok, enough. Focus! Great to have run this yesterday with JP. I am ready. Passing first km in 4:09. Good. Turning left? Yes! Good thought from our run yesterday when we took this street 🙂 It just flows. Passed by in the left and right. I don’t care. Probably half-marathoners. Finding a few marathoners when a heavy sun pops outside the clouds. Hummmm… I said sunny but not THAT much and maybe not NOW… Km2 surprisingly ends in 4:17… Oooook? I did not feel I slowed down. But getting back on track after finding a half-marathon gal having a great 4:09-tempo. Running side-by-side for a long while. Km3 disappeared in 4:00-blank. Ok, maybe I accelerated a bit there. No more compensation, miss! The countdown has started already surprisingly at km1: “41km to go” I heard in my head… And shortly after a “40km to go”… The run to km5 is going well. Have settled in a comfortable pace, with the help of the blond half-marathoner and we push each other to keep the pace. For some while we are so in sync that is almost scary… Arm moves, legs, steps of similar length. No talking. A quick smile to the other one from time to time. I like this! I want her to continue the second half with me!!! I want to have her during training too!!! First water station. Could not open this @&!???@# jelly and miss the water table AS WELL! Fortunately my running buddy gets a bottle, pass on my right and hand it to me after taking a few gulps. THAT is what I call the running spirit. Or whatever “spirit”. I happily drink a bit and we continue. We have run along a little river/water/whatever… The sun is hot there. Runners passing by are already sweating like crazy. I feel for them as it is quite a bit left… The guys from 1:24-half marathon have passed us somewhere on this way to km5. Can still see their pink balloons for a while. I would gladly accelerate and do the half instead. But it shall not be today! By km7.5 I have finally opened my little jelly and chew it with all the power of my already tired jaws… Now I know why I did not want to take them… Lots of noise behind us… WHAT?!? What are the 3:00-guys doing here? We are cruising at 4:09-tempo. If my watch is wrong, I set 3seconds drift maximum. Meaning 4:12-tempo. They are way out of their expected pace and stressing me! At the km5 station I find myself being Zucca (3:00 pacer), having his blue balloons flying down right on my head. Have to find a path to skip this place! But I have guys on the right and the left 😦 Finding a little spot and off I went, finding back my running buddy.
Water for the sponges taken on the hands feels refreshing. Run run run. Passing the km-sign on stable 4:09-pace. All good. We run then on a road with high trees on the side. Good because it “feels” that it helps for the sun heating us. But nope. It does not help actually. Feels a bit windy, but looking at the beautiful landscape all around and not finding where this wind is coming from… Running between houses and there on the left-side of the road appears a long table with plenty of food! Served by an older man and other people cheering on the side. Looking tempting, but have to go. The guy #14 has now disappeared from my sight 😦 He was right before us during the long stretch to km5, then km7.5 and he was gone. But his running buddy with a little bottle in the hand runs with me. I have dropped my lady-runner-friend now. Looking a bit right and left and feels she ain’t far. I have now “black singlet with little bottle” (Marco? Emilio?) on my left and two other guys on my right. The red singlet one asks me “Marathona? Mezza marathona?” So far I get the Italian. Smiling and answering “Marathona”. Get thumbs up and we run. Turning right. I want to get to km10. Under 43 minutes. Ok. Under 42:30. Planning to drink sport drink at the 10K. Ending into a splashing mug, emptying itself as I run with it. Hardly getting something in my mouth. Angry I throw it away and accelerate a bit to get back on the side of “red singlet – Carma” (this is the logo I read when he pass slightly and kindly in front of me…to cut the wind!). I have had this type of helps in other races and it is always appreciated. We have passed a mix couple but this is no better place for me as she was in the half-marathon race. Good pace anyhow. “Red singlet” is keeping the pace up. Stable 4:09/08. Liking it. Getting to a slight downhill where once again he takes the lead and I follow. This wind!!!! I want to get to km15 before 1:03 and hopefully around 1:02. I prepare myself this time, opening the jelly and chewing it approximately 500m from the refreshment table. Perfect. Bottle of water. Emptying a little. Drinking a good 1dl. Emptying some on my head and thighs. Finishing with more in the mouth. Plan B is on! No more try on sport drinks for the rest of the race. Can see two chicks ahead of me. One is too far away, but the other one runs 2-300m max in front of us, surrounded by two running buddies holding same pace. Lucky her! They move to the right of the road suddenly. Ok, she’s in for the full distance I think. Because the two races separate around km17 or so and we take right when half-marathoners take left. “Red singlet” is ahead of me now. I see myself heading to the right side of the road more than I do it voluntarily. Missing the water tanks for the sponge. We see the others led to the left of the roundabout and and we are on our own now, heading to the right side. A line of cars on the left and we run on the other direction on the right side of the road. Trees and houses on both sides. Not many spectators. Music in my ears is keeping my legs running at the expected pace. “Red singlet” looks regularly back. Not fully turning, but a little. I take it for him checking where I am (and if that was not the case, I don’t care. I have a pulling force ahead of me and I want to use it!). Now “black singlet with little bottle” and “red singlet” are ahead of me after turning left at another roundabout. A few meters. I feel I have dropped little on my pace. But I am hanging on. Another guy comes into the picture. He has a “cut cap” and ITA written on the back of his singlet. I keep my mind focuses on his letter. Trying to figure out his name. (Will take probably 5-7km before I actually realize that ITA stands for Italy. Yes I am tired…). He is a bit running back and forth, well, more like doing acceleration, then slowing down, then acceleration aso. Not much, but enough to bother me as I want to be with someone stable with his/her pace. THEN happens what I REALLY don’t want to be happening… I dropped my 20km-gel. Takes what feels an eternity to realize it and stopping and running back, almost not being able to catch it from the asphalt and painfully starting to run again. Definitely lost my “singlets”-guys. They are now 5-80m ahead of me. “Cut cap” is a dozen meters ahead of me only but it feels like 2km or so! My legs did not like this abrupt stop and turn back. And my hands ain’t liking it neither as they feel really sticky. I get the smell of apple in my nose and look around a bit surprised as there is no flowering apple trees on the road side. Takes a while (OK, probably 3 seconds, which felt like forever…) before I understand that the gel cap has broken when falling and the stickiness comes from the gel spreading between my fingers. Wonderful!… Smartly (NOT) I put the gel in my other hand to lick my sticky fingers…and get the other hand sticky as well… My kingdom for water and soap… Please… Now… The brain tells my hand to get the cap off and to drink this stupid gel before the whole me get sticky. Done! And shortly the km20-mark arrives. Little curve to the right and we are at the refreshment station with water. A bit in the mouth, an enough to clean (kind of…) my sticky fingers. Ok, I am on schedule! Whatever schedule it may be… I’m on it! 1:27 sounds unreachable as I don’t want to push to get to the half in this time and burn energy unnecessarily while doing this. No. 1:28 is reasonable and gives me 2minutes to drift in the second half. Hanging in there. Finding the km to halfway very short. I am alone. Halfway is passed in 1hr 28 minutes… One more to go!
Second half
The weather is changing. From chilly-cloudy at start to sunny-hot around km5 it has now turned to grey-cloudy-humid-in-the-air-warm. Feeling clearly that the pace is dropping. Not really on the average pace, but km-pace. Around km22 I can feel that there are a group quite close to my footsteps. I know this is the 3:00-group. But I don’t want to turn and check. Taking a Dextrosol. Changing the music again. Reaching km23 and the group is getting closer. I am given a large smile from Zucca, asking me if all is good. Yes for sure! (if only you and your guys would still remain behind me for a while, that would be great…). Hanging along with the 3:00-fully-male-group. They don’t follow a 4:16-pace and the second pacesetter is whistling often to Zucca for slowing down. Running in a group is quite an experience. Here I am, once again, right behind Zucca, getting his balloons jumping on my head. Cannot get much on the left or right as I am surrounded… km24 and an abrupt turn 90-degree left. The asphalt ain’t the best to run on. And in a group, I cannot even see the asphalt in front of me. Just backs of runners. Then km25 disappear somehow. Dextrosol each km. as I cannot rely on taking sport drink. Getting tired? Not a chance I am slowing down, nor stopping. Soon should be reaching the Po river. Have dropped pace and running at the back of the pack now. Seeing a little hill (read: after 26+km this feels like a mountain…) covered with grass. I see a bike cycling up to the right and hope hope hope this is where we go… but the bike which is with us is heading left and THIS.IS.A.TOUGH.COOKIE.SLOPE! 10m by 10m? Have no clue. I consider even walking it up after seeing the pack running it… But by the time I have this little discussion with myself, I have reached.the.top. I see the Po. I want to stop and rest. Now the stupid sun is back and I remember in a short second that there are 5km or so along the river. 5km to get a nice tan. 5km to the next refreshment station. 5km to be left to die on the side if I fall. OK. Focus. “Cap guy” ain’t feeling good and he is actually running as much zig-zag that me. Or I think I am zig-zaging. Maybe it is the road being this way. Both thighs have taken hard the little uphill and now they are screaming. Loud to the brain telling to stop the whole machinery and rest. Or even better to stop. For a while and rest. Or for good and rest. But nope. The brain ain’t cooperating. It just continue to look ahead. I hear myself encouraging a red singlet guy stopping on the side, telling him with a smile that there is not much left. But after a few re-starts, he gives up. I continue. Refreshment table…where are you? The 3:00-group is still in sight. But unless I get stroked by the thunder I cannot really see how I can get to meet them again. Passing a female runner not feeling too good, but honestly, I am not stopping because I don’t think I would be able to re-start. So unfair now! A bike is following a runner and encouraging him, giving him water and staying on his side. I want my own bike as well! Matters not…because I pass the guy and tell him with a smile that there are only 11km to go. Passing km30 and taking a grey gel. All fine. Drinking good. Running down (finally!) but the thighs are too stiff to get some speed. Doing my best to not be driven over by a car crossing our path. Less than 12km to go. Piece of cake. Not so sure. Turning right after getting water. Missing a sponge really! Long stretch between houses. Well-appreciated: for the shadow! But now I got passed by a female runner. A little fast one. What is she doing there? Noticing she is running with a guy who seems to be at the end of his strengths, but they are having a slightly better pace than me. Seeing them 30m ahead of me, where the gal is kissing his hand, apparently telling something in Italian and then she run away. The guy is running a bit strangely, but still…he is in front of me. Running on the side of the road now – like bike path. Turning left into a little passage, niiiiice with a little slope down, a little short tunnel, a smile to the camera and …of course a little uphill. NO.WALKING.ALLOWED! This is what my head is screaming now. Turning right again and more running. Have reached km35. Yellow gel. Not feeling I need it, but I want to get rid of it. 7 to go. That means NOTHING! Long stretch once again. The sun is nice to have, I really am happy for the gear choice and not having put a singlet on. Running on gravel now. Not liking it. Km36 passed. Soon arrives a strange little part where we run like to km37 and then turn back after…20m? The best way of dropping the pace? Here you are! Turning right. Average pace is now around 4:13/14. Still ok. Have calculated since km32 how much time is left to 3:00 or how much time it will take is running at 5:00min/km for the rest of the race. Too many figures in the head. Cannot really do math anymore. At least not now. Running and seeing a sign, which I try to understand. Different paces, colours, people…what does this mean?!?!? Until I reach it and see while passing it that it has nothing to do with the race… A simple sign there indicating something which I don’t remember as when I passed it it went too fast. Turn right. Little shadow. Straight and right again. A bit of cheering. Keeping myself along the hedge. Not much shadow, but still. Reaching the end and turning abruptly left, crossing the road and then gravel again. Or dead-broken-old asphalt. None of them stands on my favourite ground for running. But I have now reached the final 4km. Feels like running on terrain. Not much up and downs, but gravel and broken old asphalt. I want to run on the road!!!! Passing a couple of guys looking dead tired or walking. Passing a gal there.. Yooooohoooo! One place better. She is walking towards the same path. She looks tired. Just focus on your own race. More running on this snake-like road. More gravel. More broken asphalt. Ouch! Hurting my ankle on a broken part. Getting a kind “You OK?” from the runner in front of me (I must have shouted a bit…). Embrace in the ears. Cannot stop the legs. Aaaaaaannnd… no!!!! Why are the runners ahead of me running “up”? Where is the last km. Have I missed something? Passing km40, getting my red gel. Make it work. Reaching km41, up AND trying to smile to the camera (what a GREAT idea to take a picture at THIS time of the race and when WE are running up?!?!?!). Now it is finish. We pass under the rampart door, finally on decent road and lovely asphalt. Heading to the little roundabout. Where are we reaching the road we took yesterday?!?!? Left and passing under the banner. NOW I recognise the street. NOW I can accelerate. NOW I can use the strengths left (if any). Straight road to the end. How long was it yesterday? Cannot remember. Doesn’t matter. Passing km41 and I dare a smile to the camera. Changing the music for the final stretch. I am going to kill my thighs for this, but that will be worth it. The average pace has been turning slowly from 4:14 around km35 to 4:15 at the beginning of the gravel/broken asphalt part and then 4:16 at km40. Let’s not make it worse than that. Final banner! What was it? 500 or 700m left to the arrival? Switching of the music. Screaming to a bike on the right side to NOT cross the road in front of me. Passing three guys. No time to chat. Sorry. Seeing “Red Singlet – Carma” ahead of me. He has dropped pace really much. (Well, I have too…). Run run run (and yes it hurts!) Hearing some cheering when turning finally left to the cobblestones of the final 200m or so. Seeing the finish line. Seeing the red mat on the stones. Light cheering on the side. Seeing the clock indicating 3:00:xx. Not a chance it will turn to 3:01. I rather hurt my thighs badly than that. Pushing a bit more. Lifting the arms and daring a smile to the cameras. That is it! Finish line is passed. 3:00:xx. FEEEEEEEELING SOOOO GOOOD!
Official time received later: 3:00:45.
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After the finish line
The legs feels like cotton. I don’t care. I feel I am so high that I cannot understand I have already arrived. I get a lady giving me a nice medal, I hear my name, looking around, getting from another lady a little green paper with “5” on it. Am I the 5th to arrive? Finding JP’s smile in the crowd. Big hug. Apparently I am not walking straight, but I could not care less. I need to drink. I need a massage. I need to rest. I need to shower. I need to eat. I need too many things that the head cannot process. Following JP to the refreshment tent and then the massage tent. Feeding myself with whatever I see. No coke nor sport drink L not liking warm tea. 1hour to wait for a massage. Feeling chafing pain right behind the left bum and between the breasts. Wonderful! Can hardly feel my thighs, the front being hard like stone. Wait for the massage was worth it. Walking back to the start with JP to get my reward (a nice trophy and a little box with 500g coffee from Ferrara and two very cute coffee cups. Perfect for a tea-drinker! J). Have changed clothes while waiting for the massage. We walk back to the hotel. Shower. Clean clothes on. And resting with legs up along the wall for a while.
After resting, we headed to the pasta party of the race. For a quick food intake. More walking. Buying parmesan cheese for getting back home. More rest. Checking the bus schedule for tomorrow. Restaurant to celebrate, with a traditional 4-meals course from Ferrara. Delicious. And getting us very stuffed! Lots of talking once again. And then time for bed. Deep sleep for a while…until the chafing sores woke me…and kept me awaken…
WHAT A GREAT DAY in the City of Renaissance and its Po Delta!
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Weather: 7.8ºC, Feels like 7.8ºC, 3 kph NNW wind, 100% humidity. As usual, this is the temperature at start of the race. Estimating the average temperature through the race to be 13-15ºC, windy from time to time, sunny during mostly two parts
Food: > before: chia porridge with banana, with Gatorade blue + little round bread with honey (5:30am)
> right after: ½ banana+warm tea+water+Gatorade orange
> 3 hours after: pasta party
> During: green gel @km20, grey gels at km30, yellow gel at km35 and red @km40 (at the water stations). TRY for sport drink at km10. Little jelly strawberry @km7 and 15 (w/water). Dextrosol: 2 at 1 every km or so at km22-23-24-26-27-28
Gear: ADIDAS Supernova Shorts Blue line, Casal Iconic black Sports bra (1), sunglasses, shoes were at their best as they usually are. Just flying forward and nothing else!
=> Perfect outfit. Surely a bit chilly at start, but not during the race at all. Still an issue regarding where to have the gels and dextrosol. Have a plan though for the next race… J
15/ first half was a decent 14-effort wise. Felt great, a bit more than regular workout (i.e. this is a race after all… it should feel a bit more). Could have definitely accelerated if having run only the half-marathon. Enough strengths left at halfway. Then a deep during km25-35 while running almost all alone. Final 7km were also run alone, but that was soon the end 🙂 Adrenaline kick was not fully felt at km40 as usually do, but seeing km41-sign definitely compensated! Second half was probably at 15-16 level.
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SUMMARY: Definitely a race to be! Objectives met over expectations, especially after having the calf strain two weeks before the race and strong recommendations by coach for not running the race. Far from well-prepared for the race, but the final days of the week prior to the race felt really good (even though was full with plenty of thoughts from work and other). JP and I felt more than ready to run on Friday already! Running with music as I was expecting to be alone during the second half, and this is what happened. Good help to keep up the pace. Body felt fine throughout the race, although could feel the tiredness coming. There was still something keeping up the full focus on running. Passing the finish line was great as usual. This feeling is indescribable. It has to be felt!
(Lots of thanks for support and cheering during the preparation weeks. Even though not many were aware of this race to come. Great way to come back on track after the disappointing hip problem after Dubai in January. Getting a great ranking and 3rd best marathon time ever J Definitely a day to celebrate. Thanks for all the Italian runners and other runners that cheered during and after the race. Special thanks for JP who had suggested this race since a while and that brought lots of support before and after the race J Great with nice company for dinner after the race.
Thanks to the little ones at home and their standing words of support as well as their ever cheering, even when not on site J
Back to Sweden and its grey skies, usual cold temperatures and sunshine (hiding behind the clouds…) A bit of rest now before thinking of next adventures… (ok, there are already thoughts about funny races to do…)! THANKS!
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A few “after-race thoughts”
NOTE: Body felt great throughout the race. Front of both thighs were in pain during the little slope up to get close to the Po and from this moment, the tightness was felt constantly. Required lots of mental thoughts for NOT stopping “just to see if it feels better”. Surprisingly hearing after the finish line that I looked like having reached my max-limit (when my brain actually was pretty high on adrenaline and just wanted the body to do whatever it wanted as long as it was not running…). Good with this feedback for next races.
NOTE: Warmup? Pretty easypeasy run with JP prior to the race. Nothing more. That felt enough for the race and I was pretty surprise to be able to sustain a 4:09-pace throughout the first half despite the lack of warmup. Will work on this more.
NOTE: Energy/refuelling during the race? Good to have had a backup plan! Energy drink served in mugs is NOT my preferred plan (well, not at this pace!). Use of the jelly was good, also it took a while for opening the first one. Now I know the trick. Much better as well as easier and lighter to carry than gels. Use of gels worked well. Only the “carrying” of the gels is still remaining a huge problem. The less clothes on the body, the trickier to “how to carry energy gel….”. Dextrosol every km felt working fine.
NOTE: Beetroot loading? Tested once more. Don’t feel it makes any difference. So skipping it next time.
NOTE: gels in the sport-bra, on the back? Working, but not practical when having a sports bra with ventilation on the back…
NOTE: gels in the sport-bra, in the front? Never worked and will never do…
NOTE: post-marathon recovery going well. Evening of the race and mostly feeling the chafing sticking to the regular clothes. Nothing else. Day after the body was feeling fine and will hopefully continue to do so!
New adventures soon to come…
Race Report – Dubai Marathon 2016/01/22
Planned: completing the race without fainting, falling or throwing up… Quitting not bring an option either if within the last 2km… Revised plan after problem with balance the days prior to the race
Actual:…3:11:28. 1st Swedish woman, 29th all women and 1st age category (143 total!). Nothing bad but nothing really good neither. Considering the pre-race days conditions, then it feels actually quite satisfactory.
Race Results:
place (M/W) 29
place (ag) 1
age/grade: 73.83% (2015 NYC 75.93% / 2015 WMAC 74,99% / 2014 Chicago 75.97 / Stockholm 76.76 / Rotterdam 78.43 / Dubai 77.74 / 2013 Berlin 75.74/Stockholm:73.1/Boston:72.19/Dubai: 72.35/2012 Berlin:68.29/SF:65.66/London:66.47/Dubai:66.6)
time total (netto) 03:11:28
time total (brutto) 03:11:33
average pace: 4:33min/km
Official splits:
| Split | Time Of Day | Time | Diff | min/km | km/h |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5km | 06:52:04 | 00:20:44 | 20:44 | 04:09 | 14.48 |
| 10km | 07:13:19 | 00:41:58 | 21:14 | 04:15 | 14.13 |
| 15km | 07:35:01 | 01:03:41 | 21:43 | 04:21 | 13.82 |
| 20km | 07:57:13 | 01:25:52 | 22:11 | 04:27 | 13.52 |
| HALF | 08:02:08 | 01:30:48 | 04:56 | 04:30 | 13.36 |
| 25km | 08:20:13 | 01:48:52 | 18:04 | 04:38 | 12.96 |
| 30km | 08:43:49 | 02:12:29 | 23:37 | 04:44 | 12.71 |
| 35km | 09:07:45 | 02:36:25 | 23:56 | 04:48 | 12.53 |
| 40km | 09:32:43 | 03:01:22 | 24:57 | 05:00 | 12.02 |
| Finish | 09:42:48 | 03:11:28 | 10:06 | 04:36 | 13.06 |
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M Day-4
Rewinding a bit earlier. Monday supposed to be carb depletion day 1 (or continuation of previous days) turned into dizziness and clear loss of balance. Difficult to walk or run. Massage pre-race went well.
M Day -3&2
Extra rest day on M day-3. Dizziness not much better. Carboloading from the morning did not help. Stomach sick during stopover in Istanbul and finally in Dubai with no relief for this lack of balance. Even laying down and closing the eyes felt like being on a boat in the middle of a storm. M Day-2 : took extra rest under the sun. Nothing seemed to help.
M Day-1
Morning run to check if running is even possible. Felt fine enough to get all ready for the race the day after. Definitely no other objective else than completing the race. And in any case of fainting, falling or alike, then to stop the race immediately (except in the last 2km, where it always feels that even crawling this distance to the finish line is better than quitting…).
Final check of the race gear, the watch battery and MP3 ready, all alarms set on both phones, time wristbands taped, and gels prepared. Getting my change of clothes for after the race in my white bag and that is pretty much it.
08:00pm – sipping last 6 dl Isostar and preparing breakfast for race day. Eating a bagel with honey and chamomile tea.
10:20pm – lights off even though will take a while for sleeping… Planning to check the dizziness in the morning and see if can be running at all.
11:58pm – not much of sleep still…
And same 30minutes later aso…
Before the race
1:20am – waking up thinking I missed the alarm. But nope. Back to sleep.
1:43am – same as before. Still too early.
2:30am – finally time to go up. Feels I haven’t slept at all… Quietly getting to the kitchen, eating my chia seeds mixed with Isostar and crushed banana, warming up my bagel and eating it with honey and drinking extra Isostar. All well-calculated to get 200g of carbs 🙂 water as well and back to bed.
3:00&3:30am – Half-awaken since breakfast. Drinking water and Isostar.
4:00am – Time to go up, leave this bed that really wants me to stay, shower, fix the hair, suncream on the body. On with racing outfit (SWE hot pants and singlets and ADIDAS Adizero Adios Boost Purple (Swifty)). Sunglasses on the top of the head. Gels for the course in back pocket and gels for the finale in the back of the sport bra. Taking a few Dextrosol just in case the sport drink sections would screw up (which actually appears as a good idea later on…).
4:45am – Time changing too! Have to leave. Final big breathe and closing the door. In the darkness, the air is nice and peaceful. Trying to jog to the start but the white bag they gave us is not practical for running! So I jog. Or tried to. Getting to the metro station it is just…empty! Meeting four runners. Becoming a bit scared I mistakenly came an hour too early. But when getting closer to the start, the usual chaos of cars is there!
5:3x-ish – don’t understand where to leave my bag. Completely different setup than two years ago. Get someone to indicate the bag drop…which is 250m from start… Not that I anticipated this. Getting there in the dark and meeting…a swede! A bit of chat, a pic and leaving my bag. Getting it back after 3 minutes as I forgot to add Vaseline on the thighs and arms. And good to go now.
6:xx-ish – meeting Henrik D on my way to the start. Quick chat and plan to meet at the start. Quick stop at the loo which has no queue at all. Staying a little inside for not getting too cold outside. Then time to go. Meeting fences on the side of the streets and consider pros and cons for jumping over them to get to the start. Meeting Mohamed there who has the same idea but we both think it might be a bad idea in case we hurt ourselves on the jump. He plans a 4-hours arrival. Ok, I decide to get over the fence with a little help from my runner buddy.
Heading to the start and meeting Henrik again. Not a chance I’ll hang along with the pace he plans to have. Not today. I know what my wristbands say but they are there to keep me motivated and reminding me the original objectives. The ones I worked hard for. Doing a few back and forth runs, try to accelerate. Well, it works. Will see soon how long the body is holding this balance in place.
6:15am – already? Making my way to the first line. Getting big smiles from the volunteers holding the rope. A bit of chat with two French (one from Metz and the guy from Paris). Then with a German named Frank. Asking oddly what’s my plan. “To finish” is my answer. “Yes, but how fast?” He asked twice more. “Just finish will be good” I repeat (thinking silently about how I feel when hearing this from people standing in the front row of a race…). But today, I’ll start anyway where I should be.
6:20am – the elites have gathered to the start and a guy is trying to get there as well. A bit of drama and then we can start walking. Cannot see Henrik but he’ll probably spot me easier during the race. Still dark out there. The air is a bit heavy to breathe. And humid (?).
6:25am – checking a final time my laces. Feeling my gels well positioned. My mp3 ready to sing. I want to start. The faster we start, the quicker we finish!
Start of wheelchair athletes is given. We can now rush to the back of the elites. All is back to normal.
Waiting eagerly to the start. The minutes have disappeared. 30seconds to start a guy announces…
THE RACE
First half
06:31am – aaaaand weeeee kiiiind oooooff start. There seems to be a bit of confusion and false start. But then we hear clearly the gun and off we go. And people push to get a place. I feel fine. Takes not much time before I get to the left side as we will turn left this year… Feeling ok. And starts the short 5km stretch towards the first U-turn. Dark outside as the start is now 30 minutes earlier than the years before. It feels nice on the air, little cold, maybe little heavy to breathe. But I like it. Setting my music in the ears quite soon after the turn as I know I’ll need it sooner than later. Getting in a group of three guys and I am pretty sure they’ll aim for what I want, ie. 4:09-tempo. The music in the ears is my “4:09-pace” – got three half marathons in 87 minutes with it 🙂 never wrong! Passing km1 as expected. Got a cheering from the left (guessing afterwards that could have been Andreas N?) and from the right by Henrik. As I thought, his tactic for the day ain’t one I can follow. Having along with the two guys now for 4:09-tempo. Passing 2-3-4km. Spot on. Feeling fine. The lights are starting to show a little above the high buildings. Then seeing a “4km” laying on the side… What? I thought I had already passed it… realising quick that it must be for the 10K which will start later and takes the same road. The elites have passed on the other side of the road already. Skipping the elite women in my count, I just want to check how many chicks are before me already. Getting up five or seven. Really?
Getting to the 5K and water station. Hesitating but taking a bottle anyway. Only couple of sips and off with the bottle. Seeing Henrik in the other side of the road, meaning the turning-point ain’t far. Taking it nice and easy and off I go on the other side. Light wind felt up to now is actually still there. But bearable. Taking a Dextrosol and then passing the tram station. Km7 & 8 are run along with two guys aiming for 2:55. Gosh! And I who so much want to follow them to the end… But they got away. One in orange tshirt will meet my way later on… Km9 is passed… running alone. Have already thrown my two wristbands. No need to add deception to what feels to become a tough race. A gal with neon orange tshirt is passing me. Noooo not now. And on the back it stands an Internet site address “.se”. Here goes the first place as Swedish female. She runs good and stable. In other conditions I would definitely have hang along her. But not today. I see her disappearing, slowly, smoothly and surely. Seeing an 8km-sign…Whaaaaat? I thought I was going towards km10?!?! And once again realising it is a mark for the 10K race. Not funny! Km10 arrived and this is the first sport drink station. Taking a cup that I see already is only full to the quarter… So much for having the expected “approximately 1-2dl of energy”… Considered quickly whether it is worth running back and get another cup, but nope. Have felt already twice a bit of lack of balance at km7 and then km9. But as long as I can run, I run. Passing the 10K in probably a decent time (a bit under 42 minutes?), but once again, the mind is still a bit happy to have seen this 4:09-tempo for a while and now register that it won’t continue. Ok, setting a new goal then: halfway in 90 minutes. Have no clue if the head can actually do this, but the body itself is in good shape. So let’s use it. Passing Burj al Arab and now the straight line to Union flag is starting. “I’m happy, I’m feeling glad, I got sunshine in a bag…”. Yapp. Singing is what I can do at this moment! As usual nobody appears running at my pace and honestly today I won’t push to keep up with someone else’s pace. Well… Ok, I’ll do it anyway, but more to keep some focus on something and not falling. About km13 or so, have a white-cap runner with me (or more likely: I am with him). He is in for sub3, he said. Checking my watch. My average pace has dropped to 4:13. Daring to check the km-pace, but seeing it so slow feels depressing and motivation-killer. Even though I have this imbalance-thing, it does not mean I cannot give all what can be given. We run together for a while. Reaching km15 works fine. Stopping actually to drink a full cup of sportdrink. Catching up on the White-cap again. Find I think. But he looks tired. And sweaty. Already. Some guys pass us and THEY have a sub3-tempo. They take a few meters-lead ahead of us and I decide to actually follow them. I still have strengths, have not felt like falling yet so why not. The music helps definitely to keep up a good mood. Have changed to my “optimal sub40-10K” music playlist (if all goes well, the 10km should be run before the 6 songs are finished…). Not using it for sub40 today though. Just to keep the good mood. Reaching soon the 20K and the road in Jumeira Beach Road is not as nice as I recall. They are building there. Quick calculations of a mind not fully working still give a halfway course under 90 minutes…. Taking my green gel a bit before the water station. Probably 500m instead of 200m. Yeaaah… I feel actually so extremely bored with this whole thing of not being able to give it to the fullest that I try to pass time in other possible ways. But surely, the gel should have wait to be closer to the 20K… The sun is high already. It is doing this subtly and before you know it, the heat is on you. But it doesn’t bother me. There. Here is finally the halfway mat, right after the 21K-mark. Would have been nice with a clock here to know how much time has gone already. As I have slowed down a bit when grabbing my water earlier, I count on a 91/92 minutes for the first half. Decent enough. Despite the slow pace, I still feels like the cruising part has gone fine. Surely should have gone faster if all had gone normally with the balance, but when I pass these points, there is no thoughts about this. No “what if“. Just be there and run. Until this halfway, I have carefully taken water at each 2,5-ish stations and sportdrink at the 10 & 15-stations. Feels that it is working fine. When sponges were available, I caught one too. Very careful in emptying the water bottle a bit, drinking a bit and splashing some water on my head without getting my mp3 wet.
Halfway done – Halfway to go!
Second half
Not really recognising the path we are taking. Despite having run there already three previous years. The paving stones are bothering me more than usual. Mostly because it makes me loose my balance and since the start of this road, I have been fighting for not falling at every crosswalk (which have…paving stone)… By km23 the elite men are passing on the other side. That’s just beautiful. Quick calculation: they are 7-8 km ahead of me… How did that happened?…They were only a few meters before me at start…like 23km-of-mine ago!?!?! Running alone I try to find some things to focus on, because at km24 I got this “I-am-on-a-boat-in-the-middle-of-a-sea-storm”-feeling, and that ain’t pretty. Continuing to smile but I see that my feet are not running straight. OK. I should not look at my feet neither. Heads up! I am not dehydrated. It is just something I cannot control. And that is freaky strange and scary. Elite women start passing one by one or two by two after this. Counting the ladies before me to see how I place. Ok, let’s finish this race in the top 100, I think. 25-ish elites + possibly 25 more gals having passed me during this long stretch, yeaaaah… Top 100 seems achievable. And let’s be crazy, top 50 would be tough but sounds more fun. Km25 is good for a complete stop at the water station to drink fully one and a half cup of sport drink. I ain’t winning this race and I ain’t competing neither. So better taking time for keeping up this hydration and energy levels anyway. Looking on the other side of the road trying to spot Henrik but getting closer to the U-turn without seeing him makes me think I missed him passing by. Must be 2km ahead of me. And when I finally stop looking here he comes. Looks a bit tired, but I cheer and I think I got a response back. Good! Back to the chicks and the counting 🙂 and here comes the U-turn. Really?!? Not at all as I remembered it. Turning and waving with the arms to the people watching to get some cheering back. Not really working but at least the Norwegian (?) passing there with me is smiling! Now it is actually straight to the finish line. And yes, the feeling of stopping to pee that was there from the start (!) has come back. Halfway of the race, there was no point stopping: only 21,1km left… By km26,5, it became “final stretch. Hold for 16km and that’s it”… Counting two gals very close to me after the U-turn. Probably 4-600m? Just not letting them pass. The long road back becomes harder. The sun is high, the wind is annoyingly there (as usual), and I am by km27/28 zigzagging clearly like a drunk person on the road. Completely different from when lacking of water or sugar, this zigzagging is actually not going along with the body check I am doing. Body is fine, tired but fine. But the head and the eyes just don’t follow. Back on the stormy boat again. Freaky! Getting closer to the fence just in case I fall without warning. Cheering on the other runners on the other side of the fence. Looking and reading the signs for the road, the names of the restaurants we are passing, repeating my name over and over again… All for keeping the mind alert and hopefully not letting go for the imminent falling/fainting felt several times during this stretch. Taking extra Dextrosol at the plain kms up to km30. I don’t feel that I need them at all. For once! But the chewing is in a way helping. Km30 is reached finally. Taking my grey gel. Not feeling I need it either. But it keeps me occupied. Water drinking at all station. Taking 10 seconds walk to see how it feels, but it gets worth and the body clearly indicates it wants to stop if not running any more. It does not want to walk! 12km to go. Calculating a bit more: 5min-tempo is getting me to the finish line within an hour. Yeaaaah! Under 3:15! The pace is by now like a regular distance or long run. 4:35/45 or so. Trying to keep this up. Well, actually no. No trying anything at all. I just run and the legs are to decide. Seeing the halfway point in the other side. Did I pass it already that long time ago?!?! Accelerating a bit to the rhythm of the music. Choosing to repeat two of the songs to keep the mind occupied. Apparently it works. But the left knee ain’t happy after km31. Almost falling there and happily got back on track. Limping with this dead knee for a bit, more than half a km, and it just get back to normal after that. Well, I feel it ain’t “normal”, I just chose to ignore it. Km32 and only 10km to go. 50 minutes tops. Just get to the next one and there starts the one figure km-marks left to the finish. Have been passed by the two gals I noted at the last U-turn. Not that they were getting faster, but I got pretty much slower… Km35 and the last grey gel. Feeling it is almost waste of gel to take them, when I am just running this tempo. Passing km36 and desperately looking for Burj al Arab. Nope. Still not there. I don’t see km37 but km38 and passing a few guys. They chose to walk and were way ahead of me before. Have seen the “2:55-guy with orange tshirt” from the beginning in deep trouble a bit earlier. Having been passed by an ambulance just a minute before, he suddenly cramp and grab his leg in what seems to be excruciating pain. And fall. Cannot help much. He is heavy. Try to wave to the ambulance. Checking behind me and some guys have stopped to help him. Never been so happy to see km39 (not true… Am always happy to see km39!). Still in need to go to the loo…and since a while…but reaching km40 soon, it turns into “you’ll pee on yourself if needed, but you ain’t stopping!” (so much for the glamour of running…). Holding. Taking out my two last gels, definitely considering a waste of money to take them here. But there is no chance I am crawling through the finish live. Not now! Yellow gel 150m before km40, grabbing a bottle of water, few zips, red gel, water and off with it. This is where everything starts actually. Feeling an impulse of new energy even before the gels start to kick in. Accelerating already there, encouraging guys I am passing and that are walking. Burj al Arab is there. And km41. Have rewinded the Embrace song twice since the last gel and this is it. Trying to get help from a guy there, but he is no match for a strong finish 😦 I just feel like flying (I know I don’t fly for real… and probably look more like an elephant charging that a cheetah hunting a prey, but who cares!). I know this final stretch. 500m max. Seeing the yellow sign indicating 400m to go. Finally hearing the crowd. Passing tired guys on the side. This road is just gorgeous to finish: just alone and three-lines of pavement! Seeing the runners from the 10K arriving on the other side of the fence. Trying to race them 🙂 200m to go. Press lap on my watch, I want to know how fast/slow I hit those last meters. Seeing 3:11:xx. Doesn’t matter. It ain’t DNF, it ain’t 3:15 (& it actually turns out being my second best time here in Dubai…). OMG! This just feels good.
Official time received later: 3:11:28 (Garmin shows a few seconds more ).
*************
After the finish line
Time really ain’t the focus here. Felt strong at the end. Carried by the crowd. And there after crossing the line I see Henrik D a bit away, I feel fine-exhausted but fine. A volunteer approaches me with water…and grabs me. Of course I will faint if someone is giving me the opportunity to just fall into their arms and carry me!!! That is not what should be done. Got asked if I feel good or bad, am given water. They want to get me to the doc tent, but what I want is a massage. Happy to have Henrik intervening and saying he is in charge of me now. Big hug. Well-done from his side in 3:08. And he even got a picture of me at arrival.
Walking easy to the tent to get water, banana, chips, Isostar red(with btw no calorie, no sugar, no fat, no protein… Hum… just been running 42.2km…would be an idea to actually GIVE me extra of everything, don’t you think?) and the massage tent 🙂 Meeting Andreas N there. He has completed the race in 3:05 and still smiling. Taking a few pics and then time for queuing for a well-deserved massage. The wait feels really long. Talking to everyone that want to talk. Two Spanish guys, a French and an Italian. That’s the trick for skipping this queue: finish the run in less than three hours and you’ll wait waaaaaay less! Finally getting my share of massage. Focus on left thigh and right calv. One of the Spanish guys asked me several times if my right thigh was hurting but it is actually one of the (rare) places where no pain is felt! Meeting Henrik L Swede living in Dubai. Well-completed run as well. And finally the massage is finished. A bit of “what am I doing on this stupid boat again”-feeling. Drinking more water and another disgusting Isostar red. Grabbing two extra bananas and a bottle of water and crisp. Goodbye to the Swedes, the French lady from Metz and anyone who is kind enough to cheer and telling me I was running well during this race 🙂
Carefully crossing the human wave to get to the pavement towards the bagage drop. Not hot, but nicely warm. Walking with my running shoes in my hands. Feels nice to walk on socks. Getting strange looks. Who cares! Lots of people there. This is a bland of marathoners, 10K-finishers and 4K-soon to start runners. A mess! Grabbing my bag and heading to the toilets to change. Time for a quick pic before that. And finally getting to the loo 🙂 4hours later 😛 Changing quickly my race gear for shorts and singlets. Cleansing a bit my white-and-salty face and getting out. Eating the banana and the crisps. Drinking the water. Only 3km left to walk back home. Takes 400m before the pain is starting in the front of the right hip. Same as two years ago, here in Dubai. No other marathon or race is giving me that. Walking very slowly as it is actually hurting pretty much. And yes, stubbornly continuing the walk back home anyway.
Quick chat with my hostess before changing to bikini and heading to the 7th floor and the ice cold pool. Staying there, full body in the water, not even swimming, just resting for 15 minutes. The ultimate ice-bath post-marathon! Then rested under the sun. Drinking water. Scared a couple of times that I would fall from my sunbed as the dizziness is there to stay apparently. Have probably collapsed for a little while…or slept…don’t know if that makes a difference. About 3pm heading to Mall of Emirates for eating well-deserved lamb chops and French fries and a large coke. Feeling hungry I add to this 3 chicken Bao as well. And back home for resting with legs and feet up.
Chat with Henrik for meeting for dinner later on. Back to Mall of Emirates and meeting with Henrik and his brother Anders. Still hungry, so got shrimp dumplings and a Pepsi. Lots of talking around coffee (hot chocolate and cookie for me) and close to midnight it is time for a last hug and congratulation and heading back home. A bit of mailing and it is already past midnight when I fall into the deepest sleep since a while…
BRILLIANT DAY in the City of Gold!
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Weather: 17.2ºC, Feels like 17.2ºC, 6 kph SSE wind, 83% humidity. This is a usual what my wonderful watch is registering at start. By the end of the race, it has turned into 20-22ºC and nice and warm sun.
Food:
> before: chia porridge with banana, with Isostar orange (2:30am)
> right after: banana+Isostar Red+water+chips (*2)
> 3 hours after: grilled lamb chops + french fries + coke + 3 chicken Bao
> During: green gel @km20, grey gels at km30&35 and yellow+red @km40 (at the water stations). Isostar at km10-15-25. Water : at the half-way stations (2.5km). Dextrosol: 1 @km5 and 1 every km or so at km22-23-24-26-27 (?)
Gear: SWE outfit (hotpants & singlet), sunglasses, shoes were just the way they should be. Wonderfully bringing a touch of speed in this whole race. Felt light like a feather (apart from when the “running like a heavy elephant”-feeling arrived…).
=> prefect outfit. Would have gladly gotten rid of the singlet however. Felt pretty warm. The backpocket was working fine for the 3 gels, but the two in the sport bra could still find a better place. Got a burn mark on the stomach due to the HR band…
16/ Effort was nice and controlled at the start and it should have been like that at least until the halfway mark. But the dizziness was not letting the run flowing as usual and the effort was increased after the last U-turn and lots of focus on keeping the mind straight and clear for not falling. Happily not feeling that the last 2km to the finish line were higher than a 13. Adrenaline kick did all the work!
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SUMMARY: Good work! Well-completed race despite the pre-race days and this balance problem. Pretty annoyed but honestly there was not much to do about it, as not knowing what it is/was and what started it. Probably was a bad idea to even run and to race, but I consider that I was alert enough to listen to the body. And yes, there was three times when it felt that it might have been a good move to step on the side and stop, this has never appeared as the only option (or even the better option). The hip pain after the race is fully consequent with the bad holding I must have had during (at least!) the last 16km to the finish line. Once again, the limping could have been ended by stepping aside, but it felt that it would even be worse to stop than continuing… When adrenaline is kicking, better listen to it (I guess?). No check on the time or pace apart for having an indication, never for chasing a time. Support from the people on the side of the road is a big flow in this race. Therefore the best move once again was to have had the mp3 ready to kick in. Running in Swedish outfit is as always really nice as when other runners are cheering, they do it for Sweden 🙂 One part which get a top mark is definitely the drinking. Trying Isostar for the last 3 days pre-race was probably not the most efficient move (if Isostar would have not been friend with my stomach. But it worked well). Surely lost times with the full-stops to get the sport drinks, but at least I got some and enough to continue. Dehydration was not there. For once. Still thinking that serving sport drink in small mug is not the most optimal way of helping runners…
Once again, passing the finish line and 5 seconds breathing after that is just giving the whole race a new angle. Felt good enough for walking at list. This addiction to finish lines is there to stay apparently…
(Huge loads of thanks for support and cheering during the preparation weeks. Especially since after NY marathon. Surely a bit disappointed for not having had the opportunity to run as I really wanted to, but with a quite decent time, a nice ranking and a beautiful skin tan afterwards… that will compensate at least for not having run at all last year. Thanks to the runners and their smiles and cheering during the race. Always appreciated. Special thanks for Henrik D and the pre-race chats and the post-race smiles 🙂 Nice to have had company for dinner after the race.
Thanks to my little ones and their constant support and understanding of once again a “food experimentation before the race” (and yes, “carbs rules!”) and their ever cheering, even when not on site Thanks for the last minute pre-race sms giving extra support in this stupid condition of not being able to walk straight and not understanding why. So nice to have those words in the head during the race 🙂
Back to Sweden and its grey skies, snowy roads and cold temperatures. A bit of rest and already planning for new adventures… THANKS!
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A few “after-race thoughts”
NOTE: Body was all fine throughout the race up to the last final 16+km. The left knee “felt” once again and required a bit of limping. Surely painful but strangely disappeared after a while. The dizziness was the most challenging part probably. Not knowing when it might pop up. And what to do with it. After-thought being once again that running at all was probably a very bad idea, in case the dizziness would have been as strong as the Monday prior to the race. To be checked!
NOTE: Warmup? I think the easy jog/walk to the start and then the few back and forth easy run + strides did the trick. Would have very much been nice to actually run the pace I prepared for. But there will be other races. This was not the one! Never felt “cold” during the race.
NOTE: Energy/refuelling during the race? Worked as planned apart from km10 and the too-short sportdrink mug. But don’t think it impacted at all on the race. And would the conditions been different, and being able to run as “normal”, I don’t think it would have impacted neither (apart from making me not happy!). Good to have drank Isostar for the past days before the race. The gels work well, but once again, due to the running conditions. I am not fully sure they were necessary. Could have continued on sportdrink probably at the tempo I had. Having Dextrosol as backup was good. Mostly for keeping the mind alert with the chewing!
NOTE: Beetroot loading? Hmmm…tested it, but seeing that the pace was not much more that for regular run, I am not too sure it played any role. Probably to be skipped next time. More work to be done to maintain the fast pace expected for the marathon and more long runs 🙂 And less snow on the road. And warmer temperatures…
NOTE: gels in the sport-bra, on the back? Working, but got a little burn mark. Easy to carry and not disturbing at all. Still not the optimal solution, but a good one.
NOTE: gels in the back pocket of the hotpants? Worked well, but would so much want to skip them there.
NOTE: post-marathon recovery to be taken together with checking out the source of this dizziness. Otherwise, life as usual and running gear ready to get out when recovery time is up!
Race Report – Lisbon Discoveries Half-marathon 2015/12/06
Soon finished!
Planned: sub90 (because 1) it sounds nice, 2) it has been soooo close during the races done during 2015 (close but no cigar…) and 3) I know I can…
Actual: 1:27:45! Definitely sounding nice, definitely showing I could and definitely meaning that I am back on track 🙂
On the top of it, passing the finish line on 4th place, and podium 3rd place for age category do make this race a very good finish for the 2015-with-its-crapy-start…And a clear negative split as well…
Weather conditions were ideal, kind of. Start with fog and no visibility, to nice in the air, wind from time to time and sun shining at arrival. Great feeling at the end, even with enough strength for a smiling-to-the-camera interview 🙂
Place: 4 – all women 🙂 / 3 – category “women 35-44” / 192 all runners 🙂
Splits (Garmin)
| Garmin | ||
| km | sum | Per 5K |
| 5 | 20:43.04 | 20:43.04 |
| 10 | 41:34.00 | 20:51.00 |
| 15 | 01:02:21 | 20:47.30 |
| 20 | 01:23:08 | 20:46.07 |
| 21.1 | 01:27:45 | 04:37.4 |
Totals
| Place | 4 |
| Place (age) | 3 |
| Place (total) | 192 |
| Time total | 01:27:45 |
| Average pace | 04.09 min/km |
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The day before…
Rehearsal run done on Saturday created misbelieves that 90 minutes would even be enough for this run. The first 2km felt very stiff and taken at 4:45 and 4:30 which made me very much doubt they could be run even slightly faster and despite any BIB attached on the stomach. But it was not all… after a terrific and very controlled downhill of 1km at 4:12 (!) getting back to the main road was welcomed by a side/headwind which made the pace slow down to 4.50-kind of, which made this misbelieve even stronger as having such wind during training and 1,5km is one thing, but having it for 8km and then having 8 more km to go would definitely not make this race the “piece-of-cake-sub90-race” I was actually counting on and hoping for…
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BEFORE THE RACE
4:15 am – Woke up during the night, well-rested, but way too early. Back to sleep…
6:00am – Up right before the alarm, breakfast time. Orange juice, croissant-brioche, banana and green mix with a cup of Powerade blue (Yummy!) and back to bed and sleep. Drank every half-hour alternating water and Powerade. No problem sleeping between each zip!
8:00am – OK, the “laying in bed” felt very luxurious, but was probably not too well with a race starting 2 hours later. Up and direction the shower, massage of the legs with tiger balm afterwards (just for the smell to wake up the senses and the cold feeling to definitely not let me getting back to bed!). Hesitated a short moment, but decided to go for chili cream as well on the bum, legs and feet as well as the arms. The weather was not as cold as in Sweden, but looking through the window was showing a visibility of maximum 2-300m and the weather forecast indicated 9ºC and visibility 0 until 10am…Final drink and got race gears on. Cold in the apartment, so it was good to have this warmup chili cream on! Decided to go for the arm sleeves as well. Pink… did not plan very well there, but better be warm and colourful than cold and sorry!
Outfit for the day
08:55am – Waking up E and getting the final touch to my gear. Double-checking the plans for meeting after the race and (very good timing…) writing down on a paper wristband the splits I was hoping for (indeed, writing them on the back of the hand was not possible due to the arm sleeves…). Felt pretty stressed to tape this wrist band. E was half-laughing at the situation. Final kiss, quick pick and on the street for heading to the start.
09:19am – Leaving the apartment 19 minutes (!) later than original plans… Definitely ready for running. Not many people in the streets. The few heading towards the start I would guess. All are very well covered in training outfit…except me. Does not matter. 200m were needed for getting already warm. 1,5km later, arriving at the “Mosteiro dos Jerónimos” Monument, lots of runners everywhere. Feeling good. Still pretty foggy and grey. But not cold. The sunglasses felt quite ok to have (even though it might look a bit too much, I know that if there is a lot of wind or some sunshine, they will be definitely helpful!). Checking the arrival. Looking for Jesper who would run in another group. Smart enough, did not indicate where and when to meet before the race… Hopefully that will work for the after race! More easy run to the start – still no Jesper.
09:35am – Still time left… decide to get a bit more warm-up as recommended by Olivier A. Running back the track of the race. Finding a little inside square for final pitstop (I know… but the queues were not long really, but could not wait that long) and finally running easy back to the start. Stopped for doing my lunges matrix. Getting looks from people and happily giving back some. Cheering from a Swedish gal leaving in Lisbon and running. Checking the BIB and colour of some runners just to know who I would be following 🙂 I am in the grey start (1:15-1:30), right behind the red start (which corresponded to less than 1:15…). A last 400m with accelerations and now the legs want to run for real and have to be tamed…
09:50am –In the corral. Finding my way to the front of the corral while other runners (all male!) are doing warm-up exercises with the speaker. Spotting four ladies in the red corral and one in my corral. OK…here goes the 5 first places, I thought. Just make it to the arrival before the last “grey” and that would do (is the next thought). A guy with a “1:30” flag is entering our corral… OK…new plan: always have this guy in my sight or even better, having him NOT in my sight and right behind me… Sounding good. He will probably be ahead of me for the first 5-6km and I count on whatever will I may have then to pass him afterwards. Sounds like a plan. If any plan…
09:57am – OK, now I seriously doubt I will make it to the end without being run over totally. Flashbacks from Semi de Paris starts with men running and pushing everywhere and everyone ain’t really what I was needing then… Fixing my laces again. Taking two Dextrosol. Checking my brand new watch. Setting the correct music to the ear to be started in a short while. Closing my mind completely.
09:59am – Smiling (at least inside), countdown has started, feeling the tension all around me aaaaaand…
********
THE RACE
10:00am – GOOOOO!… Feeling the pushing in front of me, on the sides and behind me. Don’t even have to move, the wave is carrying me forward. Almost forgetting to start my watch (for a millisecond or so). Deciding to start it when I think the start was given. Then I see that I am passing a mat. OK, at least my time will be accurate when looking to the clocks on the course. It feels like in a dream really. Like a déjà-vu… I was there yesterday, running on this same asphalt but it was empty of people. And now I cannot even see where my feet are going (better not looking down anyway…I would probably fall…). Turn left. The 1:30-guy is a few meters before me. All good…well no. because some guys are sticking to his shoes and don’t bother me really (or all the other runners). I got pushed back during this second short stretch (yes, not even run 300m!) and run strangely on a hole in the street. Great L Turn right, follow this guy is the only thought I have. The music started a bit before and is nice to have. Cobblestones, construction area and one more turn to the left are however NOT nice to have. Once more, I am forced to slow down and almost walk (!) in order to avoid falling. Great start… and the slope is not even started yet… The 1:30-guy is taking a few meters more from me…Easy I think. Let him take this slope at 4:16 and I will get him in the downhill… hoping he will still remain at 4:16-tempo there… Beeep from the watch. Don’t even dare to check. Have been running on the left and it was actually quite nice and calm. Most runners spread along the street, but I knew better 🙂 The next turn is on the left, and I am not going to run a cm too many on this hill! OK, Avenida Restelo. Here I come. Passed by many still, but a lot have slowed down already. Quick check on the watch, preparing myself to cry… what? 4:18?…and yes, the 1:30-guy is a few meters ahead of me. Cannot be wrong. OK, concentration to get back. Avoiding the cobblestones of the bus station, adding a few centimeters (?) to my run and then we reach the roundabout to the lovely downhill. The 1:30-guy is probably 4-50m ahead of me now. With a pack of 5-6 men all around. Finding myself stuck there and I really do not want to take this downhill at 4:16-tempo! I make myself pass the guys, almost hitting a car parked on the side of the road. Feeling a bit cocky to pass all those guys. They are probably smiling and thinking “This chick gonna be dead tired in a few miles. Let her pass!” Refraining from those stupid thoughts, focusing on HR recommendation for running downhill : “forward and well-controlled, no slowing down”. By the time I recall fully the advises, we have turned left on…cobblestones street again (I was hoping yesterday that we would avoid this street…). Quite stable, passing km3 in 3:51. Satisfied. Not too fast, just enough to balance the lost seconds of the first 2 km. Just 18km to go now. Awaiting for the wind to strike after getting back to the main road. But nothing. Well, ok, no “nothing”. It was a bit windy. But nothing compared to the previous day. Trying to find a group to run with. No chick in sight apart from two. Completing the previous plan with “don’t let those chick out of your sight”. And as the visibility is quite limited anyway because of the fog (can see probably 1-2km ahead, but not much more I would guess), this seems like a good deal. With a bit of chance they will get tired…eventually…some time… (although this is mostly working on marathon distance, because on half.marathon I know I can be beaten before the end, without being tired myself). Finding a very good group of guys to run with and we are passing the 5K. Checking quickly the clock and my wristband. Looking good. Not for an 85-race, but definitely in good track for sub90. Just keep smiling, hold on to those guys and all gonna be fine. We have been passing 10K-runners heading to their arrival on the other side of the road (they started at 9:30am). We even still have many on our side of the road. Which is not really practical as we have to pass them right or left or in the middle. Accelerating a bit before km6 as I see a little silhouette in black. Trying to whistle but it is definitely not easy to run at this pace and whistle. So I shout a bit and get a huge smile from E on the other side of the road. And cheering. And surely I burn there some extra strength which I probably will miss later on in the race, but it was worth this smile! Back to the pack. Surrounded on my right by the guy with the red singlet with Clube Vodafone (will spend most of the run thinking that there is a mistyping on his singlet and that I probably should tell him that “Club” has no “e” at the end… Yes…the mind wanders sometimes during races…) and another guy with white singlet and great smile on the left. A few check from time to time to the watch and the indication of 4:09-pace is very reassuring. For being even more sure that disappointment won’t come at the end, I am adding 1-2sec/km. So it is still a very decent 1:28-tempo I am holding. With a bit of margin. Around km8 happens what should NEVER happen. Still well-surrounded, I feel like drifting slightly to the right, still a bit from “Clube Vodafone”-guy. But THEN I feel that my legs are hit by something, everything goes really fast, a guy in our group was trying to pass between me and “Clube Vodafone” and got into my footsteps, a bit of light screaming, feeling that my “white singlet and big smile” is catching me, that “Clube Vodafone” is catching me too on the other side and our third mysterious guy behind is as well holding so I am not falling (or that we ALL are not falling together). Lots of thanks all around, a bit of laugh and excuses and we just continue. Nothing noted on the pace (or maybe this km would have been even faster without this “almost falling” incident… who knows?…). Back on track, cheering from a bunch of guys in Portuguese around km9. Not understanding a single word. Comments from my “white singlet and big smile” friend and he gets back a thanks and let’s go from me on the top of a smile. Km10 is finally passed. Under 42minutes J on good track for sub90. Keep smiling and moving those legs! Taking my grey gel. Not that it is needed, but because it is annoying me in the backpocket of my hotpants. Quick water drinking as well. Nice!
Halfway is reached without really noticing…there is no mark for it (or there was one and I did not see it. All km-marks are having a different little funny drawing. KM11 is having legs added to the figures, like they were running. Another km-mark (nr 8?) was having a little sun hat and I think I saw one with sunglasses (and NOT I have not been drinking anything else than water!)). Have reached Cais de Sobrés, which is the station where we took the tram to get home on Friday… Now I know we could have run instead 😛 More running. A bit of people now, and it is feeling really foggy. Not that the fog is low and visibility zero, but it is so extremely grey and feeling almost that the skies are not existing at all. That we are running on a road painted in a city painted and that somehow the canvas behind the painting is actually grey. Yapp…still wandering mind. Have caught up the gal before me with the Garmin singlet. OK, this one I won’t let her go. Hearing the cheering from Olivier A from the RIL race, but then there were only a few km left. Now we are having 9 or so. Everything can happen! The turning point is slightly before km13, so when I start seeing the runners from the front on the other side of the road, I stop swearing on the stupid cobblestones we are now running on. SO NOT FAIR! I was getting in a very good pace before this. Now I have to actually LOOK where I am setting my feet. Focus is as well on trying to spot the number of gals passing on the other side of the road and how far I am from them (or rightly said: how far before me they are…). Seeing the first guy and the second one, very close to each other. Probably 2-3km before me then (and if it is wrong, I’ll blame my mathematics ability being down when I run…cannot focus on everything!), then a pack of few runners….and another one…and more male runners…where are the females?!?!? And here comes one. Almost missing her! She runs so extremely easy and nice. OK. One before me. Plus the Garmin lady. That means two. And there was another one before the Garmin lady, who had disappeared from sight after km8 or so. Which means three. Must be a bunch of chicks in the middle surely….I thought… Have passed to km12 and getting closer to the turning point when I see the second gal. Hmmm I think. Isn’t it the one before the Garmin lady? And here I see the turning point and the Garmin chick before me and I am turning then (well… I am WALKING to get this done. Because I am so close to the pavement in the middle and surrounded by guys, that it is just impossible to run. Here goes the precious seconds for sub90 I thought. Screw the time! Get the place now (as Olivier had said wisely three months ago. So I listen to this little voice and accelerate a bit). Focus focus focus while running on the cobblestones again. Heading towards the pavement, slippery but better than the stones. Km13 is beeping at…4:09?!?!? With this walking part?!?! Aaaaahhh if only we would have run straight and on asphalt… happy still to have this pace at this moment in the race and not feeling any fatigue. Focus. Focus focus. Just.Don’t.Fall. When I hear my name on the other side of the road! Jesper has been catching up with me! Yoohoo! Raising the hand, hopefully I smiled too. Great boost to the strengths…if only we were running on pavement! Have lost my “White singlet and great smile” since Cais do Sobré, but “Clube Vodafone” is still around. The Garmin lady is a few meters in front of me. Trying to run on the grass but it feels that I will probably break my ankle there so I go back to the stones. Please please please make them stop! Finally the turn left back on the pavement: I know I have slow down very much. But the watch is indicating an even faster pace. Km 14 completed in 4:03… OK. Shoot! There is only 7km to go and one place on the podium to win (or loose…). Tactic is going back and forth in my head. Better to pass the girl now and hope she won’t catch up afterwards or better to keep in her feet and be to the mercy of HER pace and still hope she will crash at the end and that at the same time I will have an extra boost of energy to pass her before the finish line… Passing km15 mark and “Clube Vodafone” is on my side and smiling to me 🙂 and saying something encouraging (I guess, because I do not understand what he is saying). And there…comes…another km15…with a mat… Eeeeeeehhhh what?!?!? I passed it already! Like 500m earlier. Starting to doubt fully on my watch, on my sight having seen km15 when it must have been km14…and really starting to despair that I am one more km further from the finish than I thought… L Not fun at all. Have taken a water bottle which I empty to the half as usual, drink a little and throw the rest on my head. Time to wake up! Especially if I start mixing the km-marks and hallucinating in thinking I am one km further than where I actually am! I see the bridge ahead soon. And the more than welcome km16 is arriving. The bridge means 2.2km to home, which is 1.5km to the start which is 200m to the finish. Good with some maths to occupy the head now. And surely this means I’ll see E soon. Thinking at the same time that I might miss him if I am running faster than what I said and that he misses the meeting point…Nooooo not a chance I am faster than expected. By km14 my average pace had dropped to 4:10 and I even see briefly a 4:11… (WHY am I looking at my watch while running? I don’t know…) But in front of me the Garmin lady is showing clear signs of fatigue and hole on the side. She is holding herself pretty badly. OK. What was the plan then? I try to keep a close distance with her, but “Clube Vodafone” is having a better pace for my taste and we are passing her. Now I just have to keep this pace or faster and hope she won’t catch up with me. Good. I feel warm and have lifted my singlet for getting a bit of air on my bare stomach. Nice! But not really comfortable with the HR pulseband. Which is dropping a bit from time to time. We.are.underneath.the.bridge! Would have been nice to be ON the bridge and running or even being in San Francisco and running on the real and original bridge, rather than under its Portuguese copy. But fast is disappearing those thoughts. I want this to finish. I am not tired. I have to get tired. I get my final gels in the back of my sport bra. Stupid place AGAIN. Cannot reach them at all! Pulling from the back and finally getting them out. Yellow one first. Don’t even recognize the taste. Don’t’ care. Just focus and run. Look in front of you. NOBODY! (well, this means “NO LADY IN SIGHT”!). Run run run. And a guy is passing me and “Clube Vodafone”…and on his footstep…Noooooooo! The Garmin lady! She has recovered. I press myself directly behind her and run (dangerously close) in her footstep. Red gel. Can’t remember where, when, how I got it to my mouth, but I know I did. She is just there. Not 50, not 30, 2 meters in front of me! This is really mocking me, right? And I see she is actually tired, but the guy is pushing her very hard. I see my lovely cheering squad on the side and push even more. The power of a smile is NOT to be underestimated! “Clube Vodafone” is keeping up with me and the pace has increased, I know it. The gal in front of me has now taken a bit more distance. Her friend is even looking back for checking where I am (I don’t know that for sure…but I am pretty sure of it!). And there right before km20 happens something cool, VERY cool… A guy that was in front of us comes back (!), exchange a few words with “Clube Vodafone” and the little I understand is that it is about me (I understand “fourth” and “woman”, they cannot be talking about the weather!). The guy is passing behind me (!) and set himself on my right side and explaining that the finish is close (well, this is what my mind think he is telling me). He is definitely there for me (and if in reality he is not, well… nope. This is the reality. He came back for me). We are getting close to the start area. He is showing me with his hand where the arrival is. OMG! I just want so much to stop and pee! Perfect timing! Less than 500m to go! Turn right and getting to the final stretch. Gosh this is just crazily empowering: I cannot hear the crowd (which I know is cheering), I cannot see “Clube Vodafone” any longer. I feel only my new friend on the side. I just want this to be finished and actually feel TIRED at the end! Passing the first mark to the end, then I see the clock. It shows 1:27:xx. NOT A CHANCE I LET IT TURN TO 1:28! Push push push, Not sure I am smiling but at least I think I am. And pushing my stop button on my watch. D.O.N.E!!!
AFTER THE FINISH LINE
Daring to give a look on my watch…1:27:47!!! (looked twice actually!!!). The Garmin gal is hardly recovering her breathing, bent over the fence, looking to her feet. I try to congratulate her, but get no response. SHE is tired. I feel indecently fit, after 21.1km and the final sprint to the finish line. Smiling J I turn left and fall into the arms of a cameraman and another guy. Congratulate me and ask if I can say a few words. Not realizing really what is happening, I find myself holding a mic in front of a camera and telling the World (well, the cameraman and the other guy at least) how much fun I had during the race. Great! Feeling that the sweat is coming now. The whole outfit is wet. Getting cheering from guys passing by, some I recognize other I don’t. I just smile. I made it. Under 90 minutes. I knew I could. I knew the body was ready. No pressure. No pushing (apart from final stretch to the finish as usual). I can do another one right now!
Getting my nice medal, my after race little bag, walking towards the meeting point to get E. Soooo happy to see him. He even accept a hug despite the sweat! Nice pic in front of the museum and back to the massage tent. Get a ticket…30 numbers to wait. Enough time to strip from my sweaty race gear into dry shorts and singlet, clean socks and slightly more comfy running shoes. Niiiice! We check the arrival of the other runners then, hoping to see Jesper’s arrival. He thought about 1:50, but I feel that way under is more likely. We see the clock ticking. No Jesper. After 2:00, we decide we have missed him and text. Then I hear my name (!) on the speakers… What? Who is calling me? I am heading to the podium and yes! I am actually called for the age category podium! Yooohooo! Oh my! Where is E? I just went and hope he would come along. And here he is. Smiiiiiiling big! Cool to get on the podium, nice trophée and flowers. And the sun is showing itself too! Meeting Jesper finally. Back to the massage tent. Getting a 20 (twenty!) minutes massage. Nothing really relaxing, but soooo worth the wait!
Nice podium 🙂
Summary? Very surprised by the outcome, especially considering the low expectations set after the rehearsal run the day before. No fast and furious. Felt well-disposed, no easy-peasy pace, but decent and comfortable. Body felt good (apart from a slight ache around km8 which I summon to keep quiet!), mentally feeling good and strong, enough for actually accelerating during the last 8km stretch. The weather was not what I expected (18ºC and sunny) but was better for the race (9ºC and foggy!). Definitely not an “all-in” race. Felt that strengths were left at the end. Mind very focused. Music in the ear helped (?) to keep the pace steady probably. Still wondering a bit if I could have got sliiiiightly faster at the end for skipping those 10seconds separating me from the Garmin lady, but this I will never know. Give a double distance and something can definitely be done at the end! 😛
Great race. And definitely what was needed to finish a 2015-year with a pretty crappy start. Great finish! Gladly seeing the legs kept on moving and the mind kept on focusing. Just what was needed for this day!
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Weather: 8.9ºC, Feels like 8.9ºC, 5 kph NE wind, Humidity 100% – definitely good conditions for running. Foggy and no visibility at start, mostly grey during the run and definitely humid in the air throughout the run. Sun shining after the race was highly appreciated!
Food: 8:00am green mix + red juice and orange juice + banana + croissant/bricoche + mint tea&honey // right after the race: 1 apple, 1 water bottle, 1 little sport drink, 1 tea // 60min later (?): late lunch (veal, rice and potatoes, coke)
During: Dextrosol 2 at start and 1 at km4. km9+ grey gel + little water // km17+ – yellow gel and a bit after red gel // water at almost every 5K water-station (zipping more than drinking)
Gear: SWE hotpants and singlets, arm sleeves pink, sunglasses. Shoes were just OUT.OF.THIS.WORLD! Light and fast, comfortable and steady. Just what was needed! Loving them!
Shoes: ADIDAS AdiZero Adios Boost purple (Swifty) : 1st race and what a race! Those are fast shoes and really glad I have them onboard!
14/ Cannot tell the effort level was very high. It was decent throughout the race. Even the first 2km were (thanks to adrenaline quick from the start…) not reaching much more than a 12-13. Never really reached a 15-effort level, not even at the end where it felt that there were anyway strengths left, so as good to use them. Great use of the strengths. Definitely easier than RIL and the other races this year. Probably felt “easier” on the effort level than the last long run done the week before the race.
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AFTER THE RACE
Walking easy towards home. Chatting without stopping until the restaurant for eating late lunch. Then leaving Jesper and heading back to buy Pasteis de Belem (no queue!) and then back home finally. Loooooong hot well-deserved shower. Massage (again) with cold after-race cream. Freezing for the hours following. Sitting on the sofa in front of Xmen –movie and resting the legs up. Later in the evening, went to the centre of Lisbon for celebrating with Jesper & his wife. Great restaurant, great meat, wonderful dessert and even a little wine to get with the dinner. Final hugs before we move towards our bus stop…to see our bus leaving. 27 minutes to wait for next one… E and I decided to walk back home then…the six km that separated us from the centre of the city. Great exercise after running a half-marathon in the morning! Perfect finish of the day! Tired after that? For sure!
A few “after-race thoughts”
NOTE: warmup? FINALLY! Could have a decent warmup before a half-marathon race and still start with a good spot close to the start line. Thanks for great advice to Olivier A once again!
NOTE: Corral change at the pickup of the BIB? Great to have negotiated to move from group “no colour” to “grey colour” (which was 1:15-1:30). It felt a bit cocky to ask for this group at the moment, but it was definitely the correct one!
NOTE: gel in the back of the sport bra? Not working this time. Have to work on this…again!
NOTE: Energy intake during half-marathon… well, don’t know if that was really needed. But I really wanted to feel a difference from “this is a normal long run” and “this is a race”. Not sure it helped (apart from the kick at the end, which could definitely have come from the adrenaline kick of being close to the end or the cheering from the guy at the end. Who knows!)
NOTE: Shoes are just to be kept. Should probably order a bunch of them before they disappear from the market!
GREAT RACE TO FINISH THIS YEAR!
(and a few seconds of fame… here…24minutes and 25seconds into the movie…)
Race Report – New York Marathon – 2015/11/01
Planned: complete the course, have a body in one piece and happy at the end and throughout the run, heading for 90min first half and see how it goes to the end… (Ok, close to 3hrs would also be nice to have…)
Actual 3:06:10 🙂 4th Swedish female to cross the finish line, 86th place total women, 11th age category and 1194 out of 50,235 runners… A good 10K, a stable long middle with company and a wonderfully crazy last 2.2 miles. Not to forget neither a mega-cramp in the right calf after the finish line… Pretty satisfied with the outcomes of the race in the city that never sleeps! And not too bad for a 15th marathon!
Race Results:
place (M/W) 86
place (ag) 11
age/grade: 75,93% (2015 WMAC 74,99% / 2014 Chicago 75.97 / 2014 Stockholm 76.76 / Rotterdam 78.43 / 2014 Dubai 77.74 / 2013 Berlin 75.74/Stockholm:73.1/Boston:72.19/Dubai: 72.35/2012 Berlin:68.29/SF:65.66/London:66.47/Dubai:66.6)
time total (netto) 03:06:10
time total (brutto) 03:06:10
average pace: 4:25min/km
Official splits:
| Split | Net time | (difference) |
| 5K | 21:23:00 | (21:23) |
| 10K | 43:02:00 | (21:39) |
| 15K | 01:04:46 | (21:44) |
| 20K | 01:26:36 | (21:50) |
| Half mara | 01:31:28 | – |
| 25K | 01:49:12 | (22:36) |
| 30K | 02:11:16 | (22:04) |
| 35K | 02:33:42 | (22:26) |
| 40K | 02:56:37 | (22:55) |
| Marathon | 03:06:10 | (09:33) |
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M Day-1
Days prior to the race went quite easy and smooth. Travelled on Friday, picked up my BIB, stayed up so indecently late and slept great. Saturday arrived and up at 5am, waited till 7:30am to get through the door and head towards Central Park. Did a recognition run on the final stretch of the race in the park (from a bit before mile 24 to the finish line). Pretty chilly. Took pic. Back home and rest. Met Tricky and Patrik for lasagne & water party and then more rest at home. Fixed my singlet with my name on it and started to count the hours and minutes left to the start… In bed around 8:45pm, sleeping probably around 10pm. All fine…and excited!
Before the race
Awaken 1:45am… without alarm. Stared at the clock to see it moving to 2:00am and then back to 1:00am (NY was changing to winter time this weekend…how convenient to have a great race the day after!) but nothing happened. Checked the clock in the kitchen and it indicated 3:xxam. Time change had happened. Back to half-sleeping. Up then at 4:10am – drink a glass of Gatorade, shower, fix the hair, on with the race gear as well as extra layers of clothes and got a text from Christer as he had had an issue with his watch… Left the apartment at 5am, counting on good 8-9minutes to the subway station and it took…1:30minute… not even running… Met a few runners in the subway, including two Swedes. Waited and took the next subway when Christer met me at the station. A bit of chat.
5:50am – chia porridge done with Gatorade (!) eaten in the subway.
6:10am – water + off the tube at Wall st station and start walking towards… Ooooh thanks, this way. I was expecting a wave of runners and to follow them to the ferry, but nope. Feeling like in Chicago, darkness in the skies slightly disappearing, people coming from one street after another and joining the flow towards Staten Island Whitehall terminal. I had the 6:15 ferry and Christer the 6:30. No issue to get into the hall, move discreetly towards the doors and then happily hearing the “time to open the door”-message and feel the human wave heading to the ferry. All set then!
Sitting on the left side of the ferry, quiet and nice. Most runners look like they have been sleeping outside, wearing plastic bags, pyjamas or other interesting outfit.
6:40am – Gatorade. Definitely needing to go to the loo, but skipping it at the terminal, despite the recommendation of Christer. Nope, I want to get in the bus and to the start. Long queue to the bus and what are the odds…meeting Staffan D from jog a few people ahead of us in the line. We get in the same bus 🙂 He looks good and smiling. All fine then. Not like me, who is really regretting the last decision to have skipped the porta potty outside the ferry hall. Really needy then. Happily getting out of this bus after a ride than was…hummmm…50 minutes long, right?!?!? Nope, probably way shorter, but the first thing I want to do is find a queue to the loo. Too much drinking! Checking of the runners by the police went smoothly. Arriving in the villages, first queue aaaaaand..much nicer and I can be social and smiling again 🙂 Heading with Christer to the Green Village. Seeing a bridge in front of us and asking whether this was the one we were starting on. Positive answer from Christer. Really? But I thought it would be way more inclined as per all scary descriptions I read. It felt actually pretty good to have seen it, passed under it and then be in the Green village. Nothing scary at all. That will do!
7:50am – final drink. Meeting of all runners, Tricky. Who is in the same corral as Christer. I let them have their breakfast. We take a few pic. My two layers of clothes are very warm. Good to have taken old garden pillows for sitting. I love asphalt for running, but sitting on it ain’t that comfortable. Massage of the legs with chilly cream. It ain’t cold for running, but not that fun to just sit. But was definitely expecting WAY colder weather. Attaching my paceband around my wrist. Feeling good. Smiling 🙂
8:25am (kind of) – Then seriously, when the speaker indicates for the 5th time that the corrals are opened, I just want one thing: go there and wait. Tricky and Christer are looking pretty cool and calm, when I feel that the blood inside is just starting boiling… They kindly follow my hasty pace to the corral. Passing lots of runners sitting on the grass there. Final hugs and good luck aaaaand I get into my bubble A (sorry, meaning “corral A”). Quick check and once again, it feels that I am completely misplaced, seeing only male runners of the fast kind. Walking towards the front. One more visit to the loo. Off with the training gear – first layer. Pretty cold actually. And sitting on the asphalt is not helping (had thrown the pillows before the corral entry). Seeing at last a couple of chicks coming. Once again, they LOOK so d*mn fast alreay. Even when they stand freezing! Got a “Nice nails” from a Swedish runner 🙂
9:10am – Hearing the departure of the wheelchairs runners. Seeing the local competition runners passing in front of us and heading towards the start. Off with the additional easy pants. Cool with a nice outfit, but hotpants ain’t feeling that hot in this morning weather.
09:20am – Hearing the start of the elite women. Thinking that it would be great with a giant screen and see them 🙂
9:30am (or so) – finally we are allowed to get out of our corral. Walking carefully on the grass and throwing my final jacket to the last charity station. Should have kept it longer of have a plastic bag on me. Jogging lightly to the start (I think…just following all other runners towards…the underbridge)
9:45am – OMG! This is it. The bridge is there on the right side. Meeting an older man who is running his 36th NY marathon…respect! Listening to a gal completely excited talking about how every single part of the course should be taken, that she ran 2 years ago the race of her life here and count on renewing it this year. Another fancy pic and smile. And then…I notice that the start line is…right there! 3 meters or less in front of me. Really? Take some anti-chaffing cream from a guy so my thighs won’t be burning (eventually…). Putting my two final gels in my sport bra. Not practical, but there is no other place. Did not want to tape on me…
9:47am – checking once more my Garmin (which had been charging all night and still showed nasty 3 out of 4 on the battery…and the race has not started yet…). Listening to the announcement of the elite men participating. Coool! Wait…where are they? Ooooh on the top floor. OK. Listening to NY mayor making his speech. He wants us to make some noise or he won’t start the race. He explaint the rules “I’ll stay “ready”, you’ll hear a big noise, and you start at this big noise. But I won’t start this race until you make some noise…”. Runners have been warming up back and forth under the bridge. Could be an alternative, but I want to keep my spot. I have anyway 24miles to warm up… Clothes are thrown away a bit everywhere now.
9:50am – Is he still talking? We are all packed as 30 in one square meter by now! The police cars on the bridge have not moved. They should move now. Why aren’t they moving? Someone! Tell them to move! It feels great. It feels cold. No, warm. Feels ready. No, I need a few more months. Smiles are fading and all the racing masks are on (and yapp, that looks a bit scary sometimes).
Aaaaaaand…
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THE RACE
First Half
09:51am – Hear the “Ready?”, but seriously not the “noise-indicating-the-start”. But all runners are now moving. Hoping this won’t count as a fake start!!! How do you re-start a marathon race with 50,000 runners?!?!? Police cars have moved finally. And the race is on. As usual, everybody seems to pass me after start. Don’t care, there is lots of place on this bridge. LET.THEM.GO is what I hear during the first minutes of running. And this will come again on a regular basis. Perfect motivator! Looking on the left a bit, grey skies, but ok to run. This is the toughest part. I had divided the route into four main challenges: the first bridge (Verrazano…I never remember the name), Queensboro bridge, the little Bronx bridge and stretch to Central Park entry. The armband I have indicate I should pass the first mile in 7:40. Faster than that and it is going to be paying the price later in the course. It feels good and the brain is still awaken. Cannot figure out what pace in min/km it should be but assume that around 5-tempo should be acceptable (and correct). Passing the first mile slightly faster than expected (around 7:14?) which is stupidly too fast. But the first km is set about 5min-tempo, so I continue. Aiming for 90minutes by the first halfway mark. Yeaahhh. Let’s go for this. Then the legs feels it is starting to go down a bit. Hold on…where is the bridge exactly? The scary elevation that is described everywhere? Where.is.it?!?! A bit annoyed but concerned as well, I reach the end of the bridge and down the slope, without really having RUN the bridge. I was expecting a Golden Gate bridge uphill, a Västerbro inclination, a Heartbreak hill slope…all being ready to kill legs and motivation from the start…disappointed actually… And it is now light again. We pass under the Blue (and orange?) wave who ran on the top bridge. Arm sleeves are flying there… I keep mine. Have run with my neckwarmer on the nose throughout the “bridge” as it felt a bit cold for breathing. Out there, the light and the pace makes it nicer to breathe. Oooops…stop thinking here it is downhill but can see the runners running a slope towards mile 2. Focus focus and focus… OK, strategy will be to keep the extra clothes (neckwarmer, arm sleeves and gloves) until km10…or 5. Just don’t get cold. Passing the second km under 4min-tempo. Hummm… is that correct? Checking my armband and while passing mile 2, I am a minute ahead of schedule. Either this means I feel good and the form is great and it will end brilliantly OR it means I am too euphoric, have burnt unnecessarily energy in those two stupid first miles and I will pay the price later on. I choose to listen to the first alternative. Good good good, just running. Don’t feel much then. Don’t think much neither. The legs are in command. A bit warm with the arm sleeves. And the left one is falling a bit. Have to lift it several times. Hearing km4 on my watch and checking my yellow/blue armband and I am right on track. 30sec ahead of schedule. All fine. Changing my final gels from front to my back, still in the sport bra, but at least in the back they are not moving (and I should avoid burn marks…). We turn left then, empty street and see the other blue and orange wave runners in front of us. Turn right and we are now after mile 3 I guess (could not see it) and we are now all on the same path. Cool. There is a long stretch then after that. Still keeping my 30sec advance when passing the clock at km5. Good good. Still feeling good. No water at the first station. Run run run. Not much really sticks out there. I follow the blue line. Really want to high-five, but this would mean loosing on those 30sec and I seriously will need then at a moment or another. Or if someone could just come and high-five to me here. At the blue line. No? nobody? (surely I should have taken some sugar before start. The thoughts are flying around a bit too early!). Have thrown my gloves already around km5. Too warm. Of course a bit of wind arrive then and give me some chill… The neckwarmer feels too warm as well. Off with it and it flies away a km later. A bit of high-five as well (you cannot just do ONE, and if you drop the blue line for the outskirt and high-five session, it is as good to do a good session of high-fives!). Already in the first turn towards mile 3 I have heard my name. And a couple of “go on Sweden, looking good”. Brilliant to have the name on the singlet! Taking water at mile 4 & 5. Not much in the mugs L run run and more run. Under an railway (?) bridge around mile 4 (I think) – déjà-vu feeling from Berlin 🙂 Mile 6 and it is time for Gatorade. Not enough. Should have taken 3 mugs probably… Running along. Got passed by the guys of 3:00. Really? So early in the race? I could hold them for half the race in Stockholm the first year and up to km30 the second year… But remember that the pace teams are running even pace, and not “pace-adapted-to-the-NY-route”. OK, let them go then. LET.THEM.GO…No need to shout. I am good on my schedule and still having some time ahead of schedule. 40sec head at km10. Good. Still good. This long stretch up to km15 was easy but slightly uphill says my memory from reading Henrik’s advice. Should be having cruising marathon pace here. Hummm… ok. Probably ok I guess. A bit above, a bit under. Should do a good average. Have thrown my arm sleeves by now. A real experience to take those off without breaking my pace armbands and after race poncho wristband on the right arm and then…taking off the watch, taking of the arm sleeve, in in the sport bra, put back the watch, take off the arm sleeves, fold them into a ball and wait for throwing them and not hurt anybody… Mile 6 – time for first gel – antioxidant pomme verte. Not the taste my mouth appreciate, but get it down and happily take a water mug at mile 7. Not needed as the gel is liquid, but it is more for rinsing the mouth… Hmmm ok then, where is this Queensboro bridge? Not going fast enough. But the clocks indicate still that I have 30sec advance compared to 90min-to halfway-pace. A bit blurry memory of the way to 25K. It feels I am on rails and just run run and run. There are those two blond gals with long pony-tails running in front of me. Their hair is just jumping all over. And they run funnily easy and light. One is even telling something to her friend and then…she turn back for looking…back again…and back again…and finally she slows down and stop by a guy on my right for chatting a bit. Not polite to listen to other conversations, but cannot help it. They are apparently both from the same village or community in Australia (?). And when the chat is finished, she hurries back and easy to her friend. Jumping light and easy forward J Another gel taken at km12. With a little water this time J Focusing on a large building ahead of us. Was it this one that we had to look for in Boston indicating that we were soon finishing? Really? Please, make it being the same building. Getting closer and closer, does not help…especially not when passing by it and then…just continuing the run… Next clue to the end? Please? Someone? Km15 the left knee is screaming a little. Not enough for being concerned or stop. But enough to raise a little defcon light in the brain. After this, the strategy is changed slightly. Caught up by a gal who seems to have a good stride and pace, I decide to hang on with her. This was the tactic during WMAC-marathon: first 5K of the loop to be run alone, second 5K of the loop to find someone to hang with to catch up some pace. Now I have done 1,5 loop and it is high-time to find someone to run with me until km20 🙂 Trying to get water at almost every mile-water station, but miss one at mile11. The gal I run with turns to me and hold her mug “you want water?”. So extremely kind! “No thanks” I hear myself answering. And she throw the mug. Stupid move from me. Should have definitely grab this mug! A few turns right and left. Going very smooth. Nothing special. I kept myself close to the blue line again and to the gal. She is good to follow. My brain is just set on cruise control and the legs follow her steps. Either on the right or on the left. Taking Gatorade at mile 12. I read the names of the streets, but the only ones I recall from the route is “1st avenue” and “5th avenue”…and those ones I know are at the end… But the reading is occupying the mind. Sub90 for halfway is not longer in reach. And then we pass mile 13…already? But where is the halfway…Over there? On the way UP to this stupid little bridge-without-name? Who did that? Nobody mentioned that the halfway point was on the way up! Can see runners walking UP to the time mat. Not a chance I am doing this. I.am.going.to.run.this.d*amn.bridge. Clock on it shows 1:31:xx. OK then. 1min or so late compared to 3:00-race. Well, hold on…I should actually have passed here around 1:30:22 according to my red/white mile wristband. Exactly one minute late. Not the end of the world. If only there was not this stupid slope up this stupid-bridge-without-a-name…
The second half
Because everything until this point has been a warmup. Now the race start. Half a marathon to go J Talking to the gal, telling “One half done, one half to go”. Got a smile tainted with ache back. Let’s continue. Down the bridge (a bit hard bridge, which I stupidly took on the top of the toes. Just to see how it felt…yeaahhhh if that work during training, that could be also fun during race..right?). Quick check on my red/white band to see whether I should take a gel at mile 14…and yes…I should…the only problem is that I have only ONE gel left in the back pocket of my hotpants and not two as my armband planning indicate… What happened?!?! Oooooh I apparently mixed mile and km and took the second gel at km12 instead of mile 12. And of course no Gatorade inbetween to compensate. Let’s be crazy 😛 Gel it is at mile 14 then. Back pocket empty. Hoping that my Metrocard and the 20$ bill are still there… Now I feel light and free….smiling and enjoying. Talking a few words from time to time with my running-buddy. But mostly quiet. What’s next?… Oooooh thank you, man! Queensboro bridge ahead. Cannot see it, BUT a very kind man indicates at the water station of mile 15 (?) “this is the last one before Queensboro bridge, ramp up now, don’t slow down, few more turns and you are there”. Thankful, but at the same time not. This is my second challenge of the race (well, probably the third one as I have added the stupid-little-bridge-without-name of halfway on my black list…). OK, let’s keep calm. Easy peasy. Cannot be THAT tough. Tuuuuuuurning left and here we go. Nice Chicago feeling again. Apart from the fact that here the wind is blowing crazily from the side. What is the tactic again for such wind? With the gal running with me, we kind-of try to protect each other, but it ain’t working so well. I feel I am dropping in pace. I look at the clock at mid-bridge or so. No idea how fast (or more likely slow) I am. Focusing on the wind. My running buddy is stronger than me here and increase the pace (or she just maintain it, while I am dropping mine…). Swedish guy passing by. Again. Have seen him a couple of time since the start. I pass him, he passes us, I pass him again…aso. OK, this time he passes us. This bridge is killing me. Literally. Boring. Want it to stop. Should have checked before how long it was. Probably 15km long…it seems like it! Focus focus focus. D*mn cross wind. Stop this right now. IT.AIN’T.FUNNY! On the other side, every runner seem to struggle here as well. At least I am not alone in this. Not much of a comfort thought, but for this moment the mind is satisfied. Kind of. And then the noise starts. Can see that we catch up and this is the downhill and the –finally!- end of this bridge. I catch up with some runners that passed me on the uphill of the bridge (not THAT much of uphill, but of “I-cannot-really-see-that-it-is-going-up” kind of elevation… those killer ones…either you hate them, either…well, you just hate them!). My running buddy is now 30-40m ahead and turns before me. Mile 16 and turn left. Almost falling on a runner stopping abruptly due to apparently a very painful cramp. Little noise indeed and this is so cool to hear there “Less than half-way left”, “go Sweden go”. Even give some smile there. One more turn left…and.this.is.it…FIRST AVENUE… Yooooohoooo! First street name I can remember! Crazy crowd all around. A bit boring that the avenue is SO large that the spectators are pretty far from us (I mean…”from the blue line”). Have caught up with my running friend. Getting some greetings from a few Swedes (which I assume are here for Staffan as they have a sign with his name…). Cooool! Mega cool! Really. It just feels like it is almost finish. I count the streets in my head. 63rd st. 64th st. 65th st…. OK…how many were they ultimately? 1,000? I cannot even see the END of this bloody avenue! It is going straight until we probably fall on this end of the Earth (if it was flat). Wow! I need sugar!!! OK, start to calculate that in Central park we have approximately 4km left. And now we have reached…huuuuummmmm 26km, meaning the “upp to 1st Avenue + Bronx + down 5th Avenue” would be… Hummmmm 12km!!! NOTHING! Let’s make it 6K to the Bronx and 6K back, shall we? Telling my running friend that we are 12km from Central Park as we are taking a detour via the Bronx 😛 She smiles 🙂 Leeeeet’s do this. She is just great, following the blue line, where every runner (or most of them) is keeping the left side of 1st Avenue, we look like two lost chicks running in the middle of nowhere…the blue line is.just.for.us! Ok…now the 1st Avenue should be finished. There really cannot be 1,000 street to the end… the Bronx should be seen, right? How? Where? Have been thinking almost all the 1st Avenue about it being downhill…where? Where was is actually starting going downhill. Someone have been mistakenly telling that and everybody believed it. I WANT a downhill. A real one. Km 29 is past… this is the end…I can feel it…Remembering having run there in 2012 with Tricky and Patrik when we were denied the start of NY marathon due to the storm. I hear the music singing just for me ….”Want you to make me feel…Like I’m the only girl in the wooooorld… Like I’m the only one that you’ll ever looooove….Ooooonly girl in the wooorld”… Woooow so crazy nice. And yes. This requires some singing. Got a strange look from a gal passing me, don’t care. This song was just.for.me! km30…sooooooon…and sooooo happy to see this bridge-without-name-but-it-does-not-matter-because-it-is-the-last-one. Sooooo Happy to be there. A Swedish chick is running ahead of us. Cannot really recognize her, but does not matter. She’ll get some cheering. Passing her and that is Lona 🙂 We’ll have to stop meeting this way. Copenhagen, Stockholm half-mara and other races… “How’s it doing?” “good and you” “fine, you look good” “Yeaaaah…won’t be sub3 today, right?” “no, but we have only 12km left!” and off on the bridge. I like this bridge! Last one. (something in the mind tells me it is not correct. Because if we run above the water to go to the Bronx, we should be running above the water for getting back to Manhattan: Who cares? I am not listening to myself any longer! I am not looking at the watch any longer! I just want to get to Central Park and start the race!). Run run and more run. Cannot do anything else but counting down the number of km left to Central Park. This is the only activity that the brain authorised itself to do. On the top of not falling in the abrupt curves on this part of the course. Why on earth are they putting such turns? Isn’t it enough with 42,2km of pain? I mean “fun”?. Whatever. Getting to the final bridge (I knew there would be another final one!). Taken easily and –probably just in my head- accelerating there. It has to stop somewhere. I am happy, it is 10km to the end, 6km to Central Park and I am still smiling! Have missed several water stations during this second half, got some from my running buddy, but expect that there will be a price to pay for this as well…stupid mugs…Turn left aaaaaand Manhattan again and finally! More cheering. More applaudes. This is the stupid final stretch to mile 24… Just get along with it. Cannot see that we ARE in 5th Avenue. Just seeing streets name. 135th, 134th, 133rd… how many are they before Central Park entry? WHY did I not check this!?!? Are we getting back aaaaaaall the way down to the start of the Avenue??? Noooo, they would have told me… Run more run. I don’t understand the few turns right/left/right-whatever…we should be on the straight line of 5th Avenue. Are we taking a detour? 5km to Central Park. This is just what I needed. And it is straight forward. 1st Avenue and its so-called “downhill” is matched with 5th Avenue and its so-called “uphill”. Cannot really feel it. Adrenaline is just pumping through the veins. Not even sure there is blood there anymore. It is just to get along with all of it. “How are you” asked my running friend. “All fine. Still smiling. Well, trying to smile. And yaa?” “All fine”: Turning to look at her and she definitely look in better shape than the way I feel! Does not matter. I have not run that long to start complaining. Or was I complaining all the way? No. Only commenting. Stooooop talking in my head! Focus! We are passed by the 3:05-pacesetter with his little flag…and TWO guys hanging with him. No massive group as there usually is. “Shall we follow them?” she asked. “Nope, I won’t” is my answer. Let the testosterone win this one. We look good and we are great 🙂 OK, now we should have arrived in Central Park. Passing the last water station before the park and seeing a Swedish singlet. This is Staffan. He looks a bit in pain and walking and drinking. Come on, I try to shout. Only 2miles left. And we continue. Having skipped the running on the concrete on the roads where there were the bus stops (like it would make a difference…) but on 5th Avenue, the brain tells “Screw the asphalt, run on the concrete, this is the shortest way to the end” and the legs just follow… “Come on ladies, soon finish” and there it appears, the final turn to Central Park. THE part I know, I have run this one. I know where it hurts, I know where it hurts less, I know we are 500m to mile 24. Coooooooome on! Taking out my little sock with my two gels. Getting one at mile 24….ok…mile 24….should be there….in a minute…or two…how MANY turns was it before mile 24 exactly?!?!? And here it comes. Hearing music all around (I know there were no music there…) I take my yellow gel. My running friend stop to take water. I continue. This one is for me. 500m and you will be closer to the finish line. Downhill. You like downhill. You run carefully on downhill. You happily pass people on downhill. Caught up by my running friend. “Final stretch” I shout to her. And here comes another gal in pink on my left side. Nooooooo don’t let her pass us! Not here! Not now! Ok, it’s probably gonna hurt and that is probably end badly, but she ain’t passing me. I feel my running body is behind me now, not really hanging to the tempo (which probably is rubbishy slow, but who cares? This is MY rubbishy-slow-pace-to-the-finish-line). Km39 on the clock and I take my final red gel. Disgusting eucalyptus taste. Wake up all the senses. Downhill and Swedish cheering squad on the left. I hallucinate. I saw a guy from RW cheering there. I turn back…and nope…he actually IS here…with a bunch of other Swedes. SOOOOO proudly wearing the blue/yellow colours today. Now it is time to finish this. Passing one Swede. Yooooohoooo! Passing one guy there. Next one…and next one… The gal in pink is still coming back, I can feel her running slightly behind me. I just do not want her to pass me. Turning to the right and to what I thought the day before was the “final stretch”. Looooong street under Central Park. More “Heja Sverige”, “Come on girl, beat them all”. I am on cloud 7…or 9… have stopped counting since I entered the Park. I even take the time to make some wave with the arms. The pink girl is doing the same. We look at each other and smile. We are just SOOOOOO extremely high. 100% adrenaline. Nothing else. This guy without shoe is passing us…nooooo…not someone passing me… and turning at Columbus circle or whatever it is called. I want to run into the park…soooo badly. I want to see this 26miile sign. I want to feel the blood pounding in the veins and Gosh! This is actually SO crazily nice feeling….more shouting, more screaming on the side…spotting a Norwegian lady 60m ahead of me. Not a chance. Hearing the cheering similar to RIL from Olivier saying I am stronger than her and that there is less than 400m left. Focus focus and focus. No more sexy running (if there ever be any during the race…) just.have.to.pass.her….aaaand DONE…still 150m to the finish line. What is the time? 1:xx:xx… what does it means. So confusing with four clocks above the finish line. Mine is the outer left one and indicate 3:05:5x… too late… just run. Pass whoever you can…just do-no-stop…. And that was it. Finish line. 3:06:10. I am happy! VERY HAPPY!
Official time received later: 3:06:10 (Garmin shows 6 seconds more 🙂).
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After the finish line
Time does matter J But after crossing the finish line, it just felt like an relief from all the tensions or whatever it may have been from the race. Took a few steps, looking more like a drunk person than a runner. Or just looking like a runner that just finish a marathon… Breathing was a bit heavy, but ok. Got my medal. So nice. Just wanted to faint in the arms of whoever would agree to cath me J Remained a bit for congratulating my running buddy. Got the pink girl to congrat me as well. She could not follow the sprint I did at the end (slow sprint, but who cares really!). Got lots of smiles from guys I had apparently passed for the last mile. A bit struck I could make it this pace to the end.
THEN… when going under the clocks bridge and feel an explosion in my right calf. Not being able to walk. Got helped by a lady in red jacket. She insisted in bringing me to the medic tent. Not a chance I would sit on a wheelchair and stubbornly walked to the tent. There I got the “fast lane”. Massage of the cramped calf, ice on it. Got two small salt packages to eat (Blääää….) and Gatorade to drink. I insisted in telling them I had not drunk enough but they wanted me to know it was too much drinking making this situation. Nope. Not a chance. I was there and I know that I stupidly did not drink enough. Got an ice pack on the knee while he still massage the painful calf. Got my blood pressure taken. Twice. The doc was called as it was extremely low. “Is it that low normally?” “Well, low, yes, but not THAT low” “She is NOT going anywhere”-I heard the doc telling the helping lady in red. Cramp in the right thigh, but surely could leave with this one, if only the left calf would STOP cramping. Tried to stand and nope. Still cramping. Helped by another lady in red. More massage. A bit of shouting as well. Would rather have lay down than sitting on a chair. 30 minutes later, new blood pressure measurement. “OK, now it is low. She can be discharged”. Well, it was no longer extremely low, only low (and still lower than normal…). Ice pack on the left knee and left calf. I felt the most sexy girl in the world with the nicest and smoothest walking style EVER! Discharged and got to walk back home. Got my poncho and got out in 74th street. Just had to walk back home. Drank the recovery drink (could have had three like that!), ate the apple.
Well back home, pic with the medal 🙂 ice bath for 10 minutes, hot shower after that. Then rested with the legs and feet up against the wall during probably 45 minutes. Tired, frozen, hungry. Sms to Tricky & Patrik as well as Christer for meeting up. Met a runny friend of my tenant (he had run in 5+hrs and was looking good still and happy). My two “NY-2012-did-not-happen” buddies joined me to a celebrating dinner. 15th marathon – worth to celebrate! (no champagne, we keep that for sub3 :-P) Back home, eating a bit more gummy bear, and time for bed.
WHAT.A.DAY.in the city that never sleeps!!!
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Weather: 15ºC, Feels like 15ºC, 26 km/h SW wind, Humidity 67% – Perfect at start, windy in the middle, perfect at the end. No complaining. Great weather for running!
Food:
> before: chia porridge with banana, with Gatorade (5:50am)
> right after: apple+Gatorade+recovery drink
> 2.5 hours after: Veal + potatoes + spinach + 2 coke
> During: overstims gel @mile 9 & km12, mile 14 and yellow+red @mile 24 (at the water stations). Gatorade at mile 6 and thereafter I lost the control when I took some L. Water : now and then, but definitely not enough
Gear: SWE outfit (hotpants & singlet), sunglasses, arm sleeves black, SOC windgloves, neckwarmer blue, shoes were just brilliant. LOOOOOVING them! Comfortable, light, easy to run in, just forgetting having them on!
=> perfect outfit for today and the weather. Still issues as 1) backpocket sewed worked fine, but not easy to take in/out at this pace and 2) burn mark on the stomach/lower back due to some seam of the hotpants. I thought this was fixed. Might run WITHOUT hotpants next time 😛
14/ Definitely effort on this one, but comparing to most of the marathons this had not raised to a 15. Some parts were “tougher” than others, but the change of strategy at km15 made the whole race way more as a fast long run than a race. Can hardly set a 15-effort on the final 2.2 miles. Impossible to measure the effort there as the adrenaline or whatever it was was so extremely high that it felt effortless. The mind had only this much focus on the finish line that the body just had to follow.
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SUMMARY: Brilliant day. Nice race. Well-completed. A bit annoyed with the calf issue and not able to explain it as I can hardly remember when was the last time I had a cramp during training and never during race (yes, feeling that a cramp is coming, sure. But no cramp). The route was not easy, but not as tough as most would describe it. Even tempo and effort throughout the race is definitely not the way to go. That was good to try this. Having the armband with pace in min/mile and min/km were very helpful. First race I consider running only checking the mile marks. But changed at the last minute. Good to have changed strategy at km15 and definitely a huge plus to have had a running buddy almost throughout the race. Not explaining the 7min run at km15. Did it really take SEVEN minutes to run the Queensboro bridge? Because in that case, this is definitely THERE some time was lost! Great support from the crowd, having the name on the singlet was definitely a winner (and made me feel like one 🙂 ) Running in the Swedish outfit was also a winning combination. Not just because there were a lot of Swedes on the race and in the crowd, but for all others cheering that could just cheer for Sweden. Happy with the body holding so well throughout the race (this was definitely a “mind-do-all-the-work” race, as there were parts where the body would have gladly rested or slowed down a bit, but that the mind did not let happen). Not too satisfied neither with the drinking. Real stupid to screw the whole plan by not drinking sufficiently. Not liking the mugs and will never do.
All the sweat and any possible annoyance during those 42.2km are SO forgotten when reaching the final stretch to the finish line. Addicted to those finish lines? Definitely!
(Lots of thanks for support and cheering during the preparation weeks. A bit tricky with sick children at home during final week as well as extra pressure at work, but stress just disappeared when switching off the laptop and packing all the stuff for travelling. Deception from not running in 2012 is still there, but now NY is ticked off the list. Great race to run. My heart still goes for London and Chicago however. Many thanks as well for the encouragements and the cheering before and after the race. Sub3 ain’t all in life. Finishing is so much that it can hardly be described. Have to be experienced. Thanks for all the Swedes out there cheering along the course, for all other people shouting as well. Special thanks for my running buddy without who I believe the race would have ended differently 🙂 Thanks to my little ones and their understanding of “food experimentation before the race” (and yes, “carbs rules!”), carb depletion for longer than usual made a difference, more to try 🙂 And of course a huge thanks for the hugs and cheering from my Swedish running friends that shared this race (as well as before and after race). Back to the cold Sweden and its grey skies. A bit of rest and already planning for new adventures… THANKS!
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A few “after-race thoughts”
NOTE: Body was all fine throughout the race. The left knee “felt” a bit after 15km, but I could have ignored it probably. Issue with the calf is either linked to the lack of water/liquid drinking during the race OR the running on concrete (really?) or both or neither of them. Any suggestion?
NOTE: warmup? Not even in my wildest dream. Sitting and freezing for a while before this huge race ain’t the best. I could have chosen to warm up with strides like some did under the bridge, right before the start. Well-noted. The body had anyway 24 miles to warmup and it definitely delivered at the end!
NOTE: Energy/refuelling during the race? All was so nicely planned. Had it written on my wristband. And THEN did not follow at all. Tactic to refine definitely. But otherwise the gels were well accepted (thanks Oliver A for the tips :-)) and the final two at the end of the race are real energy-booster! Skipped the dextrosol during km21-32 as usually do. Worked fine, but should have been replaced by Gatorade drinking.
NOTE: Beetroot loading? Hmmm…tested this time with pills. Taken from Sunday before the race up to race day. Not feeling a single difference. Endurance is there. Just have to work on the speed now and this is not gonna help. More intervals to the people! 🙂
NOTE: gels in the sport-bra, on the back? WORKING! Definitely not the easiest, but it is fine to carry, cannot be felt, not moving around, no burn mark. All fine!
NOTE: gels in the back pocket of the hotpants? To be refined. But it worked.
NOTE: NY marathon? Definitely fun enough to be recommended! Although once again, this is an experience for life but Chicago and London are greater than this. Yes yes…they are. 🙂
NOTE: the last one… Had heard so much about the feeling when the start is given and hearing “New York New York” from Sinatra in the loudspeakers… well, I must have been off at the start, because I did not hear.a.thing… Just the mayor, his joke, the start shot and then the pounding of feet on the bridge asphalt.
Race Report – XXI WMAC Marathon (Lyon) – 2015/08/16
Planned: complete the course, hopefully not last + if feeling fine, get into a nice finish under 3:30/25 + ensure the body is remaining happy throughout the run.
Actual 3:08:29 🙂 a silver medal for age category in the XXI World Master Athletics Championships, a 6th place total women, a personal fan club on site ensuring both cheering and bottle handling and a body not too bad during and after the race. Quite satisfied with the preps of this race 🙂
Race Results:
place (M/W) 6
place (ag) 2
age/grade: 74.99% (2014 Chicago 75.97 / 2014 Stockholm 76.76 / Rotterdam 78.43 / 2014 Dubai 77.74 / 2013 Berlin 75.74/Stockholm:73.1/Boston:72.19/Dubai: 72.35/2012 Berlin:68.29/SF:65.66/London:66.47/Dubai:66.6)
time total (netto) 03:08:29
time total (brutto) 03:08:29
average pace: 4:28min/km
Unofficial splits (from Garmin):
| Split | Net time | (difference) |
| 5K | 21:37:00 | (21:37) |
| 10K | 43:23:00 | (21:46) |
| 15K | 01:05:11 | (21:47) |
| 20K | 01:27:14 | (22:03) |
| Half mara | 01:31:50 | |
| 25K | 01:50:03 | (22:48) |
| 30K | 02:12:34 | (22:30) |
| 35K | 02:35:33 | (23:00) |
| 40K | 02:58:45 | (23:12) |
| Marathon | 03:08:29 |
Nice for a first (?) World Championship, right?
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M Day-1
Little reminder here… Final morning run done under the sun. Effortless. Final try-on for race gear and pics in the garden. Final carboloading day with pasta lunch, gummy bears and sport-drink. And lots of water as well. Travel to Lyon. Check of final km of the race route. Felt ok for the race (well, as ok as can be… Felt like forever I have gotten myself ready for a race!). Headache until 10:30pm. Quality sleep between 10:40pm and 1pm… Excitement was in the air…
Before the race
Awaken 3:00am… But I just closed my eyes. Frozen brain for a few seconds to remember why I should go up so early. Had heard my roommate being called on her phone around 1:15am… Felt the alarm should be for her. Dragged myself out of the bed. Into the kitchen. Out with the porridge and banana. Ate in the dark and kept quiet for not waking up my roommate. Green mix drink (no shaker, so it was real disgusting to stir and drink with small packs of powder 😦 ). 2dl Gatorade blue. Back to bed. Sleep.
3:30am – Water. Sleep.
4:00am – Gatorade. Sleep. No,… wait. Remained half awaken as I started to calculate the time I would have to get myself ready, prepare my bottles and get to the start.
4:15am – Up 15minutes earlier as my still-asleep brain required more time for getting ready. All bottles on the table. Filling half-way with either Gatorade blue or water. Taped the flags. Shower. Cream on and dressed with running gear except for the shoes. Writing splits on my hand. Not working. For reference mostly, writing 3:00, 3:03, 3:05 & avg pace + 10K on my hand. Nooooo way this is achievable, but the brain wanted it. Was left my full-length of left forearm for the splits between 3:10 & 3:30. 10K, halfway and 30K. No more place available! Racing shoes in the bag and off to the race. Final beet-shot at 4:30pm.
5:00am – final drink with water. No more eating.
5:14am – Late on my schedule by 14 minutes… Dark outside. Not a soul out there (apart from me). Nice in the air. All dressed in black for getting to the stadium feels a bit awkward… Looking like a thief… with nice nails. Walking is going fine. Brain is relaxed. Body feels good. Getting to the park… Where is the park? PITCH BLACK out there… Decide to keep walking under the street lights. Seeing a flow of walkers a bit ahead at the end of the street. All heading towards the stadium. Cool 🙂 Now I remember the pre-race feeling 😉
5:45am – Pitch black all around us. Confusion. The stadium is still locked. No one seems to know what to do, where to drop personal bottles (which were to be dropped latest 6am). But when asking to the volunteers helping, just getting mixed answers. Good to be able to speak French in such case! Having a chat with a guy in bike and he indicates the route is fast. Set for a PR. I tell him the contrary. Chat about diverse races we have done and he highly recommends Paris. Time for him to go. He will cheer on the side for me he promises. Meeting two other Swedish runners, marathon Karin S and half-marathon Eleonor Ö. Quick chat and see you soon. Karin ain’t sure of the daily form due to problem with her foot. She had run the 10,000m on Monday though. In 40 minutes. Faster than what I can possibly do right now…
6:00am – Still unsure what to do with the bottle. Still pitch black. Still chaotic. The stadium doors open and a flow of runners get inside. Lost probably. Finally appear two tables: “A” and “B” indicated an official… Eeeeeeee…. What A or B? Give me numbers, man! 5, 15, 25 or 10,20,30… Something I understand!!! Finally getting that “A” – that most runners understood as being the first water station at 5K – was actually the one close to the start and turning points… Very confusing!!! Whatever, leaving my bottles on the 5-15-25-35 table (aka “Table B”) and the 10-20-30 (aka “Table A”). Fun fact: the day after the race, I found published on the WMAC site a guide indicating important facts prior to the marathon and semi-marathon. The “Tables A & B” were mentioned and location indicated there… Good to know after the race… Anyway, the tables got filled pretty fast. I was proud of my flags but see that loads of bottles have also flags… So now I not only have to look for the bottles with flags, but will ALSO have to check which flag is attached to the bottles… Brain, please help me!
6:15am – Heading to the stadium, very much hoping the bottles will be there when I need them. In the dark, getting down to the tent close to the stadium, tent that was used as call room for other events. Where is the call room for the 800+ semi-marathon runners and the 400+ marathoners? No one knows… In the tent, four people changing. So I get a spot in the back, pretty dark and take off my extra clothes. Chat with the French changing close to me. Scared a few times by a gigantic grasshopper that get into my hair, then on my shoulders, my arms and finally my bottle. The French guy get it to leave 🙂 Cannot find my Vaseline in the bag, so NOK-cream it is. Thighs, underarms, lower back and higher back under the sport bra. I look pretty white then! But better white that burned… Putting my Dextrosol in a little sock and on the back in my sport-bra. Should be tight enough for not burning. I think. I hope. No more people enter the tent as a volunteer in wheel chair stops everyone and tell all to give there bag do they can have a bit of order in all this… It starts this way: “the French team? In this corner. They are many, better to make place for them. Brazil? Here in the middle. Spain? Yaaaa it’s close to Brazil. Put their bags there. Italy? Separate from Spain, better this way…” And it just goes on 🙂 Nice and fun chaos in the tent. (Have I talked about the necessary preparation prior to a race? The required mental quietness needed? The “everything has to be going on rails” thoughts?… On this day, you better forget all of this!!!!). Leaving my bag to a lady in the tent. She gets ready to drop my bag in the French corner when I stop her and indicate to find a nice place for the Swedish. “Put the nice gal in the corner” I hear the man saying. Cool… At least I’ll find my bag! Good luck to the right, good luck to the left, cheering to any Swede I meet in the way to the start. Soon start…
06:37am – Happy faces from G & MT right before the start mat. Cool! The fan club has arrived! 2 at start and 3 at km5 water stop. Final pics. Passing the mat (Fun fact: after the race, in this guide on “final stuff prior to the marathon”, they did mentioned that this may would be acting as “call room”, and therefore all runners were to pass on it. Good to know…afterwards…).
Before race smile 🙂
6:45am – Four rows already on the starting line. Enough place for doing my lunges matrix. Not much of a warmup, but that will do. Final smile to Karin S and then I get myself smoothly to the second row for the start 🙂 Still having place for breathing. Call from the speaker to all runners to get to the call room. Having a handful Spanish on my left. Half marathon (numbers in black on the BIB) and marathon (numbers in red). They look d*mn fast… Having one of the Central African guys right to my back, quick chat. He hardly recognise me though, Swedish outfit on. The air is becoming thinner. The place around each runner becoming more expensive. Hearing an apparently fast guy right behind me not understanding that there are no seeding or start group. He wants to finish in 2:28 (!!!) and talks to a nice lady planning “an easy” 3:15. That can’t be right!!! He has a nice smile 🙂 Feeling someone getting in front of me. An older lady (W60) with long grey hair has just taken my spot… Well, I hope she is fast and careful, because the guys all around ain’t going to show any mercy when the gun will shot…
6:55am – Haaaaa!!! Have to tie up my laces for the third time again. And I promise that getting down on the ground for this ain’t fun when everyone is packed like in a too small box… “There won’t be any countdown” says the speaker…Hmmmm? OK? How do we know when to start then? The clock is…behind us?!?! Maybe a little “10-9-8… would have been nice” says the 2:28-guy… Looking at my watch I suggest more likely to be a “120-119-118…” J And got a smile back and a good luck and then the head just shut down.
6:58am – Feels so quiet now. Crazy quiet. When actually it is not. But in the head it feels like no sound is getting in. Trying to find out where the start-guy is with the gun, but cannot see much. Getting much grey hair in the face again. Zipping the end of my Gatorade blue. Oooops! Where will I throw it now.
6:59am – O.M.G… with no countdown, this becomes the longest minute of marathon history… Bodies all around are getting ready. You could probably hear a butterfly passing by over us…
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THE RACE
Loop 1: 0-10,400m
07:00am – Right on time, hearing (hardly) the gun shot and the runners are hitting the pavement like a horde of wild horses. Feeling a bit of pushing, but I am more scared for the old lady in front of me than for myself. A push is making me drop my bottle, which I did not like. But it is probably crunched by the hundreds of feet pounding soon this little space it fell on. The start is for both half-marathon and marathon, meaning there will be pretty crazy differences in pace. And with no start group, that makes the whole thing even crazier. Passing by G & MT already cheering. I take it easy. As Coach said: “take it easy at start, find your rhythm, don’t both the others, make it your race”. A bit easy said, but I know the route now. Almost by heart. So by the first turn, I have already slowed down (!) and still getting a 4:02min/km tempo. Just multiply this by 42 tells the brain to itself. I actually laugh at this thought! Can see ahead the fastest runners and then followed by the next fastest and then the crazy runners who think they can hold this pace throughout the course and then comes me 🙂 and a bunch of others behind. Karin S is passing me right after the first right turn and before the first km. OK, let’s take the second Swedish female place then 🙂 A bit surprise when reaching the next turn towards km2, because I had thought it would be going right and then sharp left turn, instead getting a “nice and smooth”-like left turn towards the long straight path. Getting passed by so many people so far, that I hardly want to look behind me, if this is to see I am the last one or so… a few more hundreds and sharp 90-turn into a way narrower path. And this part I don’t like. The asphalt is not plane, but broken, there are lots of turns and a few hundreds before reaching km3 there is a sharp left turn, slightly up. NOT.liking.this.one. But I like the loooooong straight line after that. Asphalt. Thank you. Then back under the trees, a few turns and getting to the main straight path again (after… yes, you guessed it: a sharp 90-turn). Loving this part (yes, I do!). Have done my intervals of Tuesday there. So I know exactly (almost) where to count 200, 400 and 800m-marks 🙂 Passing the km4 and then under the Park signs. But this is not reaching the km5 that is driving me then. I know my second half of fan club should be there. Please make them be there. And here they are. Small dark silhouettes at first. But they see me as well. E&T. And hearing “Come on, mummy!” is the best cheering ever heard! Don’t even bother keeping the pace there. I want them to have the smile and hello they deserve J Less happy when reaching the water station as after the water mugs there are two tables full with personal bottles and I cannot see mines! Even going back to find them. Finally shouting “Sweden! Where is Sweden?” in both French and English and getting a volunteer to hand me a bottle…which was set on a bench right after the other tables… and of course… I get my “km15-bottle” and not the “km5-bottle”. Continuing towards the end of the path, hearing the officials saying my BIB-number to indicate I had been passing this checkpoint and executing the U-turn and coming back, slightly downhill (Yes, it IS downhill). Drink, drink and drink. Gatorade it is. Almost drinking all of it, and throwing it on the side. “Hello there” to the fan club on the other side and then focusing on the race again J The watch has been checked a few times, but honestly it shows faster than 4:18/19, which is way faster than expected. The body is responding fine, so I let it continue. Long and straight line to km6. Trying to get some encouragements from the people coming along the route. Getting a nice “Allez IKEA” (“Come on IKEA”) when passing a group of French and it is well appreciated. Yes, as usual, all cheering is good cheering! Can see that there are lots of people behind me still. Good J I am not last. But I have been passed by lots of people. I am checking mostly women as the competition is done per age category. Cannot see any ahead of me. “One swede before you” I had heard from my fan club at km5 and I know it is Karin. But how many women?… trying to hang along others to reach km7, but it is not too easy. Reaching back two Finnish older men and they kindly ask whether I really will do the full marathon… (Yap! Km7 and we can still chat at a nice pace!). They look impressed. I am feeling that it would be good if I can just follow them for the next 3 laps and that would be good. But once again, lots of people are actually not yet in marathon-pace and running too fast. Back to the main road after the very uncomfortable-to-run km7-road and sharp turn (one more!) to the left and we are under the trees again. Long straight line towards the hippodrome and km8. This is what I checked yesterday, so it feels good. The pace is good. The mind feels good. Nothing can really go wrong (for now at least!). Along the hippodrome the road is pretty bad and it is easier to run on the right of it. Which ALL others in front of me agree upon… meaning that there is need to pass a few on the left, which means “cross-country-on-broke-asphalt” 😛 I see Karin S on the other road on her way back. Quick calculation: she must be 4-500m ahead of me. And as usual, I am rubbish at estimating the distance. So I really have no clue how much ahead she is, but “4-500m” sounds an “OK”-distance to keep between us J Turning point. Sharp turn right AND up AND on rubbish path. As expected my left foot is falling into a small hole and not liking it. Have to be careful for next lap. Because yes, the brain has started the countdown. Not of the km (well, yes, it always counts down the kilometres from the moment the gun is shot!), but of the number of laps left. ONLY THREE TIMES PASSING HERE I can hear in my head. Hmmm ok. Reaching the nice “40km”-mark, after the 9km and this part is not fun (for me) because it is light elevation. Not Norwegian-fjord-elevation like, but still. It is NOT flat. That’s the thing. At the 30km-mark it is better (I just like the “30km-mark” because it means 12km left J). Downhill and turn left and Wow! Nice! They have cleaned the path and there are almost no stuff from the pine trees on the path (which would have been very slippery to run on…). Seeing other runners getting into the woods for their km8 and I am getting to haaaaaaa…another sharp 90-turn on the right. And asphalt again. Good rhythm. Body ok. Just run. In front of me the Finnish are a bit ahead, but I have a French guy which seems to have the rhythm I want. He gets cheered by his friend and I ask (the friend) for cheering for me as well next time J Next 90-turn on the right is taken a bit bad and I hit my left leg on a lower wood fence. Looking down for getting more strength and up with the eyes towards the end of the…street…where is ending the street exactly? Straight it is. Many half-marathoners and marathoners are passing on the other side. Cool to see. Looking the fade 41km-mark on the street (see you soon! I think!) and straight a bit more. Hearing fan-club nr2 on the other side, looking straight forward, passing the mat, seeing my BIB and time (and no, I did not noted what my time was then!), getting to the end and around the fence and back on the mat again and that was it. Passing the white stripe on the pavement which was the starting line.
Loop 1: completed!
Personal bottles on table “B”
Loop 2: 10,400-20,800m
Reaching the water station, I got handed perfectly my 10km-bottle. A smile and more cheering J Throwing away the flag, opening the bottle and zipping a bit and running and zipping a bit and running. Takes until almost 11km-mark to zip this bottle. Which I think is good, for not having a too heavy stomach. Long stretch towards the next km-mark. Not that many runners around but still a good mix marathoners and half-marathoners. Passing a few of them. Straight line towards km12 (there is a trick here: every lap the km-signs are 400m ahead of the signs from the previous lap, i.e. km12 is 400m before km2, km22 is indicated 200m before km12 aso. So this is a trick I used for calculating the distance passed: when reaching the sign km3 on the asphalt, it meant during loop2, that I was at km13.4 J OK, maybe it is making no sense for anyone but me, but at least it kept my head busy and happy!) The way under the trees towards km13 is still not fun (in case it would have been changed since previous loop…). Unfortunately witnessing a runner cutting straight from the path to take to the one coming back (cut of 1.5km or so). Not fair play. (btw after this there has been an official checking this part actually…). Still annoying part, but I like the Argentinean lady who is cheering for her teammates and still having voice for shouting “Ola, chicas, vamos” 🙂 Abrupt turn right and up once again (“2 done, 2 to go”…let’s keep thinking positive here!), the straight line, passing the km3-sign and back under the trees. Still impossible to find someone with similar pace. Am I the only one on Earth with rubbish and dysfunctional pace?!?! Nobody wanting to join my team?!?! OK, I continue alone then. Passing people and cheering for them. Some are in their first loop still. Good fighting. And back on the main road (remember, after this 90-turn right?). Seeing Swedes on the other sides, but they are in their first loop I think. And straight line towards km15. The pace? Oh yes, the pace. When under the trees, the Garmin is getting crazy. But it is still indicating a 4:20-stable pace. No worry on the side of the body. So keeping this way. Soon they are there. Fan-club ready and cheering 8and even taking pictures! Getting my “15K-bottle” from the hands of Dj and E (which makes me wonder a bit….because I have been drinking it during the first lap…). [Fun fact: E told me after the race that someone had taken my 15K-bottle and drank on it during the first lap, so they went to pick it up and they filled it with the 5K-bottle to be ready for my next passage… Good to know J I was the one drinking this bottle in the first place 😛 ] One zip before reaching the policemen, then the U-turn, large smile to the officials and back. Still zipping. Shouting “next time it is the gel” when passing E&T&Dj. Realizing afterwards that nope. This is not a gel at next stop… Hoping they will look at the km-mark on the bottle… Having a nice Spanish guy on my right side now. Reaching the long stretch towards km16 and his pace is pretty well suiting mine. I can almost hear one step when our feet hit the pavement. Even our breathing are in sync (well, actually he breathe out when I breathe in and then he breathe in when I breathe out. All good! I finally found my step and breathing twin!). I like him because he gets cheering from friends (like “Vamos Espana”) and each time he adds “common friend. Common friend”. We are pretty close to a Polish lady W40. She has a good rhythm too. And she looks real good when running behind her. She was right before me at the km15-water station but slowed down for her bottle and now she has caught up with us and even passed us slightly. She has a little bottle, just suiting into the hand. Pretty handy. She keeps it until km 17 and throws it. I want one like that!!! The Spanish guy is accelerating a little bit and find himself at her level now. I am right behind. We are back on this “km7-broken road” part. I am very careful for not falling on broken asphalt and lost a bit of time in this (but better safe and slow, than not checking and breaking an ankle). They are reaching the main road ahead of me. Thinking now that the Finnish guys are no longer to be seen. Nor the French one neither 😦 And back to the “under the trees” and towards km18. The Polish gal is having a good step, and it is actually difficult not to stop running and just looking. The Spanish guy has dropped a bit and is right in front of me when we reach the hippodrome. But by the end of the straight line and the U-turn, he is at my level and sounds like he is having it pretty heavy. But I like to have him around for pacing. He is for the half-marathon, so I can take the luxury to push him a bit to keep me in a good pace 😛 He probably understand this because he is accelerating a bit, but suddenly he told me he cannot carry on and wish me good luck, but fair game I encourage him to just follow me as he “just have to finish this lap, when I have two more to do”. He laughs and agreed he can continue a bit. Even thanks me 🙂 Cute! But by the final left turn under the trees he says being in pain and I accelerate and wish him good luck. 90-turn into the main street. Asphaaaaaaalt again :-)*100 Getting cheering from the French guy from lap 1 and then right turn to the last straight line. Light acceleration. I really would like to be close to 1:30/32 for halfway. Which would allow to have drifting time during the second half. Now I hear “Luis” coming back. So I cheer for him, tell him to pass me and just to give it all (and to come back after his finish line to cheer for me). Seeing Karin S drinking at the water station on the other side of the road. “Luis” passes me right before the mat with a big smile and a thank you. Apparently more strength are found when there is only 400m left 🙂 Turning back and on the second mat. Finding more strength for a kind-of acceleration there. Officials are separating now the half-marathoners to complete their race and go left to the stadium and the marathoners and other to finish their additional loops (no need to tell that a split of a second, I wished I was a half-marathoner…)
Loop 2: completed!
Loop 3: 20,800-31,200m
Soon the water station. Seeing the banner with my name and the hand holding my water-bottle with a gel taped on it. Run run run. Want to reach the half-way before the time turns above 1:33. OK, Half-way mark passed. Have been struggling to un-tape my gel, now it is time to struggle opening it with the teeth, swallowing the fortunately liquid gel and drinking the water of the bottle. Sounds like it takes forever for doing all this, but it does not. OK. Have been cruising at 4:21min/km for the first half according to my watch. Which is more than decent and acceptable today. Just have to go through this third lap and then it is the final 10K-stretch left. Throwing my bottle around the 11km-mark (i.e. I have run now for 21.4km, which seems pretty little in my mind, but ok). The loooooong stretch towards the left turn to km 2 seems way longer than the previous lap. Did someone stretched the asphalt there? A couple of older men-runners are passing me, sounding like heavy breather. Not fun at all 😦 OK have to focus. No woman ahead of me for any possible acceleration. I authorize myself to drift up to 4:25 for this lap (Yeaaaah, I know….”I authorize myself”… like I am in control of everything now…Better believe it though! :-)). Getting the cheering from the French gang after the turn, once again the stretch towards km2, third time I pass here. I start to be fed-up. No negative thoughts. Go away! Grabbing my Dextrosol stuck in the back of my sport-bra (Once again, really not smart solution for storing energy, but at least I had not been skin-burned there). One tablet every km will do until the next water station. “Vamos chicas” once again from the Argentinian. Even succeeding in smiling when she takes her photo. I KNOOOOOW…it is not me she photographs but the Argentinian right beside me… but at least I will have a smile on the pic 😛 Soon the annoying left/abrupt/uphill (YES IT IS UPHILL WHEN PASSING IT FOR THE THIRD TIME!) turn and the long-nice-asphalt stretch along the parking lot. One more Dextrosol when seeing the 23km mark on the ground (don’t know if I really see it, but at least I know where the 3km-sign is and then counting backwards 800m before 🙂 Wow that IS tricky to run a marathon and do maths at the same time!). Thirsty there. I would have like to have those sponges-stuff there had been promising right before km3 and at km7-like. But could not see them in the past two loops. Is everybody else supreme beings and not needing extra water there? Am I the only one?!?! OK, stop. Pass this guy (M55. At least one less before me) and finally the left turn to the main road again. I WANT THIS TO BE FINISHED… thought during 1.5seconds before hearing cheering “Allez les gars” from the side of the road. Don’t care they cheer for guys and their friends. Once again, any cheering is good cheering to have! Passing km24 and.I.just.want.to.get.to.km25 (because it is one km closer to the end…). Have been taking one dextrosol every km-mark between km22.5 and 25. Cheering squad in place when I arrive. Feeling that I have to stretch a bit the back. The steps are a bit slower and shorter. Have to work on this. Next loop, I’ll fix that. Seeing T with her banner and huge smile. Seeing E holding my 25km-bottle with Gatorade and Dj saying that I asked for the gel-one. Good that E knows my plans though 🙂 Taking the Gatorade bottle, admitting loudly that I mistakenly asked for the gel during my previous lap. Zipping once before the U-turn. Smile to the officials. They are cool and cheering. Have been counting the gals on the other side passing me. Could see 3 W40, Karin S and no other woman. Am I really first W35? Nooo, cannot be. The others must be so crazy lightning-fast that I have missed them since a while. No more fast woman from the half-marathon though. Downhill after the U-turn. 25km done. Less than half to go. (and yes I know the “less than half to go” is actually working since a while, but this is good for the spirit! Well,for my spirit at least). New running mate on my right. A Spanish guy. Cool. He ain’t having the same steps as Luis, but that will do. Checking my watch and the pace has dropped crazily much. But as long as I am not crawling on the pavement, I guess it is fine. The Polish W40 is passing us right before the km26 mark. Not trying to catch up with her. Still liking her still. Still liking her little bottle in her hand J What am I doing?!?!? Stop looking at her. Focus on Luis-friend and run! She is getting a bit of distance ahead of us. The Spanish guy is not running stable pace, which is fine with me, as long as it is not too slow. More “Come on IKEA” on the way towards km27 and turning. HERE.IT.IS… a lonely table with water bottle on it. Is it the “sponge”-place? Really? Passing it. Turn left to the broken-asphalt path. Passing the medic and asking them to get ready to carry me during the next turn. And finally on the main road and the right turn already towards the hippodrome. My Spanish friend ain’t following any longer. Have to run on my own. Have been zipping a bit of Gatorade at km26 and 27. Good. Finishing the bottle at km28 (I think) and throwing it. Oooooohhhh what I want to stop and take some water at the little fountain close to the hippodrome there. But nope. Cheering for Erika from Germany. Passing a few there. Cannot see the Polish gal any longer. Ooohhh.. she is already on the other way, back already. I must have drifted heavily there! And.here.comes.the.left/up turn and I just enjoy it because I just have ONE time left to pass it 😛 (think positive, think positive…). Reaching the km40-mark and I just so much want to BE at the 40km-mark. But nope. One more lap before I can enjoy this thought! This is tough to run there. Not physically, but mentally. No one really around. Ahead and behind. Not on the side. One more Dextrosol at km29. Passing a dad with his two kids and getting a very kind “Allez la Suède, Allez..Svvvveeerrige”. Which is once again so appreciated. And here it is” the 30km-mark on the pavement! Yououououhhhhhooouou! Only 12km left. Almost finished. Even have this thought that it would take less than an hour to reach the end. Have no clue how long I have run. Just want to get out of this forest. English lady cheering once again. Cool. And the right turn to the main road. Just once more to pass here. THAT is what I call motivation! Getting my foot badly into a broken hole on the turn here. But matters not. There are less than 12km left! Cheering from the French guy. Cool he is now cheering “Allez Sweden” to me! And this stupid left turn towards the straight final line. O.M.G. Will this never end? Feels almost like running in a maze and that you recognize passing there already, but that was not the correct path, but not knowing where to go… Run run run… Less people on the other side. Hearing from the speaker when I pass the mat that the first guy of the marathon course will be soon arriving…. Recognizing the name, but cannot figure out HOW I can recognize it. Mat 1- passed, turn, mat 2- passed. OK.
Loop 3: completed!
Loop 4: 31,200-42,195m
Now smile because this is the last time you pass this water-station. G hands my last water bottle with gel. Sweet he has taken away the flag and I “just” have to struggle with the gel opening, swallowing the disgusting paste in it (no liquid this time :-() and getting some water on the top. Passing by Karin S talking with Eleanor. They smile and sheer, apparently Karin takes it easier. Water on the head once again. I have been feeling a burning sensation in the lower back and am pretty sure that my SWE hotpants are burning this little place again. Wonderful! Passing the “halfway”-mark. Having the Polish gal on my side now again. OK. New plans. I stuck to her steps, whatever pace she takes. Just not letting her go in front of me. Once again, this is this last 10km stretch that any marathoner is looking forward to (or is it just me?!?!). She gets a good step, have cheering from her coach. We even smile (a little) to each other and run side-by-side. Passing the left turn towards km2-mark, the guy telling time and distance is encouraging us by our name 🙂 Cool. Stretch towards the left turn and the “under-the trees”-part. This is not fun BUT this is the bloody last time I run there. Magdalena (the Polish gal) has slowed down. I kept my pace. Not a chance I drop somewhere here. I still here “Vamos chicas”, but I thought I was alone for gal. And now….seeing a British W40 passing me. Noooooooo! Not now. Final little left/up turn. Taking the outside curve to get a bottle of water. Most of it on the head. The British gal is in front of me and at a good pace. But she suddenly stops and zip her gel and water. I pass her. 33km have been passed! Hear that she is starting again and of course (!) a British guy is arriving and encouraging her. WHERE ARE MY SWEDES for encouraging me there?!?! Or French? Or Spanish?, Japanese? Brazilian? Whatever nation, I would accept the cheerings here and until the end! She has a good step, but not as coordinated with me as Luis or the Polish gal. And she is not even breathing at the same pace as me. Aaaaahhhh…this is all disturbing now! She passes me at the right turn to the main road and is ahead of me for a few 20-50m. But I pass her. Not a chance she gets this one. Cheering squad in place. Getting my final gel for the “about 35-36km”-mark. Cheering from officials when I turn and hearing that I am at the 6th place!!! … but not for long as the Brit is passing me like, 15m after this U-turn. Once again…Nooooooo! OK, run run run. Cannot do anything else but taking my gel and drinking my water. Shouting to my fan club that they better hurry to the stadium or I will arrive before them J Getting laughs back… (thanks for the trust is my lightning-speed!). OK, forgotten the Polish gal. and the British one is increasing the distance. Reaching deep into whatever storage of strength, glycogen, stupidity or boldness that maybe left, I actually make my steps a bit longer. Stupid probably, but it does not feel much more effort to be put into this change. Less people on the side. Probably moved to the stadium. Mental pacing here – whatever it means… Final turn to the km7/17/27/37 road. All by myself. And left turn to the broken-asphalt road. Last time here as well 🙂 Acceleration (or kind-of…) to the right turn and into the woods again. Long stretch to the hippodrome – for the LAST TIME. Seeing a black guy on the side and this is my Central African runner friend. Recognizing me he cheers loud and clear that it looks good and not much is left. (well, easy to say, when you are on the side of the road… but thanks :-)). Fiiiiiiiinal stretch along the hippodrome. Have taken out my dextrosol and taken 2 at km39. I need this energy kick. Whatever it takes. 2 dextrosol after the left/up turn (where I.actually.walk.up!!!) and off.I.run. The Brit gal is out of reach. But the 40km-mark on the pavement gets me the largest smile ever! 2 more Dextrosol and that would do. How much extra energy can a brain take exactly? A zip of water would have suited well here btw… but as usual no rest for the warrior, independently how thirsty he/she might be! The British gal is stopping 150m in front of me. She walks! Tired apparently. She has a team mate reaching her however and encouraging her so she starts again. And me and my thoughts are still at this 7th place and just thinking to keep the distance stable and not letting it increase. At least I am passing the British guy 😛 And all in for what is left towards the last left turn under the trees. My Central African friend has moved up, he talks on his mobile on the side of the road and starts shouting “looking good, looking good, almost finish, looking good…no not you (to the person on the phone) I’m shouting to the gal running for Sweden you know”. At least it makes me smile J And the shadows of the trees are disappearing when I turn FOR THE LAST TIME to the right on the main road. Final cheering from those still cheering, FINAL turn left to the last straight line. OMG! Where is this 41km-mark on the pavement? Has someone moved it? Throwing my little sock and the rest of Dextrosol. I want my hands free. And I just run. Probably not the sexiest running steps in history, but who cares? More cheering from some Spanish team on the the right of the road. Here is the stadium. And the first mat. And…and…and… nooooo, happens what I thought would happen…the final U-turn is actually 140m away from the one used during lap 1, 2 and 3. All for having this race to the correct length… The British gal ain’t that far anymore and another British man is close to her. I happily pass him, turn and this is the final stretch. Actually no. It is not. There is still 240m straight before turning to the stadium and THIS means reaching the final 300m. Tunnel vision and obviously shutting down all hearing abilities as well. The only thing I see is this British back and the only thing I want is to pass it. Final left turn along the stadium, the British gal is before me and then final downhill on the right to the Stadium. She is getting on the red path before me. But there (and that the coolest and strangest thing ever experienced), the body DOES find extra strength. I pass her a bit after entering the Stadium, but not only that. I also continue to push extra. No clue on what time it is but time is irrelevant. The only thing that counts is the Red arch above the tracks. Must pass it. Acceleration (and yes probably this extra speed was in my head and I was slow like a slug, but that the thought that counts :-)). And.Here.It.Is! FINISHED!!!
Official time received later: 3:08:29 (Garmin shows 2 seconds more 🙂).
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After the finish line
Time does not matter. Well, yes it does. I cannot really believe that it went so well. And so fast. Surely far from lightning fast, but definitely way faster than the expectations set prior to the race! My legs are shaky. Could probably have run a bit longer, but not really after this final sprint. Taking a water bottle on the table. A few prunes and walk a bit. Back for one more water bottle and heading to the exit for the tracks. Stopped by a nice lady telling me that she was in the group cheering “Allez IKEA” and hope that it was ok to say it this way as she did not know what language to use. Of course she got a smile from me to this! Looking right and left. Nobody I recognize. I hear after a short while that the third W35 is going to cross the finish line…which makes me…the second W35! J A bit of walking and then heading back to the bag tent. Meeting G&E then. Got smiles and congratulations. Telling them that we probably have to wait a while as I have made it to the podium. More smiles. E is sent to pick up my bags, but comes back being told that only athletes can go there. Meeting the rest of the fan club. And Karin S that completed the race as well (3rd position for her age category). Quick pic and headed to the bag tent. Quick chat there to get my bag. Meeting my Central Africans running buddies. Getting a large hug from one of them, hearing that he had to drop off the half-marathon due to lack of training and too fast start. Getting a hug from his friend that apparently had been in my back since second lap without passing me at any time after I passed him. Walking back to the cheering squad. Looking at the podium and hearing we have to wait one hour for the marathon podium to start. Getting a nice place in the sun for this wait. Shaking my recovery drink mix. Changing into my easy pants (not smart to have them black as the sun is showing up and it feels pretty hot then!). Feeling clearly the deep burn in the lower back due to the seam of my hotpants. Yapp. Must be fixing this. Definitely. Keep on walking and talking. Thanking a lot for the cheering and bottle handling. All perfect! E kindly remind me my promise that if making a podium here, I would take them to the next WMAC…in Australia… Hmmmm ok, sure… I am a bit tired now. Let’s rest on this 🙂
11:45am – Getting closer to the podium. Meeting the French-speaking guys from the start, (the “2:28-guy”). How did it go then, I asked. What about the 2:28?. Well, 2:28 it was, he answers. Whaaaaaat?!?! You are the one who won the race, I answer. (yes, I know, behave should be the first thing coming to mind, but surely it is pretty cool to have chatted with a guy at start, that this guys happened to finish in exactly the time he expected AND that he is as well to be crowned world master champion W40. Respect! Meeting the two other gals to join on the podium. The winner (a Polish gal) is just so cool. She is just talking non-stop. She is drinking lots of water as she must go through anti-doping test but cannot get to the loo. This is her official PR she said. She has run in 2:40-ish before, but in smaller races or so and then there was no official time taken…. Huuuuuummmm…ok….. THAT’s the reason why I never see her throughout the race. She probably was 2km ahead of me in the first lap and by the time I finished she had increased to 4km the distance between us… Good job! Finally our turn to get on the podium. Pretty cool. Third place…blablabla…Second place….my name 🙂 …and the world champion W35…blablabla. Polish anthem to listen to and photo session for the three of us. REALLY COOL (and highly recommended 😛 )
Podium – XXI WMAC marathon W35
Down from the podium, more pic with my little fanclub, photo with the “2:28-guy” (I will learn his name, so next time we meet I won’t call him this way… Separating for having some going to the restaurant directly and E&myself walking back to the apartment. 2km feels all fine after the race. We meet this grey hair lady (W60 from the start line). She had felt a couple of time apparently, was bleeding on her shoulder, but she was so close to finish and still smiling. Respect! At the apartment, my very kind roommate had been doing my dishes. Taking a shower (NO FUN with this burn mark on the lower back), packing everything, leaving a note and the keys and time for reward at a Chinese buffet restaurant with my own personal little fanclub J Then back home the belly very happy. The body being behaving like after any regular long run. Just have to jump into my bikini, sun-cream on and enjoying the rest of this sunny afternoon laying on a sunchair in the garden. WHAT.A.DAY!
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Weather: 16ºC, Feels like 16ºC, 11 km/h NNW wind, Humidity 68% – Perfect at start, perfect in the middle, perfect at the end (when the sun decided to show itself behind the cloud cover). Got some wind during the final stretch line towards the mats during lap 2 & 3, but on the other side it was tailwind after turning. So no complaining. Great weather for running!
Food:
> before: chia porridge with banana, with soy milk + 2dl Gatorade (3am)
> right after: Vitargo Green, water, few prunes
> 2.5 hours after: Chinese buffet + 2 coke
> During: vitargo gel @km10, 20, 25, 35 (at the water stations). Dextrosol: 1 tablet every km (between km22 & 32) except the kms with Gatorade (25+, 26+, 27+). 2 tablets @km38.5, 39, 40.
Gear: SWE outfit (hotpants & singlet), sunglasses – shoes were just all-this-that-you-want-from-a-race-shoe-and-never-dare-asking. Just loving them.
=> perfect outfit for today and the weather. Only issues were 1) lack of pockets for having the dextrosol (was solved well and without burn mark, but still, not practical) and 2) burn mark due to the seam of the hotpants. To be fixed before next race.
16/ First half was well-done and under control. No pain, effort as it should be, no pressure. Third loop was a bit more mentally exhausting. Not easy to get along a bit alone and therefore dropped on the pace there. Last loop felt all fine (even though when looking at the time it was quite slow), but the feeling was there and the mental was very strong. This extra strength after turning towards the stadium, and then this whatever-it-is-that-I-could-have-for-breakfast-every-morning when reaching the final stretch on the tracks… Wow! This is just so extremely cool. [Fun fact: have pic and film from those last 200m on the track towards the finish line. And once again: nope! The medal of the sexiest way of running was not won there! But who cares?!?!? This was just great to feel this rush and finish high with a smile!]
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SUMMARY: Great day, going completely not as expected but so rewarding! Having a person fan club on site should not be undermined! And seeing them 4 times in 2 places was the cherry on the cake! Being the first marathon of the year, after 4.5months with no running because of a crazy left foot and a stupid tendon (apparently), 12 weeks only to prepare, a full week of heat workout to prepare for crazy hot temperatures expected on race day and ending on perfect running conditions on this Sunday… Tell me about the importance of planning! I’ll tell you about all the plan-B, C, D… that might be of used in a race 🙂 The course route was nothing but fast. Tricky part, broken asphalt and gravel, lots of U-turns or abrupt turns, ups and downs as well… Nope. Not really the WR-conditions with this 4 loops-route. But apparently it worked. On a straight line route like Dubai, the time would have probably be different. But stop with all thoughts about if or why. This was today and today only. And the route worked. (and yes, the comments I make about the route was similar to the words from the Polish world champion. She too was very surprised with all those turns and uphill and gravels and to have to go through this 4 times! She was really cool and fun while talking about this 🙂).
What makes this race great is surely the ranking and the silver medal and the fanclub, but also that the body reacted so well. Definitely not pushing much throughout the race (a bit more mentally during the 3rd loop, but this is always the case in marathon…), it was nice to see it can hold so well. And even after the race. Sure the body feels tired and stiff (I have yet to win the medal for “superwoman-not-feeling-anything-after-a-marathon-race”, if ever…), but apart from left knee and strange feeling on the bending top of the right foot, all felt fine. Light cramps felt coming during the race, but disappeared pretty fast afterwards. No sensitive Achilles heels afterwards, which makes me thing that the adjustment of the insoles was a good work. Was also cool to see the stomach and well defined abs after the race (yes, I know, that is probably due to dehydration of some kind and that was gone the day after – but still, that looked cool!)
Once again, the need for a personal pacer is still there. Anyone? I can do the talking during the race if anyone is interested in doing the pacing 🙂 And as usual, just wanting more after that. But carefully taking care of this body of mine, to ensure there are many more races of this kind in the future…and faster ones too 😛
(Lots of thanks for support and cheering during the preparation weeks. Not many were told about this race, as it felt a bit stressful actually to tell about it (this is after all a first World master championship!). And was very much hoping to have a body fit for the race. Thanks for you sending encouragement via sms the days before the race. Great thanks to my personal little fanclub, which had to bear with me during this last week of carb depletion and carboloading and training and sunbathing and and and… Sooooo rewarding to have you there. Time to rest a bit now under the Swedish sun…before next great adventures!) THANKS!
Happy smile after podium
Nice and well-deserved silver medal
Me and the “2:28 guy” (aka World Champion M40)
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A few “after-race thoughts”
NOTE: the body felt all fine during the week before the race. Reacted well to the heat in France during the first few days. The stomach cramps felt during the final heat workouts in Sweden were just non-existent after arriving in France. Everything felt fine for standing on this starting line!
NOTE: warmup? Copy-paste from other races probably: Totally in-existent. Nothing. Not even a jog. Only lunges matrix and off you go. Apparently the body was fine with it.
NOTE: Energy/refueling during the race? Additional thanks for the fan-club and their help while handing the bottles. This makes a few seconds win actually. And that was great to be able to drink what I actually wanted. What was available otherwise was plain water. And this would have meant having the gels on me. And having no pocket on my outfit… No cramp in the stomach after swallowing (and chewing first) so many dextrosol at km38-40. Don’t know the effect and if it gives a kick, but probably a splash of water would have been welcome!
NOTE: Beetroot loading? OK, I had to try this. Because if not for the effect on the body, it could have had an effect on the mind. Had small little bottles of Beet-it but did not follow the loading suggested as it was to start during my carb depletion days and I did not want to screw up those days. So I took from carboloading day 1 up to race day. Not completely disgusting to drink, but not nice neither. Did not feel any effect of it. Don’t know what I was expecting. Maybe some kind of magic-potion-like-in-Asterix-and-Obelix… I don’t know. Anyway, I skipped the 3 first days (with one shot) and started on Thursday. 2 shots in the morning after breakfast, one extra shot at 7pm on Saturday evening and one final shot on Sunday morning 4:30am. No reaction from the stomach. Surely a bit of fun (?) to pee red, but otherwise the effect was zero. So, as I know I can run fast(er) without this (done it a few times already), as good to skip spending money on extra stuff. At least it was tested 🙂
NOTE: Dextrosol in the sport-bra, on the back? WORKING! Not optimal to take it out, but as it has to be done only once, that works. Still, another solution and better one is yet to be found.
NOTE: XXI WMAC? Definitely fun enough to be participating in the future again! Strongly recommended. So fun to have so many nations mixed into so many events in one place at the same time 🙂
So you think you’re hot?…
Recognizing this quote? Talking for itself, right? Today was time for heat acclimatization training. and doing this in a country where the rain is its first name and the cold its family name…nope, no easy task.
OK, we are in July and it might not be cold as such. Well, yes it is. Compared to other places, which are actually the ones I am aiming to run soon. So, these 18ºC that most of us probably liked today were not enough for preparing for the 26-31ºC currently recorded where I am going. Therefore some necessary reading about heat acclimatization, check with running buddies and coach on how to prepare for this. Knowing as well that it will be the first race of the year… Morning started with getting dressed as for a running workout, already with extra clothes: a singlet! With 18ºC outside, sport bra and shorts are way enough. But nope, today it was a singlet, and on the top of it a long sleeves sweater and a rain jacket. For the legs, shorts and rain trousers. OMG! Was already sweating after 2,5km to the physiotherapist. Got a nice cycling under the rain (read: heavy rain) to get to our club cabin and waited a bit to meet club-buddies. Got a bonnet on my head as well, and off we went. 12km of this. No need to say that the sweat was definitively out! Off with all those layers and 41 minutes sauna after that. Yapp! After this type of preps, I will probably be ready to run in the desert without any effort! The plan is to have 2-3 runs a week with extra layers of clothes to adapt to the heat. Arriving one week ahead of the event should also complete the trick. Just have to ensure the hydration is working well.
Any tips for racing under hot weather conditions? Feel free to share 🙂
So yes, this thing about “sweat is fat crying”… Not too sure. Still have a butt and little extra on the thighs. As it should be 🙂 And yes, the rain in July IS killing me!
Run Happy! (and sweaty :-P)
Race Report – Varbergsloppet 2015 – 2015/07/11
Planned: 10km tempo pace (which is estimated to 4:25/4:30 at the date of today) – i.e. 45min would be fully satisfactory
Actual: 44:19. Quite fine, especially with the preparations and the expectations and the route 🙂
Got the kicks, abs challenge done in the morning. Porridge breakfast around 10. Felt ok, but a bit heavy on the stomach though. Turned round round round at home for not leaving to early: clothes folding, laundry hang, eyebrows plunk, and final check on the gear to be taken (for the..5th time?!?!?)
Headed to the city center, bought 2 powerade, 1 dextrosol and a little bag of gummy bears 🙂 And then train trip. Final drink at 2pm. Don’t want to have to stop during the race, right? Easy at the arrival with the explanations of R. Got my registration done and then it was…2,5hours to kill…
Changed in the swimming pool ladiesroom, getting the BIB on my singlet and headed back to the main grass area. Waited for club buddies to land 🙂 Did a bit of sunbathing in the meantime (with warm jacket as it felt a bit chilly with the wind). Lennart arrived and we chatted a bit. Met Tricky and his friend (both had been cycling (!!!) from home – would run the race – and cycle back before nightfall… Either you’re in, either you’re not! Massaged my legs with Tiger balm, re-adjust my laces and it was already 3:30pm. Time to drop my bag, final stop at the loo, and warmup together with Lennart and Torbjörn (that we met on the road). We took a VERY easy pace for that: Not at all what I am used to. I had planned to run 5-6km prior to the race in order to ensure the muscles would be ready for a kind-of-fast pace (read: tempo pace). We ran 2+ km on the final part of the race (which was good, because when it arrived during the race, I knew the end was near!)
3:45pm – tried to find a place for doing accelerations, but nope. Not really. Did lunges warmup and it was time to get to the start.
3:50pm – Nice place under the sun. Start group 1. First line 🙂 On the right, so can be passed easily. Got a hug from a smiling Sara and another one from a smiling Robban :-). A bit of push, but I have learned how to handle this. And surprisingly I did keep my place…
3:55pm – all set. Music in the ears is ready to burst as soon as the start is given… (and yes it was already warm…but with the air from the sea it felt quite nice).
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4:00PM – No pang, no gun fire…just a large clock announcing the beginning of the race. And as usual for 10Ks, this feels like the opening of the gates for letting veals, cows, horses…(you name it) free to run. Felt quite ok actually, remaining on the right. Got passed a few times on my right (!) but otherwise, the human wave passed me on the left. ALL the wave 1… Quick check on the clock showed 3:30 (!) after the first turn and 3:45 after the second one around the castle. I know I know, way too fast, but the faster you run, the faster you’re done J Seriously now, did feel that the pace would not hold anyway so quick check on the watch when it beeped 1km indicating 3:50. Hummm…not as planned. Turn on the left and in the streets of the city then. Felt pretty warm. Would have gladly run at 9am this morning than 4pm…How are they thinking really??? Got to the second km and the avg pace indicated 4:16, which was still too fast, but more “ok-fast”. I thought that I had anyway 8km for getting down to 4:30-pace. The 3km-sign is a little off compared to the beep of my watch so I press “lap” to get it aligned better. And just have to continue the run. Loving my home-made trance-mix (freshly done this morning while I was turning roundroundround at home). Brilliant combination, especially as they are bringing different paces and at the correct time 🙂
Seeing the pace going slower. Good to have had some indications from R on the route. So I could take the first little up at the beginning, not fear the pavements in the city center and enjoy (yes…sure!) the run in the forest. When I hear beep and see the 4km-sign, I know it is only 500+m left “climbing” (ok, there was no climbing, but it surely goes up during a while and culminate at 4,5km) and tried as suggested by R to push during the downhill after this top. Not as easy as I thought however L Can remember however that it was nice and refreshing to be in the forest (or park?). This is there that some new runners start to pass me. From km1.5 or so, I was the happy last-person-of-group-1 and for this I happily accepted the cheering from the crowd (and even lifted my arms from time to time to get them happier and cheerier 🙂 ). So, back to those guys passing me: the little competitor inside me agreed to get a 4:30-race, but still, if that could mean NOT be passed by more gals from the group behind, that would be great… And let’s admit it: sometimes it is nice to have guys passing you. Need a bit of focus afterwards, but it is nice distraction for a while 😛
Around km5 it felt a bit odd that my watch indicated 1,6km on the lap-screen when it should have shown 0,6km… and THEN I remember that I turned on the alerts…but did not setup the autolap before the race… Which I do a bit before km6 and press lap-button at km6 to be in sync with the signs on the side of the road. Surely dropped a bit of time there. Took 2 dextrosol. Did not have any food in my stomach since porridge of the morning and the half-bag of gummy bears in the train. Felt warm-warm and more warm. At each water station it is “take a first cup and throw it on the head (be careful the mp3 on the chest not to get wet) and then take a second cup, a few glups of water and the rest on the legs”. Felt quite good (of course, I noted afterwards that having thrown water on the stomach and legs was probably looking like I peed in my shorts, but it did not matter much and it was drying anyway within crazily short time. And as well, who cares???).
OK, km6 is passed, seeing the lighthouse over there. Remembered the description of the route and that we would…actually…run…CLOSE to this lighthouse??? No, cannot be. It looks like it is at 100km away (yes, the water on the head is not helping much the brain to cool down and think reasonably…). Passing the bus stop of the SPA (had been there a few years ago…but the weather was waaaaaay worse!). a bit of waving to get the crowd cheering a bit. And under the trees again. This part is nice. Very nice. Because it is less than 4km to go. Because my watch is finally indicating the correct pace and distance. Because after a turn around I-don’t-know-what I can see this stupid lighthouse which is WHAT? How did it come that close??? And nope, my watch is indicating a pace which ain’t fast. Turning right a bit uphill aaaaand so nice again! Catching up with two guys…he he he! I know it is not polite to count people out loud when you pass them. So I did not. But I probably talked loud to encourage myself, because a guy before me turned and looked strangely at me (and it gives me the opportunity to pass him. :-)This is nice this km8, because it is close to km6 and you see all the other runners passing the km-sign that you passed yourself a bit of time ago.
Then it was less than 2km left… Where is this stupid castle? What said R in his tips? Sure, when I see it I know it is soon finished…but how close would that be?!?! A bit less people cheering on the road, more likely looking. And then there is this little uphill. I know that from there can be seen the 1km-sign soon. MOG, this feels so nice. Had taken 2 dextrosol at km8 and it feels that the brain is actually cool now J (next time I should take 10 at the start of the race maybe!). And.here.I.see.it: the 1km-sign. Had passed it during warm-up. Just accelerated in the downhill. Don’t care about the guys I passed (although I still cheer for one who is walking on the side of the road).
KM1-sign: requires change of music! Anything to pull me to the end. Even make a happy cheering noise to myself when passing it. Run run and more run… ???… ok, how come that the 1km is now longer than during warmup?!?! And I surely resist from checking the watch which would tell me stupidly that nope, you have not run 500m but 267m and there is still a LOOOOOOONG way to go!!! Seriously? Did the stretch the pavement? Change the screen on my watch and see that it is 4:43pm. My group is time-measure on gun-time, meaning that I better move my nice butt and get those tanned legs running a bit faster to get under 45minutes (yes, I know I know. 45minutes is the FASTEST to be run today, but if that is possible to be slightly under, that would boost a bit the confidence on the return to training done during the past 1.5month). Passing 2 guys, seeing one guy stopping at the first time mat. The clock indicated 4:44:09. Don’t stop. Running to the second mat. Stopping the watch. 44:19 (44:20 on the watch). I’M HAPPY J (and tired…).
Medaille, banana, milkshake (disgusting btw…), 2 chocolate cakes and a laaaaaarge water glass. Congrats to Sara, walking a bit around, seeing guys laying down on the grass ready to pass-out. Feeling indecently fine after having run 10km. Probably could have run longer, but not faster. Definitely needed to have this 5-7km warmup before next 10K! Meeting Lennart (45:xx), then Tricky (45:xx). Winning a sun-chair on my BIB-number, taking pics of me and my clubb buddies and after some chitchat heading to the pool for shower and change. Skipping the sauna however (even though it would have been nice). Final result are given, podium for Sara (2) and R (1). No win at the lottery for a brand new car. Bye to Tricky and his friend and to Lennart. Time to get my train back home.
Nice Saturday outing!
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Weather: 19ºC, feels like 19ºC, 16km7h WNW wind, Humidity 56% – cannot complain on the sun, but the wind was annoying from time to time and nice to have in other time. Would have greatly appreciated MORE shower on the road (and maybe one extra water station?)
Food: Grahamsprridge + banana+ oat milk @10am, 0,5 little bag of gummy bear in the train at 1pm, 1banana + water + 1 milkshake + 2 kex after the race (and the 6 gummy bears left J).
During: 2 dextrosol @km2-6-8
Gear: ADIDAS Supernova blue line, MIK singlet white, mp3, fast flying shoes J
Shoes: ADIDAS Adizero Adios Boost – Orange – liiiiiking them!
16/ First km was the fastest and almost the easiest of all the race. Effortwise it was not for the body to run but to the brain to convinced itself that it could actually lead the body to the end at the decided pace. And necessarily (?) fights for NOT stopping. Weather was probably playing a bit on this, but have been able to run faster and under worse/warmer conditions. So let’s face it, this was a tempo training workout and good test for how the form is right now. (Although the 5km ran last week at 4:25 felt way lighter and easier that any of the km of today’s race. So this was not really a 4:30-day maybe)
NOTE: left foot? All good during the race. No problem, no screaming, no complain. Felt a little after the race in the BGS when walking to the train station.but not much really.
NOTE: left knee and hip? WHY are they complaining during training and just shut up during races??? All fine.
NOTE: Good training race. Top shape is not there yet and have anyway a few weeks to get there. Nothing really to complain about. Back to training since 1.5month and no real speed training so far. And not much in the stomach since the morning ( I know how to prepare for a 42km race and most of the time struggle before a 10K…) Nope, this race was a very good training. Especially as 10K ain’t my favourite distance. Body felt all ok after drinking half-glass of water after the arrival. Should have run more after the race to get some miles under my feet…
First race since a while and a good day under the sun!
Happy finisher 🙂
Just Running Around... 