Berlin was fantastic!. Stayed for a week with the race in the middle. Spent much of the time before the race thinking about it and prepping. And the excitement and the build-up gave the whole trip it's special atmosphere. Not to forget the post race soreness and staggering, but of course with great satisfaction.
The expo was also a thing to experience. This is at the old Berlin Tempelhof airport. A huge sales venue is packet there. Picked up the race materials in a neat bag. Therein a number, chip, a couple of useful things, a sponge, a timing bracelet to keep track of your splits, a couple of samples for powerbar energy products and the rest was a heap of ad-brochures.
On raceday I was up at around 6 in the morning, the race started at 9. Fast shower, light breakfast, an egg, vitamins in water, a couple of small yogurts, banana, with of course a hugely nervous stomach. Taped my legs with the kinesio and put on the gear.
I had a minor injury in the weeks before the race, that I suspect was a touch of IT band syndrome. I had completely stopped running the last 10-12 days before the race and was nervous that it would reoccur during the race like it did in my last long runs in the tapering period. Do deal with it I used Kinesio tape to give support.
The gear was from bottom up: Adidas adizero adios shoes (with about 500 km/300 mi on them ) ehhm. Falke socks (really good those) Micoach stride censor on the right foot and the timing-chip on the left. New Balance shorts. Gore running short sleeve and a nike running singlet over with the number pinned to. I chose to have two shirts on because of the cold morning and then I would have the possibility to toss one if it got to hot later on. I had a pouch around my waist with my iphone and my micoach pacer. I only took my phone with me to be able to rondezvous with my family afterwards. Inside also were a couple of patches for the feet. Also around my waist was a belt for 8 gels. (Torq gels, pretty happy with those!) Last I had a nike cap on my head.
Outside it was dawn, still dark but the streets totally empty. On my walk to the u-bahn (the underground system) I soon started to see other people with the same white and blue plastic-bag over their shoulder. It was exciting! People emerging from everywhere and collecting in the underground to take the train to Alexanderplatz. There I changed trains. The train was full of people going to the starting line although some were obviously going home from a long night partying. Got of the train at Friedrichstraße with a large stream of people heading towards the Reichstag were the starting-area was. There you met a gateway with a check-point were you showed your race number. Inside the area people were everywhere, changing and getting ready. I got my change of clothes stored away and headed towards the my starting block, H.
'H' is the last starting-block. It's for newcomers and previous marathoners with times above 4h if I remember correctly. This was my first marathon so. The race was started at 9 with Haile Gebrselassie and Patrick Makau and other elite runners at the front. About 25 minutes later I stepped over the starting line and my chip started counting. The race started off well and I was running a starting pace of about 4:14 min/km. and aiming at finishing in 4h:00m. So my strategy was to run a positiv splits from 4:14/km and to 5:42/km gradually slowing during the race. I took it easy and was cautious because I worried that my knees would start to hurt. Luckily my knees never really bothered me during race. At one time I took a painkiller(paracetamol) when I felt a discomfort building up but otherwise it was a relatively smooth sailing. I engulfed all of my gels as well as energy drinks at the water stations, though mostly water. Always took two cups, one I drank and the other I flushed into my cap and down my back. The weather was cold in the morning, but as soon as the sun was high in the sky it got pretty hot and it was always a relief to get some water on you face or run under the water hoses in the last stretch of the race. This race is a 42km parade. It was huge fun to be a part of. There is not a single gap in the people cheering along the course. And I remember countless bands playing live music.
I have learned a lot from my first marathon experience. First, I think the training should not be underestimated. You really get the results of what you put in it from the start. I had periodically slacked at times and I can say that I could maybe have done a little better in the race. But as a first marathon I'm not that hard on myself. Other things were that I over-did/thought things a bit. I had too much clothes on, too much gear. I could easily have lived without my gels, my phone, my pouch all together, one of two short shirts that I had on. The water/energy stations are plentiful to keep you alive, to have 8 gels strapped to you is a little too much.
But I must state that this has been an overall the years best experience. And got me hooked. I have two more marathones lined up for 2012, Copenhagen in May and Berlin again next fall.
jbbartram-illu
snowghoul
ellievsbear
pixelskylines
discoholicmusic
blakekathryn
yousharknotpass
titsay
turnnoffyourmind
vaporwave