INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
celebrating a wonderful time at London Marathon last week
prepare, recover and get ready to go again - Hamburg had gone from reward to opportunity for redemption, but could I really be ready just a
The body needs a long time to recover from a marathon to get running at all, let alone another long race.There was one argument for
not make the same mistakes as last week, if I could help it
Just try and run it all evenly at whatever pace I could.There was nothing I could do about the weather, but I could work harder on staying
I could feel the frustration turning into desire to redeem myself, burning hotter and hotter
I did nothing different last week, but somehow it all fell apart.According to my weather app last week, Hamburg was supposed to be cool and
drizzly - my ideal conditions
Suddenly it was around 18 degrees and sunny - this was approaching London territory.I focused on what I could do to smooth any mistakes I
might have made: put on the right clothing, tool up with the right tech and hope for the best
caffeine) were purchased and locked
The water belt was gone in favor of a light gel belt and a FlipBelt to hold my phone (as I was still going to try out the Arion smart soles,
and they need a phone connection).And, of course, a running watch - and I decided to stick with the Garmin Forerunner 935, so I could bench
myself against the week before and (hopefully) see myself soaring ahead of my London Marathon paceLet's keep that jolly ol' heart rate down
started my usual technology boot up
I fired up GPS ahead of time so the watch could learn where it was
way at London) and was ready for the off
It was a wonderful atmosphere, and the hosts did a great job of getting everyone fired and ready
Before I knew it, the horn blared and we were going
before.Despite the sun being out, things felt cool
I was able to keep my heart rate under control, and things felt a world away from London
I was smiling while running - everything was feeling cool and wonderful.Before I knew it, the miles were ticking by
direction and watch as my pulse dropped back down again.Where having all the data last week was overwhelming, this week it was perfect
Every action I took showed a result and I felt calmer than ever.I switched from heart rate to seeing how I was doing compared to last week
My miles in Hamburg were beautifully even: 7:43, 7:44, 7:40, 7:42
back to my heart rate to see how I was getting on
I pressed it again, but still nothing.Frantically I began tapping everything I could, but nothing would bring the Garmin back to life
It was frozen.I ran on for another mile, hoping that it would suddenly spring back to life, but the same screen stayed unmoving
Nothing was happening by just waiting for it to suddenly become responsive, so I hit the key combination to force a restart, trotting along
The rebooting icon popped up, but stayed on screen for a few minutes
What was I going to doI had to come to terms with the unavoidable fact: that I was going to run the majority of this race without technology
to help me beyond a playlist from Spotify
So I opened Strava on my phone, set it to record (I still wanted to see my splits after the race) and shoved it away, not to be looked at
again.A new focusSo that was the new regime: no idea how fast I was going, no clue on my heart rate
I knew what good race pace and effort felt like today, and I needed to focus hard on maintaining that.It turns out that concentrating in a
marathon really stretches it out
It took an age to get to eight miles, the 10
The halfway point felt like it stretched further and further away, and suddenly I had a real respect for London Gareth reaching 16 miles in
that heat.At the 10 mile mark (well, 16KM, as I was racing in Europe and every mile marker was replaced by a kilometre one instead) I had my
I let the music fall into my head and thought of nothing else
I let people speed past me
I cared not for anything but just running forwards without expending much energy.I eventually hit the halfway point, and I really struggled
to work out how I was feeling
The mental drain of concentration was making the distance really weigh on me, but not in a destructive way: I still felt like I had some
to post the opposite this time.That gave me more focus again: keep that speed locked away until that point, where I could start letting it
out over the final 10 miles
It sounds like a weird thing to get excited about, but anything to not think about running was welcome.16 miles came, I posted the video and
17 and 18 miles the week before: utterly shot and struggling to run at all
familiar, these are bone conduction headphones, so you can hear the crowd and your music at the right points) and dictate the pace.The
course itself was pretty decent in Hamburg - nothing superbly picturesque, but even the parts around the residential areas had beautiful
were feeling the adrenaline of the event).My effort was pushing upwards and soon three miles until home crept into view
screens I saw seemed to suggest I was on for a time well below 3:30.The strength began to sap soon though, and I was struggling
This was totally expected, but was still tough to deal with still
Suddenly, all I wanted to do was not run, to pull back and wander home.But a few mental calculations later I realised one thing: I could
beat my London target of 3:23.47 (my worst ever marathon time before the five hour debacle of the week before)
I now had a number emblazoned in my mind, a reason to hold on - and I needed to dig deep and keep the pace up.I selected some targets
running at a similar pace to me, and named them accordingly: the-girl-who-passed-me-at-mile-22 (AKA TGWPMAM22) and WolfMan, the guy with
Give me a break, I was tired).The running crew ahead of the startI kept them locked in sight and did all I could to reel them in
The Double Stripers to my list of running enemies.We were all holding a similar pace, and overtaking reams of people
I was really starting to struggle though, and WolfMan and the Double Stripers started to disappear
final mile rolled into view, but I was falling hard
came bounding past, possibly howling at me (it was hard to tell, I was quite tired and the music was loud) and pulling off into the
distance.This is never a good idea in a marathon
Any cramp or pain in your legs instantly gets ten times worse, and you can pull something badly.I could hear the finish at this point, and
realized I was going to make it
My heart utterly sank when I turned a corner and saw a large hill ahead, but I just got my head down, put all my energy into pumping the
arms and got to the top as fast as I could (which, by this point, was not fast at all).I was three rolling corners from the end - WolfMan
makesThey were pretty far ahead, but it was all the motivation I needed
With a slightly-too-loud roar, I clawed all the energy I had left and moved through the gears
Any cramp or pain in your legs instantly gets ten times worse, and you can pull something badly.But screw that, I had arbitrary nemeses to
recorded a thing - so that was utterly pointless
tell me that.Main image credit: Haspa Marathon HamburgMnLgxAHNTERT9iUhbFCYbX.jpg#
