Ha! What. A. Disaster.
Think I'll cover this shocker of a race in two posts; the first being a description of the weekend and the second talking about what went wrong/lessons learned.
So, without further ado, I'll cry into my pint and jot down the whole traumatic experience.
Poor preparation (hardly any running and too much boozing for three-to-four weeks beforehand) left me in little doubt a sub-3hr would be out of reach, but....death or glory.
Got to Berlin late Friday and met Simms at the hotel. He'd gone radio silent for a few hours and I'd feared the worse...yep, been boozing and had passed out on his bed. When I tried to get a second key they wanted to know if Craig was expecting me...yes, I told them, I was expecting me.
Expo and all that was fun, although manic, but there just seemed to be more of a buzz at New York. I was more excited. Obviously New York is New York, but the main difference was no Victoria. Very difficult not to miss her at the best of times, but moreso at things I know she was meant to be with me for. Well, as marathons are more her thing, I was meant to be with her.
Anyway, wanted to try and make the best of things. Met Timmy for a coffee and to watch the rollerblade marathon (so much missing skin!) and then met running royalty Dave Criniti for dinner.
Dave is one of the nicest guys I've ever met and I feel privileged to have become quite good friends with him this year. He's an awesome runner (long run before Berlin of 32km at 3:20 pace, paced by Simon on a bike!), but incredibly humble. You'd never know how good he is just speaking to him...although he does continue to giggle at my marathon PB. He's genuinely nice and very generous (got me a watch for Berlin as mine had broken) and has his own charity helping kids in need. He was nervous at dinner, though, as he was going for sub-2:20 in the morning.
Slept pretty well and up with plenty of time to make use of the complimentary breakfast before a taxi ride to "near" the start.
Good buzz at the start. Spotted Jeet, in customary sunnies (despite heavy clouds, drizzle, and greyness) and had a few words. Few people had placed bets on him versus Darren Jordan and I felt it was going to be close! I couldn't separate them.
Bags dropped and lined up. I was in E coral, which translated to 3:20-3:30 I think. Bad news as it meant there was no 3hr pacer or even 3:15. Was going to be solo for me.
Conditions not ideal as it was wet, high humidity, and warmer than expected. Still, I thought it was better than the New York heat and wind of the previous year.
Gun went and the dispatch was painless. Really wide street to start with and it was easy to get up to pace and didn't feel I was having to dodge slower runners. The aim was around 4:15s and I wasn't far off (i.e. 3hr pace). Clearly a ridiculous target, particularly with my final time. Tom Highnam wasn't running, but was supporting and was sending updates back to the Hurts app and the Hurts footy app. Birchy asked how Timmy was doing and Tom said "just seen him with the three hour pacer at 7km, the silly twat". Haha. Can only imagine he'd have said similar about me.
I'll just mention here that Timmy and I had a wager, that I'd give him five minutes. First time I've accepted a bet with him that I'd give him time. I didn't think he'd get under 3hr20. He's obviously a great runner, but his prep has been poor. Longest run about 26km I think.
I was feeling pretty comfortable, but it's difficult on wet roads. I don't know how much extra energy you need for a given pace, but you must lose some with your feet sliding backwards. Also the humidity wasn't helping my usual precarious body heating situation.
I was approaching the 3hr15 group and it was here I decided to alter strategy. Berlin streets are actually quite narrow and I was losing a lot of energy trying to get through the throng. A few people were slipping and falling over and I decided the risk and energy loss so early (around 6km) wasn't worth it and I chose just to stick with them and run a "conservative" (lulz) 3:15. The fact I'd had to catch them actually meant I'd be between 3:10 and 3:15 and I was hoping for a final push.
So here I am. Running 3:30-3:40 and feeling reasonable.
Mental heebie jeebies started setting in. Had to keep reassuring myself my body was feeling ok, but my thoughts were wandering. I had a pretty good idea there were people watching back in Australia who wanted to see me fail and it was upsetting me. The going started to feel tough.
Went through 16km and who did I see?! Timmy! Walking on the side. I was already passing and didn't get chance to check he was ok, but felt for him.
My own blowup wasn't far away. I knew it was coming, approaching half way, and could do little other than slow down a bit and try to delay the inevitable. I'd hoped, at least, to get further than my New York blow up, but it wasn't to be. I was goneski.
Pace dropped to 5min/kms, I started stopping at water stations, and the distance I could run between rests became less and less. Interestingly, the first I knew I was in trouble was when my cadence dropped from 180 to 176, despite everything else feeling fine.
Certainly wasn't purely psychological. I started to feel thirsty around 16km and that's a bad sign.
The last 16km were a complete struggle. I remember being at 27km and walking, feeling shit, and thinking I've still got more than City2Surf to do.
I did my best. Running when I could and walking as quickly as I could. The pain was bad and I was thinking about people taking pleasure from seeing my splits. Previously in marathons, certainly Blackmores, I felt it was a loss of energy that caused problems and it affected my brain as much as my legs. But it was something else here, my brain stayed pretty alert (even though I wished it would dull). Legs felt awful, constantly going into cramps.
Struggled through the final kilometres and barely broke out of walking pace. All hopes of becoming the fastest housemate had gone (I'd felt, beforehand, if at least get that) and I realised I was going to be in a race just to get under four hours.
Approaching the Brandenburg Gates, with about 500m to go, and I realised I might have to run to get under 4hr. I jogged maybe three steps before my right calf went into complete spasm. Couldn't walk. Staggered over to the guardrails and leaned down to try and massage it, but that just sent my right quads into spasm. Jesus! I couldn't get either out of spasm and couldn't walk. The thought crossed my mind that I might not be able to complete the marathon despite being able to see the finish line.
Gradually both eased and I was off again, just walking. Could see the clock ticking past 4hr, but figured I had a bit of a chip differential and just pushed on. Crossed with a chip of 3:58:11.
Disappointing in many ways, my running times this year deserved better, but I feel quite proud that I completed it at all after the suffering of the second half. Definitely felt worse than New York. It's another marathon and a sub-4hr. And a nice medal.
Bit of a mixed bag of results for others!
The good! Dave Criniti with a 2:17:58!Unbelievable. A Commonwealth Games qualifier, although he'll need other Aussies not to run quicker. Really pleased for him. Darren Jordan smashed his PB with a 2:43:26. Well deserved. He's done some great training. PB for Simms also (4:19) and he was chuffed not to be the slowest of the group. You'd have had good money on that beforehand.
The bad! Jeet just sneaked under 3hrs. Obviously still a great time, but I know he wanted better (and his training has been excellent) and he was a bit disappointed. Also won Tommy $20 from Timmy, so that's good. Erika with a great time of 2:58:07, but not the PB she'd been hoping for. But did beat Jeet by a second. Terrible rorter is Erika, having tried to give me only a five minute start beforehand. She did end up in the medical tent so perhaps that warrants a time penalty?
The ugly! Obviously me, but luckily Timmy took the heat off by crossing in 4hr30. He's claimed all sorts since, from DVTs to rhabdomyolysis, but I do respect the fact he finished!
Tommy H secured a table in a boozer for afterwards and during his eight hour "shift" was joined by myself, Jeet, Simms, Darren, Erika, Timmy, Neil P, and Aggers. A lot of beers sank and I ended up literally carrying Tom home. He reckons he's still got a hangover from that night!
Most left the following day, but Timmy and I had a quality day on the booze. Joined, for part, by man-of-the-moment Dave Criniti. He normally plies me with milkshakes, but this time I plied him with booze and he staggered out a couple of hours later. He was brought back down to earth having to lend Timmy and I 50c a time to use the toilet.
The rest of the night goes down in "Hurts footy app legend", but that's where it should stay.
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