As the week started, I was actually in quite a nice reasonable head space and felt prepared and ready for the challenge ahead. But the marathon is a difficult beast to tame, and unless you have actually encountered it yourself, it is hard to describe the mental anguish and psychological mind games that you go through as the event draws nearer.
By Friday - at this point already in Berlin and number collected - I was starting to get nervous, on Saturday I sent myself loopy with cabin fever as I confined myself to the hotel room for the vast majority of the day, and by Sunday morning I was something of a wreck - mentally and physically feeling exhausted as I headed downstairs for my pre-race breakfast.
Why do we put ourselves through it? I will come to that question in better terms later, but in essence for the sense of belonging and the sheer euphoria as you cross the line knowing that you have really achieved something meaningful - regardless of the time that it takes to complete.
Those that have followed the blog for a while, will be aware that this has been by far my biggest training block and most seriously targeted race I have done so far by some distance. But it has been much more than a 12-14 week journey. I have been building for this one ever since the day I crossed the finish line at the London marathon in 2:36:52 in 2015. That day I had ran an 8 minute pb, and of course earned a lot of memories in the process - but I was determined that I didn't want that to be my pinnacle, or what I was most remembered for in my running. I want to be remembered for my own achievements and the times that I run - not just for being lucky enough to finish with one of the greatest runners of all time, but for running great times of my own.
In the aftermath of London, I made a decision to step away from the marathon for a couple of years. I wanted to get stronger, quicker, more experienced - to really work hard to improve and to come back and do myself justice. I knew back then that Berlin was the venue I wanted to return to the distance at, and I knew that this summer was when I wanted to tackle it.
I have reduced my pb's across all distances in preparation, and increased my main block of training mileage from 14 weeks at 62 miles p/wk in 2015, to 12 weeks at 84 miles p/wk this time around. Rob Affleck has been brilliant with me in guiding me in the right direction every step of the way and allowing me to learn from all his previous experience. He has been a fantastic coach and friend and I can't thank him enough for helping me get into the shape of my life.
The final days of the taper went as follows: Monday - easy 6 miles at 6:50 pace, Tuesday - easy 5 miles at 6:40 pace, Wednesday - 2 miles easy, 2 miles with strides, 2 miles easy, at 6:30 average overall. Thursday - 5k at 6:45 pace. I took both Friday and Saturday completely off running and substituted with just an easy 45 minute walk each day.
As the race got underway, I took advantage of the fact that Rob Affleck was there too, and we set off through the first couple of k's together, easing into it with a couple of steady miles. At around 3-4K though, I knew that I was feeling good - much better in fact than I had been anticipating after feeling horrible in the couple of days building up. I made the decision to press on and catch the back of a group forming just ahead. I went from 5:48 pace on mile one, to 5:38 pace on mile two, and then down to 5:28 pace on mile three.
My pace settled down, and I was feeling in a fantastic rhythm. I knew that I was going well, and I was growing in confidence with each passing kilometre - but was wary that there was still a long way to go. At around 5 miles, I got into a conversation with a runner from San Fransisco, we chatted briefly and he told me that his intended time was in the region of 2:24-2:25. At this point I was just starting to think about reigning it in a touch! He asked me my target and I was honest and said I didn't really know - I had just come to run as hard as I could and get a time as quick as I could. I told him my previous time and said that anywhere around 2:28-2:30 would be nice. He commented that it would be interesting to see if I would cramp up as we were on around 2:27 pace at this stage, before he increased his pace and steamed on. I thought about reminding him of this comment as I passed him underneath the Brandenburg Gate shortly before the finish line, but thought better of it! 😂
My pace was steady and fairly consistent throughout. I moved from one pack to another and tried to keep pushing on each time as much as I could. Settling and tucking in at the back of the pack didn't appeal to me - I wanted to feel in control of my own run and to be the one pushing the pace, not hanging on.
I got into a conversation with one other runner on the course. A German lad a similar age to myself, around the half way stage, he pointed to my vest and said "hey I know you, we have run together before!", and then I remembered him - we had battled it out the first time I won Palma Half Marathon in 2015. It is a small world, and it brought welcome respite - it was good to be running with a familiar face, and it gave me added determination to make sure I beat him again! 😂
Unlike past marathons, when I haven't spotted any of my friends and family along the course, this time I was able to see my mum, dad, Molly, and friends from the club and other clubs multiple times along the way. I can't tell you how much it helps and gives you that extra punch and drive to keep going!
The race couldn't have gone more to plan, right up until about the 38k mark, when I started to feel the effects. Whether this is related to only training up to 24 miles, I don't know, but the last 4k hurt. My pace didn't drop too much, and I stayed in touch with the runners that I had been in and around for the miles leading up to that point. By this stage, doing my maths, I knew that I was on for my sub 2:30 as long as I didn't do anything daft, so I wasn't overly concerned to be slowing a touch, as long as I kept my rhythm fairly consistent.
I found a last bit of energy down the finishing straight to sprint (ish) home and over the line in 2:28:37 - knocking 8 minutes and 15 seconds of my previous best time. I finished in 89th place overall out of some 40,000 runners, so I can be proud of my achievement.
I am now on a week off from running, and will start to think about my next aims and ambitions over the next few weeks. But I am leaning towards another extended rest from the marathon and another stint at trying to get quicker over the shorter distances once again for a while, before returning to the longer stuff in a few years time again.
It was great to also get to enjoy a few of the sights and learn more about the history of the City yesterday before returning home too. I will leave you with a couple of snaps from my trip - all made possible of course, because of the brilliant Mick's Tours 👍
Total mileage for the week: 47
Average pace for the week (m/pm): 6:06
Total mileage so far this month (September): 211
Total mileage for 2017: 2712
Average miles per day 2017: 10.20
