Two out of three ain’t bad

This was always going to be THE one. London marathon 2022 was the Abbott World Age Group Championship and I qualified. The chance to compete against the best of my age (60-64) was always going to be a challenge particularly as the event has chopped and changed due to COVID. I was qualified for the first running in 2021 but couldn’t travel out of Australia.

Weather

we all spent the week prior to the event sweating on every weather report. Early predictions were an 80+ % chance of rain that might ease off later. As the week progressed there was a gradual improvement in the forecast with likely rain becoming lighter and then less likely.

The morning dawned. I needed to be out at Blackheath by about 8.15 am. I had a rain jacket, a change of clothes and running gear. The weather was overcast and cool. It looked a chance for a light shower but no worse than that. Nearly ideal.

To the Start

Fascinating how the underground works. There seems to be a built in redundancy so that there are a number of ways to get to the same end point. This is a great way to make new friends as various groups debated the best way to get to the start. I followed the crowd. Paddington to Charing Cross, change train get off at Blackheath. There may have been a quicker way but I was working on the Keep It Simple rule.

At the start which is a big open field we were directed to the Championship corral. London has three start points Blue, Red and Yellow. Runners from red and yellow merge after a short stretch and then that group merge with blue start after about 2.5 km from the start. Blue includes the elites, the British championships and the Age group championship who are then followed by about 10,000 runners. All up the field is about 45000 strong.

Strategy, what strategy?

I think my major aim apart from the obvious desire to finish and not embarrass myself was to compete and to better my time from Berlin (3.18.40 but you knew that). I had set off at a controlled pace in Berlin, gone through the half in 96 minutes and dropped about six minutes in the second half to 3.18. So I wanted to be a bit quicker in the first half and then try to hang on.

I heard a truism while waiting at the start ”you don’t bank time in a marathon, you simply borrow it from a loan shark. It is always paid back with pain and interest.” This of course must be balanced with that other grand old saying ”No guts, no glory”

So off we went, I started well and looked around to find a couple of 60-64 runners to pace off. This may have been a mistake if you recall the best of the best in the world from above. Went through 5 km in 21 minutes and the half just under 90 minutes. Considering how chuffed I was to complete a half marathon in 89.47 a couple of weeks ago this was either going to be fabulous or painful or both.

One of the other things about marathon running at this age is that the opportunity for significant runs doesn’t come along with every race. I still have the fantasy of running sub 3 hours and a PB of 3.07. At the half both of these seemed possible although three hours very unlikely. The crowd support in London is brilliant. As the event starts later, at 9.30 am there is time for supporters to get out on the course. And they do. 3-4 people deep across Tower Bridge, the noise is deafening but the lift it gives is noticeable. Far different from 7 am on a Sunday morning in Melbourne.

The wheels started to wobble about 28 km in. I would have liked another couple of comfortable kms but not to be. From here it becomes a mental challenge. One more kilometre, no don’t cramp, don’t look at that guy walking. We turn around down near Mudchute, what a great name and then up and around back towards embankment. At that point we can see the later runners heading off on the Canary Wharf loop. I don’t want to see them because I know we are not heading to the finish until after the point they turn into view. Down into the tunnel 38 km down, Ambo’s are performing CPR on a runner off to the side. Say a little prayer for him and run on. Embankment is exactly what it says on the box. The road around the river Thames. The London Eye is on the other side of the river and the turn at Big Ben is ahead. I’m holding on to 5 minutes per kilometre and looking at below 3.18 but not sure by how much. 3.15 maybe, that was my sneaky goal but went out the window with the time at the half.

Turn right, up by St James park, not sure how far to go until I see the 400 metres to go sign. Promise the legs anything for a little more pace through to the line. One of the wheelchair athletes pulls up beside me as we run in. We overtake a couple, fortunately he doesn’t run me over in the shadows of the finish line.

Finish

Finished in a net 3.12.04. 3060th overall out of 45000 and 35th in my Age Group. I took six and a half minutes of my Berlin time. Have a bit of a hobble going on with my left heel with a bit of inflammation but pretty chuffed all up. This is the sixth fastest marathon I have run in 47 marathons and was done in a championship in a big crowd. Tomorrow we fly out to Helsinki and then on to Chicago for the last marathon of the adventure. I keep saying it will be a pleasant jog around Chicago. We’ll see……

The calm before the storm.

Saturday afternoon. We’ve done a little bit of shopping down in Notting Hill where we found Becoming Forrest by Rob Pope. Now to get it signed by the author. Rob will be in Australia in February so that might just be a chance. We spent the week doing a lot of walking and a bit of running culminating in a four km jog this afternoon and 5 x 100 m strides down in Hyde park. Might have to think about some stretching.

Tomorrow is the second of our three marathons. I think I’ve pulled up OK from Berlin but we’ll know more about 30 km into tomorrow. Anne has picked up a nasty cough but doesn’t seem to have shared it. Again we’ll know more tomorrow. I still have little ongoing soreness in my left heel and had a twinge in my right calf yesterday but all in all as good as can be expected. I start in the Championship wave so will have to start at a fair pace or risk being run over by thousands of runners. I think the estimated field is of the order of 50,000. A far cry from the 80 finishers in Dubbo a couple of weeks ago. Tower bridge, an image of which is below is packed with spectators and you hear the noise as you approach, run over the bridge and even for some time after. The finish is up beside the river Thames, turn right at Big Ben, run up to Buckingham Palace, have tea and scones and then run around the fountain and finish. (might skip the scones and have a beer later).

People and Places

One of the reasons we come all the way around the world to run is to meet people and learn of others way of life. It also gives us a chance to catch up with friends from times past. sometimes it just doesn’t work with some people because of other commitments but we had a great time with Knox legend Adam Bernard and George at The George Inn” for a couple of pints.

In the evening I attended the Abbott World Age Group meet an greet at the national Maritime museum in Greenwich. It rained all of the way there and I wondered why I bothered as I was soaked when I arrived but it was worthwhile meeting athletes from all over the world. I also caught up with Damian Bruneau who helped pace me earlier in the year when I ran a virtual marathon on the Knox bike path. Damian is a big chance to go well in his age group so fingers crossed for him.
The other male in the third image is Avi from Houston. He is in my age group so we will be racing tomorrow. Avi also ran Berlin last weekend and finished about four minutes in front of me so he is someone to chase. Two of the girls, Erin and Elizabeth from Chicago also ran in Berlin last week and are running again here. We’ll catch up again on Sunday night to debrief on the day.

I also chanced a meeting with a couple the Indigenous marathon project runners yesterday. Originally set up by/with Rob DeCastella the project aims to improve the lives of indigenous runners by providing an aim and some mentorship. one of the guys will complete his sixth major and qualify for the big Abbott medal. A great achievement he will be the first indigenous athlete to do so.

A couple more images of touristing

That’s it for this one. Spaghetti for dinner and an early night. Will be a big day tomorrow. At the half we will also be half way through the adventure. Weather is not looking too promising but you only get wet once. Will try and do a race recap on Monday.

Cheers

Berlin marathon 2022

The start of the adventure has arrived. Sunday was about 10 degrees and overcast nearly perfect conditions for marathon running. Myself and 40,000 of my running friends gathered in the start corrals to watch Eliude Kipchoge set off to break the world record and possibly the 2 hour barrier.

The gun fires and from where we are, we can see on the big screen as the elites fly off down towards the victory column in the tiergarten. We do not move. For a couple of minutes we watch the screen and then as the excitement builds we start to shuffle toward the timing mats. I cross the start line just on five minutes after the gun. Can I give Kipchoge five minutes head start ? What do you reckon?

Down through the tiergarten and out onto the roads, still in large pack of runners as we start to sort ourselves out. Running pretty comfortably at around 4.30 kms. I pretty well maintained that through to the half in 96 minutes. The course is fairly flat with only a couple of bumps over the bridges and there are many drink stations. I tried to get a mouthful of water at most of them because the day was dry and there is always dust raised by that many runners.

Half way is also the furthest point out on the course which is a hollow C shape. Making our way back and things were starting to get tougher. At 27 km there was a murmur through the crowd and the field. Kipchoge has finished in world record time of 2.01.09. Wow!
The crowds were starting to build and musicians and drummers were playing at short intervals and my legs were starting to feel the pounding they’d been taking. I started to lose a bit of time between 30 and 35 km and then some more between 35 and 40. My mind was still active and I was concerned not to overcook this one as there are still two more marathons to run so I concentrated on finishing and let the time take care of itself. It is more important to complete all three rather than save a minute here on the first one.

One of the highlights of Berlin marathon is the last turn onto unter den linden where the Brandenburg gates loom a couple of hundred metres ahead. Nearly there, big crowds much noise, not far to go. It is a bit of a mirage. Through the gates there is another 3-400 metres to the finish line. Approaching the gates I thought I may have a chance of going under 3.18 but in the end it was 3.18.40. Quite sore afterwards, we had a bit of a rest and then in the afternoon/early evening caught up with George and the run fun travel group who kindly allowed us to join them for a couple of celebratory drinks.

Woke up a bit stiff and my left heel is a little inflamed but all up pretty good. We’ll have a long walk today and then off to London tomorrow.

Some thoughts on running in large fields

I found it interesting running in such a large field that some runners have very little awareness of what is going on around them. I watched one woman straight line from the inside arc of a roundabout to the inside of the turn of the exit completely oblivious to any other runner around. Taking the racing line is all well and good but sometimes courtesy is just as important.
The other obsevation would be that many runners don’t know how to pick up a cup and then get out of the way. One bloke at 32 km managed to take a cup, slow to a walk and walk down beside the length of the drinks table while having his drink. Meanwhile all other runners had to steer around him to get a drink. Not cool!

Pop in, grab cup, get clear, drink, throw (in bin if possible) Keep running.

Breakfast run

Many of the large marathons have an easy run the day before. In Berlin this was held at Templehof an old superceded airport that now appears to be used as industrial offices and community events. This was also the site of the expo and bib pickup. Some runners choose to run in national dress or in costume and it is a very relaxed way to start marathon weekend. The run was just over 5 km on runways and taxiways around the perimeter of the airport and then the organizers supplied doughnuts, pretzels, fruit and water.

New and old friends

Hmm. images sideways. There must be a way to fix that. Anyway, one of the great things of getting out and running is the people you meet and chat to from all around the world. Berlin gave me a chance to finally meet in person Michael Brosilow from Chicago. Michael and I were in the same age group for a number of years and he is a bit quicker than me so it was a delight to finally meet and get out for a run. Hopefully to be repeated somewhere around the world.

George we’ve known forever. As part of the Knox Athletics club George is a legend. If you’ve run a marathon chances are you either know George or he has run it. Six degrees of separation are a couple too many for people like George. We see him again next week in London.

We also get to chat to many people along the way from the french lady with halting english (authors note, we always feel very ignorant as we speak ONLY english) with whom we shared a table at the spaghetti place around the corner, to Kelly from London who we’ll see again next week who I talked to while removed our timing chips after the marathon and the nice young man from Brazil who we spoke to at breakfast. It gives us great pleasure to broaden our horizons and understand more of the world out there.

As we made our way by shuttle to Tullamarine we exulted in the thought of travelling to the heat struck environs of Europe and leaving the dreary Melbourne winter behind. As it happened we needn’t have worried 10 degrees C in Helsinki followed by rain and 12 degrees in Berlin.

I did spot something in Finland that made me stop and stare for a minute. Moomin characters. What are they? A series of characters from children’s fiction that originated in Finland. I had read many of the books as a younger Jeffrey and they brought back memories. They are still very popular in Finland and for whatever reason also in Japan. They occupy a similar niche in the National psyche that smurfs do in Belgium.

Did promise a pic of us in front of the Brandenburg gate and here it is. Also a couple of images around Berlin. The Berlin cathedral, statue of Frederick the great, the inside of the Humboldt plaza and the tower and church.
We’re having fun working out the maze that is the Berlin public transport system. Once you get the hang of it then it all works but having underground (U), above ground (S) and tram lines (M) that meet at different places and levels presents a lot of challenges for news players. We seem to be continually coming out the wrong exit!

This morning we did a tour of the Reichstag building. If I get my terminology right the building was built when Germany had an emperor so the building is the Reichstag or Emperor’s building. It is now occupied by a democratically elected government or Bundestag. It has been rebuilt as has much of Berlin although the first insult to this building was pre-second world war in 1933 when a suspicious fire caused extensive damage. The feature of the newest rebuild is a clear dome that has a spiral walkway inside that is open to tourists and has some pretty spekky views.

The tiergarten is already preparing for the marathon. Even as early as Tuesday sections are fenced off and grandstands being constructed. It is going to be big.

That should do for now. I did an easy 8 or so kilometres this afternoon and realise I’m going to have to stretch a bit. Who would have thought 28 hours of flying might leave one a bit stiff? Another run tomorrow and out to pick up numbers tomorrow afternoon. Roll on Sunday.

One week from now we land in Berlin for the start of the adventure. This week is about getting ducks in a row and starting to taper.

Major running focus for this week is to not get hurt. There will be no last minute heroics trying for another long run and running myself into the ground and definitely no extreme cross country. A fall or a turned ankle would be most unwise. There is also a consideration of the keratosis that I had removed from the back of my left hand. It hasn’t healed as well as we would have liked and I split the wound open the other day. A fall would not be a good thing. So, message to self, stay away from the trails.

Also, stay away from dogs and wildlife. The last couple of weeks has seen warmer (less cold)weather and an increase in dogs and birds out on the bike path. First evidence came by being swooped by a magpie during the Dubbo marathon and then yesterday being harassed by a mother duck on the bike path. Very hissy.

Yeah, not that friendly.

In terms of preparation there is very little left to do. We have booked flights and accommodation, looked at entry and covid requirements for the countries we are visiting and are now monitoring the weather to start thinking of packing. I’ll be backing off the mileage (kilometreage?) but from here it is more about feeling light and loose. The hard work is over. We have proven the concept with two marathons in two weeks followed by a sub 90 minute half marathon the following weekend.

How are the nerves? Starting to build. There is always the fear of the critical forgotten. I’m OK but what else can go wrong. In one sense I’ll be happiest when we stand on the start line in Berlin. At that point I am there, my gear is on and my run is up to me.
Next post will be from Berlin. Hopefully with Anne in the equivalent image of the Brandenburg gate.

Melbourne has been struggling through a cold winter. Continually cold and /or wet and/or windy or sometimes all three it can make getting out for a long run something of a trial. It has been said that there is never a run that you will regret but it is also true that there are runs that are less fun than others.

What to do when the weather is poor and motivation hard to find ? Go to Mudgee. What? Where did that come from? George was looking at marathons that were available and within a recovery time frame for our overseas trip. Mudgee up in New South Wales came up in conversation and the seed was sown. Not long after it was noted that Dubbo, relatively just down the road also had a marathon the following week. Hmmm.

A plan was hatched to run, catch up with family and friends, run and catch up with family and go home. Nine days, two marathons, three lots of family and one of close friends, several hundred kilometres in the car (probably around two thousand all up) and invaluable experience.

We headed off on the Friday before the Sunday marathon and stayed overnight in Yerong creek south of Wagga. This took about five hours out of the trip to Mudgee. Saturday was up early and on through Wagga, Junee, Young and into Mudgee in time to catch up with Wayno and George, pick up numbers and have a relaxed pasta dinner.

Dubbo Stampede

After a week of visits with Aunty Marg in Gilgandra and friends in Guyra we moved on to Dubbo more educated on rural life and farming practices. This year it is flooding rains now that the drought has broken. Someone should write a poem.
The events in Dubbo are themed around the Western Plains Zoo with the marathon being the Rhino Ramble. A slightly warmer morning of about 8 degrees and slightly overcast. In this case the marathon was a stand alone event so a smaller number on the start line but all running the marathon. It was slightly larger number of marathoners than in Mudgee being around 80-90 runners.

From the start there was only going to be one winner. The first guy took off like he was being chased by lions and was first out of the zoo gate by 50 metres. We only saw him again coming back the other way on the two lap course and he won by many minutes. We ran down Obley road to a turn around, back past the zoo entrance and headed towards town. One notable feature of this event was chalk drawings on the bike path that were really well done and provided a welcome diversion later in the event.
I was tracking along pretty well. I was expecting to feel a bit of tiredness from the marathon a week before and the travelling but I was rolling along as we headed off the bike path on to the dirt river trail. This is a very scenic area with the river on one side but had been chewed up in sections from the rain. At this point I was fourth overall and the third male runner. I knew this wasn’t really viable as I was going to flag at some point but there were prizes down to third place so I decided to run it as hard as I could until overtaken and then take it easy coming in if there was anything left in the tank.

At 30 km, on the dirt, starting to feel pretty sore a nice young man (about 50 yo) finally overtook me. As I watched him slowly edge ahead I drew comfort from the release of the pressure of maintaining a pace that was by now way beyond comfortable. By 36 km heading back to the zoo it was a get to the end job. Sometimes we talk about the bear jumping on our backs at this point but in this case it might have been a rhino and not the little pygmy one either.

In to the zoo and there is a little 1500m loop. It’s a little out of the way until the finish chute. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing as no one can see how much it hurts or whether it’s a good thing because you can shuffle along alone until the last tiny weeny bit. Anyway, across the line in 3.23, finished 7th so a second top ten finish and won my age group. We ran two marathons in two weeks and now the following Tuesday I actually feel better than I did last Tuesday after the first one.

Where to from here

So to summarise where we are at.

1. I’ve run four marathons this year. Canberra, Brisbane, Mudgee and Dubbo.I’ve won my age group (60+) in all of them and finished top ten in the two smaller events.
2. I’ve built from a single marathon in Canberra to half-marathon-half over consecutive weeks in Brisbane to consecutive marathons in Mudgee and Dubbo.
3. I’m in reasonable shape health wise. I’m having a skin spot removed this arvo but apart from that and a little inflammation in my left heel I think I could nearly go around again.

Berlin is now three weeks away next Sunday. Flights and accommodation are booked, shots are up to date and paper work is in order. This will be the first outing for passports that were issued pre covid. Barring the unforseen we should get there and be ready to run. The aim at the moment is Berlin easy, London (the World Age Group Champ) harder and Chicago with whatever’s left.

Getting closer…..

My long term average mileage (kilometreage?) over the last 5 years or so works out around 55 km / week. There are a couple of points to reflect on from this. The first is the importance of consistency in building a base to run marathons . We always suggest to new runners to look at the long term, accept that change takes time and give your body time to adapt to an active lifestyle. Secondly, an increase in distance and cycles of increase and adapt give your body the best chance to get used to longer distance without injury. 55km/ week is average. There are heavier periods as we are going through now and then post event there will be periods of lower mileage as we recover. Even recovery is relative. When we talk about a 12 week lead up to a marathon that is on the back of many years of consistent running. The twelve weeks then becomes an event specific program. With this adventure there are three events in three weeks so post Berlin and London are about freshening up and going again. Post number three in Chicago is all about recovery and celebration.

So we entered July with twelve weeks until the first overseas marathon in Berlin. Twelve weeks is pretty standard as a training block for us for a marathon. For three marathons in succession the length of time is OK (we hope) but the volume of work needed to increase to allow for the accumulation of fatigue over three weeks and to check some recuperation strategies.

So July was all about combining an increase in distance with some racing and race paced training. Weeks were 72, 100, 85, and 63 kms. All above the long term average with one big 100 km week. One run in there of 32 km, a couple 21+ km runs and one 30 km race that went really well. Time of 2.16 translates to 3.10 marathon pace if I could hold it for another 12 km. I finished 2nd overall in a small field and won my age group.

There were also a couple of medical appointments in there to befuddle the training program. I still have a curiously low iron that has been investigated, a couple of skin blemishes that need removing (50 years of running in the Australian sun) and there was a blood donation in there as well.

Where to from here? Building, building. Another 30 km run this weekend and then we are looking to running two back to back marathons in Mudgee and Dubbo to assess the effect. Should be fun. From there it is just over three until we depart and four weeks to the Berlin marathon. The trip is shaping up. We have had our fourth covid booster, I will have had all the procedures done that are required at this time and all training will be complete. 90 % of the trip is planned all the way through all of the marathons with just a bit of down time left to fill in at the end.

How am I feeling? Well it’s starting to get a bit real. As with so many of these projects while they sit safely on the horizon everything is peachy. As they get closer there is always a niggly naggly doubt that we’ve forgotten something catastrophic. We’ve done our TSA form, we have nice new passports that we haven’t been able to use since they were issued 18 months ago, we have travel insurance that includes covid coverage. We have trained well and I feel well. It will all be Ok…..

Melbourne in winter. Short days and cold. Not the freezing below zero cold of the northern hemisphere but the grinding chill that seems to go and on. These are the days when Queensland and the Northern Territory send out the siren call of warmth and sunshine. It’s no wonder that so many Melbournites look for a respite of a week or maybe two. We had our time away in May in Darwin. Nine days of sunshine and heat. The downside, if there is one, is that a short break is not really time to acclimatise so runs result in ending up a little puddle of sweat.

Still we managed a couple of 15 km runs and to see a fair bit of Darwin , also a 21 minute parkrun. Returning home we decided to continue on to Brisbane for the marathon. The blog of that is somewhere in the archive. I’m sure anyone who is computer savvy can find it if they would like to read about it. I only mention it to say that I won the 60+ age group there and the medal arrived in the mail the other day.

Back in Melbourne with the London marathon less than three months away as the motivational email tells me. So how do we find the motivation to get out and complete the kilometres needed. I’ve always worked on small steps and achievements and longer term aims and goals. Mid winter is cross-country time, so I ran 12 km cross country at Cruden farm in Langwarrin with my club and then a leg of a cross country relay. Cross country is less about times and personal bests and more of strength and conditioning. There is a camaraderie sharing the fun of hills and mud with team mates and competitors. We have run cross country for many years and so have gotten to know many runners from a lot of other clubs. Good fun but a real slog.

Although winter is associated with cross country I still have a need to keep conditioning for the three marathons coming up in September-October. That means plenty of time on the road. After Brisbane I ran a virtual half marathon put on by the Tokyo marathon organisers. The hope there is one of 50 entries to next years Tokyo marathon which will be randomly drawn from the 1500 or so who completed the virtual half. It is extremely difficult to get an entry for that marathon (see below)so any chance is worth a 21 km run. It also completed a sequence of half marathon, marathon (Brisbane), half marathon over three weeks as a test to see how I could cope with repeat runs.

June was 253 km at just over 60 km /week and now we build for a couple of weeks. First week of July had 25 km on Saturday followed by 16 on Sunday. Next weekend is parkrun Saturday or relays if we have a team followed by the 30 km Sri Chinmoy event on Sunday. We’ll look at 2-3 high mileage weeks (anything over 80km / week is high mileage for me) and have signed up for the marathon in Mudgee in August and then maybe Dubbo the week after and that almost leads us into Berlin,London,Chicago.

A big emotional hurdle was reached with the shortest day passing. There was no sacrificing or bonfire but just the feeling that winter may end is positive. It’s only a minute or two longer of daylight each day at the moment but because we do so much of our running either early, just after sunrise or late, near sundown each extra minute is precious. We use the local bike path a lot and there are no lights on there so every bit helps.

Tokyo Marathon

Of the major marathons Tokyo stands out as the most “foreign”? The closest in terms of distance to Australia, Tokyo because of the difference in language and customs was the most interesting of the major marathons to run. The Japanese people are a delight. We spent an evening discussing the upcoming event with some businessmen having Friday night drinks, answering questions that were then translated into Japanese and then back again. A nice lady offered us help to the subway when it looked like we had missed the entrance with much pointing and smiling. The marathon is through the heart of Tokyo. It is at the end of winter and was a very cool 7 or 8 degrees and light rain when we started. There are a couple of out and back sections which are great because you get to see the leaders and marvel at how they don’t seem to be going much faster (but they are). At about 32 km the race approaches the Imperial palace before another out and back section. Looking up at the imposing gates it’s very clear that you are not in Kansas.

Of the other major marathons three are in the USA and one in London so all english speaking. The other is Berlin which although German speaking very much has a European vibe such that it feels very comfortable. Tokyo sits out there on its own in that sense. Entry into the Tokyo marathon is quite difficult. There are not the age related time qualifications available that there for Berlin and the US marathons. Run under 2hrs 45 and you’re in. So the ballot is the most available means of entry. Unfortunately the odds of getting in are about 12-1. Thus the virtual as another chance as mentioned above.

How’s it going

I’m pretty happy with where I’m at. I still have a bit of soreness in my left heel but that’s an ongoing issue. I have an investigation going on into low iron stores but it doesn’t seem to affect my running. (or maybe it does and I should be well under three hours . hmmm). All up very positive at the moment. Thanks for reading.

Brisbane marathon 2022

This one wasn’t on the radar earlier in the year but after Canberra I was pretty keen to continue the build up to the three marathons later in the year. We’d committed to a holiday break in Darwin for 10 days in May which was fantastic and reminded us of just how cold and miserable Melbourne gets in winter. What it didn’t allow for is the long runs necessary to prepare for a marathon. I managed several runs of 12-15 km and a pretty sweat soaked parkrun before returning to Melbourne and completing a Virtual half marathon in 93 minutes the week before Brisbane.

So, we toed the line along with the half marathon runners at 6.00 am on Sunday morning, still dark and about 9 degrees C. Pretty good conditions for distance running.

The first challenge is the climb up the Storey bridge. An icon in Brisbane it sits well above river level necessitating a short sharp climb on the North side but a longer more gradual climb from the south. Two laps of 21 km means four climbs.

Coming off the bridge there’s a nice little section along the River walk and then back into the burbs but at about 11 km there is a nasty little climb that immediately had me worried for the second lap. Bit of suburban running out to New farm and then return. Didn’t have to go up the nasty hill on the return which was nice. I was still running comfortably and had a momentary lapse of reason when I saw the 3 hour pacers on the way back. I thought if I could negative split this might be the day when 3 hours was in sight. Silly me!

Went through the half in 92.30, quicker than I’d run for 21 km the week before. I’d been trying not to get caught up with half runners who were finishing and therefore going harder.

Second lap, up the bridge, down the other side, turnaround seems a bit further away, down the steep down off the bridge onto the Riverwalk going ok. Hit the nasty hill, had a drink, chugged up the hill and started to really feel the effects. At between 33 and 34 km the wheels started to come off. Anyone who read my previous blog on ”the wall” this was one of the bear jumping on your back ones. So from here it becomes a mind game. I negotiated a couple of extra kms out of the legs but when the 3.15 pacers came past I couldn’t hang on to them. One extremely difficult rise up off the river at 41km and then into the finish. In at 3.16.04. I dropped about 20 places over the last 10 km and about 8 minutes I think but finished 60th of 569 and won my age group, 1st of 12 old blokes.

So overall? I would have liked a stronger finish but have to be realistic about the preparation and poor pace judgement. White line fever strikes again. I was 1 and a half minutes quicker than in Canberra in April and am still around the competitive level for my age, so several positives. I still think there’s a quicker one in there so we’ll keep working. From the adventure standpoint I demonstrated that I could run a solid half marathon and back up a week later with a marathon. A bit sore today Tuesday so need to look at better recovery to get the third marathon. At the same time there is no time pressure forthe three marathons in Sept -Oct so a bit more pace discipline will help.

Memories of Chicago 2016

Chicago is a very pretty city sitting on the shores of Lake Michigan. In 2016 we flew in from Dublin having completed the Berlin marathon. There was a two week gap between them which we filled in with a visit to a friend in Poland and a couple of days in Dublin. Unfortunately I picked up a fluey bug in transit somewhere (I still blame the bus back to Berlin).

We stayed with family in Chicago and enjoyed the city getting out for a run and generally seeing the sights of the North side. The marathon ran out of town up past where we stayed before traversing several of the neighbourhoods including a quite raucous run through Chinatown. The event finishes adjacent to the start and features a very relaxed after party in the park. I had a similar experience to Brisbane but much slower. Started well, ran until I couldn’t go as hard and finished in 3.28. Hoping to go better this year.

Chicago is probably considered the third of the three majors held in the United States after Boston and New York but it has it’s own appeal. It is scenic, flat and fast and a little easier to get into than the others. There is also a beer at the end. Chicago can also be deceptively cold. In October when the event is run even sunny days can struggle with warmth.

Cheers.

Ask any marathon runner what they fear the most and for the overwhelming number it is ”hitting the wall”. So what does that mean and why do we fear it? If we go back to some basic physiology we eat to provide energy and we store some of that energy away for when we are not eating. Carbohydrates (sugars) are converted to glucose and then stored as complex chains of glucose (Glycogen). Fats are stored via a different pathway and are less available for short term energy requirements.

So we run. After somewhere between 30-35 km at my marathon pace, two hours for some people, a random amount of time for others all of the available glucose is used up. Glycogen stores are depleted and energy runs out. We have now hit the wall.

What’s it like? Not fun. I can describe two methods of hitting the wall neither pleasant.

One. The short, sharp catastrophic ”Oh dear” method of hitting the wall. This one can sneak up and has been described as having a bear jump on your back. Can occur within 400 metres. Running along thinking that this is going ok suddenly evolves into painful legs, laboured breathing and fevered recalculation of how long it is going to take to finish. May or may not have cramping associated just to add to the challenge.

Two. The long slow descent into twilight. I have found this one tends to come after too optimistic estimates of finishing times. Having started too hard and being in a good place at half way or beyond the pace starts to fall away and then slows and slows and slows. It is a more insidious occurrence but no less painful. No amount of goodwill or desperation makes it better.
How can we avoid the wall?
Some runners believe in a conservative pacing strategy, others swear by a nutrition plan. I’ve never been a fan of gels and tablets and drinks during marathons. My tummy tends to rebel after the end if I’ve gone hard and everything that went in reappears. Not pretty. I also don’t like sports drink spilled down my shirt. It’s a bit of a skill to run and drink and if I’m going to wear something I’d rather it was water than sticky drink. The difficulty I have with pacing is that to run conservatively seems pessimistic. At this stage of my career I still hope there is another good one in there sometime. I’m not sure I can make up time in the back half, so I tend to go a bit hard and hope.

One interesting aside from hitting the wall is that, in my case at least, my mind stays active and knows what’s going on but my body does not respond to any of the great running cliches. No pain, no gain? Just do it? Mind over matter? In reply we get, How about F*** off and we go to the pub? What I have found more useful is to come to an agreement with my body along the lines of ”if I don’t try to push you will you get me to the finish line and then we’ll go to the pub ”? So far that has been a deal that has gotten us to the line.
As with so many things the challenge is to keep everything in balance. I have paced the Melbourne marathon a couple of times so I know that in 2021 I could run 3.40 reasonably comfortably carrying a flag and running even splits. (Past performance is no indication of future performance (in superannuation and marathon running)). In that case, although tired at the I didn’t feel that I had hit the wall. Let me add at this point that it doesn’t matter how slow you go 42km is still 42km and will leave you worn out. Hitting the wall is the icing on the cake.

The Major Marathons -Boston

All of the major marathons have their own unique features. Boston is the oldest of them with the first being run in 1897. It is an event for runners which sounds odd for a major marathon but can be appreciated when you arrive in Boston and people in the street ask if you are there for the marathon. The event is held on Patriot’s day, a public holiday and is a point to point marathon. This is another unique feature as all of the city yellow school buses are drafted in to move runners out to Hopkinton from where we run back into Boston.

Boston is surprisingly accessible for anyone who can meet the time qualifying. For us overseas they accept many of the AIMS certified marathons in Australia as qualifying events. That includes all of our capital city marathons and Gold Coast and several others. AIMS is the Association of International Marathons who can certify that a course is the correct length and isn’t too downhill or designed with a generally prevailing tailwind and so on.

The course in Boston starts downhill for the first 4-5 km before passing through a couple of small towns. People gather on front lawns and through the towns to cheer and encourage runners. The atmosphere is always very positive. At 21 km runners pass through the ”scream tunnel” as girls from the Wellsley college gather to cheer. Into the suburbs there is a right turn at the fire station and on to three hills. The third of these is Heartbreak hill. To be honest I didn’t find these hills all that hard but they do come at a difficult point in the event.

Where Boston really stuns is the crowd support coming into town, 3-4 deep and loud. The last two turns put runners up a little hill on Hereford street and then left on to Boylston. This is fantasy land for runners. 800 metres, slightly downhill with the finish kite in sight all the way. People on the grandstands cheering. A sobering reminder is passing the spot where there was a bombing during the running of the 2013 marathon.

One of the great unknowns in Boston is the weather. When I ran in 2015 it was about 7 degrees C. Two weeks prior there was snow on the ground. In 2017 it was 23 degrees C getting on the hot end of desirable for a marathon. It should be remembered that marathons in these cooler climates start later to give the day time to warm up. In Australia we start at 6.00 or 7.00 am to avoid heat and any danger of support (a theme for another blog).

The day after the marathon we went for a recovery walk and to take in the history of Boston. There are many highlights like Paul Revere’s home and sites involved in the American revolution. Each year Samuel Adams brews a special Boston marathon beer. In 2015 it was a very nice golden ale. In summary I think if you asked any runner to name one marathon it would be Boston.