Marathon 3/40: Germany I got my lottery slot for Berlin (Sept 29, 2019) months before I made my 40 marathons in 40 countries in 4 years goal - so my goals shifted drastically by the time I started training (from running a PR on a flat, fast course; to simply running it feeling strong). But I would run it 8 weeks after Cambodia so I did have the time for a decent build and even taper before toeing the line. What I had not anticipated was the amount of travel my new role would demand of me in the fall. By the time I got to Berlin, I had already been traveling for 2 weeks straight, in Singapore, then Paris, London, Madrid and Barcelona. It was exhausting and exciting and I was really glad I was tapering. I still got to run in all of those cities but didn't need to piece together anything exceptionally long. The weekend before the race I was in London and ran a beautiful 13 miler and met up with my friend Kelly, who ran Berlin as well! On the flight from Barcelona to Berlin, transitioning from intense work mode to somewhat vacation mode, I felt myself start to get sick. By the time I landed my body ached and my throat was sore. And it was pouring rain. Over an hour in a taxi to our Airbnb and an immediate turn around to go get my bib. Berlin was the 5th (of 6) Abbot World Major Marathons and I knew the expo would be a zoo with over 50,000 registered runners. I didn't expect a queue quite like this though... I didn't even think this was a queue at first, when we were funneled into this area, it felt like a holding space. But we slowly shuffled forward. The bottle neck was getting wristbands placed on tightly, then there was some movement through the expo space and another queue getting into the area with the bibs. It took over 45 min from arriving to actually be at a booth collecting a bib. For the number of people there, it was calm and did sort of flow, but there was room for improvement. I went to dinner with my friend Kelly and his friend Annie and made everyone take a Nuun tab to try to keep my cold from getting worse. It didn't help. But Erik arrived at midnight and it was wonderful to see him again after a couple weeks apart. He came on a shakeout run with me in the morning and we had a delicious carb-y brunch. We were going to partake in some more sight seeing - like watching the roller blade marathon?! - but my cold could not be willed away and I needed meds and a nap. So glad I made that decision and was able to enjoy an easy pasta dinner, more cold meds, and early bed time. I woke up still feeling awful and took another dose of cold medication. I had my typical toast with PB and had my first 2 cups of coffee. The gun goes off at 9:15 (the best part of these Major races is a later start time!). I was fortunate to start in Wave D - with people projected to go sub-3:15 - so Kelly and I got to start together (although I didn't see him after the first 30 seconds of the race as he chased down a fast time!). We grabbed even more coffee. It was calm at the start and there were plenty of porta-potties... the problem was, I couldn't use them. Here's the part where I talk about poop. Or, in my case, the unfortunate lack-thereof. As it got closer to the start and I still hadn't pooped I started getting really nervous. 26.2 miles is a LOT of miles to run with food + 3 cups of coffee and no disposal of any of it. I blame the cold medicine - which was definitely something new to my pre-race routine. This had never happened to me in a marathon. I always went at least twice and, the day I ran my PB marathon last year even had a bonus poop <5 min before the gun went off. That was special. I messaged Erik: I can't poop. He made me feel at ease saying that if I pooped my pants during the race he would laugh at me forever. Gosh I love him. So I laughed it off. Stretched a bit more. High-fived Kelly, and the gun went off. The Race I knew if all went well, I was in shape to run a BQ. For me currently that's sub-3:35, but was confident that I could run sub-3:30. I hadn't planned on a forecast that had rain moving in, the no-poop situation or the cold that had taken over my body... but I was in shape. I could do this. And it started well. Even with all the thousands of people, I ran my first mile in 8 min, perfect pace for a 3:30. And my watch told me that I ran the next 20 miles all sub-8 min pace. I was having fun! I've never been one to high-five people on the course because a) I'm usually really focused and b) I'm gross. But this race was different. I felt privileged to be running it. And excited by the people screaming my name, A-liz-a-bet!, as the read my bib. I high-fived every kid who stuck out their hand. Erik as well as Kelly's friends were on the course at the 10km mark and I managed the most awkward missed-kiss ever. Mile 7 was my fastest mile of the race at 7:22, so as awkward as it looked, it was magic. I saw them again at the 20km mark and Erik handed me a bottle with nuun in it. This was so great to have as the water stops were crowded and messy and I could avoid them the rest of the race. At some point, I realized it had started to rain. I honestly can't pin point the time or mile I was in, but it was around the halfway mark. I remember feeling cold but my spirits didn't dampen much. The course was still packed along the sidelines - race fans were still supporting and I appreciated it! I also started to realize that my watch was not tracking to the marked splits. I was about .5 km off the markers. I suppose weaving through people + all the high fives was adding up to extra distance. Tangents are super important when there are a lot of turns and I didn't pay attention to any of them. So I knew that my sub-7:50 ave wouldn't be accurate when I crossed the finish line but I couldn't do all the math yet to figure out just how close I'd come in to 3:30. Around 20 miles, my stomach started to wake up and remember what it should have done at 9AM. The cramps got bad enough that when I saw a porta potty (with no line!) before mile 22 I stopped. Squatting over a seat to go to the bathroom after 21+ miles of running is not enjoyable. But I was thankfully out of there in <60 seconds. Mile 22 was my slowest since it included this stop, a respectable 8:50, all things considered! I was able to jump back into pace, although even that 60 second stop was enough to shock my body with running in cold rain upon the return. I was ready for that finish line! As expected, I didn't reach it at 26.22 on my watch - but 26.77, over 800M longer that I would have liked to be running at that point. Good thing the last 800M feel so magnificent in terms of scenery! I finished the race in 3:29:21. I reached my goal, even with the extra half mile. I lasted about 30 min post-race finish before we needed to find an emergency public restroom on our way back to the airbnb. My stomach was NOT happy. But a warm shower, some take-out and a nap brought me back to life. We even met up with friends that night... at a club!! We were back home by 10PM. We spent all day Monday exploring the city before setting off to Oktoberfest in Munich, followed by Belgium so I could run the Brussels Marathon the following weekend....
1 Comment
Padraig MacColgain
1/31/2020 10:17:26 pm
Great report and congratulations on hitting your target!
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AuthorA Midwest girl gone global. I choose happiness everyday: I run, eat well, travel, and love completely. Archives
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