BMW Berlin marathon 2015 - my race review - part 2 the race

Finally belatedly getting round to the second part of my Berlin marathon race review....

Sleeping the night before a race is always an interesting challenge, and all I could manage in Berlin was a fitful broken night of trying to get comfortable while switching off my brain. We had stayed up to watch the Wales vs. England pool match in the IRB rugby world cup, which while being a great distraction was not exactly restful. I was on social media most of the time too, soaking up those sleep impeding wavelengths of light.

By the morning I was absolutely ready to get on with things wanting to turn my back on the lost sleep   and meet the day. Breakfast was great, the food in the hotel was excellent, as is my way I indulged in coffee for race day. Still caffeine is limited to green tea before midday most days, so yes I was cheating a bit 'using' the caffeine to focus my mind and quash some of the effort feedback during the run. I'm not entirely sure it isn't a placebo thing, and really more of a pre-race habit like getting a hair cut, washing favourite kit, eating the same food, and so on.

We met up with my school buddy and headed into the middle of the city, to the start area. Underground and over ground trains ran like clockwork, and we were soon looking at the thronging masses of the Berlin marathon field. After taking the obligatory photos I left Mrs.H. to her day of stalking me on the Berlin marathon tracker app and coffee shop tourism. Going into the start area I was on my own and feeling the buzz of the event grow and grow. There were banging house tracks and aerobics demos to warm us up, and booming PA system announcements to keep us focused. The start pen was a fun friendly place, and I set about my pre-race kit check loops - a mild form of running OCD I think.

Fresh as daisies before the start - fabulous to catch up with an old school friend :-D

First 10k
The main (elite) field left us behind with a fanfare, and one by one the sections of the field pulled up to the start line. Crossing the line was emotional for me, being back again, being fit enough to run, and being so charged with positive human spirit. The first 10k was to be all about clock watching and trying not to overdo my pace, despite not really knowing what my pace should be. I found a rhythm well and went generally with the flow. There were pacers just ahead with 4:30 balloons and I calculated I would try to catch them by the end of the first 10k and ease away from them in the second.

Second 10k
Atmosphere! I love a run with a happy atmosphere!... apologies for butchering Russ Abbott song lyrics, but the Berlin course really does have some great support, music, and vantage points. I was enjoying myself by the time the distance began to get 'real'. I was looking for Mrs.H. at all the points she had said she might see me, was happy with my gel strategy, had gotten used to water in plastic cups again, and was pleased that I had caught and eased around the noisy pace group.

At this stage I was a little unsure of my pace, but felt it was not too excessive. The lack of a full training base meant I didn't have enough points of reference. It was becoming an adventure in what would be possible.

Third 10k
The steadiness of pace was pleasing but it was getting harder and harder to maintain. I found my breathing was a bit hard for that point in the race I knew from experience and by now I was busy convincing myself that it was okay, that all would be fine. Passing halfway was a boon and all signs seemed to be I could squeak a 4:25 out of the race.

During this phase I was double stalked though - my wife found me and we had a good wave at each other - my other stalker turned out to be the pace group. It was increasingly obvious that they were back, the distance between us was dwindling and the signs pointed to me slowing.

Fourth 10k
All I can really sum it up was is 'ouch!'... the wheels as they say "fell off". First the pace group caught and slid past me, and then I became increasingly aware that the slowdown was biting. To be fair to myself I held out until 34 km before everything really got hard. On reflection going through halfway in 2:10 was simply too hot. I fought myself and had to pull all motivation out of myself between 35 km and 40 km, pushing and pushing as best I could.

Final 2 km
My fade was only halted by finish line fever, and the elation of finishing a second Berlin after what was a flawed training / preparation period before. Heading towards the Brandenburg gate I got so giddy I was waving my bandana around above my head like a flag. After patting the gate on my way underneath the madness returned and I started waving my arm about again. Seeing the finish line I worked out I might get in under 4:45 and managed a final surge to do it.

Apparently I'm in there somewhere over the far side

My race by the number thanks to the Berlin marathon race tracker app

The post race analysis
In the end even with the horrible and painful fade I was chuffed to bits to have completed, to have enjoyed it, and to have had so much support and good will from family and friends. The time was not earth shattering but I was very pleased. The walk back to the hotel was interesting as my legs were in pieces, so much so I had to start the staircase shuffle straight away (not the next day like usual). Shower facilities were kindly extended to runners by our hotel and happily (though awkwardly) I had time to take up on it. The end of the trip was a pair of flights home which went smoothly - if a little painfully.

Super pleased and proud of my race being :-D

BMW Berlin marathon 2015 - my race review - part 1 the travel log

This is part one of a couple of blog posts about my experiences at the Berlin marathon last weekend. Part 1 is something of a travel journal, part 2 will be all about how the race panned out for me...

Berlin marathon 2015 

The fine city of Berlin  - September 27th 2015 - website

My overall impressions from the day:

Course: 10/10 - flat, quick, great start area.
Marshalling: 10/10 - supremely friendly and always helpful.
Facilities: 8/10 - the race the facilities are simply really good.
Organisation: 10/10 - you couldn't fault the event organisation, or the energy they that generate around the event.
Fellow runners: 10/10 - as a World Marathon Major this has everything you would expect including the vibrant knowledgeable field of runners.
Crowd: 10/10 - vocal, enthusiastic, encouraging and all around the course.
My performance: 9/10 - so so pleased to have completed gave the struggles that impeded my preparation this year.
My time: 4:44.24

Travel
We opted for an early departure on the Friday before the race from Cardiff International airport (the oddly small trying to be big airport) on KLM to Amsterdam. We got up before dawn and arrived in the departure lounge in time for a very early breakfast, well what looked like breakfast - mostly on offer were pale imitations of pastries and strong chain store coffee. The flight itself was fine except for the an odd offering of an in-flight cheese sandwich - a step up from nuts? Sure! But breakfast?

So, so early - even the sun hadn't woken up

Amsterdam airport was alive and rammed with busy busy people rushing between gates with smartly suited aircrew sliding in between the masses. Once we got across to our boarding gate we found the flight packed with marathoners in expensive shoes, race finisher t-shirts from around the world, carrying triathlon bags, et al. Which made for a nice ambience, and added to my already growing excitement about the event long long before the expo!

It was during this second flight that I discovered I had a blown headphone (one of those expensive Apple ones!), also I discovered that the back of the plane is very very noisy, that 'chips' (nachos) are little better than sandwiches, that it is possible to develop a dad crush on stewardesses at my ripe old age, and that there is no such thing as 'knee room'! Oh, but at least the back of the plane gets food first :-)

Through out our travels we went hand luggage only rather than checking a bag, it was brilliant and made the airport experiences that bit less painful (though conversely of course initial bag packing a bit more of a challenge).

Berlin - a great kind of town
Arriving on the Friday afternoon we had time to do a classic sightseeing tour bus ride around the centre. This is not something I have ever felt the need to do in Berlin before as I used to live there, but it was a good use of time and allowed Mrs. H. the opportunity to get a much better feel of the city. She after all is the one who has to kill several hours whilst I try to get around a 42.2 km course marked out with blue lines. To say that I spent some of the tour looking out for the blue course markers was a bit of a understatement. Happily all kinds of spotting were aided by the great clear weather - an omen I hoped for race day.

Views from the tour bus montage

That night we met up with a school friend who I hadn't seen in far far too long, and went for pizza (I have always assumed pizza = pasta = carb loading??). Meeting up with my friend who was also set to run the race was fabulous, it kind of put the whole weekend into another (quite unique) framing as an event.

expo BERLIN VITAL
Saturday morning we all set off to hunt down race packs and race numbers with the promise not to spend a fortune in the many many stalls we were sure to face. On the way we rehearsed the route to the start, took selfies at the Brandenburg Tor, and had a goodly walk across to the Expo at flughafen Templehof. The expo itself was huge, though gratefully the queues were well managed, and it didn't seem to take any time at all to get sorted out with number, security band, bag and all the necessary bits and pieces.

I don't take many pics inside expo halls - but the queues were pretty good

Feeling happy and fresh (and not just a little déjà vu) in this expo essential photo

The rest of the day before was spent trying and failing (because of time) to visit the area of the city I used to live in, catching up some more with my school friend, enjoying the hotel marathon inspired pasta buffet, and staying up a little too late to watch Wales play England in the IRB Rugby World Cup (thank you Eurosport for saving us, we thought we wouldn't see it in Germany). That only left sleep to be had before race day - well I tried but my brain absolutely had other ideas...

Finished my first 2015 marathon I'm really really pleased

A longer review post will follow shortly about the goings on over the weekend in in Berlin and without giving away too much of what happened I finished in 4:44.24. It was not as fast as I'd hoped but in every other respect it was awesome :-D

It should serve now as a good platform for marathon number two of 2015 in 3 weekends time... the inaugural Bristol-to-Bath marathon. If you'd like to get behind my running madness and support a wonderful charity please visit my JustGiving page at - https://www.justgiving.com/Berlin-Bristol-Bath

With the Virgin Money London Marathon ballot results due out next week I have already decided to try and extend my fundraising challenge through to that event if I get a spot (so I'm crossing my fingers even harder this year!).

Tired but happy: signs of training progress and marathon day getting closer

Monday is a rest day in the training plan that I have doing my best to follow, so yesterday was a rest and it felt great. Not great because I had a day off, no it was great because my legs felt happy and like they could do running again the day after my double runs of the Cardiff10k / 2 hour long run (back-to-back). The proof of this apparent training progress will come tonight when I try a cheeky pacy 9 km with my running buddy.

With Berlin drawing closer and closer I really do hope this new found consistency of training pays off. Speaking of which I had my email confirmation details for picking up my race pack this morning... this sh!t is getting real... I am so looking forward to the event now. The excitement is really taking hold!!

I am running two marathons in a month for DiabetesUK - the Berlin marathon and then the Britol-to-Bath marathon - please, if you can support my double marathon madness at my JustGiving charity page.

One of 'those' runs - happy legs!

Last night I experienced one of 'those' runs, one that I always hope will happen when I press 'start' on my watch. It was a good run, a run where I thought "hmm, I can run". The truth of it is that after running 4 times on holiday the journey home and return to work stopped me running again for 5 days. The result of the lay off was a 'happy legs' run - 4 km of near 5 km PB pace followed by a comfortable 6 km at just over target marathon pace, followed by a recovery where my body didn't feel like it had just been smacked about with a cricket bat.

These guys have some very happy 'happy legs'
[image found on flickr posted by slalit]

The term "happy legs" is not my own it owes its origins with my physio Leon. I think he defines it as the phenomenon of setting out for a run after a rest and finding your legs want to go fast. In the settings when he has used the term it usually leads to an athlete over doing the session (for example, over cooking the first half of a marathon after a good taper period). I have in the past fallen into the overdoing it category but happily last night I sort of saw it coming, enjoyed it for what it was, and was sure to split the run into the running free bit and the big step down in pace bit.

As it turned out my feet were not all that happy this morning, but I hope to rest them a little bit now before the 3 hour long run on Sunday (my last big one before Berlin). I know this last long run is mostly about learning to handle the fatigue of the last 10 km of the 42.2 and I am hoping it will go well. The first 10km will be done during the Cardiff 10k race (my sort of marathon mass start practice) and the following couple of hours will be spent working out just what paces to think about for marathon day.

I am running two marathons in a month for DiabetesUK - support my marathon madness at https://www.justgiving.com/Berlin-Bristol-Bath

Holiday running

Just got back from holiday, and I am feeling good because it all went really well and everyone had a good time. I managed to run four times in ten days, and on top of that actually managed to lose bulk rather than gaining bulk from holiday eating (and I still enjoyed all of the usual holiday 'treat' foods).

We holidayed in France, as we do fairly regularly, travelling down through the country to a different destination as we do without fail. This was the second french holiday where I have done a decent amount of running, I blogged about my first attempts back in 2013 - My French adventures with training.

For me it was a high mileage week and actually felt very good. Some of the runs were before breakfast, not through any design and more due to time pressures I 'enjoyed' running in a 'fasted' state (oh, how my body complained). The reason I was trying to maintain a good number of runs was of course because I have the Berlin marathon coming up on my radar. It is now just crept under the month to go and three weeks remain, so I couldn't set aside my runs during my holiday as I have my biggest long run coming this weekend and I would have struggled with that.

Rolling farm land and blue blue skies

Rubbish picture but shows the fierce sunshine

Melting, I'm melting... and about to collapse in a sweaty heap (!)

The scenery was fabulous and the facilities where we were staying made the 'job' of getting the runs done nice and simple (washing machine, great shower,... patio to collapse on and recover for five minutes after each effort). In fact facilities were so good I got to pick and eat fresh grapes from the vine, which tasted sublime. I ran in the mornings where I could to avoid the 34 degrees Celsius peak afternoon temperatures, and managed to find a couple of routes that didn't have over keen farm-yard dogs on duty (always a bit of a risk in rural spots I have discovered).

Mentally running on holiday was very liberating and let my mind escape the 'usual' routes of home where to be fair I probably don't appreciate the scenery quite enough. From here now I can take on the rest of my training and the challenge of two marathons in a month with a bit of fresh gusto...

Some numbers for August - 
Runs - 13 (14 - if you count the calendar month instead of full weeks of the month)
Total Distance - 166.3 km
Weekly distances - 47.4 km, 51 km, 17.3 km, 50.6 km

I am aware that these aren't stellar numbers however there has only been one month in my GPS records where I have run further in a month and that was in the build up to my first Berlin marathon. I could only hope that that is a good sign for this coming Berlin attempt.

Almost forgot the other great number from August from our 10 day holiday... 2 lb lost (!) - while on holiday, while eating great french food, while eating french patisserie for breakfast... simply a great surprise to come home and discover.

The selfish motivation of a charity runner

So I have opted to run for charity, and though of the face of it it looks totally altruistic it can be viewed as very much a somewhat selfish approach. 

• Do I want the kudos of a recognition from the charity? No. 
• Do I want all my friends and family thinking "wow, what a guy"? NO.
• Am I selfishly seeking some other form of notoriety? NOPE.

Why am I then selfish in choosing a charity to raise as much money as I can for in the run up to my running events (two marathons in a month)? Well for me simply this... to get me around the course! It is no more complex than simply the raw motivation of knowing that people have given money to see me do this thing.

The nature / scope of my challenge is explained on my JustGiving charity page (follow the link)...

Andrew's 4,3,2,1 challenge - two marathons in a month

When the going gets tough (and it very definitely will) then I simply use the warmth of knowing a collection of people have given hard earned cash to a charity in the name of my madness (marathon running is likely considered a form of insanity in many circles). I want nothing more from the process than that simple support, I don't mind that I don't reach an arbitrary target, it is that a charity receives some benefit that is enough for me. Yes, this sounds very slightly conceited, and it possibly is, as like I said it is a selfish motivation but one that I don't think harms anyone.

I am running for....

" Diabetes UK is the leading charity that cares for, connects with and campaigns on behalf of every person affected by or at risk of diabetes.
We provide information, help and peer support, so people with diabetes can manage their condition effectively. We are one of the largest funders of diabetes research in the UK. "

This quote was taken from their website on 18-8-2015. 

Last week - turned out to be a big week

That was a hard week, in fact I covered the third most kilometres in a week (51 km) since I started GPS recording my runs (the only bigger weeks include marathon events!). Four runs in all capped off with a long slow Sunday run (24.9 km) that left my limping. With 6 weeks left until Berlin I had to make sure I upped my time on my feet in line with the training plan, and at this point try to figure out my likely race day target pace through testing out higher paces at the end of the longer runs.

I now know much more about my current state and can project forwards to Berlin where I will need to curb my enthusiasm for sure. It is clear that I am not where I was before I attended Berlin last time, not really a surprise given the broken year of training, but I am happy at least having assessed and set my range over the last 10 days. From here it is about staying consistent and staying injury free. For the first time in a while I am doing lots of extra post run recovery stuff - even putting myself through the 'fun' of icing my legs (!!).

In terms of the challenge I have set myself of two marathons in a month in aid of Diabetes UK - this last week has framed the size of the task all to clearly. It will very likely be a very painful experience, but now at least I am readying myself properly for it mentally as well as physically.

Where I am with my challenge...

Time has literally dashed by over the last few weeks. I have done some training then had a two week break (thanks to work and then a holiday) and then done some more training for this crazy (for me) two marathons in a 4 weeks challenge.

From previous experience I know I will complete the two courses, but it never is really about completing it is about doing it in a time I am happy with. This is where I am falling down because at the start of the year I had a grand 'faster marathon plan' and set about it with great gusto. Of course life happened, things cropped up, and the plan dissipated into nothing much really. I have the realisation now that I have rediscovered my motivation and momentum all too late for these next to events. Following a training plan is necessary for me to get this done and of course stirs my inner geek with all the numbers and outputs. This time the training plan is serving as a nagging reminder of all those sessions I've missed.

I am doing these two runs as a personal challenge obviously, but moreover as a charity event for Diabetes UK. The charity is one that seems to creep closer and closer to me as more people I know suffer with the condition. A former work colleague confessed their recent type 2 diagnosis when I bumped into them a week or so ago and it utterly rocked me. I am at least 15 years their senior, I have known them since they were an undergraduate project student, and I was just struck dumb by the news that they had such news. They are not overweight or fit into any of the easy Western diet trigger categories (that I know of), their case like every case is individual and all I could do was offer words of support and encouragement on their journey of discovering how to manage things going forwards.

So whatever speed to travel at around the course, however imperfect my training, whatever the two days through at me I will be remembering them and my reason for putting my shoes on.

Follow the link to my Diabetes UK JustGiving page...

Note: I had my first 4 sponsors in the first 24hours of letting people know about the JustGiving page, which was just simply fabulous. It is really the charity aspect that is fuelling my running at the moment.

The training plan beckons + a mad challenge

It is t-minus one week until the training plan for the Berlin marathon starts and I start running longer and longer again. My mission is to keep focused on injury prevention and staying run healthy going into the race - times once again are on the back burner and will be what it will be. A training plan sounds like an onerous thing but actually I enjoy the structure and I am sticking with one I have followed successfully before.

This all sounds sensible and not at all 'mad'... well no, it isn't... but what is mad is signing up for a second marathon four weekends after Berlin! I think I had a reason for doing this though having just completed the simple sign-up process I am already questioning my sanity (perhaps I've truly gone running mad). All being well I am going to tie the two together as a charity challenge and fund raising vehicle for one of two charities. Plans,aside from the training plan, are still up in the air a little which is adding to the sense of madness. As proper logistical planning swings into full force I hope it won't feel quite so crazy, and I am going to try and blog a weekly update of how it all goes.

The second marathon will be a new experience in more than race timing as it is a point-to-point city to city race across urban landscapes and English countryside - the Bristol + Bath marathon. It is the organisers first year, a brand new event, and it was something of the locations involved combined with the novelty of not running around in a big circle. Pacing is something that I will have to think hard about before the race as the course starts out fairly smooth and gets lumpy in the second half as it gets in towards Bath. There will be parts of the course I will recognise and others that will be totally new to me so it will be a full on adventure of a run.

The route - borrowed from the event website

I have the feeling my wife agreed to this because of the location, there is no getting away from the fact I might just be mad... am I?

Block 2 - not off to a great start

My plan for the Berlin marathon involved three blocks: one for the Bath half, one the Swansea half, and the final for the marathon itself. Block one was boom and ultimately bust, with a great training block spoilt by picking up a niggle and not running the Bath half. So, into the second block with many lessons learnt already and off to the physio to get the niggle sorted... or so I thought.

Being a couple of weeks after my stupid back to back hard session in two days nonsense and I thought I'd probably mended and 'just' needed to do the right rehab. Nope, I still have a hotspot in my calf (i.e. a small calf tear) and need to be icing it still and generally treating it cautiously. So I will be turbo trainer, cross-trainer, and swimming for the meanwhile.

The lack of running for the moment might ultimately prove a good thing, because this second block in the longest and pacing my way into it will be helped by having to cross train so much for the first few weeks. A nursing a torn calf though was not the way I wanted to start block 2 I really wanted to get out of the first block ready to do great things in the second. Still, the first rule of planning is be flexible, so I have learned.

Things are taking shape

Things with my running are beginning to crystallise for 2015, I have signed up for three races (two halves and a full marathon) and I have a several plans in full swing. At the moment I have shifted 10 pounds (4+kg) in the last couple of months, I have brought my 5k parkrun PB down (I'm knocking on the door of sub-25mins now), and I have a roadmap set out to try and achieve a good PB in Berlin next autumn.

For the moment my biggest concern is getting in and out of Christmas with diet intact and waistline smaller than it is now. Due to having lost well recently I am hoping that the New Year can bring a new trousers mini-spending spree that will really be a marker of good progress.

I hope with the holidays coming I will have a little more time to write about progress. I am not making any New Years resolutions, I am only determined to meet my Berlin PB goal - have you set yourself any 2015 challenges?

Very cool news - Berlin marathon said "yes"

I couldn't be more pleased, two years after my first experience of a World marathon major I should be toeing the start line of my second having won a place through the Berlin marathon 2015 ballot.

Training started three weeks ago, after a long planning phase where I considered the length of time I would give myself before another marathon. Moreover I considered the targets and logistics involved in achieving my very best in the next marathon effort. Now I have the offer I can cement those plans and build through to next September in earnest.

Berlin Marathon 2013 - my second marathon - done! pt1 (to the start pen)

It took me a few days to digest the whole experience and frankly to find a moment to sit down to type it up... and then even longer to get my images together and then sit and post this thing. So anyway here is my Berlin marathon 2013 -

The Berlin marathon was my first experience of a major city marathon, and while I have nothing to compare it to I found it an incredible event all round. So here is how it all went...

The weekend started with traveling over to Germany, via Amsterdam on KLM which I had initialled thought would be a draining journey (with the transfer, lots of sitting on awkward seats, and general worry about flying without the kids). Happily the journey went very well with flights on time, good leg room on the aircraft, reasonable food in the transit lounge and so on.

Possibly the most glamorous view of Schiphol airport you'll ever see ;-) 

When we got into Berlin we managed to find the hotel pretty easily, although we realised afterwards we could have taken one bus rather than a bus and a U-bahn. The hotel was brilliant in as far as they were super welcoming of marathoners, had good standard rooms, and a great restaurant. We took a quick walk then settled for a meal in the hotel, which was yummy - I indulged in Currywurst and a small beer calculating it was two days from the race and I knew the dish well enough to know it wouldn't upset my system - oh wow, it tasted amazing!!

Hmm, naughty food and a very naughty (small) beer - what was a boy to do?

The day before the race our sole mission was to go get my race number at the expo, but I also wanted to have a look around the start / finish zone so we would know the best spots to meet up post race and so on. We didn't have an early start to the day, it was still pretty chilly when we headed out which made me think the weather on race day might be fairly good for marathoning. The Brandenburg Tor was bathed in sunshine when we got there (via a coffee shop for a cuppa to revive my wife - I do enjoy that I don't rely on caffeiene to get me going of a morning - sorry, I digress) under clear blue skies, we took a couple of tourist 'selfies' just cause you kind of have to really.

We woz... oh, yeah we woz at the Brandenburg Tor (squinting aside not a bad 'selfie')

From the Tor we headed off to the Expo, wherein I made a navigational error that cost us an hour and a half and a little too much walking. It was just one of those silly things and all I hoped at the time was that it wasn't taking too much out of my legs. The Expo itself was absolutely huge (!) spread across six or seven hangers of Templehof Airport. My feelings of the event were coloured by the amount of walking we'd accidently done - having to walk the length of the place to get the race pack and then back again made commercial sense in that it made all enterants walk past the stands and displays, but rubbed with me as I'd rather have grabbed my number and chilled out. The pick up went pretty smoothly and the lady who gave me my number was super smiley despite the fact that she'd undoubtedly served countless people all day, in fact she was a pretty good example of what I found throughout the event from the organisers and support team - super friendly, super helpful, and super understanding!

The biggest expo I have ever been to, though happily not the biggest queue I have ever been in (different story)

Still tickled that both me and the race were in our 40th years and I get to be 39 because I started a zero not one (ah-ha!!)

The plan then was to head back to the hotel via the route we would take to the race in the morning with a stop for a good dinner (pasta) along the way. Unfortunately with some works to the U-bahn we ended up on our feet a bit too long again but eventually we settled on a pizza restaraurant near a main station. The least said about the service in the place the better (it was diabolical, the first time ever in my life I refused to leave a tip), but the food was good at least (despite starters and main arriving at the same time, yes, it was like that!).

The night before the race and I set about putting everything out for the morning - writing on the back of and then pinning on my race number, installing energy gels in my running belt, putting post run kit in a bag, and working out just what I might need to wear down to the start pen. Within myself I had a plan for the actual race, it was the getting it done that was troubling me a little - running amongst 40,000 other runners was to be a new experience after all. As my head hit the pillow I could feel the nerves were going to rob me of sleep, but in the end I managed always 5 hours of decent shut eye.

Breakfast was awesome, sitting eating a tried and trusted meal (I hadn't noticed my tastes had vered quite so close to a continental breakfast until the trip). We enjoyed a good people watching session noting all the runners in their various old and new kit, and spotted a couple of the pace runners had been staying in our hotel too. My nerves again weren't too bad though the coffee I had with breakfast turned me into a bit of a chatterbox - yes, thats right, coffee (!) which I had planned into my race strategy, I only consume caffeine for racing given the body of literature about its effect on performance and given the positive impact it has had on the few races I have used it for - why not for the big one?

A posse had formed outside our hotel as the sun came up - as we left a group (including pace runners) gathered to set out  across town to the start zone

Setting out down to the U-bahn for our trip to the start compound it was heartening to see that near enough every runners we saw was going the same way. The trip across town was silky smooth, and despite a short queue I availed myself of toilets in the station (ceramic better than portaloo any time). The weather was cool, clear and crisp and I was happy that I brought a plastic poncho to keep warm under.

In the next long overdue post I'll get to the story of my race (from start area to finish to journey home)...

Lazy, or not so lazy post - onwards towards Berlin

8 days to go then the 415+km run, the 10 lbs of weight lost, the 2 pairs of trainers, the £100+ spent on energy gels & drinks, the kids bedtimes missed, the countless extra showers, the training plan, the costly travel, and the organising will have been worth it... Running for a reason... DiabetesUK @ Berlin Marathon
www.justgiving.com/Andrew-BerlinMarathon

It seems I might be tapering

From yesterday's run completion [16.7miles of mixed pace that went very well] it seems that I am now in a what is commonly known to runners as a taper (a period of relative rest just prior to a big event / race), this doesn't mean I stop training from here on it means that I do shorter less intense sessions from here until race day. Why am I so taken aback to be here now? Well my first marathon training was so bit by injury that I didn't manage a premeditated training plan, only a controlled set of injury dictated cross training sessions over the weeks leading to the race. The second marathon I had planned and did not start was hit by illness and an injury the week before race day (which was supposed to be a taper week).

So here I am wondering how this build up will go, pondering the quality (or otherwise) of my training, and curious as to what race morning will bring. I am hoping that I won't go stir crazy during the taper (apparently it is common to get twitchy to squeeze in more training), as I have plenty of organising to do ahead of travelling to Berlin. Less than two weeks to go and I am very nervous in general about the race - though if nothing else it sounds like being a brilliant occasion to be part of (there is apparently a different musical act performing every kilometre or so!).

My next scheduled run isn't until Wednesday so I'll let you know if I get the twitches. How do you do the taper thing?

Worries around my race pace choice

I completed a great out and back run last night at a decent pace over 80mins, now the only thing that troubles me is where I wear my running belt (pouch at the front or back?) - okay no, the thing worrying me still is my choice of marathon pace! At this point I have a feel for what I think I can safely run for 3hrs, but what pace I can achieve over 4hrs+ still worries me. I am looking for a constant pace, and hoping to avoid a massive fade or pace crash. It is the fine line between so slow that I have too much left at the end and so fast that I have nothing left after 20 miles.

I am going to go with a conservative pace window, hope that I am not wildly unrealistic, and hope that there is something left in the tank come the final 5k to 10k. The worst that can happen is that I cross the line regretting not going harder, but that is hardly likely given that this is my second ever marathon - the most likely outcome remains that I an overly optimistic in choosing my pace window and end up suffering in the final third of the race.

Still at least I am at the point of being 2 weeks and 3 days away from the race and not worrying about illness or injury niggles. You think I am nervous now, wait until I get into the taper and add some nervous pent up energy into the mix... oh dear! For the moment it is time for me to put my head down into the weeks training sessions and move these thoughts to one side.

Odd - 18 miles that didn't hurt too much

Yesterday I set out with no small amount of nerves for my longest run of the marathon training plan that I have (for the most part) been following. It called for 3hrs, with 2hr 15min at long run pace and 45mins at regular pace - which I adapted because of routes, etc. to roughly 20km long run (just below marathon pace) and the rest at whatever pace I would feel right very slightly faster than marathon pace. Trying to block the run out into two clear sections.

In the end I managed most of my plan, with the first 10km feeling weird, too easy and very nervous at around 6:29min/km. The second 10km loop (I ran around Cardiff Bay twice in full loops) I began to realise was on a good schedule, I had reserves, and once I had bought a bottle of water (my hidden one was discovered and taken, whoops) things were looking on track at around 6:28min/km.

I'd noticed that I had the itch to run faster but was relieved to look back at the GPS track afterwards and find I didn't succumb in that second loop. The final section the run home started out - well how can I put this? - too hard! I turned for home thought about the pace change and seemed to try and do that in the first kilometer or two, which left the rest of the run (just over 6km) feeling that bit tougher than it should have. I managed something like 6:10min/km for the third block.

Today I feel great, no niggles, no aches (out of the ordinary), and just the appropriate amount of tiredness. I am left a little worried about how an inadvertent pace burst made the last 2km harder than it might have been, and need to make sure that if I try any pace change at all in the race it is far better measured out. It brought home to me that one kilometre kicked out too hard can have serious repercussions down the line. Overall though I am finding it odd that it didn't hurt as much as I'd feared... maybe there is something to this training plan thing?

Run, Run, Run, Physio, Run

I have been really busy running of late (yippee) and so haven't had time to get here to write about it. I've powered around a fartlek, grunted around a 14.2 mile long run, stressed around a regular run, had some physio (more on that is a tick), and then blasted around a shorter route with my training buddy... phew!

In the middle of this run of runs (pun sort of intended, sorry) there is a trip to the physio, which was weird mostly for the fact that I wasn't actually broken in anyway. I went for an assessment and moreover a sports massage for my increasingly tired legs. The assessment went really well with a couple of usual suspects showing up as tight (damn my lumpy running style), as soon as those were loosened along with the rest of my legs it felt great. I am planning on a trip there again just before the marathon to get all loosened up, and then a couple of days after the big run to fix me again.

It is fabulous not to be carrying around an obvious injury and to be feeling okay all round - though it is a little disconcerting given I've had such a poor couple of years of injuries and so on. A lot of the time I find myself ruminating quite where my running might be with an injury free years training behind me... still at least I should arrive at the next start line, and be stood there with a solid (conservative) race plan to mostly just get out there and enjoy it.

Why I haven't signed up for an autumn 10k yet

It would seem slightly odd on the face of it that I haven't signed up for one of the local 10k races this year, and there are a couple of crackers on the doorstep (Cardiff 10k and Swansea 10k). My reason is simple - I don't trust myself! I don't trust myself to run a contained sensible 10k race in the build up to the marathon at the end of September. In the past I ran a 10k a week before a half marathon and got the pacing so wrong for the 10k (I ran a PB) that it contributed to a DNF in the following half. I got carried away with the feeling of strength training for the longer distance had given me.

Once bitten twice shy, or something, I suppose but after missing my last marathon attempt through picking up a last minute injury I am kind of wrapping myself in cotton-wool before the next one. I suppose it is a side-effect of investing so much time and a considerable amount of cash in attending a major city marathon that I am feeling a little cautious. Any event after the race (Sept 29th)? Bring them on, of course I have been too distracted to look yet ;-)