Valencia Marathon Race Report

"I definitely want to show how beautiful the marathon can be. I am the opponent of all those who find the marathon bad: the psychologists, the physiologists, the doubters. I make the marathon beautiful for myself and for others. That's why I'm here." - Uta Pippig.

Some of you know I love a good quote, so I thought I would reuse the above one from when I wrote my Amsterdam (pb) race report, which happens to beautifully sum up my feelings about the marathon.

Other than slightly overshooting on my carb load (I do all of mine the day before, aiming for 10-11g of carbs per kg of bodyweight across the day, but took in 681g compared to a target of 600-660g), and getting lost on my Friday jog (and therefore running 5m+ instead of the planned 4m), everything went smoothly, and I turned up at the race relaxed, and ready to go.

Given my love of quotes I've decided to do my race report with a quote per split.


0-5km: 17:50 (3:34/km) - "Don't panic." - Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

So I think it's well known that I'm a little on the flaky side....... I'm not sure what else you can call it but flakiness when you think that nipping out of your starting pen just before the off - particularly when that pen is the elite one, which allows you a clear, unencumbered start - is a good idea (memo to self, take a pee bottle into the pen the next time!!).

Luckily my ability to remain unfazed by things matches my level of flakiness, so wandering back, less than 30 seconds before the start, to find that the field has all moved forward, as standard, and the best you can do is in the middle of the pen behind where you were supposed to be, was something that I was just able to shrug off.

The average for this split was 3:34/km, but in reality the first 2 km were spent weaving to make up ground, and the next 3km were about 3:27/km (nearly a 2:25 marathon pace) as I hunted down a group who looked like they were moving at about my target pace.

Side-note: Emmanuel Mutai (2:03 marathoner) is flipping tiny!!!

6-10km: 17:30 (3:30/km) - "Athletes have to be confident and I am thinking like that." - Haile Gebreselassie

By the 5km point I was almost back on a 2:30 pace overall (17:45 per 5km is a sub-2:30 marathon pace), so I resolved to try to lock into a good rhythm. I was surprised to find I was running pb pace and feeling good, but I've always run to feel, so resolved to be confident and go with it. I knew the slightly faster pace was partially due to adrenaline from my start line snafu, and wouldn't last, but, much like running a downhill, it was a case of taking the 'free speed'.

11-15km: 17:38 (3:32/km) - "Just keep swimming" - Dory

This was a pretty non-descript part of the race. I was picking up people going at the right pace here and there, but no group, so just kept on 'swimming' in search of company. Gradually though a group was forming as several of us fell into the right pace, and closed on a few more ahead.

15km-HM: 21:30 (3:32/km) - "From my training I can get a good idea of what I'm capable of." - Paula Radcliffe.

By halfway I had joined a group, being bumped around a bit in it, and sat at the back to avoid getting knocked over, whilst trying to resist the urge to push on. At every kilometre marker I ran through a mental checklist making sure my body is ok, the pace is good, etc. At halfway I asked myself if I could do the same again, and having learnt to read my body very well through my training over the years, the answer was yes.

My split at half-way was 74:28 - to put that in context just 10 weeks earlier I had run a flat-out half marathon on a good course in 75:38.

HM-25km: 13:49 (3:32/km) - “As athletes we have ups and downs. Unfortunately you can’t pick the days they come on.” – Deena Kastor

I passed through half-way feeling good and had just started to push on a little when all of a sudden, right at the 24km mark I got hit with a stitch which dropped me from in front of the group to right out the back of it, in the space of 1km.

26km-30km: 17:56 (3:35/km) "Experience has taught me how important it is to just keep going, focusing on running fast and relaxed. Eventually the pain passes and the flow returns." - Frank Shorter

The stitch that hit me at 24km stayed with me until close to 30km, and I had to dig in to stay in contact with the group, though I got lucky as the group as a whole were starting to slip off pace themselves, so it was easier to hang onto their coat tails.

31-35km: 17:46 (3:33/km) - "It's at the borders of pain and suffering that the men are separated from the boys." - Emil Zatopek

As I hit 31km with the stitch having abated I ran through my mental checklist and realised my legs had gone a little dead - whether it was from the effort of trying to hang onto a group whilst in a bit of pain, or the fact that I was lacking in long runs I don't know, but I sat with the group, who had slipped to a 3:35/6 per km pace, whilst taking stock.
At 33km I realised my legs were getting no worse, and the group were getting no better. This quote came flooding to the front of my mind, so it was time to dig in, embrace some discomfort, and see what happened. The 34th and 35th km were both at 3:30/km pace, to bring me back to a sub-2:30 pace average for this 5km split.

Game on, if I could just grin and bear it for a little bit longer!

36-40km: 17:28 (3:30/km) - "Learn to run when feeling the pain: then push harder." - William Sigei

As I reached each km marker I calculated what time I needed to hit at the next marker to equate to that 3:33/km pace, then pushed to try hit it. I only hit 1 of the 5 kilometres at the 3:33/km pace, with the rest quicker, ranging from 3:26/km to 3:30/km - my form was holding, I felt strong, and was getting quicker. By here I was not only embracing the pain, but actually enjoying it, feeling almost in a zen-like mood.

Personally I think mental strength is an oft overlooked component of marathoning. I know that no matter how tough the business end of a race is I can gut it out and wring a little bit more out of myself, and the thing is that the more you do it, the more you believe you can do it. You just have to be prepared to push harder when feeling the pain.

41-42.195km: 7:30 (3:25/km) - "Ask yourself: 'Can I give more?'. The answer is usually: 'Yes'." - Paul Tergat

When I ran my pb, I closed the last section in 7:35. With no long runs and lighter mileage, whilst essentially still being very early on a return to proper running, I came here expecting to run under 2:30, but not considering I would close so strongly.

Whilst the first past of this section was being run strongly, the main damage was done from the 800m to go point. When I saw the sign saying 800m to go I asked myself if I could give more, and pleasingly found the answer was yes, as I covered it at a 5:19 per mile pace (2:39 for 2 laps of the track basically), even with easing off slightly in the home straight to allow me to soak up the amazing atmosphere.


Summary:

Off of an average weekly mileage of 75, for 11 weeks, following months averaging less than half of that, I followed up a 74:28 first half with a 74:29 second half, for a 2:28:57.

Somehow, off of light training, I managed to run my 3rd quickest marathon ever, coming in only 69 seconds outside my pb, and actually running at, or inside, pb pace, for large chunks of it. The thing is, I wasn't surprised by this. I went out to Valencia knowing I would run inside 2:30, even if to those looking in it must have looked like I was over-estimating my shape. As clichéd as it may sound, I attribute a lot of this to running happy. I'm certainly nowhere near as fit as when I ran my pb, but I'm better at getting more out of myself, and know there is so much more to come.

As a pleasing bonus, it turns out that this run is enough to put me 17th on the Irish National Marathon rankings for the year (and I think there's only one other v40 ahead of me on the list), as well as making me 9th v40 in the UK for the year at the moment (that's including both resident athletes, such as myself, and GB citizens).

And for those of you who like stats, my average time for my 14 marathons to date is: 2:37:41 (a pace of just under 6:01 per mile). I'm looking forward to moving that average down into the 5:5x range by the end of number 15!

Next stop Barcelona Marathon, March 2018.