Running a Marathon

The Day Before

Tomorrow is the big day. Together with my brother Tom, I will be running the marathon. We did the half marathon a few weeks ago and everything went quite well. But doing a full marathon, that’s twice that length!

During my training, I’ve only done 30km and I took some breaks when doing that run. I know I should be able to do the length and I didn’t have any real injuries during the training. I should be fine. But will I be great?

My goal is to run the marathon in 3 hours and 45 minutes. This means that I will have to run exactly 11.252km per hour. In reality, the best (proposed) strategy is to run 1) at an even pace, or 2) go a bit faster in the beginning and account for slowing down during the race. If I want to apply this second strategy this would be a good plan:

  • First half: 1.51
  • Second half: 1.54

Luckily I know that there will be pacers during the race, experienced people who will run the marathon at the best pace. One of those will be running it in 3.45.

What I will also be using is RunKeeper (please don’t fuck up the GPS this time) and the time indications from it. In conjunction with my heart rate monitor (Fitbit), I will get a good bearing if I’m going at my maximum pace or that there is still some more to give.

For food, I will bring along some small snacks. I didn’t have a great experience with them during training (read: upset stomach) so I will use different types of food. One or two gels, and a few bars. And of course, I will be stopping for water at each station. Wow, not stopping of course, running a bit slower and drinking some water.

During the half marathon in The Hague, I ran it in 1.52. That day I was having/recovering from a cold. So let’s see what I still have in me and if I (and Tom) can achieve the time.

 

The Day After

Yesterday was the marathon. And wow, that was quite something.

In the end, I finished in 4 hours and 20 minutes. It was really challenging to do and at the same time also a lot of fun.

What was most challenging was to keep running after 30km, there I really hit the wall. I also had blisters that were quite something and they are still really hurting.

Here are a few things I’ve noticed from the ‘other’ side:

  • I started going slower at 25km
  • At 35km I was walking some parts
  • For next time, I should really do more long training runs (possibly also slower and longer)
  • My resting heart rate is still in the 80’s, I will start doing sports again when it’s around 60 (normal resting heart rate)
  • I want to do a marathon again!

 

http://www.runnersworld.com/race-training/marathon-pace-perfect

  • how to pace

http://running.competitor.com/2013/08/training/the-art-and-science-of-marathon-pacing_16984

  • it’s very difficult to keep a ‘slow’ pace in the first half of the marathon

 

Wow that was something! Have you run a marathon? And what was your experience? Would you do it again?