We set off from Brighton in the Motorhome on Friday evening with my van fully loaded with food, running kit and trainers, and passengers. My friend from running Isobel was coming along to give me some adult company and also my two teenage sons.
Our first planned overnight stop was at Oostende in one of the campervan car parks (free camping for 24 hours). We arrived at approximately 12:30am and parked up for the night. I made sure all the doors were locked and dead locked and set the intruder alarm and rested my tired eyes feeling relatively secure. This was a good thing as it aids a decent night’s sleep, not having to lie awake worrying that somebody is going to gas and rob you!!
Woke up early on Saturday morning, to get back on the road again as I wanted to arrive in Rotterdam by lunch time. This would give me time to collect my race number and suss out the best cycle route to the marathon start. The ride from the campsite was very straight forward, one right turn at the traffic lights then straight ahead. It was approximately 4k ride only . On Saturday afternoon we picked up the number and race t-shirt (you don’t need to finish the marathon he get the T-shirt over here!). We went round the expo looking for some Shot Blocks but there didn’t seem to be any there – obviously they haven’t caught on here yet like they have in England. So now my race energy decision had been made – Strawberry and Yogurt Alpen bars x 2 No. and Jelly Babies x 12 No.. After the expo we found a bar for a couple of beers and some lunch before cycling back to the campsite.
Milling around the campsite everybody was very chatty. Everyone here had come to Rotterdam for the same reason – to run the Marathon. We all talked about our hopes for tomorrow and how we were planning to get to the start.
I managed to get a decent night’s sleep on Saturday night. Went to bed at 10:30pm and got up at 7:30am. The marathon didn’t start until 11am so I didn’t need to rush around at all which was nice for a change. We set off at 9:15am for the ride to the start. When we arrived we locked up our bikes north of the finish line for an easy exit afterwards from the marathon vicinity. I went into the massive changing tent and left my bag here rather than hunt for the luggage vans. Said my goodbyes and entered my starting pen ‘E’.
I waited for approximately 15 minutes for the race to start. I could see the smoke from the starting gun but couldn’t hear it. A few minutes later we were slowly moving forward towards the line. It took nearly 5 minutes to cross the line. I was very impressed with how quickly they got the runners through the line as at 11:15am the line was being used again for the start of the 10km race. I thought back to Brighton last year where I had run the mile lap around Preston Park and still there were thousands of people waiting to cross the start line.
Once running the route was very congested and very narrow. I had planned to start my 1 minute walk breaks every 2km at the 2km distance marcher, but I decided it was too crowded to start walking so I delayed another kilometre and started at 3km. So every odd kilometre from 3km up to 30km I walked for 1 minute. Around the 30km point I was starting to feel tired and struggling mentally with the distance. I started working out how many breaks I had to go to the finish and started trying to trick myself that I was doing an interval session (not a marathon) and I only had 6-5-4 intervals to go!! From 30k I sometimes increased the walk breaks to 1min 20sec as I was not really losing much distance it seemed. Maybe only about 30 metres and once I started running again I was soon catching up with people and overtaking them. At 37km I was feeling pretty zonked and changed my walk breaks to 40secs every 1km to help me through the next few tough kilometres. My plan was then to continually run the final 2km but even this was too much and I had another walk break at 41km. Crossed the line craving a cold beer. Once I’d recovered in the shade for 20 minutes we were back on our bicycles heading back to the campsite, but stopped off at a bar for a glass of Heineken .
In summary I think that the walk breaks really helped me get through a tough marathon in very tough hot conditions and with very minimal marathon training. The walk breaks gave me a chance to eat and drink every 11-12 minutes. Some breaks I only ate a single jelly baby and on every 3 breaks I would eat a third of an Alpen Bar or a third of a banana which were being handed out on the course. Even though I felt very tired over the last 12km I was surprised that my 5k split times were not really slowing much as I’d experienced in the past when I have solely run the marathon distance. I was very pleased with the consistency of my split times which were:-
5 Kilometer 27:19 (27:19)
10 Kilometer 55:41 (28:22)
15 Kilometer 1:23:18 (27:37)
20 Kilometer 1:50:46 (27:28)
Half marathon 1:56:56
25 Kilometer 2:17:53 (27:07)
30 Kilometer 2:45:11 (27:18)
35 Kilometer 3:12:38 (27:27)
40 Kilometer 3:41:36 (28:58)
Marathon 3:54:47
It’s a thumbs up from me for the run/walk method. I worked out that I walked for 20-22 minutes of the marathon and still recorded a sub-4hr time which I am very pleased with. And hopefully my recovery will be much quicker but we will have to wait and see about that!!??
Great work there LR! Sub-4hrs is a tremendous time. Thanks for writing up the report so quickly too (we're still waiting for a few other race reports from recalcitrant RCers around here). 11 am seems a very late start time for a marathon ... what was the weather like?
Well done Julie, on a great report and a suberb performance. It's a great time in its own right, and the heat and lack of hardcore training make it even more impressive. Your splits are also great, and the fact that you were ready for a 4K cycle ride (with beer) 20 mins after the finish speaks volumes too. It's also good that you were able to adjust your walk strategy in response to how you were feeling.
One burning question for me... do you think you can go faster with this technique? Do you want to? Although I can see the attraction of being able to complete regular sub 4 marathons in relative comfort without relentless training or a long recovery.
Hope the Heineken reached the parts other beers cannot reach!
A star performance and an excellent report Jules, well done
I'm interested to hear what SuzieQ has to say about all this. Suzie has championed run/ walk for years and swears by it (knocks out some very decent times too).
Enjoy the beers, crepes, hot-chocolates and whatever else takes your fancy. You've earned it!
The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph
MLCM - The weather was very warm 17oC with the breeze but much hotter when running through the built up areas. There was little shade on the course and no clouds in the sky. Probably similar to Brighton.
Dan - With this technique I don't really think that I could go much faster - maybe I could have gained 2 or 3 minutes on my last 5kms had I not been feeling so tired. But I think that if I had the desire to train properly for the marathon then I would be running at a slightly quicker pace and could maybe record a faster time (3hr40-45), but it's not something I would want to try. I'm happy with running around 4 hours, and taking part and wearing my T-shirt. Gone are the days of my fast marathon times. It's now about preservation.
Sweder - I have a nice selection of beers to bring home to try he he
It's been a week now since my marathon and all week in Holland i've found reasons why I couldn't train mainly due to cycling miles around the Amsterdamse Bos on pleasure aswell as numerous beer/wine runs to the local supermarket. But today enough is enough, after logging in to FB and seeing inspirational photos of Moyleman I decided to get my trainers on and get out on the Downs. I still have 3 races to train for and one of them I will be team mates with Moyleman's sister.
Went round one of my old laps that took me up to Stanmer Park then back home via Horsedean (close to the travellers site). 37 minutes today, at my peak it would have been 30 minutes. My run felt brisk and my legs felt good.
Hoping to do the same tomorrow, and this time hopefully I won't be hungover, but that depends on how work at the social club goes tonight. Two weeks ago I walked out!!
sorry I didn't respond to your marathon report sooner LR, but it sounds like a brilliant bit of run/walk strategy and congratulations for getting back on your pins yesterday too :-)
Well done Julie! I have no doubt with more training you would be doing the run/walk marathon faster; but doing it under 4 hours with not a lot of training is impressive! I've been doing the run/walk technique for years and swear by it. It really does save your legs over the long haul and lets you quickly recover once you're done. Many people I know run a faster marathon when they switch to this method...it makes such a difference in the last few miles. It is hard to do the walking near the start, as you experienced, but once you're into it, it's just what you do. I'm actually glad to hear that you liked this way of running, as it does battle the mindset of 'running the whole marathon'.
Thank you SW and Suzie. I went for another run today - same lap as yesterday but a little quicker 36:30. Legs felt very fresh and I don't seem to have any injury problems to my hips/hamstrings or calves which was the reason why I started walking in the training runs back last Summer.
Tomorrow morning I have a race walking session planned with a friend. We are doing a 10 miler as training for our 20k event at the start of May. Time to start focusing on my next event .
Just home from a tough 10 mile walking session on a brilliantly sunny and warm day.
I met up with a friend from 20 years ago who was also a race walker turned runner, but now she has decided to try some walking again and has also entered the English Race Walking Champs 20K race on the 1st May. She will be using this race to attempt to get a qualifying time to enable her to compete in the Olympic Games Course Trial 20k event on 31st May. The qualifying time has been set at 2 hours for both men and women. This is a challenging time for women inparticular as a good club standard female walker would probably complete this distance in 2hr0-5mins. I think this Course Trial race is possibly going to turn into a big international event with walkers from all over Europe turning up to try out the course ahead of 2012.
So back to our session today. We set off on the road making good pace, I think approximately 9 minute miles. At 5 miles we returned off road along the Down Link Path, which is flat with a gravel surface. Our pace dropped to 10:30 minute miles. We then finished off by doing a 2 mile lap around Shoreham Airport at a quicker pace. During the last mile I could feel my legs were tired from the marathon but I kept pushing the pace until the finish. We clocked 10 miles in 1 hr 41 minutes. A pleasing return to walking training and I am feeling very happy with how my body is recovering after the marathon 9 days ago. I'm confident that it due to the run/walk techinic that I practised.
Excellent performance in Rotterdam, LR. Really well done. Sub-4 is great at your age...
Run-walk sounds as though it shouldn't work -- yet so many people prove otherwise. I like to quote Hal Higdon on the subject:
You will lose less time walking than you think. I once ran a 2:29 marathon, walking through every aid station. My son Kevin ran 2:18 and qualified for the Olympic Trials employing a similar strategy. And Bill Rodgers took four brief breaks (tying a shoe on one of them) while running 2:09 and winning the 1975 Boston Marathon. Walking gives your body a chance to rest, and you'll be able to continue running more comfortably.
The secret seems to be to do it from the start, even though it goes against the grain.
Is it just me? Or are marathons getting hotter, in the way that policemen are getting younger?
El Gordo
Great things are done when men and mountains meet.
(20-04-2011, 05:47 PM)El Gordo Wrote: Is it just me? Or are marathons getting hotter, in the way that policemen are getting younger?
All of my four marathons in the south-east of England, since 2005, have been pretty hot. When I spectated at London in 2004 it poured with rain. I think that proves it.
(20-04-2011, 05:47 PM)El Gordo Wrote: Is it just me? Or are marathons getting hotter, in the way that policemen are getting younger?
All of my four marathons in the south-east of England, since 2005, have been pretty hot. When I spectated at London in 2004 it poured with rain. I think that proves it.
I think 2004 was the one I marshalled at, and wrote about. My 5 marathons have been overcast-freezing-warmish-bucketing down-overcast.
Hot and sunny is village fete 10K weather, and not for marathons.
El Gordo
Great things are done when men and mountains meet.
Two of my three Londons were uncomfortably warm, Connemarathon was in the early 20's C, Cape Town finished at +30 C. I'm no fan of the heat and I'm glad not have run London or Brighton this year as both looked roasting to me. That said I am revising my (silent) vow not to endure another City marathon in light of the walk/run revelations above. In fact I'm thinking of a serious PB attempt next year, possibly at Brighton, using precisely this strategy.
You know, I really wish I hadn't said that out loud ...
The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph
(21-04-2011, 10:30 AM)Sweder Wrote: In fact I'm thinking of a serious PB attempt next year, possibly at Brighton, using precisely this strategy.
You know, I really wish I hadn't said that out loud ...
(21-04-2011, 10:30 AM)Sweder Wrote: In fact I'm thinking of a serious PB attempt next year, possibly at Brighton, using precisely this strategy.
You know, I really wish I hadn't said that out loud ...
Bastard
The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph
(21-04-2011, 10:30 AM)Sweder Wrote: In fact I'm thinking of a serious PB attempt next year, possibly at Brighton, using precisely this strategy.
Intriguing / exciting. I think your PB is in a similar ballpark to mine (a bit sub 4) and the same idea has occurred to me (at London in my case). I need to do a few time trials while I still have the fitness.
(Consults recently constructed spreadsheet.) 4 min run @ 8 MM then 35 sec walk @ 10 MM equates to a 3:36 marathon, which is pretty damn tasty. But I don't know whether I can sustain those paces (or even achieve them in the first place, in the case of the walk).
At 9am on Monday 11th April 2011 12,000 general entries will go on sale ONLINE on a ‘first-come-first-served’ basis. These “standard entry” places will close either when the 12,000 capacity is reached or at midnight on Saturday 30th April 2011, whichever comes first.
The 2011 Brighton Marathon sold out in just four weeks so we anticipate selling out even more quickly for our 2012 race.
At midnight on Saturday 30th April, or before if the 12,000 Standard Entry places have filled, a ballot will open for an additional 3,000 places. The ballot will remain open until 5pm on Tuesday 31st May 2011. The 3,000 successful ballot entrants will be drawn randomly from the ballot entries on Wednesday 1st June 2011.
There will be 5,000 charities places available in the 2012 Brighton Marathon. These will become available via our website charity page.
So we only have to wait a few days to find out if Sweder is definitely going to enter...
