 posted Oct-24-2007 06:39 AM
  
Running the Berlin Marathon was a pure gut decision four weeks from the race. Once the pre-race hype grew with Haile showing up, I felt I simply have to be part and give my PR another try. There’s simply no better place to do so than Berlin. Since my PR early 05, I have only been running not-so-flat courses like NYC and Boston.
Berlin was sold out, but I was glad to sneak in due to connections. My original plan to run Dublin a month later remained stable, although I knew that there was a 50% chance that I’ll be completely smoked and unable to run it. Dublin now is a week away and I can tell you: I blew it. I got seriously sick two days post Berlin and didn’t run for three weeks.I ran Berlin last year to pace a friend sub 3:15h and used the race as a long run for the NYC marathon. We had a blast, ran consistently and it was a pleasure seeing him fly past his competitors during the last 10k.
However, fantastic races deserve more than pure participation and as the Berlin marathon is one of those tremendous events, there I was again. 2:37:59h were the numbers to be beaten, but I truly wanted a 2:36:whatever. I prepared all “summer” for the Half Ironman triathlon nationals which went great. This left me with another four weeks till race day. As the “summer” was nonexistent in Dublin/Ireland, I was mostly running anyway. The start in Berlin is fairly wide. I lined up on the left hand side at the head of the first corral, right behind the elite ladies. The elite males were piled up on the other side of the road. With the gun my adrenaline suddenly skyrocketed as some volunteers tried to keep us - the ones behind the elite ladies – from running! Berlin is a two wave start, each consisting 20,000 runners. I still don’t know why they thought we – at the very front! – would be second wave. They still held up a tape which we tried to remove. I had to push one volunteer really hard to the side as the masses were pushing us badly from behind. Comparing real and net time after the race it must have taken eight seconds until we finally ran. Another five seconds and this would have resulted in a horrific accident with 10,000 runners pressing the field forward. I tried to calm down as soon as I ran. On the right hand side the field behind the male elites was already in full swing. After 3k I got into a good groove and lined up behind a Spanish elite runner with her pacemaker. Our group was about 20 runners strong and contained a handful of elite females and their pacemakers plus wannabe males like me. I believe we were the third female group. I tried to tuck behind all those tiny bodies – I’m 6’1 and 160lbs – to avoid the slight headwinds that would be in our faces until k28. Possibly all the other runners profited more from me than I did from them but such is life.  At around K5 I saw Irish legend Sonia O’Sullivan running on the right. Aside her she had a tall pacemaker, who looked familiar. As I passed him I said “I think I know you.” which he replied with “Maaaaaaybeee.”. Now I was sure that this was Aussie Craig “Buster” Mottram, the fast track runner. We exchanged greetings and I ran on. The pace in the group was spot on. I heard the Spaniard pacemaker telling some one that he plans to run a 1:18h half. I was delighted. We shared the work and hit the splits perfectly. Conditions were tremendous, so there was no excuse whatsoever if it didn’t work out. I noticed that the African lady running beside me was breathing a lot harder than I was though my legs were hurting quite badly. I was never slowed in a marathon due to cardiovascular fatigue. It has always been the legs that slowed me. This seems to be one obvious difference between elites and amateurs. Maybe also my legs are just too muscular from my cycling background. There’s a lot of muscle pounding around that can get tired.  All went well until k27 when my brain and legs told me to slow down. The information I received from inside was that I did not have the guts to proceed at that pace. It felt like if I would keep that pace that I would fall apart for good 2k later. Possibly it was more of a psychological than physical problem. Maybe I didn’t want it bad enough to sustain that pain.
However, I slowed down and reset my goal to at least break 2:40h. I settled in at a pace between 3:45 and 3:55 min/k. It definitely IS hard to run a 3:42 min/k pace while your threshold is at 3:30 min/k (which roughly equals 1hr capability).
The pack had thinned out nicely by then and I was running mostly by myself. It surely got pretty rough at the end, but I managed to hold a 2:39:26h which was my fourth sub 2:40h (and third 2:39 - I think I kinda know my limit now ). At the finish I walked past a smiling Haile who was on the phone with Paul Tergat. What a classy guy!
Talking about a classy guy, Mottram was also there and asked how my race was. He was really nice but I think he was just happy that at least someone recognized him. I hope he is luckier at the Olympics than he was in Osaka. Berlin is a great Marathon and lines up just aside Boston and New York. It’s truly a race you have to add to your portfolio. Thanks for reading! Uli
[This message has been edited by uli f (edited Oct-24-2007).]
IP: Logged |
