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April 17, 2005
3:15:43/167
Well, I didn't overheat. Stu was listening to one of the elite runners being interviewed. That runner assessed conditions for today's marathon as "apocalyptic."
A couple of shots before the race. One riding in, one getting to the parking lot.
At least it wasn't snowing much in Lyon. But I didn't take the camera out of the car. It was too wet.
Until about kilometer 3, I was stuck in the crowd. It took me almost 23 minutes to do the first 5. I was getting warm and decided to chuck my polar fleece top, running in t-shirt, shorts, and thin gloves before it became too late to do so without getting cold.
After kilometer 5 it started raining hard. By kilometer 10, everyone's shoes were sodden. Squelch, squelch, squelch. There were spots where you couldn't avoid the runoff.
At only halfway, my calves were so cold they started to cramp. So I concentrated on running as relaxed as possible. The clock read 1:33 something just after 21.1 km. At that point I realized it wasn't going to be possible today for me to run a 3:00 marathon. Immediately after that I went over a bridge across the river, chatting with a guy running roughly my speed. He was aiming at 3:10-3:15.
On the bridge we watched those big metal dividers they'd used to help mark the route and keep the cars out getting blown over onto the asphalt by huge gusts of rain-laden wind. The guy observed: "Heureusement on l'aura dans le dos de l'autre côté." (Good thing it'll be to our backs on the other side.)
Just before 30 km, I had the typical slight irritations, like a sock getting bunched up under my right big toe. We saw the elite runners coming past us in the other direction. One thin guy was still wearing a ski cap. He looked quite comfortable, striding beautifully.
After 30 km, I was getting cramps I never get, on the insides and tops of my thighs. After about 32 km, I hit the proverbial wall.
My dim understanding of the wall before today was that it was related to getting to the end of your glycogen, and having to burn just fat. I believe it hit me early today partly because my body was having to keep everything warm enough to run, and partly because I didn't start carbo loading early enough in the week. I was too worried about gaining weight and not digesting food before the marathon.
My understanding of the wall now is that it's not something you get over. It just keeps getting worse. So I hung in there, wondering if I'd ever want to do this again. I kept running. I saw guys walking and was sorely tempted, but didn't give in. The 4 kms left at kilometer 38 were sure to be the four longest I'd ever run in my life.
Then we went into the park, getting near the stadium. We went on a path under a bridge and had to run through several meters of unavoidable icewater. How weird that it almost felt good.
All through the 30s I was losing speed. My heart rate was dropping to 78% of my max. I was not breathing hard. From the waist up, I actually felt quite cold, but otherwise fine, as if I had a huge reserve left. I tried to pick up the pace. Just couldn't do it. In retrospect, I realized I'd probably run a little too fast in the second 10 km without really noticing it. Back then I was sometimes almost at my threshold.
Seeing the 41 km sign gave me a big boost, but all I could do was hang in there. At the 42 km mark on the road, I thought, "Two weeks ago, you ran your last of 15 200 m intervals in 36 seconds. Come on, go for it." It was 200 m, but it seemed like about 400.
Stu did say that I looked fairly strong coming to the finish line. He'd seen one guy dragging his left leg along with his arms, and another that crossed the line only to vomit immediately afterward. I noticed the guy I'd been running with around halfway and around 30 km. He was just getting something to drink and a cookie. So he didn't beat me that badly.
In summary, my time wasn't great, but as Stu said, it's unlikely that conditions will be this bad next time. My legs are not yet ready to consider a next time. Right now walking up steps takes about 10 times as long normal, and hurts. But I'm sure with more mileage, speedwork, more long runs, I can beat today next time.
Posted by Mark at April 17, 2005 04:54 PM