Training Log Archive: dkonotopetz

Berlin Marathon

When I woke up at 6:30 am. and had a Cliff Bar on my way to the start line. I was extremely sore from the inline marathon the day before! 17 hours and 10 minutes after finishing the inline marathon I would be starting the running marathon (something that I have never done before). I arrived at the start area just after 7:30 am. and I got ready for the race with the thousands of other runners in a large field in front of the German Parliament Building. I made my way to the start line by walking through a forested park path that was crowded with runners. I found "Block A" and took my position in this IAAF Gold Label Race. The temperature was 16°C, there was overcast skies, fog, mist and 100% humidity. The gun went off at 9:15 am. and the mass of runners descended on the streets of Berlin. Right from the start given my condition I knew that it was going to be difficult to run my goal time of under 3 hours, a good time or even a respectable time, but I was going to try. The runners around me in "Block A" were moving very quickly, surely all with a time under 3 hours in mind! I continued along as I enjoyed the cool and rainy weather. I passed the 5 km. mark in 21:56, which somewhat surprised me considering how I was feeling. Then I took a gel at the 9 km. mark and I passed the 10 km. mark in 45:18. I was dropping off my planned pace already! The mist had turned into a light drizzle and at this point and the roads were very wet. I was moving much slower then what I did yesterday on skates and the reality was that I was not going to run under 3 hours today. I continued along still wanting to run a respectable time. I passed the 15 km. mark in 1:09:40 and I took another gel. Then 20 km. in 1:35:49 and 21.1 km. in 1:41:50. My km. times were slowing down drastically despite feeling that I was putting in the same effort (or more) then the first 5 km. I knew that this was a very bad sign! I was suffering and my legs were hurting, but I was enjoying the spectacle, the spectators support and the live entertainment along the way. I needed to take a walking break at 23 km. (the earliest I have ever done so in a road marathon!) I passed the 25 km. mark in 2:06:27 and I took a much needed gel. The light drizzle had stopped and there were cloudy skies (luckily no sun). There was a race provided gel station (taxofit sport) at 27.5 km. and I was feeling really low on energy, so I took 3 orange (liquid) gels. I passed the 30 km. mark in 2:40:45 and I took a gel, while doing lots of walking. It was embarrassing the people that were passing me! By the 31 km. mark I was feeling really bad with no energy, leg soreness, leg muscle cramps and stomach cramps. At this point I was mainly walking. I needed to make a stop at the porta potty located at 34 km., as my stomach problems went from bad to worse. I blame myself for taking the taxofit sport gels and taxofit sport for making bad gels. I continued along fatigued and sore, passing the 35 km. mark in 3:17:19. I took the chance to take another gel. The gel was sitting fine with me and I passed the 40 km. mark in 3:59:58 and I ran most of the rest of the way to the finish line! Finally I made it, for the first double multi sport marathon! I placed 21,191/39,234. The winner of the race was and one and only Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya with an amazing time of 2:03:32! Wow!

Route: https://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=7464478
Results: http://results.scc-events.com/2017/?content=detail...
Race Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmQThMr5yBI