Sunday 20th October - Game day
In short
Followed a intensive marathon plan (pfitzinger) to complete the Amsterdam marathon yesterday. While it didn't go as planned, I had a great experience and was humbled by the support I got from both family and friends aswell as from random strangers.
Getting up early
Starting my day at 04:00 as there was no early public transportation from the small village where I live to a city that would get me to Amsterdam in time.
Taking some time to eat something, meditate and hugging my wife and kids before going on route.
My logistics to the stadion would be to drive to Rotterdam Station, Take the train to Amsterdam Zuid station and walk +/- 20 min to the VIP dressing rooms (something I would definitly recommend to spend an extra 15 euro on!) then a small walk to the stadion (+/- 10 min).
Nerves
Once at the stadion I suddenly got stressed alot - which I didn't expect as I ran multple other marathons before - with the last one being in April this year. I kept the urge to check if my shoes were tied correctly (not too loose nor to tight) and felt the need to go to the restrooms constantly. I was not able to get my stress levels under control until the race was over.
Race day strategy - Plan vs. Reality
Plan
My plan was to run 3:30 - while my training suggested that 3:20 was achievable on a good day. I planned to run 4:55 / km for the first half and check my heartbeat to see if I could speed up. During all my training runs 4:55 / KM would mean a heartbeat of 145-155 which would be comfortable for me.Reality
Starting the race my nerves really got to me - starting pace was only achievable with a heartbeat around 167 peaking into 174 (my zone 5).
Already being stressed I got another thing to worry about as I was well aware that such a high heartbeat was not sustainable.
Despite not being able to lower my hearbeat I tried to make the best out of it but the my high heartrate caught up with me around 25km.
I got cramps in both my legs and needed to stop briefly to loosen my muscles and get going again. While it works for a short while it also gives you a lower barrier to stop again - the cramp will be back and you know that a brief stop will take some of the pain away. I didn't get back in the flow but definitly showed some character to finish the race around 3:40.
Aftermath
My wife, kids, parents and inlaws were all at the finish supporting me! Seeing my kids with banners and actually getting on the big screen when we made contact was simply awesome!
I needed quite some time to recover and once again I was very glad to got access to the VIP room (as I could just change all my clothers and freshen up a bit). The walk to my the station, the Train & Metro i felt exchausted, but managed to just push through and get my car).
Finished my day with a couple of La Chouffe beers to celebrate the hard work.
Looking forward
I have 2 more races planned - 42.2km beachrun in february and 42.2km city marathon in april. But will first take some time to recover :)