Marató Barcelona
March 2nd was the date for this years Barcelona marathon. Noelle McDonald, 
Ed Abrahamson and myself were there to take part.....
I ended last season and was putting some thought into winter training. Didn't think I'd be too motivated without a goal to at the end of it. Doing a marathon in warmer places in Feb had been done and thought it was a good idea. Seville/Valencia in Feb didn't suit dates wise so I settled on Barcelona.
So my run slow runs quickly became focused with the race entered and flights booked. I was soon joined by Noelle and Ed who decided they'd take a shot at it as well.
The training went reasonably well though there were mornings were motivation to go out and run in the cold was hard to come by. Though I never regretted going out in the end. Its actually never that cold here - after 10 minutes the conditions are nearly always grand. The Wednesday sessions with Gary and Maria were great not only for training itself but also telling them what training I was doing and taking any bits of advice they had on board.
I did one race in the build up - a 10 miler in Mallow. Set a PB of 61.10 in this so felt well set up for the race.
Weekend of the race came along pretty quickly. Weather in the days leading up to the race were between 15-18 but the Sunday was to prove a good deal warmer. With a Sunday race, it leaves the Saturday for getting registered. Before registration opened on the Saturday there was a breakfast run which took place from Place d'Espanya to the Olympic Stadium. A run of a about 4k. Entering the stadium and doing a lap of the track was pretty cool and definitely recommend it to anyone who might head over in future. Registration was really well organised with a decent expo similar to dublin. The dublin marathon had a stand over there too.
Race day arrived. Luckily the apt we rented was only 5 minutes walk from the start. Againg despite the crowd of 9000 it was really well organised and was no major issues getting to the start in plenty time. The setting for the start is pretty cool with the castle and fountains in the background. As 8.30 approached, the Queen song Barcelona is blaring on the loudspeakers and it definitely made the nerves increase a little bit.
The course itself is great. The first 5k is mostly up fairly draggy hills but its more than compensated by the downhills afters. We passed the Nou camp during those first 5k. It was pretty clear after the start that the heat (24 degress) would play a significant part in my race. My heart rate was much higher than it should have been for the pace I was doing. I got to half way in 1.31.15 but pretty much had given my all to achieve that. Essentially I didn't adjust my race pace to the conditions and paid a big price. I was in bad shape and was just taking each km as it came. Slowly but sure I made my way towards the finish. The route takes you down La Rambla towards the port at about 38k before turning back up towards the finish at Place d'Espanya. I crossed the line in 3.32 with a second half of over 2 hours - redefining a 'negative split' along the way.
while 3.32 was a PB the time was still a good bit short of where I wanted to be. I learnt a huge amount from doing it.
I'd definitely recommend this marathon . It is really well organised and the course goes by all the well known landmarks.
Noelle and Ed both completed their first marathons in under 4 hours so well done to them.
Ed Abrahamson and myself were there to take part.....
I ended last season and was putting some thought into winter training. Didn't think I'd be too motivated without a goal to at the end of it. Doing a marathon in warmer places in Feb had been done and thought it was a good idea. Seville/Valencia in Feb didn't suit dates wise so I settled on Barcelona.
So my run slow runs quickly became focused with the race entered and flights booked. I was soon joined by Noelle and Ed who decided they'd take a shot at it as well.
The training went reasonably well though there were mornings were motivation to go out and run in the cold was hard to come by. Though I never regretted going out in the end. Its actually never that cold here - after 10 minutes the conditions are nearly always grand. The Wednesday sessions with Gary and Maria were great not only for training itself but also telling them what training I was doing and taking any bits of advice they had on board.
I did one race in the build up - a 10 miler in Mallow. Set a PB of 61.10 in this so felt well set up for the race.
Weekend of the race came along pretty quickly. Weather in the days leading up to the race were between 15-18 but the Sunday was to prove a good deal warmer. With a Sunday race, it leaves the Saturday for getting registered. Before registration opened on the Saturday there was a breakfast run which took place from Place d'Espanya to the Olympic Stadium. A run of a about 4k. Entering the stadium and doing a lap of the track was pretty cool and definitely recommend it to anyone who might head over in future. Registration was really well organised with a decent expo similar to dublin. The dublin marathon had a stand over there too.
Race day arrived. Luckily the apt we rented was only 5 minutes walk from the start. Againg despite the crowd of 9000 it was really well organised and was no major issues getting to the start in plenty time. The setting for the start is pretty cool with the castle and fountains in the background. As 8.30 approached, the Queen song Barcelona is blaring on the loudspeakers and it definitely made the nerves increase a little bit.
The course itself is great. The first 5k is mostly up fairly draggy hills but its more than compensated by the downhills afters. We passed the Nou camp during those first 5k. It was pretty clear after the start that the heat (24 degress) would play a significant part in my race. My heart rate was much higher than it should have been for the pace I was doing. I got to half way in 1.31.15 but pretty much had given my all to achieve that. Essentially I didn't adjust my race pace to the conditions and paid a big price. I was in bad shape and was just taking each km as it came. Slowly but sure I made my way towards the finish. The route takes you down La Rambla towards the port at about 38k before turning back up towards the finish at Place d'Espanya. I crossed the line in 3.32 with a second half of over 2 hours - redefining a 'negative split' along the way.
while 3.32 was a PB the time was still a good bit short of where I wanted to be. I learnt a huge amount from doing it.
I'd definitely recommend this marathon . It is really well organised and the course goes by all the well known landmarks.
Noelle and Ed both completed their first marathons in under 4 hours so well done to them.
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