Alexi (CAPSLOCK!!!!!!!) has written the following race report on his SECOND marathon in a matter of months. read on to find out how he got on
After the Athens marathon the masochistic beast inside me instantly decided that it needed to do another one, preferably in the spring. This would be a nice introduction to the season and a preparation for the ultimate goal of an IM in 2009. Initially the aim was for a sub 4h race but after the two month recovery the first time round I settled for a 4:30 to 5h. The idea was to do the distance and minimise the after effect.
I decided to experiment by doing 2-3 runs a week while trying to keep up with triathlon training. This was interesting and while a cold or two set me back, I managed to do my long runs in a descent enough time while keeping the HRs to around 120 which was nothing fancy but acceptable!
The time came and off we went to the city of Caesars! The weather was substantially better there with a forecast for race day of 16 degrees with slight overcast. Things were looking very good! A few plates of pasta later and before we knew it, Andrea, Irene’s brother, and meself were jogging up and down under the Coloseum in our prerace warm up. The forecast was right, fantastic!
We got ourselves in line and after a 3, 2, 1 and a hail Caesar we who are willing to die salute you, we headed off on what was the 14th Rome Marathon. It always amazes me that you always start these events on such a great spirit, totally ignoring the fact that on the 30th Km you will be says things like ”why the F**K do I do these things” only to finish and say “when is the next one?”
Anyway Rome marathon is kind of flat and has cobles in all the central places. The flat bit scared me a bit because it is so easy to go fast in the beginning and pay for it later. The cobles would be a problem around the around the 37th Km when you are hanging on to every bit of energy in order to go in a straight line, never mind the added 2x2 MTB bonus experience.
Leaving the Coloseum and running round the Circo Massimo was the first coble experience and to be honest they were perfectly fine. In fact it seemed like a softer surface than asphalt or pavement. Just before the 5k mark Andrea kind of looked at me and somewhere within the multilingual communication me agreed that it was time for a pee so we made a bee line for the nearest pit stop.
Now with the bowels empty we were ready to take the mighty giant! At the 5k mark we passed on 31:49. Everything was super. The road was flat as pancake, asphalt and the weather was holding on with some overcast! 10k 1:02:28, my god are we clocks or what! At this point we had reached the 4:30 mark balloons so we decided to stick behind them for the race. But everybody was really crammed behind those balloons so I proposed to go just in front of them. This proved to be my worst mistake. Without a visible marker in front we got out of hand and by the time we had reached the 15k mark(1:32:16), we couldn’t really see them behind. We made a few attempts to go slower by we fell every time in the trap of the flat course. You feel well therefore you go.
By the half marathon ( 2:08:36) things were beginning to shape up for me. My quads started to feel tired and my steps a bit heavy. It was the realisation and the evidence that I had gone too fast. Adding to that it didn’t matter how many liquids I took on at the stations, 1k after I was thirsty. I was dehydrating quite fast and that was affecting the already bad situation. From now on it was a do with what you have situation. Andrea felt well but was afraid to go ahead as it was his first marathon. After a bit of abuse he agreed to go ahead at the 30K mark. At that point I was at 3:03:21.
At this point disaster No2 struck. It was to my belief that from this point on till the 34k mark it was downhill. How wrong was I. Not only wasn’t it down hill but it was slightly uphill. Now, I have tackled steeper hills before (see Athens marathon) but it doesn’t matter how steep or how long the hill is. If you don’t know it’s there, it’s a literal catastrophe! I just put my head down and took it step by step all the way back into town.
At the 33k mark my quads now were physically in pain and the dehydration had taken its toll. This is the point where stopping for a couple of minutes becomes so tempting. Whoever does, most likely doesn’t start again. I knew that very well. The idea of an IM in 2009 as well, forbid any form of stopping. If I couldn’t do a simple marathon them where was I heading. I would pass the line in any condition but stopping wasn’t an option.
I had reached the 35k mark (3:37:14) and I did not look like a happy camper. All the people that I had passed and that had been more sensible to keep a steady pace, were passing me. The worst thing was that they even looked fresh.
37.5K mark, Piazza del Popolo, If you look in the video you will see that I was holding on to the thought of the last drinks station at the 40K. That thought got me through that last gruelling part with the danger bit in front of the Trevy fountain. This is where the cobles were at their worst and together with sheer tiredness were a recipe for disaster. Once through that hurdle the road was open for...... drink, drink, drink!
The 40K mark came and went (4:15:52) and with the drinks came and went without feeling much of a difference. Come on 2 more Km come on 2 more Km...........
Around the 41K mark I experienced something amazing. It was always in my head to do a sprint at the end but as the race progressed, this possibility became more and more remote. Nevertheless when I went over that 41k mark my legs picked up speed without me having any control on them. I was not consciously doing anything and wasn’t putting any extra energy. It was just happening, like an automatic machine or something. To be honest I was burnt out but this machine felt amazing! A circle of the Coloseum and yes... the end was in sight!
I passed with 4:30:55, absolutely wiped out and couldn’t reaaly talk to the chip girl of the medal girl or to anyone else for that matter. This marathon had been much tougher than Athens even though it was a flatter route. Strangely enough though I recovered faster! Andrea did an amazing 4:16 with first half 2:08 and second 2:08......!
Rome is a real gem for its scenery and shouldn’t put anybody off for its cobles. The rule is simple. If you know it’s there, you have nothing to fear!
Below is a smaaaall link to the videos of the whole race taken every 5k. Below each video is a countdown timer to the time (give or take) that meself goes by the camera!
PiranhaTri
http://www.piranhatri.com/article.php/20080401092944630