Race information
Goals
| Goal |
Description |
Completed? |
| A |
3:20 |
No |
| B |
3:30 |
Yes |
| C |
Strong Finish |
No |
Training
My only previous marathon was the Dubai Marathon in Jan 2015
which I finished in 4:49 using Hal Higdon's Novice 1 plan.
Learning from my mistakes from that Marathon, I decided to do a lot more research and ultimately decided on Pfitz's 18/55 plan for this training block. I was quite faithful to the plan but I had to make a few adjustments here and there depending on my health, injuries or just life getting in the way. I ran a 1:31 HM in November (1:45 at the same race the previous year), strengthening my confidence in Pfitz's plan.
Race strategy
According to the 1:31 HM and using JD's VDOT tables, I should be able to pull out a 3:11 Marathon. Considering that this marathon would be significantly warmer (15C vs. 24C), more humid (35% vs. 75%) and hillier, I decided that 3:20 would be a more realistic goal to strive towards. This meant that I needed to average 4:45/km (7:39/mile) for the entirety of the race. During an MP training run, I was able to hold this pace for 23k of a 29k long run and this really helped build a lot of confidence in my own abilities.
However, during the week leading up to the race I was feeling really flat doing far slower paces and I was starting to lose confidence in my abilities. In the end, I decided that I'll go entirely by feel and avoid looking at my watch as much as possible.
I had also decided to take GU at 10k, 18k, 27k and 36k in addition to drinking water and pouring it on myself at every single water station.
Pre-race
I woke up at 3am after about 5.5 hours of sleep. I drank a beet root - apple juice I'd bought the previous day along with 2-3 bananas. I then went to the bathroom, dressed up, checked that I had everything and went out to meet my friends.
The warm up area was a large dusty ground that did not look attractive at all in the early morning lighting. There were thousands of people waiting there, with announcements constantly blaring over the noise of the people and the zumba going on in the background. I did a few dynamic stretches with my friends while continuing to people watch, a perennial favourite hobby.
At 5:15, with 25 minutes we started walking to the corrals when I met the 3:45 pacer to ask him if there were any faster pacers than him. After this, my friends told me that according this guy's profile online, his best previous marathon was only 4:06 and while pacing for 3:45, he would also be attempting a PR. I was shocked enough to look up his profile after the race. He is a very accomplished mountaineer, ultra runner and triathlete but he still had not run a marathon faster than 4:06. Another example of the messy organisation of the pacers: the PR of one of the 4:00 pacers is 3:54 from Dec. 2014 on an easier course.
(Got this from a friend: the 3:45 pacer finished in 4:09, the 4:00 pacer in 4:34 and the 4:15 in 4:37. Ugh, such bad organisation)
Anyway, I took my GU, drank some water and started walking. And kept walking. And continued further until we reached a giant wall of people and a huge door. The door opened at 5:30, with the flag off at 5:40, to allow people to get to their corral. It was a 200-300 metre walk to the A corral in which I was situated. Almost as soon as I got there, at 5:36, they opened the doors to allow us to get to the start line which was another 100-200 metres away whence we arrived with about 1:30 to go. Before we even got settled in and mentally ready for the marathon, the chanting began for the 10 second countdown.
And then, with the blessings of a million dinging watches, we were off.
Kilometers [1] to [7]
| Kilometer |
Time |
| 1 |
4:45 |
| 2 |
4:35 |
| 3 |
4:33 |
| 4 |
4:27 |
| 5 |
4:27 |
| 6 |
4:38 |
| 7 |
4:37 |
I barely even remember these. My main concern was to make sure that I didn't go out too fast. I tried to keep my breathing in control but also just let my body flow at the pace it wanted to go at. I was passed by countless people who had absolutely no business going at the speeds they were going. Barely a km or two in and the people around me were already sweating quite significantly so I did a self-check and found myself to be in better shape than the rest. I saw a guy wearing the t-shirt of a friend's company and found out that he was sponsored by my friend. I tried to talk to him but he seemed to be uninterested so I let him pass and run his own race.
As these kms passed by, I tried my best to wave at and say hello or thank you to as many volunteers, police, and spectators that I could practically do. If any runner was wearing a t-shirt with their name printed, I'd call out their name and tell them that they were doing great and to keep it up. Looking back I was trying hard (maybe too hard) to absorb the cheery atmosphere at the event to bring up my own mood, perhaps trying to use the 'Audience Effect' described by Fitzgerald to imrpove my performance.
This part of the event was almost entirely along the bay but the only indication of the Arabian Sea only 10 metres away was the light but humid breeze that blew against us. Somewhere along here, I saw a guy with the t-shirt of a Chinese running club. I pulled up next to him expecting to see a Chinese guy but instead instead met a British man, let's call him Steve, who just worked out there. He was running slower than me but I decided that it was probably best that I stuck with his pace so that I didn't burn out too early.
Kilometers [8] to [26]
| Kilometer |
Time |
| 8 |
4:30 |
| 9 |
4:46 |
| 10 |
4:37 |
| 11 |
4:20 |
| 12 |
4:37 |
| 13 |
4:37 |
| 14 |
4:37 |
| 15 |
4:37 |
| 16 |
4:44 |
| 17 |
4:44 |
| 18 |
4:44 |
| 19 |
4:20 |
| 20 |
4:35 |
| 21 |
4:33 |
| 22 |
4:34 |
| 23 |
4:40 |
| 24 |
4:35 |
| 25 |
4:36 |
| 26 |
4:35 |
I continued to run with Steve and we just chatted away the kms. We got to the first major hill around the 8k mark which I seem to have taken too fast because I see no change in my splits. There were some stray doggos jogging along with us while I encouraged them but sadly we weren't interesting enough.
After going back down the other side of the hill, we were back along the sea coast for quite a while and we were eventually taken to a long bridge that started around 15k. This bridge is a huge attraction to the race because it is never open to pedestrians except for this one day. I had run it when I did the HM here back in 2013 but I didn't really remember anything about it. The bridge, however, just ended up as a 3km long shallow incline (~3%) that just never seemed to end. There were no spectators allowed on the bridge either so this part of the race just seemed to drag on forever and I was very happy to see when it finally crested and brought us back down.
I got a surprise visit from my parents around 20.5km where I had to take a U-turn and then almost immediately another U-turn and then I saw them again. It was definitely a boost to see my parents on the sidelines cheering me on.
We got to the halfway point at around 1:35 or 1:36. I did an internal check and knew that I could not sustain the pace we were going at for another 21km but I made no attempt to slow down. My thinking was that I want to teach my body how to go by feel and the only way to learn is by making mistakes.
Kilometers [27] to [34]
| Kilometer |
Time |
| 27 |
4:38 |
| 28 |
4:41 |
| 29 |
4:39 |
| 30 |
4:39 |
| 31 |
4:47 |
| 32 |
4:52 |
| 33 |
4:54 |
| 34 |
4:59 |
At around the 27 km mark, we passed the leading non-elite female who was looking extremely strong and just busting out the miles. I heard someone yell, "GO ELENA" so I'm guessing that's her name and I'm making a wild guess here that she was Russian. I'm probably wrong. We stayed just in front of her and as a result we had these two guys on the motorbike constantly next to us. Steve and I were very confused, and a little annoyed, by the motorbikes presence next to us. I tried to lighten the mood by joking with them but it was still strange to us until I asked them why they were there and realised that they were following the leading female.
While taking my GU, I lost Steve for around 500 metres at around the 27k point. I realised at this point that I just did not have the power left to accelerate and I watched Steve slowly leave me behind until he very kindly slowed down and let me catch up to him.
We were at 28k and I was officially in the Pain Cave. I had to dig deep mentally to keep up the pace with Steve. He really encouraged me to keep going and I was really lucky to have found such a nice guy to help me out. At around the 31k mark, I just could not keep up the pace any longer and Steve left me for better prospects.
My girlfriend was waiting for me at the 34.3km mark and for the next 3kms, the only thought that kept me going was that I could not look like a weak walking marathoner in front of her and that I had to continue at a decent clip until 34kms. After that I would be allowed to rest for a minute or two before taking on the big hill.
I somehow managed to keep myself below the 5 minute pace until I got to her. I went to her and put my hands on her shoulders and wanted to stop so badly but she refused to let me do that. She congratulated me on getting so far and told me to get going. I started complaining that I just wanted to rest for a bit and then the whole crowd around her started encouraging me to start up the hill as well. God damn it, I guess I'm going to have to start up this fucking monster now.
Looking back, I made an excellent choice asking her to wait there because it was right at the bottom of the last major hill and I knew it would be difficult at that point in the race. Thinking about getting to her also helped keep me motivated from 30-34kms.
She later told me that I was absolutely drenched and it looked as if I had just taken a shower in my clothes. I had taken water at every single water station and poured half of all the bottles on myself. This turned out to be an excellent decision because everybody later complained about how hot and humid it had been that day but I had felt none of that. I felt cool (but not calm) in my self imposed water prison.
Kilometers [35] to [42.6]
| Kilometer |
Time |
| 35 |
5:34 |
| 36 |
6:18 |
| 37 |
5:01 |
| 38 |
5:06 |
| 39 |
5:12 |
| 40 |
5:19 |
| 41 |
5:34 |
| 42 |
5:35 |
| 42.6 |
5:25 pace |
Barely 100 metres into the climb, my left shoulder started hurting like crazy to the point that I could not run anymore. I went into the medical tent and they sprayed one of those icy hot things on my shoulder. However, it did not help at all and I continued to run up the hill in agony, walking at points. I tried running with my left hand raised over my shoulder and that seemed to help a lot. As a result of this, and the hill, the 35th and 36th kms were the slowest for me.
At the end of a walking break, I told a random guy who was running up that I was going to latch onto him to which he said, "Bad idea" and within 100 metres, he was walking again. Fuck.
The downward slope offered some mega relief and soon enough, we were back along the bay. This time, however, I couldn't appreciate the early morning view because I was in too much pain. There were throngs of spectators on this road but I tuned all of them out. I just put my head down, stared at my feet and focused on finishing the last 5kms of the race.
I was passing the slow HMers in wholesale at this point but I just ignored them and focused on my feet and watch, making sure that I didn't get too slow. The last 1,000 metres felt like the slowest 1k I've ever come across. I had zero kick and got passed by at least 4-5 people in the last few kms of the race, all of whom were men in their 40's-50's. Does age bring resilience?
I crossed the finish line with a throng of HMers in 3:24:37.
Post-race
As soon as I was done, I started faltering and hitting a bunch of barricades. Quite a few of the race volunteers asked if I needed medical attention but I said no and just walked ahead to get water and sports juice.
At this point, my shoulders started cramping like crazy and I couldn't even lift them up. I asked a random guy to help me stretch them out which he did and then proceeded to massage the hell out of them. Very nice of him.
I then picked up the Half Marathon medal and spent 50-60 minutes walking around the city trying to get a taxi. The post-race was nowhere as good as the race.
Overall, I'm happy with my performance and it was still a PR by 1 hour and 25 minutes.
What's next?
Strengthening my shoulders. Any recommendations on exercises for this?
I think I'll start training properly again from mid-Feb but I don't know what race to do next. I really want to go below 1:25 for the HM this year and hopefully have a shot at BQ'ing at a flatter and cooler race early next year (maybe Dubai?).
This report was generated using race reportr, a tool built by /u/BBQLays for making great looking and informative race reports.
ここには何もないようです