Race report: Copenhagen Marathon 2014

Aim: 04H30... although with a 1/2 marathon time of 02H00 I really should be capable of 04H10-04H15.

• Shoes: Merrel Vaporgloves (minimal Vibram soles, zero drop)
• Compression: CEP socks and sleeves, compression T-shirt.
• Nutrition: 4 x 82g Snickers bars
• Hydration: Camelbak, 1.5L Powerade.
• Technology: Pebble Steel; NATO strap on adapters; iSmoothrun for iOs/Pebble; iPhone 5

Four months before
After 2 marathon training sessions in 2013 on the borderline to Achilles Tendonitis, I reduced the mileage in my four month training period by about 50% compared to Copnehagen Marathon 2014.
Accordingly, I was prepared to run either significantly slower times (insufficient training) or significantly faster times (less damage) than last year. I certainly did not expect what transpired...

The week before
This year I elected for a complete rest from running the last week before Copenhagen. My right achilles was still tender, despite my reduced training load, and I figured the best I could do was give myself a complete rest. Five days before I started carb loading, by increasing the carbohydrate percentage of my diet and increasing my calorie count to 2000kCal/day.

The day before
With 24 hours to go, I found myself checking the weather report every hour or so. Expected conditions fluctuated between very hot to very wet:




I had arranged to collect my niece in Århus, then drive to Østerbro in Copenhagen and pick up my start number at the Expo around 6pm.


Pebble Smartwatch, SmartwatchPro: pickup start number at Østerbro in Copenhagen... let's go!




Pebble Smartwatch, WatchNote: pickup details, metro line info all on hand!

The travelling went smoothly, and the Expo was bustling - I bought two pairs of CEP compression socks (the short version, as I already have compression sleeves) as I had picked up blisters from a half marathon in March, which I had run in regular supermarket socks... :-(




We went out for a Pizza & lots of fluids and I hit the sack about 10pm.

The Day!

Up at 5 for a quick breakfast of oats and half a liter of isotonic drink, slowly got dressed and by 0730 I was headed for the Metro, destination Islands Brygge. Arrived at 0800, dropped off my clothes and took my last drink. Walked quitely around, stretched a bit and heard a few more chapters of my audiobook to zone out.


Pebble, SmartwatchPro: start time and location... as if I could forget!




Pebble, WatchNote: backup pacing information, in case of GPS failure!

0-10km
The race started precisely at 0930, and by 0944 I was crossing the start line.


Crossing the start line (right, green vest) 14 minutes after the first runners!

The route took us over Langebro into the City, through the center and out to Østerbro. I was on pace and running without issue by the time we headed back into the City at kilometer 10. Hot and humid.




10-20km
The next few kilometers brought us through my old neighbourhood (Nørrebro) where we had lived almost 20 years ago, then back into the center of town, over some cobbled roads to wake us up and at 17km we were heading back out to Vesterbro. Still holding my target pace and running with no issues. Halfway was passed in 2:14:00 which meant I would have to run an even split for both halves to come in under 04H30. By this stage I had eaten 2 Snickers bars (890kCal) and about half a liter of Powerade (80kCal) and had expended about 1600kCal.





20-30km
The long way back to Østerbro. Light rain started, which was a relief from the hot conditions up to now.  I could feel it required more and more of an effort to maintain my pace, and I began to switch off my mind from my surroundings. Couldn't stomach eating more Snickers or drinking Powerade, so I picked up water at the stops. On the upside, it felt pretty much like last year (no worse, no better) so I knew if I could keep on without an injury I should make it through. At 30km the sky opened and it started to rain heavily.







30-Finish
From 30k the hard work starts. Not fun any more. No thoughts. Foot. Next foot. Check pace. Shit. Push harder. Can't. C'mon, try. Can't. Just run. Foot. Next foot.

The loops at 32km takes you AWAY from the finish line, and it's hard not to swear. Dammit, same again at 35km.... pace starts to really drop. SOOO close at 38km but the sadistic bastards put in another loop, 3kms  AWAY this time! I'm beyond caring by now, just don't stop or I'll fall. Keep going.




Finally, finally there are no more tricks and the road leads over Langebro and the finish line at Islandsbrygge. I could walk now. Nope. I could...? Nope. And finally, finally...



Done. Urgh. F*ck.


Pebble/iSmoothRun paced me home in 04H35, average pace 6:26min/km....


...primarily using the Distance/Split average/Average Pace setup.



...using 30% of the Pebble's battery (100% at start, 70% at finish) with notifications etc. on.


Marathon number 3!


Post-race analysis:

• Shoes: Merrel Vaporgloves are superb. Light, flexible, ultrathin, grippy - the perfect minimal running shoe.
• CEP compression: no blisters at all from the compression socks, despite wet weather. I drove the 6 hours home immediately after the marathon with no cramps and no issues. I ran a short run 3 days after the marathon with some stiffness, but no more than that. No injuries. No achilles problems. I am convinced the support they give works particularly well for long distance running and recovery.
• iPhone/Pebble Smartwatch: Pebble + WatchNote app are excellent for keeping relevant information (numbers, adresses, transportation, times etc etc. on hand. Pebble + iSmoothrun, with its multiple, user-configurable screens worked flawlessly at keeping me on pace. Kudos also to the extreme legibility of the Pebble Steel screen in direct sunlight, and its waterproof rating when sweating in a torrential downpour!
• Time: I should be able to run 4H10 to 4H20. My three marathon times have been between 4H31 (Copenhagen '13) and 4H38 (Berlin '13). Each time the wheels fall off at about 32km. I probably need to do a few more long runs in training, but I think the main issue is energy - I need to improve fueling. I ran pretty much the same race this year (dark green) as I did last year (light green) and clearly I ran (sorry) into issues at the same place. Must work on this... c'mon, dude!

Copenhagen Marathon 2013

My strategy for Copenhagen Marathon 2013 was quite simple: eat, drink and run a 4:30 marathon:

Arrived in CPH in 25 degrees of heat, and went to the Expo to pick up my start number. Jumped off the bus in the center of CPH to walk through the remnants of Copenhagen Carneval - a most excellent early summer evening with thousands of people enjoying the evening sun at sidewalk cafes.

Checked in to CabInn, who kindly extended my checkout to 1600 - giving me the chance to have a hot shower and change clothes after the marathon. After finding a naked man in my bed (!) when I unlocked my hotel room door, I politely asked for a new room and decided I had had enough big city life for one day and went to bed early.

Race start was set for 0930, so I got up at 0530 for an energy bar, beetroot juice and some water, and headed for an early breakfast at 0600. Mueslie, oats and coffee dispatched, I headed for the start line at the harbour at 0800, deviating for a call of nature at the Youth Hostel at Langebro Bridge.

I found the 4:30 starting area, warmed up a bit, handed in someones lost car keys and used the portajohn (again - a recurring theme, I also filled the harbour a little later, as well as 2 pitstops during the marathon itself).

At exactly 0930 the race started, and almost as precisely the heavens opened. From the extreme heat of Saturday, we pretty much ran in rain for the rest of the marathon - I once read that perfect running weather is bad spectating weather - today was perhaps a bit too perfect for running as we ran through a deluge for about 30 minutes in the beginning of the race!

0-10km. 

Held my target pace of 6:20/km for a 4:30 finish. Last weeks aches and pains had disappeared and I enjoyed revisiting the city we called home for 10 years.

10-20km. 

Held my pace, and began relaxing a bit as there was still no pain to suggest that I would have any problems with my hips or achilles. The cobblestones were a bit hard on my minimal Vibram shoes, but fortunately these were only short stretches. Headed out to Vesterbro and passed my regular crisis point of 17km without any problems.

 Crossing the checkpoint @ 21,1km:

20-30km. 

Passed the half-marathon point on schedule and all systems intact, slowing every km to drink a mouthful of electrolyte from my camelbak and eat a mouthful of fruit bar. Still raining, but not as heavily as earlier. Due to the loopback nature of the course we could see the runners still heading to the half-marathon point... some of them were already suffering, and I made a conscious effort to ignore them and continue my own race. Back into the city along the harbour, through Nyhavn, Langelinie (the little mermaid) and Kastellet, moving closer to Østerbro and the magic 32k marker - my longest distance to date.

30-42km. 

No-mans land. I had never run this far before, and I knew it would be a Dark Place. After 30km most runners have used up their available glycogen depots, and marathons are traditionally considered to consist of two halves: the first 32km, followed by the torment of the last 10km. Somewhere in this final stretch,  "regular" fatigue becomes a pleasant memory for most, as your body starts to consume itself.

Fatigue had begun to set in after 21km, and my heartrate now lay dangerously close to 90% - inefficient, anærobic metabolism territory which can reduce you to a shuffling wreck within a single kilometer.

With 5km to go I threw caution to the wind and latched on to the sub 4:30 'bus', but the extra effort tipped the balance and I hit the 'wall' at 40km - a calculated risk as I felt I could force myself through the last few km. And force I did, reduced to a shuffling run barely faster than a brisk walk (an attempt to walk produced a cramp of biblical proportions which forced me back into a run).

The last 500 meters hurt - my body began to protest and warn me of an impending shutdown. Crossing the finish line was going to be not so much a triumph as it was a necessity - there would be no elation, just one eye closed and the other desperately fixed on a point just past the line.

And then, two hundred meters before the line I realized I would make it. I would run a marathon. Months of training and focus combined in those last meters and I emerged from the darkness of the last 10km a different person than when I went in.

Final time: 4:32:13

Minutes after crossing the line, my family called - they had been tracking me online and had watched me cross the finishing line - an experience as amazing as crossing the line itself!

Within minutes I had replenished my glycogen depots (blood was again being diverted back to other bodily functions than forward movement) and all systems were back to normal. As a biological experiment, the marathon takes some beating!

So - the classic question: will I do another? Oh yes sir - Berlin is only four months away! But however many marathons I do, I'm guessing nothing will ever beat the experience of the last 10km of my first marathon!

Lessons learnt:

1) Choose a well organized, local marathon - where you are familiar with the route - for your first, and train for it  seriously. No other marathon will ever be as significant as the first.

2) Optimize your resources. Prioritize eating and drinking in the days before, and during the race, and stay in your aerobic zone for at least the first 40km. Having trained for so long, it was heartbreaking to see fellow first time marathoners hit the wall at 30km with almost no chance of completing a further 12km. I should have forced myself to eat at 30km to have had a chance of beating the 'wall'. I consider myself lucky to have been let off with a warning, only having to endure it for 2km.