To clarify the title, a marathon is 26.2 miles which is the equivalent of 42,195 kilometers (the Germans like to put commas where we sometimes put decimal points because why should anything ever be agreed upon among all peoples and languages). To be truthful, I have to say it was really just the last 32,195 km that were rough. My training was subpar at best, and I was still fighting the dregs of a miserable respiratory infection on race day. Nevertheless, I was pretty excited to begin my first international marathon.
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| Sun rising over the Reichstagsgebäude with the Fersehturm in the background. |
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| Blue lines marking the route...about 250m from our building. (Also, it should be noted, a fine job of branding by adidas) |
I'll spare you the boring details about the marathon expo, save for three factoids:
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| Great idea to take a wide entrance to the only place everyone has to go and narrow it with a fake Brandenburger Tor. |
- The walk from the entrance to the number pick-up booth was approximately one mile, weaving through vendors and other runners, but at least I knew I had a free shirt at the end of it.
- There was no free shirt. This, as any runner will tell you, is one of the main perks of running a race. It was particularly shocking when one considers that this is one of the World Marathon Majors. Less diplomatically, it was total bullshit.
- Another major draw of the marathon expo is the free samples and swag one can always expect...except here in Berlin it would seem. The only free thing I got was a plastic cup of full of room temperature Berlin water. Hey, I needed it after the trek through the expo hall and to prepare for the trek back out.
Fortunately, I had a day of recovery between my expo trip and race day. So when I woke up on Sunday morning, I felt as ready as I could feel. As I mentioned earlier, my training was miserable, both in quality and quantity. It seemed that if I wasn't sick, I was injured. A nasty Achilles tendinitis kept me chained to the bike trainer in my living room for about a month. After Ironman training, I would have been fine going another 10-67 years not seeing that thing, but alas, it gave me the ability to keep semi-fit while I waited (like the good patient that I'm usually not) to be able to take a step without stabbing pain in the back of my heel. Resting a lower-extremity injury is a significant challenge when living in a city like Berlin where we walk almost everywhere. I got one good 20-miler in instead of the three I usually do before a marathon, but I thought that given the flat course and perfect weather, it wouldn't be too terrible...I was mostly right. We also took a little bit of time out on Saturday afternoon to check out the in-line skating marathon. It was awesome. I am trying to convince Neil to do it next year...not making much progress, but I'm not giving up.
I love the start area of a big marathon. Forty-thousand people all waiting around to get their run on. It is generally like a big party except everyone has a super fun nervous energy, and almost no one is drunk. I always like chatting with other people, but it was different here as no one knew what language anyone spoke. The NY marathon has a very international flavor, but you're in America, so people assume that English is the best common language. I will take this opportunity to make another note. The NY marathon is practically overrun with the Dutch. There are countless towering people dressed in orange, singing Dutch songs and cheers. In the words of James Tarone circa 2008, "The Dutch are insufferable." Here in Berlin, it was the troupe from Denmark that ruled the roost. Large groups of men and women in red and white gear with large Denmark flags and face paint abounded. I have to say though, that the French and Italians were out in force, and the Dutch couldn't be stifled either. It is at an event like this when I truly realize that the United States is sorely lacking in clever and catchy nationalistic chants. I mean, "U!S!A!" on repeat is nice, but we've got nothing on the Europeans. Nevertheless, as the sun continued to rise, and the emcee counted down the minutes until the start of the race, people began ditching their warm clothes and inching toward the start. I chatted with a group of Frenchmen and a woman from Brazil (in English), and as the gun went off and the balloons were let go, we all wished each other a good race and off we went. |
| See? I wasn't making it up. |
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| Runners as far as the eye can see. |
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| Ready to run! |
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| Balloons and the Siegessäule in the distance. |
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| 300 meters in...feeling strong. |
I was mostly correct in my assessment of how I would feel at various points through the race. After I saw my cheerleaders at 9K, I settled into a comfortable pace and began the real grind. Marathon running is a funny thing, especially in a big race like this. There are other runners and spectators everywhere. With thirty-nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine other people, the pack really never thins out. For me there are times when I can really feed off of the energy of the crowd and fellow racers and then 5 minutes later, it is as though no one else is around and I'm just on another training run, waiting for it to be over.
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| 9K. Note tall Danish man behind me. |
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| ~20 miles...trying not to look like I want to veer sharply to the right and go home. |
Don't get me wrong. Training or no, this range of emotion happens during every race. I have to admit though, that the miserably-waiting-for-it-to-be-over part started a lot earlier than it normally does. As the race went on, I tried to calculate in my head how fast I was going and how much longer I had to keep going and what my finish time might be (that took about 1.5K). Then I realized that at some point my pace would probably slow, and I tried to decide whether or not I should slow myself down more at that point or if I could push it a bit longer (another 2K down). My main motivation to keep going is always that if I walk, it will only prolong my misery. I wasn't kidding when I mentioned earlier that it was only the last 32,195K that was particularly trying. As I ran past U-Bahn stops, I thought about how nice it would be to just jog down the stairs and take the train home. Then I thought about how I would have to write a blog post about my first DNF and how I ran the NY Marathon with a broken toe, and what kind of excuse could I possibly make to justify stopping. That is when the motivational speeches/cursing at myself began (another 5K behind me). At that point, I was just about to the 20-mile mark, and I knew I would be able to squeeze about 2.5K out of the energy surge of seeing Neil and his parents again at which point, I would only have a few miles left. I did a lot of mile-kilometer math. I have grown accustomed to mile markers and judging my pace and how I feel based on how many miles I've run and how many I have left. The nice thing about kilometers is that the markers come up a lot more frequently, so you really feel like you're getting somewhere. The problem is that I had to really think about where I was and how fast I could continue to run and when I could make that last big push to the finish (which killed another 4K and had me at the 41K mark). Most of the time, I can kick it up a notch and have a nice strong finish, but alas, that was not the case. I had nothing left in the legs and it was all I could do to get across the line. It had never felt so good to make that transition from run to walk.
As soon as I'd received my finisher medal and plastic heat blanket, I reached into my pocket to retrieve my iPhone to take a few pictures and to call Neil to coordinate the meet-up so we could go home. Sidebar: I far prefer the plastic blanket to the Mylar blanket...much more effective and not as noisy. Anyhoo, upon attempting to turn on my phone to capture the scenes of the finish, I realized that the screen didn't so much work. I mean, it lit up a kind of whitish/grayish color, but it wasn't functional. Did I mention that this particular iPhone was only a week old? I had replaced my other iPhone a week prior in Dresden because of a problem that developed with the speakers and headphone jack. I have really good luck with iPhones (I replaced my 3GS x4 in one year because of a myriad of problems), and Neil thinks it is because I take them with me running. This may be true, but don't a lot of people with iPhones take them running/to the gym? Nevertheless, now I was worried about actually being able to find Neil. I always have a planned post-race meeting spot ahead of time in case of failures of technology or people's ability to utilize technology, but after a couple of cold November afternoons waiting on a corner in NYC and a bit of wandering around here after a 10K in May, I wasn't super confident.
As I made my way past the tables of water, sweet tea (far preferable to the watered down Powerade being offered), and non-alcoholic beer (in Germany?!), I finally reached the family reunion area where I was pleasantly surprised to see the rest of the Senkowskis waiting for me! After a few pictures, we made our way to the train and headed back to the apartment. We had to cross the marathon route to get home, so we did a bit of cheering for the runners still on the course, and finally, we were back.
I was actually relatively happy with my time, 3:33:41. At the halfway point, I was on track for just under 3:30, but I knew that wouldn't hold up. Overall, it was a great race, and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a marathon to run. I think it would actually make a great first marathon with predictably good weather and the flattest course I have ever run. Here is the overall summary:
Expo: C
Event Shirt: Incomplete
Weather: A
Start Area: B+
Finish Area: B+
Course: A
Overall: B (Tough to overcome the lack of shirt)
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| Happy to be finished! |
For the first time since I can remember, I have no future marathons on the schedule. I am hoping that I will be able to find a race somewhere in Europe and turn it into a trip for us. I signed up for the Berlin half marathon in April as a small consolation, and I am trying to find a 70.3 Ironman to do with Neil next spring as well. There is also a 5-day race in Morocco (Marathon International des Cedres) that a few of the Olmsteders did last June. When we had a visit this summer from the Saunders' who are currently in Rabat, my interest was piqued, and the more I look at it, the more I want to do it. For now, the days are getting shorter, and the sun doesn't really come up until 0800, so I can enjoy the occasional chilly 8-10 miler and just be happy with the leaves shuffling underfoot and that it doesn't have to be longer.
Coming up on So, We Live In Germany:
- Midwest Senkowskis come to town
- Searching for a babysitter in Berlin
- The culture of the Kinderspielplatz* (playground)
*I may never actually write this one, but if I do, expect a lot of cute pictures.
Bis zum nächsten mal, Freunde!
The Istanbul marathon: run from Asia to Europe! Next November...Come visit! It's nov 11th this year, I hate running so I'll be doing the 8k just to run across the bosphorous. And for the shirt.
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