THe JPH Experiment- The Race of Truth

What happens on race day, and how we overcome setbacks is very much an individual thing, but here is what my latest marathon was like.

In cycling an Individual Time Trial is deemed the race of truth, as it is an event where you can't hide. You have to ride the whole time alone, against the conditions and course. You either have the legs and power to put out a top performance or not.  A Marathon is no different.

If you have not put the work in, if you have start at a pace that you have not prepared, or if do not apply yourself throughout the race then the truth is going to come out.

I had no idea in all honesty what I was capable of running the marathon in.  I was able to produce tempo runs that indicated that if everything came together I should be able to hold 3:33-3:36/km.  The great unknown with the marathon was being about to put it all together for 42.195km.  This was also made a little bit harder by me running in a suit.

I decided in the last week that a pace around 3:45/km should be comfortable, but not too foreign to my legs, which would put me berween 2:40-2:45 and I had a running buddy that would go out at around the same pace.  After a quick message our plan was set.

And that decision turned out to be my saviour.  

As I mentioned before the forecast was due to be cold. I hoped that it would be dry ,but unfortunately before I left the house, while I was waiting to go to the toilet, and within the first kilometer it poured down.  Obviously the conditions are the same for everyone, but the thought of running through rain soaked roads, in heavy rain, and in a rain sodden business outfit was not something that made me excited.

After just over 2km the first hail storm came and there was so much hail on the road that on the next uphill section that we were slipping on the hailstones.  At this point I said to Marcel that only the hard were going to come through today.  

Running in the suit did not feel that bad and it was different running not so much on the edge, as I would be trying to run 2:30.  

After a couple of kilometers this Marathon started to be enjoyable, as the weather improved, I could see some familiar faces on the course and the next part of the course is very beautiful, as you look down on the Elbe and Harbour.  What was interesting was that despite that Marcel and I ran a steady paced effort we did not have anyone else to run with, but that was fine. We were having a good time.  

Through the first third our pace was perfect, it was fun, and we got to see and slow for our support groups.

Around kilometer nineteen things started to get weird.  Our pace stayed even, but I started to feel bad. I started to feel really bad.

I had told my athletes that no matter how we feel during the marathon the important thing was to keep running. Left foot right foot. We went through halfway bang on target and I felt great again.  

Through Stadtpark things got better again, and someone was pumping out, “Viva los Vegas” by Elvis which made my smile a little bit bigger.

One thing that I did notice during the bad spells was that I felt restricted in my knee drive. I tried to adjust that, but there was a reason that I did not think about.  Due to heavy rain (we had another hail shower at 22km) my pants that were not totally lined had glued themselves to my thighs.  This would not have a been a problem if the material was flexible like Lycra, but unfortunately it was not. So they were stuck and my legs kept moving and moving them, which unknown to me they were chaffing my mid-thigh away. Everywhere else was okay, but that part is still healing.  Otherwise the suit and my craft sports boxers were really good.  This did explain why I had the feeling of being restricted.  On the plus side this rubbing did come from the added restriction and this made the race harder, but it showed that I really was fit.   

Once we headed towards the northern part of the course I had a really dark patch and I thought I would have to let our little group go, and they did actually get a gap on me.

At this point I abandoned the idea of running another marathon this spring, and decided to use my mental and physical strength to get through this one , as I felt like it was going to be s bit of a fit.

However, when I we turned the corner my legs were great again.  I caught the group again as we caught another another group and I ended up on the front again with Marcel.  

Ohlsdorf is another highlight and from there you know that you are on the run home.  From here the race was about to begin.  

I returned to a tactic that I had used well in New Zealand and in Heilbronn, and that was to split the race into two parts.  The first 32km and a 10km race.

The idea is to get to 32km not broken, too tired, and fueled.  Then the 10km race starts. I find it easier to focus this way and also counting from 1-10 is better because when you think ,”OK 35km down just 7 to go” you still think 35km is a long way and I should be tired. 3 down 7 to go is much better.

At Hamburg this helps because at this point  you are running back towards the city, so it is a bit like a point to point race.

We had a small, but good group of runners and that helped keep the pace going through what is a tough section to run because it is just long straight road.  This is normally a big disadvantage, but for me it was an advantage as I could see that the leading runner in a suit was coming back to us at a pretty quick rate, which was a motivating boost.  

My aim the whole race was to focus on me and what I could get out of myself, so it was good that things were coming back into my favour, but there was still 8km to go.  Which is a long way at the back end of a Marathon, so I knew I had to use the strength, energy, and motivation that I had wisely.

Around this stage I had a conversation about how we were going to approach the last section, and I knew I could not run much faster, but I knew I had a good last kilometer in my legs if I needed it.  So we just kept moving along until around kilometer 35 I could not hold Marcel's pace anymore so I shouted to him to run his race and I can still keep going.

At kilometer 36 things changed totally for me, as a slight downhill phase allowed me to change my stride a little and, as a result I could move quickly again and I ran my fastest kilometer of the race. This section was largely benefited by the cheer squad from The Tide Runners, which is the biggest running crew in Hamburg. That bought me very quickly to kilometer 37, and this was the point I picked out to be the point to lift things if I had anything. As it was it was also the point where I caught the first runner in a suit.

It was a little weird as I caught him in a section that was narrow due to road construction and there was even less room, as he had a runner and a mountain bike rider beside him.  I was unsure whether to keep my pace up or to kick, but this was where the racer in me took over.

I found space and kicked.  

I became a racer again. No more calculating, no more thinking about my clients, family life, or work. Just pushing it.  

Run.

Over the next 300m I ran between 3:04/km and 3:15/km, which was possibly a bit too quick, as I felt it after.  However, I knew that because I had caught the other runner, so quickly that he must be just hanging on, so if I kicked past mentally it was going to be a really tough move to recover from and respond to.  

The next two kilometers I still ran really well and was focusing on catching people in front of me.  This worked really well and despite suffering the pace was good. However, before kilometer forty I lost my focus on the runners in front, noticed how hard it was getting, and as a result my pace dropped off, which actually made it harder.

It seems funny that a reduction in pace actually makes things a lot harder.  In training dropping down in pace in between efforts is actually easy and it gives yourself a chance to recover. However, I find that if your running at the race pace slowing down because you lose your focus, or decide that you want to “jog it in” it makes things really hard, as you have had been in your groove for a long time and have also trained at this pace a lot (ideally), which means anything slightly faster or slower than this rate is completely foreign.

That was certainly a case for me during the last two kilometers. I didn't run really badly, but because I knew I didn't have to crush it in order to be the “first suit” I just took my foot off the gas pedal a bit too much, and I lost my rhythm.  I felt good running the last 400m and was able to pick up the pace a bit and a few runners to cross recline in 2:42:48. A time which is faster than the actual Guinness World Record for a Marathon in a suit.  However, that does not mean I am the world recorder holder. The application and approval process takes a lot of time and it will be a while until it is or is not approved.

The fact is that I was faster than the Guinness World Record for a marathon in a suit, which also requires you to wear a shirt, tie, and vest. I was also the fastest runner in a suit in Hamburg.

After the finish I was naturally very exhausted, but after a few minutes I started to feel ok.  I could walk ok, and there was a bit left in the tank, but not a lot.  The Marathon despite it’s pain and discomfort was actually a lot of fun. I got to see a lot of friends, family, and familiar faces on the course, Marcel and I clocked off the kilometers and could chat along the way, and I could enjoy the sights and sounds along the way.

What was a little weird was the big swings in feeling, but it was luckily something that I thought my happen since it was the first time in a few years that I had run a marathon near or on the limit.  Part of me expected there to be bad patches, and I had advised my client about this.  

Sometimes you just have switch off and let the legs go to work.  Left Foot right foot.