I'm back!

That was a great weekend, much of it already beautifully described elsewhere.

While Beanz was off at Den Hague, I went to register for the race with some of her club mates. The expo was small but I really wanted to buy some of these. Unfortunately (for me) they had sold 'really well - better than expected' at Berlin, so they weren't any in my size. They sell online though, so I think a pair may be making an appearance soon! After that, I went off to the Rijks Museum despite it being mostly closed. I'm sure it was undergoing works on my previous trip to Amsterdam in 2000. Anyway, I enjoyed The Masterpieces exhibition and now I'll have to go back again when the New Rijksmuseum is open. Lunch, some shopping for munchies, back to the hotel and then to collect Beanz from her travels. I had to convince the man behind the desk at the hotel that I could walk faster than a snail (he was telling how long it would take to reach a metro station).

On Saturday evening, we opted for staying in and not watching the tv. I got involved in a lot of faffing about so I think the M-word was finally starting to loom large. Finally. I went down to breakfast at 8am. The place was heaving! Full of skinny runners and less lithe creatures too. A shortage of mugs found me drinking my coffee from a cereal bowl, at least I didn't have to improvise spreading butter on my bread roll. I met up with the two folk from Sinfin who were doing the full-on experience and we made our way. I don't know if we hadn't read the instructions clearly but the route to the Olympic Stadium seemed to involve more than a 360 degree circumnavigation. Or perhaps it just seemed like that. We ignored the first portaloos and found ourselves queuing with some very athleticky looking people, you know, no body fat, those sort of people. There was some funny group limbering going on too. I should have taken some pictures. Baggage was chaotic. I've never understood why, when all runners have an allocated number, that some races will still invent a new numbering scheme for left luggage. This system involved a big sticky label on your bag and a small label (with the same number...) being stuck on your race number. Not too bad, you might think, until you saw how many of these little labels fell by the wayside on the 42km that followed.

The start in the stadium was really good, quite atmospheric. I met a forumite who is also a local club member - that was nice. Anyone asking my target for the day had been met with a shrug and "Under 5, hopefully", so when the start line arrived I broke into a gentle plod, aware of the distance ahead. I'd worked out that 7 minutes per km would see me in on 'target', so I was keeping my eye on that. This was the first marathon I've done where there were km markers rather than miles. My first km was done in 6.34 but I decided from there on only to record the 5km as they passed. On the first small lap in town, the crowd atmosphere was good and my running was easy. Then it was off to the south and some out of town scenery and a run by a big canal. I'd actually done this bit before - the last time I was in Amsterdam! By now, the crowds were thin to non-existent. A surprise then, at 14km or so to have someone shout "Come on 26point2". Obviously a chap local to my club who recognised the vest. It made me smile. He crossed over on this small out and back stretch and cheered me again just after 15km. Later on at about 30km, he shouted "We meet again", people can be lovely.

My heart rate was good in the early stages and my pace felt surprisingly comfortable. I'd even run with and then dropped the 4.30 pacing group. Hmmm. Pay-back time was sure to come. Between 10 and 15km I was having ominous thoughts about the workings of my nether regions and finally gave in and had a loo stop just past the 15 km marker. At a portaloo which had no queue and was clean, dry and replete with paper! The loos seemed to be scattered randomly along the course. I felt better but needed a second visit and literally ran into another toilet cupboard as the door opened with someone exiting. I was not happy. This might be the start of a bad day. The 4.30 gang had passed well along the path by now and I thought I'd simply carry on as I was, happy in my own little world.

Half-way was reached in 2.15, so sub-5 was on the cards. I kept my pace going and wondered when it was all going to go wrong. After all, the non-training regime had been adhered to quite rigorously. However, I was overtaking people and wasn't slowing. I really couldn't work it out. My normal race occupation of working out my possible finish time commenced and I was starting to think ooh possibly 4.40. I caught the pacing group again, which was a bit thinner by now. The feed stations were at 5km intervals and this worked ok for me. The conditions were superb - cool but not cold, bright but not too sunny - if it had been warmer then cupped drinks might have been cursed. Each stop had water, gatorade and sponges and, after the early stages, banana too. Yuck!

After an industrial estate it was back to town and I really was confounded by the fact that my legs were still moving at a reasonable pace (for me!). I had not walked at all. In the very few last km it finally dawned on me that sub-5 may turn into sub-4.30 WOW. And so it was. I turned into the stadium, again a great setting , and I crossed the line at 4.35.57 on the clock and in 4.27.05 chip time!

My splits:

5 km 30:20
5-10 km 31:14
10-15 km 32:04
15-20 km 33:12 (includes loo stop)
20-25 km 33:13 (includes loo stop)
25-30 km 31:18
30-35 km 30:39
35-40 km 31:06
Net time 4:27:05

Not bad

I met up with Beanz later on and gave her a big hug.

To complete the training log, listed a little while ago......

January 51 miles run, ~40 miles bike
February 45 miles run, ~40 miles bike
March 57 miles run, ~40 miles bike
April 91 miles run (includes 2 marathons), ~40 miles bike
May 26 miles run, ~250 miles bike
June 28 miles run, ~350 miles bike
July 65 miles run (includes 52.4 ultra), ~350 miles bike
August 25 miles run, ~420 miles bike
September 87 miles run, ~240 miles bike
October 16 miles run (excluding the marathon!), ~90 miles bike.

I'm not sure what it all means in terms of completing my fastest marathon for three years and my sixth fastest (of 19) overall, perhaps I could sell the secret to RW?

Thanks especially to Beanz though, if she hadn't invited me along I wouldn't have done a sub-4.30 marathon this year. I also wouldn't have had such an enjoyable time!