After only just getting over the jet leg and trip to Budapest I was off to Frankfurt. The initial build up had gone well, but the last 4 weeks not so well. However, I had the confidence from finishing 10th at Copenhagen Marathon in May and ran a PB at the GNR. I was still hoping to run the England qualifying time of 2.23
In the summer I had traveled up to the Sport Hub at Wolverhampton University. I met my coach Dan Robinson who works in the Sport Psychology department. He performed my 2nd lab test on me to measure my VO2 max and more importantly my lactic turn point (LTP). The LTP determines the speed at which I should successfully be able to run a marathon at. Mine was between 17.5-18.5 kmh, which would be under 2.21 pace for the marathon (more on these results in another blog post).I arrived in Frankfurt the day before and attended the Expo, where I also dropped off my Maurten 320 nutrition bottles. As I was in the Sub Elite group the bottles were to be piled on a table with all the other sub elites. More on this later.
The conditions were as expected for a race in later Oct. I set off behind the elites and England Team runners on a course that is known to be fast. I used my HR and watch to ensure the initial pace wasn't too fast. However, I knew I needed to find a group running my pace to settle in. This was easy as the field is so deep at Frankfurt. It does make it hard to get your water bottles though. At the first table I hadn't placed a bottle as it was too early, but I noticed that there was about 50 bottles randomly spread out over 3 tables. The race went to plan and I was on pace. The next water station I wanted to grab my bottle, but this time it was more like 100 random bottles, impossible to spot and grab at a walking speed, let alone our pace.
Out of the 6 nutrition bottles I required, I only managed to get one, that was a lucky grab at the bottles and just happened to be mine. I did accidentally steal someone's at one station. The race drinks weren't great as they were given out in plastic cups and hard to drink. Plus it wasn't the right balance of carbs that I had been practicing with. I had be splitting 1 pack of Maurten 320 between 3 x bottles filled with about 250ml.
I was still on pace through halfway and feeling ok. I as now in a group of 3 others, who all looked comfortable. I got to 32km and remember thinking how heavy my legs were becoming. I still had 10km to go and was running out of energy. I was in a deficit due to the lack of carbs (and probably race fitness)/ My pace slowed greatly. With 5km to go I was now due to finish in 2.26 rather than 2.23 and I was struggling. Thoughts of quiting usually come and go in races and I have never had a DNF. This would be my first in my running career. Instead of finishing under the disco lights of the stadium, I pulled to the side of the road and walked back (I wasn't the only one!)I wasn't too demoralised as I had completed most of the race at a pace i needed and on reflection can see how my build up and nutrition strategy affected my results. The marathon isn't like shorter races. You need to find out what works for you and learn from mistakes. I will learn from this a put a better plan and support in place for London Marathon in 2020.
The race marked the end of competitive racing for the year. I would recover and build up over the winter for the races in the new year.
The next blog post will be on the highlights of 2020 so far.
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