Back in October, I started a thread about my running the marathon. Well, tomorrow’s the day. I’m going to finish my first marathon in under four hours if it kills me.
In the past five months I’ve spent 70 hours running over 750 kilometres. I’ve done a 31 kilometer run at a speed that puts me squarely at a four-hour marathon. I can do a Yasso 800 in 3:22. I’m in the best shape I’ve ever been. All the training is behind me, I’m as prepared as I’m going to be, and now it’s in Og’s hands and my feet.
Wish me luck, everybody. And if you’ve got a wish to spare, also wish that it’s not going to be too hot in Stockholm tomorrow.
I checked the marathon website. They have pace teams running. Look for the yellow flags for the 4:00 hour group. The weather forecast doesn’t look to bad-low to mid 70’s. Good luck.
Good luck to you! I’ve finished two marathons (even if I said after the first one I’d not ever think about running another one), and it was a great experience overall. One note: If it IS too hot, please, don’t overdo it. Better to finish in 4:30 than to be carried away on a stretcher, is what I say. And: Pace yourself in the beginning, your body will thank you for it in the end…
Best of luck to you! Here’s some advice I received last year, and it’s what got me through my first under 4-hour marathon- walk through all of the water stops. That 30-45 second walk every mile will allow you to conserve a surprising amount of energy for the end of the race, yet will not slow you down significantly. Whatever you lose in time will be more than regained by continuing to run strong post 20-miles.
Plus, knowing you’ll have that opportunity to take a little break every mile does wonders for the mental marathon- and if this is your first, you’ll soon discover that half of the challenge is mental.
Remember- at the 20-mile mark, the race is half over. The physical and mental struggle for those last 6 miles is equivalent to the first 20, so pace yourself.
It’s all about pacing- resist the temptation to run the first several miles faster than your normal pace, and it will be tempting. You’ll feel great, the crowd will no doubt be pushing you on, and everyone running together will boost your energy. But RUN AT YOUR OWN PACE- you’ll be conserving energy for later, when you’ll pass all of those that passed you early on.
I have watched the Stockholm Marathon, and it looks like a great race. Far more low-key than Boston, at least, which is the only other one I’ve seen in person. Gorgeous route too, along the water and through Djurgården.
Actually, a few years ago I saw someone running it in a full-body Kex Choklad suit, throwing out mini-Kex bars. That’s who I’d look for!
Thanks all. I’m all about pacing myself in the beginning (I’ve wrecked myself in past races), but at the same time I’m starting way back with a lot of slower runners in front of me, so I think I’m going to go somewhat quicker for the first couple of kilometres or so to get rid of the crowd, and then slow down to a four-hour pace.
Of course, some runners advocate a faster first lap, but I think I’m gonna say nuts to that. Not choking on the second lap is kind of my thing.
Not what I would recommend, but to each his own. IMO, there is a TERRIBLE problem with people starting WAY further up than they should. If you are aiming at 4:00, I recommend you start at least with the 3:45-3:50 folks. If you start at 4:00, you’ll spend way too much physical and mental effort weaving thru all the folks who should be back at 4:30 and further.
If you get slowed down the first mile, it can be VERY hard to make that time up later. I recommend you set your pace, and just aim at sticking with it. What is 4:00? Something like 9:16/mile? So just aim at 9 min miles. If you run one at 8:45, slow down and run the next at 9:15. Make a plkan and stick with it. Then in the final 2-3 miles, see if you have anything left to punch in.
Drink at EVERY water/drink station. And just keep putting one foot in front of the other.
I just took up running recently, and while I’m still in the infancy of this sport (my limit is about 2.5 miles right now), the marathon is hopefully somewhere in my distant future. I’m going to tell you right now I probably have no chance in hell of ever doing it in under 4, though! Damn man!
It’s always an inspiring thing to hear about. Best of luck! Don’t forget to give us a race report!
My brother has been running marathons for about 20 years and I’ve been watching him run since he ran cross-country in high school (about 30 years). Dinsdale’s advice sounds right to me.
It didn’t kill me, but I still failed… by less than a fucking minute. I’m both pissed and joyous. Pissed because it wasn’t the heat, my medical condition or my shape, but crowds of slow, slow, slow, slooooow people that screwed me. Joyous because - well, I’m in much better shape than I thought. This was a bit of an anticlimax. I expected a grueling event with at least the last ten kilometres being agonizing, but no. The last four were tough, but that was it. I kept expecting the wall or at least some serious fatigue or pain, but it never came. I completed my first marathon in almost the time I was shooting for and could have kept going. So now I know that; next year I’m going for 3:30.
Dinsdale: wasn’t my choice. I was placed way back since it was my first marathon, so I had no previous results to use as a base for seeding. There was no seeding based on expected result or anything like that.
What I am intensely proud of is my second lap. I passed the halfway point at 2:02, got pissed, and picked up the pace. By the 32 kilometer mark, I had caught up. Unfortunately, shortly after that point is Västerbron, a bridge that is the tallest and longest hill on the course. Lots and lots and lots of really slow people, many of them walking and few of them hip to the concept of allowing people who are still running to pass. By the time I had three kilometres left to go I looked at the clock and realized I had to average a five minute kilometer for the rest of the course. With 39 kilometres behind them, my legs didn’t cooperate, and I didn’t make it. By less than a fucking minute. Still, I did the second lap more than three minutes faster than the first lap, despite the fact that the second lap follows a hillier course.
I’d like to thank Maxim Energy Gel, which has but one ingredient: pure win, made from the juices of the awesometree fruit.
Good to hear that you made it to the end Priceguy. I was watching the runners from my window and it looked like a tough race with the heat we had on Saturday.
Priceguy I was in Stockholm last year when they ran with the temps up towards 35°. I really felt sorry for the people running then. Was it the same this year?
(what I really mean to say - can I be expecting great summer when I td in Sweden later this week )
It was somewhat cooler this year (last year was the hottest in the race’s thirty-year history) and I didn’t find it too harsh, actually. I kept in the shade even if it meant a slightly longer distance, I kept my cap wet and I drank as much as I could.
I think you can expect a great summer, WormTheRed. Whereabouts are you going?
Sounds very similar to my experience. I ran a few seconds under 4:01, with a first mile somewhere around 13. I started at the 4:00 mark, but spent the entire race trying not to break stride as I made my way through assholes who had started too far up. In Chicago you run with 30-40,000 of your closest friends, so the first mile is pretty much shuffling along elbow to asshole.
Like you I was expecting debilitating cramps, projectile vomiting, and hallucinations. But nothing. Just 4 hours of putting one foot in front of another. Yes, there was some feeling of accomplishment in having set a goal and completed it, but IMO not worth the effort and sacrifice involved.
Unlike you, I have no intention of running another. Heck, in the year after my marathon I had my left knee scoped, which I believe was attributable to the training. Then this spring I had my right great toe cleaned out, and will probably never run again.
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