Sunday December 7th, a bit warm, got up to about 22 or 23 degrees and of course I'm now starting an hour later than previous years. It sucks being slow. I had found a new energy gel crowd called Mynystry, German brand which I tried a few times and liked. BUT, I broke a golden rule and purchased new shit at the Expo the day before!!! I even joked to the lads selling it, What could possibly go wrong? (Nothing did) The race day package included a powder to mix with 500 mls of water to take before the race, 3 'normal' gels, a reset gel and one last caffeine one..... (This is the most organised I've ever been with hydration and nutrition and I think it worked really well. In fact the wife gave me an extra bottle with a carb mixture at km 13 and a flat coke at km30). Fueled up like a fooking junkie I was. Set off at slightly faster than target pace and tbh even though I knew it could backfire, I thought, fook it, stick at this pace. Up to about km 30 I was feeling decent enough. Passing people slowly, no knee pain (what the heck?!?) and breathing and all quite good.
The old calves were tightening up mind and I only just avoided actual cramps. The only time I stopped running was at about km 34 where I asked a guy to spray one of the calf muscles. They were sore, well tender, by now but I seemed to know that they weren't going to cramp - don't ask me how. I think the slowest 5k split was 30 to 35. I now decided I needed a strategy of pep talking to myself. I started saying shit like, "Ok lad, get to the turn for home at km33. Then we're heading towards Plaza España... Ok, 5k to go. C'mon we've got this. Bullring at km 39, 3 fooking kms to home" I was talking out loud and didn't give a shite if anyone was looking at me funny or anything. Lots of people walking and hobbling by now, lots. So I was passing a good few. I think I managed to increase pace a tiny bit after km 35, splits suggest I did anyway, if only by a second or two. Crowds were fairly massive towards the end, holiday weekend, lovely weather (for spectating!) and I knew I could get emotional but held it together till I finished. I was a tiny bit pissed off to have missed the 3.40.xx - by a few seconds - but I quickly copped on to myself. Had a few sobs after I got the medal and sure that's it really. I'm going to try to keep up the leg exercises next year and I think I'll forget about marathons for a bit. Twould be nice to try to get a little bit faster at 10k and maybe a Half or two.
From July to December I lost about 6kgs and i think this helped. I was off the booze for lots of that time, would have a beer or a glass of wine once a week. This was a big change for me! Oh, the cholesterol stuff. I stopped taking my pills for the last 6 days and popped a strong painkiller for the 3 evenings before the race. Did it help? I think so. Unfortunately, not taking the meds probably isn't a long term option.
2025 is a wrap. Bring on the new one. Happy running, Proccers.
