Barcelona Marathon - 42k

Very happy with 3h06m25s!!!! It is no PB, but after two years of finishing well above 3h10m with difficulties during the last 10k this year I was on the 3 hours schedule half way and kept running well untill the very end, eventhough finishing with the Parallel does not allow for sprinting in the end, since it goes uphill noticebly.

After getting up really early and having some toasted bread and banana for breakfast I left home around 7h15. At the subway station I met my neighbour who would run his first marathon today. It was rather cold and drizzling and we walked in the direction of the hall where we could leave our clothes. This year they separated the runners into two groups, one in a hall on the left and the other in a hall on the right so me and my neighbour had to split up to change into our running clothes.

So we took a picture and wished eachother good luck. We were asked to change outside, so I quickly took of my clothes, dropped my bag and started an easy warmup. With some 10 minutes to go I went to my box we we all patiently waited for the start while tiny drops continued to fall down. The start was slow. Eventhough I was in the second box, it took me about a minute to cross the start line and the pace during the first meters was very slow. After passing the first kilometer in 4m30 I started to pass other runners jumping on and off the sidewalk. In theory I started in a group that wanted to finish under 3 hours, but the pace was well above that. The second kilometer was the same and when the 3 hour pacers passed I joined the group that was chasing them to pick up pace. The first 5k passed in 21m30 and soon we turned onto Gran Via and we started to have more space to run. I left the group behind since it was rather irregular running with the people in the group changing position all the time. I started to feel more comfortable and I passed the 10k mark in just over 42 minutes now running on the schedule I wanted and and even running up Passeig de Gracia did not break my rythm like the years before. Upto the 20k mark I was feeling ok, but between 20k and 25k I had a moment of feeling uneasy. I slowed down to 4m30 per kilometer pace and found my rythm again. This year I only drank water and swallowed down gels with it at the 15, 20 and 25k marks. In general that went very well and also with the cold and rainy weather I guess dehydration was less of a problem. When passing the 30 mark I knew that I would be ok untill the end and just concentrated on running form and cheering on other runners that had to stop and walk or stretch because of cramps and other typical "last 10k events". The uphill of Parallel was tough but I did not break down and I was really happy with how the race went today. With more specific marathon training I think I can still break the 3 hours a second time. Maybe next year :) !

Meanwhile my neighbour from upstairs resisted well and finished in 3h58. Many congratulations!!!