Ambition
- Goal time: Go sub 3 hours (Old PB was 3h14)
- Ideal time: Beat 2h55
Preparation
The middle-high mileage 12-week Pfitzinger program peaks at 113 km per week. It also allows for two tune-up races to benchmark your fitness. I added a 10 Miles race to support my friend running his first marathon in Antwerp (and to smash that 1h12 10 miles PR).
- The last two tune-up races equate to a predicted marathon finish time of 2:54:57 according to Greg Maclin’s moderate estimation.
- No cross-training was added to the running, you can blame my thesis writing for that.
- Nutrition-wise I tried to limit the jet lag effects by not eating meat after lunch. By putting protein on my plate in the morning (yes, meat included) and carbohydrates in the evening, the overall jet lag should be minimal. Eating this way also makes you an unintentional vegetarian about half the time. Saving the planet one step at a time.
Location
- Gold Coast was the first Australian city I ever visited. It has the type of beaches, weather and people I previously only saw on holiday posters. If you get the chance to grab an acai beach bowl and walk along the sandy beaches with a local, please do. Memories like this can shape your mental happy place 🙂
- I got lucky and ended up staying in the apartment of the friend of the cousin of a close friend of mine. Everyone was incredibly OK with me rapidly trying to sleep away my jet lag and I did make an effort to discover the local coffee shops and corresponding lifestyle. Highlight by far was attending a vegan birthday party two days before race day. Good times.
Race day
- True to form, I decided to run in the shirt of my most recent marathon race (Rome 2015) again.
- Juice is an inside joke one friend is consistently keeping alive. If you translate my initials S.A.P from Dutch into English, Juice would be the result.
- Oh, that and there is a song by Chance the Rapper that captures the essence of my name.
- Come race day, an early tram and some exquisite coffee swiftly brought me to the racing area where I arrived with time to spare.
- I stretched.
- I ate two bananas and chased them with some water.
- I stopped drinking in time to make sure no bathroom breaks were needed in the final 15 minutes before the start of the race.
Race overview
Minus 50 meters – starting line
During the final hip mobility stretches I started talking with Notable Human 1, a 50-something New Zealander with a 2h55 goal and a wise and cheerful wife.
While his relaxed vibe certainly helped with getting my mindset right, he did not mention the fact that he was a multiple national master’s title holder (!).
Goes to show that the true champion lets his feet do the talking. I parked my youthful pair of leghands next to the last pacer with a 3h balloon and did my best to smile the nerves away.
0-5 km
A 2h55 marathon requires an average pace of 4:08 min/km. Imagine my surprise to see the sub 3-hour pacers (tasked with averaging 4:15 min/km at most) take off at a brisk pace and staying well ahead of me during the first 3 km. While it is always nice to be blessed with the company of others, I was worried about the folks attempting to go just below three hours. Around km 4 I pushed away from the overeager pacer pack and settled into goal pace.
4:11 – 4:06 -4:05 – 4:06 – 4:08
6-10 km
Or so I thought. No music was used this time around, which caused me to ride the adrenaline wave with passion and blissful ignorance. A few fast clicks couldn’t hurt too much right?
4:07 – 4:00 – 4:05 – 3:59 – 4:05
11-15 km
Nope, apparently I had my heart set on a 2h51 finish. Could not go wrong. A couple kilometers before southern course turn I had a chance to look at the race leaders passing by at what would result in a 2h09 finish. It vaguely reminded me of the wind displacement caused by passing trucks. Their facial expressions told me that there must be a large demand for lemons among elite runners. Sour. Looks.
3:59 – 4:01 – 4:01 – 4:05 – 4:00
16-20 km
Around this point, Notable Runner 1 was running next to me. As we cruised at my interpretation of goal pace (too fast), a side stitch caused him to slow down to a walk. I asked him if I needed to hang back a bit, but he was convinced he needed to take a breather first. Slightly confused I continued along my merry way towards a new half-marathon PR.
4:02 – 4:01 – 3:57 – 4:02 – 4:04
21-25 km
Passing the halfway mark around 1h26 elicited a modest cheer on my part. A tiny group of runners caught my eye. Notable Human 2, a professional Australian triathlete, was on her way to an off-season sub-3-hour marathon. Her coach and pacing friend were both making light of a 2h48 finish, so I decided to join the club.
I would like to dedicate the 3:58 km in the middle there to Jess’ Coach, who insisted that redlining is something you always do at a marathon. Around km 25 I let go of the small team of über-athletes, simply because redlining was costing me my sub-3-hour potential -_-
4:04 – 4:03 – 3:58 – 4:09 – 4:02
26-30 km
I like to think that this is the last part of the race that went by fast. I knew that I had spent some crucial energy on bad pacing decisions, so the rest of the race would be about salvaging that sub 3.
4:02 – 4:00 – 4:03 – 4:09 – 4:10
31-35 km
I caught up with Notable Human 2 shortly after the 31 km mark. As we both felt like the best part of our race was behind us we decided to stick together. After you officially board the suffer train, good company is hard to come by.
Jess and I both tried to lift the mood with some playful remarks but soon even the energy cost of small talk was booked as a non-essential expense. I took full advantage of the roadside shower tunnel that sprays a cooling mist on my overheated head.
With the added bonus of no high buildings along this stretch of the coast, we got to run the last third of our race in non-stop UV radiation. I gritted my teeth and wondered how I managed to forget how crappy the final 10 km of a marathon race can feel.
4:13 – 4:17 – 4:13 – 4:19 – 4:20
36-40 km
Right after passing the 36 km mark was the last 180° turn of the course. After a dramatic last 5 km has slowed my average pace down, I suddenly heard someone speeding me by in what can only be described as a heroic marathon effort.
Notable Human 1 had caught his second breath and skillfully glided by on his way to a clean sub 2h55 finish. Looking at his even splits (1h27/1h27), this was clearly a man in tune with his potential. While my 2h55 goal already went down the drain during the earlier parts of the race, the sight of a Master-Pacer like Robbie and the sheer willpower of Jess pushed me to tough it out and see what was left at the bottom of my sisu barrel.
4:24 – 4:25 – 4:19 – 4:24 – 4:26
41- 42.195
Professional runners often get a bib with their name in big bold letters, so the crowd can easily cheer for their favorite champions. Running alongside Jess with a non-professional bib meant that roughly 5% percent of the enthusiastic spectators had time to a) read my Juice-bib and b) decide that a boy running next to a girl at sub 3 pace was worth cheering for.
I have never heard as many “You go, girl!”‘-s and “Go Jess”‘s as I did in the final 11 kilometers of the Gold Coast Airport Marathon. I kept my male ego intact by using this to explain our finishing order in the video below 🙂
4:26 – 4:20
Overall Results
- 2:56:38 net finish time
- 3 minute 33 positive split, meaning that I ran the second half slower than the first
- (Jess only had a 3 min 09 positive split, while Robbie had a 29-second positive split )
- 164th/5448 finishers
- 69.60 % age percentile for a 24-year-old marathoner, which is a solid 6% increase! 🙂
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