When I first got to Germany, I had toyed around with the idea of running my first marathon in Germany. I thought to myself that I needed some sort of goal (Ziel) to keep my running in check. I had a few half marathons under my belt so I decided to run two half marathons in October (Cologne and Oldenburg; see previous posts). Around Christmas time, I began to seriously think about signing up for the Deutsche Post Marathon here in Bonn. Not only was it in Bonn (where I am living and working), but it was in April. Just enough time for training (January-April). So I signed up in January - and thus begun the training.
the training
Now, I'm one of those folks who don't like to follow schedules. Maybe a year ago when I was training for my first half marathon, I downloaded a schedule from Hal Higdon. I ended up scratching everything out and making my own! But what did I know about running? This time around, I told myself I needed to follow a schedule because I had heard of so many things that can go wrong with improper training and preparation for 26.2 miles (physically, emotionally, and mentally). Well, you can't teach an old dog new tricks and I'm the old dog apparently. After the 2nd week, I was creating my own plan and doing what I thought was best. If my body responded well to an increase in mileage, then I continued; however, if something I tried made me tired that day, I knew I should tone it down. I've learned from reading comments on running forums that a lot of training really depends on the individual and that person's past running history, feelings, etc.
I'm going to assume my training paid off since I finished the marathon and in an unexpected fast time of 3 hrs, 10 min, and 11 seconds! Here are the most important tidbits from my individual marathon training schedule:
1. At least 2-3 long runs of 18 miles or more within a month of the marathon. I ran an 18-miler and 20-ish miler about 5-7 weeks before the marathon. I couldn't get it closer to the race date because I was traveling around Europe.
2. Build a base of at least 50 to 60 miles per week (mpw) within 1.5-2 months of the marathon. I was running a consistent 8 miles per day and doing a longer run Saturdays/Sundays (9-13 miles). Then the day after the long run I'd rest a little.
3. Prepare yourself mentally and emotionally for the start, during, and after the marathon. Luckily, I had a friend from my institute come meet me in the morning of the race to see me off. That really helped. He also saw me at the half way point, which I was surprised. That kept me going. I knew that my friends from around the region (Nordrhein-Westfalen, NRW) were going to be at the end. While I was tanking at the end, seeing them near the Ziel was super helpful to give me that last push. More on how I felt after the run later.
4. Eat something before the marathon, but with enough time for digestion. I woke up 4 hours before the start of the marathon to eat two pieces of toast and a banana. Then I went back to bed. I don't usually do well with food in my stomach, so I woke up super early.
5. Plan your recovery after the marathon. I read online that one should reverse-taper and basically invert your marathon training plan the 1-2 weeks before the big race.
6. Sip some water at each water/food station and walk. While I usually hate drinking water during races, it did help to give myself some walking breaks.
the big day
As I mentioned, I woke up 4 hours before the start of the marathon at 6.30 am to get food in my system. I went back to sleep and woke up to the sound of music, which I assumed was for the half marathon, which started at 8.30. Luckily, the start of the race was near the university main building (Uni Hauptgebäude); literally less than 5 minutes. Also, the running course (Laufstrecke) went by my dorm as well (okay, like 1 min away).
I met with Cristian right before the race started who gave me some awesome words of wisdom before the race. There were only about 1600 full marathon runners out of a total of about 12000. They still split us into groups. I was black according to a dot on my bib. Apparently the "black" dot runners were in the very front! I was super nervous!
Some videos of the start from Cristian.
The weather was supposed to be interesting. According to the forecast, a high of 52 degress Fahrenheit was expected, but which some showers. I decided to wear my lucky running shirt (my first half marathon shirt from Moscow, Idaho's race - Emmie Law Memorial Run) with my light Mountain Hardwear Running jacket. I also wore my knee-length running tights, which I've been wearing since winter and have been used to. Something different I did was put vaseline on my nipples! Haha. Most def helped. I didn't want to be bothered by chafing like with Andy in The Office (the episode for the rabies fun run b/c Michael ran over Meredith!). This turned out to be a good idea because after the marathon I saw a runner with red streaks down his running shirt. I assumed it was blood from his nipples, which had chafed. Super scary!
When my foot touched the RFID-mat, I knew I had to start out slow! I was running 26.2 miles and I needed to conserve at least some energy. Because I had taken the Saturday off and only run about 4 miles on Friday, my legs were a bit stiff. In the first 7 km, I felt I was developing shin splints! I was so worried. I thought to myself, how can I finish this goal that I've had since January if I'm already feeling injured in the first half hour of the race! Luckily, the "pain" or whatever subsided and my legs were in full swing. The first half went well. I finished the HM in about 1:30, which is still pretty fast. So, in hindsight, I may still have been going too fast! Near the Rhine, I saw Cristian again who had come to see me before the 2nd half! I was so grateful for that.
I read something online that I should try to sip water at every water/food station. I decided to follow this because I didn't want to be thirsty and dehydrate myself. I also walked at each station while drinking water. This was my time to (1) drink water without having it spill all over the place (I have yet to master this) and (2) walk and rest my body a little. While I usually don't like having water in my body running, the increasing heat during the day made it a little warm. When clouds would cover the sun, the ambient temperature was perfect.
During my only two long runs, I actually packed a tiny packet of Haribo gummy bears with me to get some sugars to sustain my energy during longer runs! I decided to pack a little plastic baggy of raisins during my marathon. I will have to remember that it was (1) freakin' difficult to get the raisins out of the bag and (2) awkward to eat them while running. I think I did pretty well without eating much during the marathon. I'm afraid of trying those running gels, but I feel like I did run out of energy near the end of the race.
The second half went off well, but I could feel my body beginning to tire. I don't know if I like kilometer markers or mile markers better. Kilometer markers are nice because there are more, but it also makes it seem like you have further to go. Because the Bonn Marathon was just a half marathon route run twice, I knew where the tiny climbs were and I knew how much further I had. I don't know if I really did hit "the wall", but I think I "scraped" it during the last 10 kilometers. My body just felt sluggish. Mentally, I kept thinking, will I finish? When is the next water station coming up so I can walk? Should I walk now? Will I make it? What if I just give up? I truly experienced the mental wall so many marathoners hit.
I remember it quite vividly. I was on the main street heading towards the Post Tower. I past Deutsche Welle and started to walk. I knew I had about 3-4 km left. Again, questions came up as to whether I could finish this darn race. A few runners past me. I remembered there was one more water/food station. I told myself to run to the station, walk a bit, and run the last 2-3 km. I was so close. I decided I needed to finish this damn race running and not walking! As I ran down Adenauerallee away from DW, the Langer Eugen (the UN Building), past Haus der Geschichte, and towards the Hofgarten and Kaisersplatz, I heard the words (or screams) of encouragement from spectators. As I entered Münsterplatz, I saw someone with long hair jumping up and down. It was Kim!
I had invited a few friends of mine in the Fulbright program to come and celebrate my finish of the marathon. Kim and Tyler (Münster), Mary (Düsseldorf), and Robert (Bergisch-Gladbach) came to join me in my post-marathon celebration (hopefully!). I had expected them at a certain place within 1 km of the finish line but didn't see them. I was a little worried their train was late or something. But within a minute, I saw Kim's wonderfully flowing hair, Tyler's hand up in the air (w/ his high school ring), Robert and his umbrella, and Mary taking pictures! Seeing them there helped push me to keep going. At this point, I think I had about 0.5 km to go. I was really trying with all my might to finish this damn race! (Literally what I was thinking!)
after the marathon
It was a relief to finally run up the yellow mats with the black Deutsche Post symbols and see a time of
3:10:11. Most def surpassed my "tiered" goals. I had initially set up a goal to finish around 3:15. After talking with some peeps I realized that may have been too lofty of a goal so I set up another one of 3:30. The night before the race I was getting butterflies in my stomach and decided that the overall goal was just to finish and I knew I could do that under 4 hrs. So I had three goals. Lol. Essentially I surpassed them all and I was very excited.
When I crossed the finished, I knew I had to keep walking. I read online that laying down or sitting right after the marathon might make stiff muscles stiffer. My legs felt like sticks and my feet were on fire. My muscles did not want to function properly. But I headed to the tents where they had refreshments and food. I headed there right away because I read online about a marathon runner who took about 5 hours to finish and there was no more food! This same race (Bonn Marathon) had advertised all this food, bars, fruits, etc (like this year), but apparently after the HM and the fast marathoners, there was nothing but like a tiny piece of bread left. (And there is a picture on his blog as evidence. I was quite determined to get SOMETHING for the HELL I just ran through. ;))
Kein Problem. There were tons of bananas, some sort of lard/butter spread on bread, rando sausages, chocolate bars, water, Apfelschorle, etc. I downed about three cups of Apfelschorle, a banana, and that lard spread (of course, with some salt on the side - typisch Deutsch). I got my bag from the storage tent and met the other in front of the Rathaus. I had three free coupons or "Bons" for food/drinks (Essen/Getränke) in the marathon tent set up at Münsterplatz, so I said we should use them. I was able to procure two beers (I had a Kölsch), a bowl of noodles with red sauce, and 4 yogurt things. I had the pasta, which gave me some needed nutrients.
I was able to find Mary, Kim, Robert, and Tyler at the Marktplatz by the Rathaus. Of course, it started RAINING when I was trying find them. Gott sei Dank (thank god) I finished when I did!
The photo (above, left) was taken 15-20 minutes after finishing the marathon. I was having difficulties walking. Mary snapped this awesome picture of me being über-confused. "Are you taking a picture?" The answer is always yes. The next photo is of Mary, Kim, and I with our awesome coats: Mary's tattered, old blue coat that has survived who knows how many trips, my burgundy running coat that I ALWAYS wear, and Kim's awesome BENCH coat. It should have been a coat party. ;)
post marathon festivities
Luckily, the HARIBO-shop in Bad Godesberg was open that Sunday so we headed down there before dinner. As always, it was an amazing experience. I ended up buying a 2 kg bag b/c it was cheaper per kg and had a few varieties I haven't had! I was quite excited, and so were Robert and Tyler, this visit being their first to the HARIBO-shop!
However, during our trek from the U-bahn stop to the actual store, we got caught in an intense lightning/thunder/hail storm! It was so bad we found cover in some building opening! I was lucky to have finished the marathon by this time! In reality, 30 minutes or so after I had crossed the finished line and met with my friends, it started raining. So the forecasters were right ... there was going to be rain ... just a little later than planned, and maybe more intense than expected!
I had made reservations at Cafe Pendel (one of my favorite places to eat/drink in Bonn). I was last there with Guilherme and a friend of his for wine. I had eyed a waiter bringing another table their food that night and the burger looked awesome. Even though I kept saying Pendel was sooo good (without actually having had the food at that time), I was quite confident. Out of us 5, 4 of us got burgers at Pendel! Haha. It was a bit silly, but I think it was worth it. The Basic Burger (6 Euros) was simply divine and came with fries (Pommes), the latter always a selling point.
A funny reenacted conversation between Kim and I at Pendel:
Julian: Oh, I highly recommend the burgers. Actually, I think everything here is really good.
Kim: How many times have you been here?
Julian: Oh, just once. I had drinks with a friend.
Kim: What? You didn't have any food?
Julian: No, but the burger looked good. I think you should get it.
Kim: That doesn't make sense. What are you drinking?
Julian: I think I'll have a Kölsch. All the beers look good.
Kim: Did you have the Hefeweizen?
Julian: No, I had wine, but I highly recommend it.
[Kim gives me that look of YOU ARE CRAY CRAY.]
Typical me. I told Mary this and she pointed out that the beer in this region, Kölsch, is pretty much the same everywhere. Stimmt.
After our amazing burgers, I said goodbye to my friends and headed back to my dorm. With my tummy full and feeling very happy after spending some time with awesome peeps, I certainly slept well that night.
the recovery
The next day, I woke up with stiff muscles. I was afraid I was not going to be able to walk or climb/descend stairs, but I was okay for that. Kim had told me a story of a friend who ran marathons and was unable to go down stairs after. So she had to descend backwards! But my shins and associated stiffness have slowly died down. I'm slowly beginning to run again. I may have run too much yesterday, but I think it should be okay!
Stats
Deutsche Post Marathon Bonn
Time: 3:10:11
Splits: 10k (00:42:48), HM1 (1:30:46), HM2 (1:39:25)
Links
http://www.deutschepost-marathonbonn.de/
http://www.cafe-bistro-pendel.de/
In addition to the main sites, I had goulash for the first time. I think an American equivalent would be something like beef stew minus the vegetables. Mary and I met up with other Fulbrighters, Torsten and Ellie (TandE), our first night and made it a quest to find a nice restaurant for Czech food. On the west side of the river, "Lesser Town" (also where the castle is located) we found a place. Our waiter first asked us where we were from. This question is always a complicated one because we are from America but currently living in Germany for a year. And most of us can speak enough German to get by or even hold a very intelligent conversation auf Deuts
