The big sleep
Left all at home on Thursday night to catch a bus in Galway which would drop me in Dublin Airport at 4:30 A.M. Car was on the blink recently and didn't want to chance letting 9 months of solid training to a 15 year old car deciding to let me down on the first leg of the journey. This would make my journey to Seville as long as if I was to run one down under. Soon I was seated beside two lovely ladies who where hitting away for the weekend for some Spanish sun, they where a tonic and had some banter along the way which made the flight seem much shorter. It was a relief not to be seated beside some uninteresting teenager/young person with a set of earphones plugged into whatever device they have on their laps. Unfortunately the rest of my journey to Seville I would be seated beside these solitary souls. Due to a delay in take off in Dublin we arrived 30 minutes late. A quick journey from the airport to the main train station ( all of 12 minutes) still did not get me there on time to catch the high speed two hour train to Seville. I had to wait another two hours and catch the slow boat to china version which stopped at every station along the way. Finally arrived in Seville and began my pursuit in trying to purchase a 3 Day tourist ticket for the local buses and trams. I failed and finally gave up trying two days later. Got a bus to my hotel and final checked in at 5 PM, nearly 16 hours since I began travelling. I venture out for some food and a walk around to get my bearings. Loads of shops, churches and Tapas bars, the place is buzzing. I get a plate of Tapas and a glass of beer. Barman doesn't seem to understand my request for a large/big beer. I later discover the reason why in the gents when I see the the label on the keg. What is on tap is 6.3% volume not beer but yellow wine. I hit back to the hotel around nine go to bed and don't wake until 9 the next morning. Exactly what is needed as I rarely sleep well the night before a race.The last run
Went for a run the following morning, it was quite chilly in the shade but noticeable warmer in the sun light, yes I managed to see that yellow thing in the sky that we haven't seen in Ireland since late September. Whilst it wasn't uncomfortable maybe it might have an impact on the second half of the race. Kept my eyes firmly glued on the ground so as not to find and holes or other things that might trip we don't want any nasty falls this close to the race. Afterwards I sat down and finally laid out my race plan, 3 Gels one at the start with 10 minutes to go, one between 5K and 10K and the final one 20K and 25K. Zym electrolyte tablet into bottle around 10K and sip it rather then drink it in the one go, mouthful of water and wet the sponge to sponge myself down at each water station. As regards time, my final MP run gave me 7:20 per mile over 3 miles. This would give a sub 3:15 but as I had not even ever considered going at that pace I plumbed for 3:20 with the option to drop back if I felt I was pushing to much to hold that pace before the 30K mark. This meant roughly 23:30 for each 5K. The slowest I could go was 24:00 per 5K as this would leave me close to but under 3:25. Anything outside of this just wont happen, I will push myself to the limit to keep this pace even if it means a DNF. So my goal is between 24:00 and 23:30 for each 5 K, easy enough to calculate along the way so I don't bother trying to make up a pace band.Pasta and then some more Pasta
A quick shower and I made my way to the Expo in the afternoon. With the minimum of fuss I collected my number and Goodie bag which contained the usual brochures and leaflets but also a running top and shorts. The shorts are a bit on the small size or more like the "you are not going out in those" comments I will get from herself in doors if I ever get the nerve to put them on. Meet up with Peter and we both went for the free pasta dinner. Was of reasonable quality and given it was included in the cost its basically free. Problem was we where queuing for about 45 minutes, so much for staying off our feet. The spare chocolate and fruit went into the goodie bag for the morning. My Hotel didn't have any special provision for breakfast so on my way back I picked up some basic provisions for the morning. Had arranged to meat up again with peter and the others in O' Neill's bar, turns out there is two such bars in Seville and I end up watching the first half on my own. Wasn't to bad really, got to remind so smart arse Welsh guy about the whipping they got two weeks ago. At half time I made my way to meet the others in the right pub. Meet up with Conor and Barry our resident lonely planet/trip adviser all rolled into one. Luckily for us as he had a table for two booked which was swiftly converted into four in an Italian restaurant which turned out to be excellent, so hats off to him. Usual banter over diner and whenever in Marathon runners company a thick skin is a prerequisite, we all had our stated goals for tomorrow but Barry was getting it in the neck as to whether he would beat the sweeper bus home or not. As it transpired he was the only one of us to better our lofty stated goals. Maybe there is a lesson in this somewhere.I returned to my Hotel full and ready for tomorrow, all that was need was a good nights sleep, as per usual this never transpired and I tossed and turned all night.Highway to Hell
You pass the Twenty Mile Marker, time to see what's in the tank, press the clutch put her in fifth gear and pick up the pace, you are now entering hell. Alarm goes off its 6:15, hell is a mere 5 hours away and I am eagerly awaiting the challenge. The last nine months have been about getting to Mile 20 today in good enough shape to kick on and bag my Boston Qualifier. All I have to do between now and then is remain calm and trust in the training and the experience I have got. Everything had been laid out from yesterday so I was ready to go within 30 minutes. Eat my breakfast in the room which consisted of two bread rolls with Honey, a banana and chocolate bars from yesterday. Luckily I bumped into one of the kitchen staff at seven who obliged and got me a croissant and a strong cup of coffee. Made my way to the nearest Taxi rank, and shared a taxi with Jose from Madrid. First Spaniard I had meet who I was able to hold a reasonable conversation with. On arrival he refused my Euro's and paid for the Taxi commenting "that I was in his Country today", A gesture I must return some day to an International runner. The start area is quite relaxed and even with over 9000 entrants there is a distinct lack of Porto Loos and their associated queues, this may be contributed by the small percentile of female runners. Only 660 or so are females entrants, which is quite strange but maybe the norm in Spain. Finally I get the urge the drop a load in one so in I jump and tick the last box in ensuring there will be no reason to visit one of these on the course. On my way to the start I meet Peter and we exchanged good wishes for the day ahead. The start is along a dual carriageway, there are two entrances into the pens and I opt for the right hand side as it means walking around a roundabout and most people seem to be taking the left hand option. Due to my lack of recent fast half or full marathon I am in a 3:30 to 3:45 Pen which I am hoping to get to the front off. With ten minutes to go just as I take my first gel we are all released so everyone surges forward from the pens towards the start. I look to my left and see that I am in-line with the 3:15 pacers so I switch sides which will at least give me a better chance of getting away quickly. The MC is yapping away getting the crowd to do Mexican Waves etc, I am not really interested just want to get under way now. The gun goes and we are off, my getaway is clean and I am up to pace fairly quickly and settle into a good rhythm but after 1K the left merges in with the right and the pace drops as I now have to negotiate slower runners and groups of runners all running across the road. Things are a bit tight for a kilometre or two but I jostle my way through using the trick I learnt in Dungarvan, elbows out and swing.Soon we go through 5K just under 24 minutes. From here I concentrate on keeping it easy and calm. 10K comes 46:4x a bit too quick so I easy up slightly. 15K is bang on 1:10:45 and I cross the halfway with 1:39:29 on my watch. A personal best for the half, I note to myself must do something about that in the coming months. I had mentioned to the lads the night before you always get a bad mile at some point, well for me it was from halfway to 25K, really felt that things where getting hard pace was starting to drop off and breathing getting hard. I just dropped off the pace for 2K which seemed to get me back on track. We hit a slight downhill so I stretched out the legs again and picked up the pace for a stretch. Even with the bad stretch I was still on track @ 25K with 1:57:5x. At this point I was passing runners and was holding back with the pace. Found at times I was getting up to 7:20 pace which while I felt good was too early to start pressing buttons. The next 5K was about trying to keep it easy but I had picked up the 30 or so seconds I lost early on to hit 30K in 2:21:16 pretty much bang on 3:20 pace. Only worry here was when I went over there was no beep, that is all I would need, nail a time and have the hassle of a faulty chip. Later heard that the live trackers was having issue after the halfway point. I am still feeling good and had decided to go for it once we come out of the section that winds its way around Plaza De Espana between 32 and 34K mark. At 34K I press the clutch, put her in fifth and prepare to enter hell. The effort goes up but the pace only slightly increases well at least its going in the right direction. We wind our way through the narrow streets of the city along the tram lines. Crowds are big here and encroaching, it also becomes a bit congested as I am passing runners easily. We round into Plaza De Duque where a band is blasting out Highway to Hell from AC/DC, I get a great lift and as we pass my hotel door there is not even any thought of stopping, its tough but I am pushing through it and the pace is still steady.
