So... The Berlin Marathon...It was a lot of fun! I think not training very hard makes the whole thing more enjoyable since there was no performance pressure. And I PRed anyway!
Hanging out in Berlin before the race, I drank lots of beer, ate many pastries from the bakery on Lisa's block, and had some German food, which is mainly meat and potatoes in some form or other - It was goooood! I think I broke every pre-marathon eating rule.
Lisa lives in Berlin, so I ran the race with her and her mom. Although we really only ran the first 12 miles together or so, since I had to stop to use the portapotty and then I lost them.
I only walked through the water stops. That was my main goal - to not walk this time. I figured that if I met that goal, that I would probably PR.
The weather was rainy. That wasn't fun. But much better than the heat!
Other highlights:
*Germans are totally line cutters, which makes the portapotty line miserable.
*This was the first race ever where I had to use the portapotty in the middle of the race. I am so glad I finished in 5:11 and not 5:03 or something, or else I would have been kicking myself for the portapotty minutes.
*I only did two runs longer than 14 miles - a 15 miler and a 20 miler. So I was ready for the collapse at mile 18 or so. But by then you are so close, you have to finish!
*It was marked all in kilometers. Thank God for Garmin. Too bad Garmin was a half mile off by the end. (And I even got a new one! Not the old crappy one I had!)
*We ran past lots of historic things of which I have no recollection. This is argument number one against destination marathons - the city is a blur.
*I do remember running through the Brandenburg Gate. That was about half a kiometer from the end, but the way it was described by the race, it sounded like the end, so I totally sprinted through the gate only to see the finish line in the distance. That was brutal. But running through the gate was cool. And there spectators for the last km, even for us slow folks.
*My last 2k were the fastest splits I had all day. Nothing like wanting to finish to get the job done!
*After the race, despite there being a changing tent, everyone just got naked on the grass near the Reichstag and changed there. Oh the Germans! We all would have been arrested for indecent exposure in the US.
*The rain made for some major chafiness. My tank top chafed at the arms holes, by belt thing I put blox in chafed around my stomach, my running skirt chafed in all sorts of unmentionable places that made walking miserable.
*It's a lot of fun to run these big races! All the people makes it more enjoyable. I am thinking of doing Chicago next year.
I only walked through the water stops. That was my main goal - to not walk this time. I figured that if I met that goal, that I would probably PR.
The weather was rainy. That wasn't fun. But much better than the heat!
Other highlights:
*Germans are totally line cutters, which makes the portapotty line miserable.
*This was the first race ever where I had to use the portapotty in the middle of the race. I am so glad I finished in 5:11 and not 5:03 or something, or else I would have been kicking myself for the portapotty minutes.
*I only did two runs longer than 14 miles - a 15 miler and a 20 miler. So I was ready for the collapse at mile 18 or so. But by then you are so close, you have to finish!
*It was marked all in kilometers. Thank God for Garmin. Too bad Garmin was a half mile off by the end. (And I even got a new one! Not the old crappy one I had!)
*We ran past lots of historic things of which I have no recollection. This is argument number one against destination marathons - the city is a blur.
*I do remember running through the Brandenburg Gate. That was about half a kiometer from the end, but the way it was described by the race, it sounded like the end, so I totally sprinted through the gate only to see the finish line in the distance. That was brutal. But running through the gate was cool. And there spectators for the last km, even for us slow folks.
*My last 2k were the fastest splits I had all day. Nothing like wanting to finish to get the job done!
*After the race, despite there being a changing tent, everyone just got naked on the grass near the Reichstag and changed there. Oh the Germans! We all would have been arrested for indecent exposure in the US.
*The rain made for some major chafiness. My tank top chafed at the arms holes, by belt thing I put blox in chafed around my stomach, my running skirt chafed in all sorts of unmentionable places that made walking miserable.
*It's a lot of fun to run these big races! All the people makes it more enjoyable. I am thinking of doing Chicago next year.
Er, that's it! I'm off to do an easy 7 miler before I head to Hawaii tomorrow for a conference. Life is rough. I know.
