Running With Jack

On Saturday, May 24, 2008, I successfully ran my 10th marathon, the MLP Marathon in Mannheim, Germany. The marathon is a city marathon beginning in the center of the city and winding though the neighboring towns of Neuostheim and Sechenheim to the east, back through the city and over the Neckar River bridge to Ludwigshafen, Mundenheim, Rheingonheim, Hochfeld, Niederfeld and finally back to the finish.

Based on my experience running the marathon in 2005 I knew that parking is always a problem for this race, so we arrived about 3 hours before the 6:10 p.m. start. We found a parking place about a quarter-mile from the start and we worked to the Rosengarten, a large conference center near the start. In the front of the building my wife and I bumped into the other two members of my running club who were also running the marathon, Conny and Gerd. We chatted a few minutes and agreed to meet at the start of the race. After picking up my race packet my wife and I parted, she went shopping and I decided to go to a nearby park where Conny and Gerd were waiting for the beginning of the race. I sat with them for an hour or so, then rejoined my wife in front of the Rosengarten about 45 minutes before the race.

After using the bathrooms in the center we walked outside and joined Conny and Gerd. About 20 minutes before the race my wife went on to meet some friends at a nearby restaurant, and we fought our way through the crowd to our starter block. Conny and Gerd were trying to break 4 hours and I was going to use the marathon as a training run, so we were in different blocks, but I lined up with them anyway. They were still trying to talk me into running the race with them – I decided to start with them and bail out when I felt the pace was beyond what I trained for.

It was around 26C/79F, quite humid and dark gray clouds were threatening as we waited for the starting pistol. After an eternity the starting pistol went off and we waited to move forward. I hit the start button as we wobbled over the start mat and we were off.

Conny was our pacemaker as we set off, quickly setting on about a 9-minute mile. This felt comfortable for the first 5K or so, but after slowing to get some water at the 5K first aid station, Conny picked up the pace to about 8:30/mile to make up for the seconds we lost at the aid station. I hung with them, but when they didn’t slow down again I started questioning whether this was such a good idea for me. They eventually slowed some, but I knew that if continued at this pace I would not be in any shape to continue my 50-mile training next week – so I bailed out around the 9K marker and took a pee break.

I took off again at a slightly slower pace, probably around 9:15/mile, eventually passing the 10K marker in 55:24, about 4-1/2 minutes ahead of my planned pace. My legs loosened up a bit with the slowed pace and I cruised along and enjoyed the sights and the crowds gathered to cheer us on. By this time we had circled around Seckenheim and were on our way back to the center of Mannheim.

We passed within a block of the start but turned north and made our way to the bridge that crossed the Neckar River into Ludwigshafen. Somewhere past the 16K/10M marker I turned onto the entrance ramp that led to the bridge. The bridge was the only hilly part of the race and three years ago when I ran my first marathon here I stormed over the bridge and was rewarded with severe cramping later on. I took it easy this time as I covered the almost 2-mile stretch and entered Ludwigshafen feeling strong.

The course wound its way around the streets of Ludwigshafen and eventually I passed the halfway point in 2:02:01, a good 10 minutes ahead of my planned pace. The course continued on down a long street that seemed endless. It was still warm outside and from time to time a few drops of rain would fall. The humidity was quite high and although I had been drinking water regularly I could feel the effects. I was still cruising along at about a 9:15/mile, but as I neared the 25K/15M aid station I hit a low point. I think this was more of a mental thing – my legs were aching a bit from the had streets, but nothing out of the ordinary.

When I arrived at the aid station I took some time and drank some isotonic drink, ate half of a banana and a piece of sport bar. I walked for about 2-3 minutes, then headed out again. The kilometers clicked by way too slow for my taste at this point, I wasn’t having fun. I stopped and walked through the next water station at around the 27-28K point, then picked up the pace again. I repeated this at the 30K (18.6 miles) point, crossing the timing mat at this point in 3:16:48.

Somewhere along this stretch I had a heart-to-heart talk with myself and decided I was letting my watch control me. This was supposed to be a long TRAINING run and, even though I had slowed my pace, I was still treating this mentally as a beat-the-clock race.

Just before the 32K/20M marker I took a walk break and walked through the marker and formulated my plan for the rest of the race. I had a pretty good feel for when I was starting to push the pace out of the comfort zone – measured mostly by my quads, so decided to run 12-15 minutes, followed by a 1-2 minute walk break.

I ran to the next aid station, just past the 34K marker, and walked through downing a sports bar and some isotonic drink. I ran on to around the 36K marker, then powerwalked a couple minutes until I reached the entranceway to the bridge that would take me back over the Neckar River. As I started running up the bridge most around me started walking. This inspired me to continue and I ran over the bridge and back down into Mannheim. I walked through the water point at kilometer 38, but then continued running.

The streets were crowded with cheering fans so I pushed on past the 39K and 40K markers, the latter being only a couple hundred feet from the finish line. But this course is cruel in that it runs more or less by the finish line and takes you out on almost a mile out and back. I knew this, and as I left the crowds behind I took a quick minute walk, then plodded on.

My legs were still working and after another eternity I finally rounded the turn that would bring me to the finish line. With the lights of the Rosengarten in my sights I plodded my way down the street, actually picking off a few people as I went. Finally with about 400 meters to go I picked up the pace and as I ran through the roaring crowd, actually sprinted the last 200 meters over the finish line!

I hadn’t looked at my watch since the 30K marker, so was quite surprised to see that I finished in 4:37:15, a very satisfying time for a training run. I guess I will find out over the next couple days if I overdid it and need extra time to recover. My 50-mile race is less than 5 weeks away!

Gerd and Conny finished a good half-hour before me, Gerd in 4:02 and Conny in 3:56. For Conny this was good enough for her to finish 3rd in her age class (W50). I believe this was a new PR for Gerd, I congratulate both of them on a super race! When its time for me to break 4-hours I know who can pace me in!