Berlin Marathon - Run

I haven’t run a standalone marathon since Chicago 2009 (although I did do Ironman WI in 2012), so I was really looking forward to this race since signing up for it back in October of last year.

My 2013 was mostly about triathlon and I spent most of my summer biking and swimming without a huge focus on running. I didn’t start a real focus on my run until after the Door Country Half Ironman at the end of July. After that event I took running seriously.

I had done all my long runs (15,16, 18 & 20 milers) at a pace right around 9:00. This pace was fairly easy for me in both HR and RPE, so I felt pretty confident in easily matching that pace and most likely surpassing it at Berlin. I basically had three goals going into the race: 1) Finish, 2) Break 4 hours, 3) Shoot for 3:47.

Race morning rolls around and I was no longer very confident in goal #3 mainly because I had a lot of trouble adjusting to the European time change (which I always struggle with). I got horrible sleep on the plane Thursday and also bad sleep in the hotel both Friday and Saturday leading into the race. Furthermore, I was on my feet all day Friday and Saturday sight-seeing and by Saturday night, my feel actually hurt from all the walking. I knew none of that bode well for me going into Sunday if I wanted my best performance.

So I got to the start line without the kind of confidence I needed to excel. However, being stubborn I wasn’t going to change my plan until I started running and then adjust accordingly if needed. My goal was to stay with the 4:00 pace group until mile 15-17 and then I would start moving ahead like a super-hero. After the first 5 miles I was about 1 minute short of my goal, so all was good. However, at this same time I noticed my HR had never really come down like it normally does. It was still too high for the pace I was running (and definitely not in the normal zone where it normally sits). Mile 10 comes around and I am two minutes short of my goal time, which was still very acceptable to me, but my HR continued to stay elevated. I hit the halfway point at 1:57 which was good, but still a bit short of my 3:47 goal. I was happy with where I was, but I had this feeling in the back of my head that the race was not unfolding the way as my training runs had gone. I knew I needed to make some adjustments at this point, but I refused to do so. There were aid stations at every mile and I had water or Gatorade at every stop. In addition, I took about 4 gels over the course of the day (every 45’) and a total of 3 salt tablets during the race. I had no stomach issues at any point which was a big positive for me because normally I struggle with that.

At mile 15 I maintained pace and was still just a couple minutes behind goal. As a marathon “major” with 40-some thousand runners, the course was extremely congested and it seemed like it never really opened up at any point. At about mile 17 I was coming into the water station and someone cut in front of me quickly causing me to make a sudden lateral turn where I felt my calf ever so slightly cramp up. That was a message to me.

Miles 18-20 were tough and my pace had slowed a bit, but these miles are supposed to be tough and so I was okay with that. However, somewhere approaching mile 20 my right calf completely cramped up requiring me to stop and stretch. It took several minutes to start running again. Once I started running, I could tell the faster I ran the more it felt like it was going to cramp again. I ran maybe another mile at desired pace and it cramped up requiring more stretching. I eventually found if I reduced my pace to 10:00-10:30 I could run without it locking up. I kept this reduced pace until about mile 24 when out of nowhere my left hamstring cramped up badly which required a longer stop with a lot of stretching. Eventually I got that under control but could barely run anything faster than 10:30-11:00. So I hobbled through the Branderburg gate and the finish line as damaged goods with a time of 4:10.

Ultimately I finished the race and met goal #1, but most importantly I was proud of the way I handled the adversity thrown my way. Should I have slowed down earlier in the race knowing I was struggling? Yes, but I am not sure that would have given me much of a better overall time. I feel like I had the best race on that day that I could have had in light of all my issues. I know that I gave it my all and didn’t let off the throttle, so I am satisfied. Furthermore I got to spend a great weekend with friends and wouldn’t trade any of the sight-seeing, beers or fun for a better race time anyway. There will be plenty of opportunities for me to run a marathon where I am better prepared.

Doing a marathon overseas is mentally and physically challenging for many reasons. I think in order for me to have the ideal race in Germany, I would have needed to arrive in Berlin a week early and adjust to the the time difference. I would have also have needed to rest more leading up to the race.

Lots of tightness in my legs after the race. I needed to spend a lot of time stretching before moving on to the feed area.


Traveling overseas and being a "tourist". All on me.


Berlin was a special, very cool event and I understand why it is a Marathon Major. The course is awesome, the fans are great, the volunteers and aid stations are all top notch. I wouldn’t expect anything less from the Germans and they delivered a superior product as usual. GREAT race.