Day 133.

Distance: Marathon.
(Unofficial) Time: 3h56'08

More later (I need to rest).

7:12pm

Official time: 3h56'07

Let me start with the positive obvious: I finished my first marathon, my number one goal when I set out to try and do this thing, and I did it in less than 4 hours, my second objective. And to top it all off I didn't get injured. This is great and a source of pride.

Having said this let me quickly add that I'm not happy with the way I ran the race. I didn't quite follow the strategy I had planned of running each 10k in 55'. I ran the first half in about 1h52', more than 4' much too fast, and the second half in 2h04', totally unacceptable. The final pace per kilometer was 5'36, not too far from the planned upper limit of 5'30, but that 6'' difference gives a total of 4'12'' in the final mark. I think that a possible mark could have been around 3h50', had I followed the original plan. My absolute best might then be around 3h45'. Perhaps this is something to prove someday.

I didn't really enjoy the race, even though now in the comfort of my living room I may start drifting away from this early impression. I got up at 6:10am and had a breakfast (two toasts with marmalade, two bananas, and a bar of black chocolate). At 7:25 my neighbour and I took the bus that would take us to the starting point. (My neighbour, who is my age, is an amazing marathoner. He has only taken part in Valencia's marathon, but today was his 13th time or so. He has a brilliant personal best of 2h40'. Today his time was 2h43'. He is thin and light. He is a celiac too.) We reached the place and stretched and got ready for the race together. This was very nice of him, but, to be honest, I was longing for a bit of solitude.

I started too fast and could never really find a comfortable stride. The first 10k were over in no time, 51'49 at a dangerous pace of 5'11. At kilometer 13 I had made contact with the 3h45' pilot. I should have stayed there but I overtook this group and went ahead. Not much later, around kilometer 18 I noticed that all was not well with my pace and that pilot and his group overtook me. While my pace was declining I still felt not too bad. It was at about kilometer 25 that my foolish start was taking its toll. There was little energy left in me and the last 17 km opened before me as a menacing divide. It was a real challenge to make it to the finish line. The mere fact of keeping myself running and not begin to walk became a real struggle at around kilometer 34. At that point the number of people walking along the edge of the road was growing and I had the first acute wish to do that myself when a guy with whom I'd been keeping company on and off during the last 20 km or so stopped abruptly in front of me. By the provisioning stalls of kilometer 35 the scene was a complete mess - the ground was full of the usual scatter of bottles of water and most participants were walking in pain or were stopping right away. I kept on running at a ridiculous pace and had to fight the constant orders from my brain to stop running and start walking. My fatigue was complete and the wish to stop was almost impossible to remove. The wall is not an imaginary concept. It is real and ugly. My mind was obstinately persistent in its orders and to overcome such constant flow of continuous commands was my best victory for today. I have no doubt that if I had stopped and walked then and there I wouldn't have finished the race. By kilometer 38 a couple of friends on their bicycles saw me and started to cheer me up from the sideline, riding alongside me. That was a fantastic little boost of energy that took me to kilometer 41. The last kilometer at the City of Arts and Sciences was definitely very special and quite a moving experience. I had pictured many times myself reaching the finish line and how I would react to that. All the pain was gone in those last few meters. I must have certainly smiled and clenched my fists.

My legs and feet ache quite a bit now, they are all stiff.

This is it, then, the end of this blog. I don't have any reason to go out and run tomorrow, let alone to write down my impressions … but I suppose I will go out anyway to run a few kilometers to stretch my tired legs ...

Day 132.

Distance: 3km
Proposed time: 18'30
Actual time: 16'29

10:08am

A short run to loosen up my muscles. The air is pretty chilly in the morning. It'll be like that tomorrow at the start, sunny but chilly, about 10 degrees centigrade. Which means I'll be freezing for about 20 minutes in my shorts and running shirt before the race starts.

Today'll be a relaxing day, even though I have a few activities in the agenda. In a few minutes Alberto and I will go to his weekly basketball game. And in the afternoon I have to take him to his rehearsal with his band, and pick him up later in the evening.

I felt very happy today as I jogged. I feel indeed very pleased to have decided to take this challenge. It is not only that my fitness has improved, it goes beyond the purely physical challenge. It seems as if I have proved something about myself to myself, something good.

Total training distance: 1076km.

2:46pm

Back from the basketball game. Alberto's team won (54-45). He scored 20 points, his season's best. Ready now for a carbohydrate-rich lunch.

5:25pm

I, I wish you could swim
Like the dolphins, like dolphins can swim
Though nothing, nothing will keep us together
We can beat them, for ever and ever
Oh we can be heroes, just for one day

(David Bowie's Heroes)

6:47pm

All the stuff for tomorrow's ready. Fastened the bib with four safety pins to my brand new Mizuno running shirt. Screwed the two screws of my glasses and checked its strap. Cleaned some mud off my running shoes. Chose my preferred pair of socks and my favourite running shorts. Took a small towel, a neck gaiter, and a T-shirt and stuffed them in my backpack. Wrote the bib number in a special purpose adhesive label and sticked it in my backpack to get it back from the cloakroom after the race. Got a muesli bar and a glucose gel and put it in a small pocket of my bag, along with a small vaseline case. I'll add two bananas tomorrow morning, and the cell phone too. The afternoon's turned to evening.

Day 131.

Rest day.

The clock on the web page of the event is about to reach the final countdown. What once seemed distant and even unlikely has become close and will soon materialise. Countdowns are a bit unnerving, come to think of it. Time is so fishy a concept.

Day 130.

Distance: 6km
Proposed time: 35'30
Actual time: 31'39

Almost there. Got an email today from the organizers with last minute instructions and my bib number. I'm runner number 3280.

Day 129.

Distance: 8km
Proposed time: 46'00
Actual time: 42'12

A light run. Being careful not to force or anything, trying to avoid an injury so close to race day. Heel in better shape. There's posters already around the city about the race, and the starting and finishing areas are already built. On two days time I'll go grab my bib. Weather forecast predicts no rain for sunday. No butterflies in my stomach. Yet.

Day 128.

Rest day.

Thank goodness, as it's raining cats and dogs.

Day 127.

Distance: 6km
Proposed time: 35'40
Actual time: 33'00

This is going to be quite a relaxing week in terms of mileage. I will be taking it easy in all the remaining training, trying to relieve a bit the strain I feel in my left heel. Nothing that prevents me from running but still, it would be better if the pain went away a bit. I focused on my gait today, keeping a vertical posture and running with a forefoot strike as best I could.