Frédéric

During the prep, I faced some difficulties with the marathon target pace, which I worked on over hilly sections. The days leading up to the race were complicated: a "big" trip before the marathon, and I wanted to take advantage of favorable time zones by arriving on Saturday for the Monday race. It was eventually a bad idea.

The start is at 10 a.m., the weather is very nice and it's 6° at 7 a.m. Everything goes well until the half-marathon, which I pass with a 38-second lead on my goal. In a kilometer, the real challenge begins: the 4 Newton hills.

And there, hell for me begins... At km30 I have a 24-second delay (40 seconds lost in two climbs!). At the 37th kilometer, we're back on flat, and I really want to walk, but I manage to tell myself that this desire will be temporary.

I feel like I'm dragging my carcass, unable to really sprint across the finish line... And I cross in 2h58'02". These last 16 kilometers were really the hardest I have run so far.

A small comment on the prep. I chose an 18-week Campus plan, a mix between enjoyment and performance. This meant 4 outings a week, and I cycled twice on a home trainer each week for recovery. I had some difficulties with the marathon target pace, which I worked on over hilly sections.

The days leading up to the race were more complicated. Already, a "great" trip before the marathon means lost energy in preparing the trip that isn't used to focus on the race (kind of thinking: what if my test is positive, and if I can't find certain foods, ...). I wanted to take advantage of the favorable time difference by arriving on Saturday for Monday. It was ultimately a bad idea.

Too short nights (the one before the flight, the first with the time difference and the second with the excitement of the race). In the end, if I believe the Garmin body battery, I've never been so tired, especially before a start! I feel the same way but the caffeine-shots and the positive pressure of the start allow me to overcome it.

I have two goals depending on the wind: favorable wind 2h55, unfavorable wind 2h58.

The start is at 10 am, but the famous school buses pick us up starting at 6:45 am. I had worked well on this logistics (important waiting time, risk of cold, ...) So I am prepared: several layers of patience and clothing. The weather is beautiful, and it's 6°C at 7 am. The myriad of buses, the kindness of the volunteers, the superb organization of the waiting area make it a good time, a feeling of "belonging" does me good. I use the waiting time to focus (I did the last 16 km by bike the day before) and visualize the race.

I cross the start line at 10:04 am after a perfectly sung a cappella anthem and a passage of two military planes.

The start is narrow and downhill. We start with people all at the same level (the bib indicates the qualifying time) but apparently not all with the same strategy. Speaking of strategy, I'm relying on Garmin's PacePro, which suggests changes in pace depending on the elevation, so I start "fast," and then it gets a bit crowded... No falls, not too much braking, a lot of gaps in front, and I also had to make room for those behind, even though I try to be careful by signaling... I'm overtaking a lot, all in all.

For tracking, PacePro is good because it gives the lead or lag (I'm not sure if it's relative to the course or to the time). I just put time marks every 5km on my arm to manage the GPS lag.

After 10km, 35 seconds ahead of 2h55, it's very downhill, everything is fine. At km 15, 39s ahead of the scheduled time, I feel that my legs are unusually tired for this distance covered... I realize at this point that, in the end, there is no way to stabilize the pace since the course is really not regular in terms of slopes. Yet I try to break the rhythm and especially to reduce the feeling of effort. It helps to push back this feeling of fatigue in the end (unless it's the caffeine shots).

At km 20, we start to feel the wind; until now, it wasn't strong enough. In the end, I haven't slowed down much, I'm 37s ahead at 20km and 38s at the halfway point... I don't know if it's the wind or if I've finally slowed down; I pass the 25km with 24s ahead. In one kilometer, the serious things begin: the 4 Newton uphills (the city, although the gravitational force put into equation by that famous Isaac won't be my friend).

And there, hell for me begins... I'm supposed to pass these climbs around 4'25, I pass them in 5'05 instead, it's my Base endurance roughly. After the first two, I manage to pick up speed in the downhills. At km30 I have a 24 second delay (40s lost in two climbs!) and there are still as many in the upcoming 4km, including Heart Break hill, very long. On these two, impossible to pick up speed at the summits, no more energy, really none (it's not the food, it's really that it's hard). At km35 the delay is 1'36", it's a post-race observation, I stopped looking at my watch a while ago to avoid overthinking.

The course is downhill from 34km, impossible to get back to the right pace. The last 8 kilometers are going to be long! At the 37th km, we get back on flat terrain, I really want to walk, to my great satisfaction and thanks to the 4 marathons already completed, little experience but it's something, I manage to tell myself that this urge will be temporary, I distract myself by checking with the kids. Tip borrowed from you-know-who, allowing me to get rid of this desire to walk quite quickly. I feel like dragging my carcass as best as I can, unable to really sprint to the finish line... And I finish in 2h58'02"; These last 16 kilometers were really the hardest I have run so far.

History will remember that I ran my first Sub3 in Boston, and I'm proud of it! All my times have exploded since the resumption of races, and that suits me fine as progress. I feel like thumbing my nose at fifty 🙂

Subscribed since the very beginning, satisfied with previous plans, I decided to continue with Campus for this marathon. I like that the training cycles are clearly identifiable, and I find it's the right balance in terms of volume and intensity.

The next step is October 2nd in Cologne. The goal? Less than 2h55 to get a preferential bib in my age category for Berlin 2023 (I have no chance in the lottery, it puts sports constraints!) I've just launched my Campus plan, I am calm, it is the time predicted by the platform...