14 April 2019, Sunday, 42.3km Enschede Marathon (Certified)

A week after Rotterdam, i tried running the Enschede marathon. Now, a run down on the back-to-back marathon running for the memory bank.

The weather

It was a cold start. I had to suit up, 2 top layers, long pants, and a pair of gloves. Brrrr…

The race

My beloved pacer de Haas was not going to pace me in this race. Gertjan ran a brilliant 3.09.36 for this race *salut* while i struggle to finish the race at 3.50.52 *haha* Now, why a struggle? Perhaps, running back to back marathon isn’t meant to be easy *doh*

I looked for the 3.45 pacers with purple balloon to follow. I lost sight of the purple balloon after 21 km of the race. I must say that i was rather happy with my pacing upto km 21, keeping 5.12 average pace consistently, however, all hell broke loose after km 22. I was too ambitious to think that i should try for a 5.10 to 5.12 pace when a week earlier, the average i did over similar distance was 5.15. Come km 30, i averaged 5.18 which is the same average pace time as Rotterdam, but only this time in Enschede, i felt rather sloshed. I do not have any memory of events that took place between km 22 to ~ km 31. All i could remember now was, as we loop into the center (with the half marathon runners) before we turned left to continue the second half, a gust of wind blew into my face and body sending shivers down my spine, and with no external distraction, no spectators, no loud music and bands playing across wide-open field (just like another training day), coupled with an already tired body, at that very moment, my motivation level dropped, so did my pace.

At some point in the second half, i manage to follow the 3.45 pacer who were running at a current pace of 5.20 but after 1 km of running, i was dropped off again. My legs felt heavier than usual. Fuel wise, i only brought 3 gels with me, and lost 1 in the first 2km of the race. I ended up taking a lot more sports drink at the water post (perhaps new to the body), it caused some abdominal stitch from km 32 of the race. The only distraction was my watch which i switch from an average pacing to current pace to keep pace at 5.35, or try to… I see that there are peaks and troughs in my run splits, which can only be caused by 2 things, the tall trees along the bos (Garmin cannot handle tall trees intercepting with the GPS measures! – frustrating), or that i pushed to maintain the desired pace.

The consistent challenge i experience in each race lies in the struggle after km 32 – 33; lack of long trainings (>35km) and food. I do want to get to a level of “comfort” running at a consistent pace at the second half of the marathon. Fingers cross.

Definitely a thumbs up – feeling stronger coming out of each long race. And that sense of completion which lingers for a good period of time.