Haven't blogged for a while so a bit rusty.....this was the marathon where I was aiming to run 3.15......that was my target...I flew out with my friends Ash and Tom who were both running the marathon as well. Tom running his first and Ash running his 2nd, Tom had hardly done any training for this run, longest training run being 12 miles, so I was quite worried for him, Ash had trained very hard......not having a drink for 4 weeks pre race and was in good shape.We flew out on Saturday, then had to go to the Olympic stadium to pick up our race numbers and chips which was a mission but got there in the end, on the way back to the hotel we bumped into a Women from Israel and got chatting to her and she said she was having a pasta party with 20 of her friends at the hotel and invited us. We all had a lot of pasta, me 2 plates worth (That's a p.b), Tom 1 and half and Ash just the one plate then we went back to the room and went to sleep at 9 - pretty sad ...3 lads in Amsterdam asleep on a Saturday night at 9am but we were all pretty focused on the task in hand and there was an opportunity to have drinks on Sunday night. We woke up at 7.15 showered up and we were off, we all just had shorts and t-shirts on as didn't bring any tracksuits..school boy error as was f8cking freezing- excuse my language. People were staring at us on the way to the marathon thinking who are these chumps, we were like the mighty ducks...everyone else had hats, gloves and tracksuits on...I was freezing, I am not very good in the cold as it is. We arrived at 8.30 and went into the running exhibition to keep warm, I was looking at all the trainers...love running trainers, pretty sad hey but there you go. I was p8ssing a lot so had to keep going to the toilet, we headed over to the Olympic stadium at 9.15, got in there and waited on the track and took another wee, then I left Tom and Ash as I was starting in the 3-3.30 section where Tom and Ash were starting in the 3.30-4 section. Tom did look worried and was a little quiet that morning and I can understand why, in all honesty I was worried for him. I went and stood next to the 3.15 pacers and my aim was to stay with them the whole way. There was great atmosphere in the stadium, music playing..lots of people, I was thinking this is quality, this is what a big marathon is like...so the gun went and we were off, first mile was 7.39 which was a little slow for 3.15 pace but I honestly think this helped me as I normally go off too quick, the marathon started off through the city, was congested for the first few miles then we got going.There were lots of people cheering on the sides and music playing, was a great atmosphere, the music was playing...it was brilliant, I was feeling pretty strong, I was taking a gel every 40 mins, first marathon with gels and no salt tablets.When I got to 10 miles, I needed to go for a no 2 and was starting to get worried as couldn't see a toilet, I was thinking could I hold it for a couple of hours, it wasn't going to be possible...I came across a toilet at 12 miles luckily, done the job and was off, by this time the 3.15 pacers had passed me...I caught them up and turned in 1.36ish and was on track for 3.15, I felt pretty strong.When I got to 15 miles I was running with the the 3.15 pacers and thought I feel really good, I have more in the tank, I thought I am out of here and started running 7.10, 7.07,7.11 miles..was on fire, I ran the whole way to the end in miles under 7.30...no wall, finished in the Olympic stadium with a time on the clock of 3.14ish but on my watch it was 3.13.46, checked the chipped time this morning and it was 3.13.48 so pretty accurate.Yesterday was possibly one of the best days of my life, what a relief to break 3.15, I was buzzing, I got some water and bananas and sat down at the Water balloons where I was meeting Ash. Ash came in saying he had ran 3.39, he was very happy with that ...he checked this morning and had run 3.35 so great run from him, he was happy...it's great when you see one of your mates finish a marathon.Ash has talent running his 2nd marathon in 3.35, he has really got into it, I see him smashing 3.30 next year.Ash and I waited around for 4 hours to pass as that is what we agreed with Tom, he wasn't there so we headed back to the hotel, getting the wrong tube back, managed to get back, bath and lie down.I was sitting on the bed worried about Tom, he walked in about 45 mins after us, he ran 4.19...this is possibly one of the greatest sporting achievements, to run a 4.19 marathon without much training and the longest training run of 12 miles was an epic effort, I was very happy for him, he got his medal and he was happy.We went out to a nice Argentinian restaurant and had quiet a few beers in the Dam Sq...ended up rather drunk which isn't the best recovery, I have felt ill all day today but was worth it.So 3.15 is now done, my next target has got to be to break 3 hours..it's on my radar, it's in my head, bring on next year....what a great marathon Amsterdam is, very well organised and a flat one, I highly recommend it.
Garmin report - http://connect.garmin.com/activity/53516033
Race analysis and photos- http://evenementen.uitslagen.nl/2010/amsterdammarathon/index-en.html
