Bericht vom Malaga Marathon

Heather, Daniel und Robert finishten am letzten Sonntag den Marathon in Malaga. Sicher eine gute Alternative im Dezember im schönen und noch warmen Andalusien – nach dem Motto „Sun and Run“! 🙂

Hier die tollen Resultate:

Heather 3:32:05 h

Daniel B. 3:42:20 h

Robert 3:46:02 h

Herzliche Gratulation und gute Erholung. Gewonnen wurde der Marathon von Barnaba Kipkoech aus Kenya in schnellen 2:08:18 h.

Hier der Bericht von Robert (Danke Robert):

A summary of the marathon and how I reached Malaga. When in 2019 autumn I had a relapse after the compartment syndrome surgery, I was not sure I can run seriously again and I had even more doubts whether I can ever run a Marathon at all.  One and a half year later after a long break and with an experimental conservative treatment I could restart running. First, once then twice a week. I slowly built up the distance without any interest in speed. Chi-Running and Constanza Lisdero helped me to run effortlessly. As my second past-injury event I ran with walk breaks (4 min jog, 1 min walk) my first ever marathon. 4:51 minutes at the Schwarzwald Marathon, which included 500 m elevation gain. The successful Marathon showed me that I can run if I am careful so I started to train more regularly, also aiming for a decent speed.  I attended the trainings of the  Basel Running Club. I had two goals in mind for 2022:
1. The Maccabi game triathlon in the summer where I represented Switzerland.
2. The Malaga Marathon to which I registered in May. István Őry was the mind behind my trainings. My legs did not alliow to run more than three times a week, and often I had only two runs. On most weeks i only ran 30-35 kms. The exceptions were the weeks with the obligatory long, slow jogs. Once 28 km, twice 30 km, once 32 km, and once 35 km (5 weeks prior to the Marathon) In the final weeks my long runs became shorter, but I added some speed trainings. These final 3 weeks are called tapering. While I like all endurance activities the long runs are not always nice. These are the cornerstone of the training plan. One may skip a recovery run or a short, speed training but not the long run. I had to plan my weekends accordingly and once when it was logistically not possible to run my 30 km on a weekend I started my 30 km on Thursday evening at 19:00 My friend Fumi was a great companion.
Malaga
With all the long runs done, but with the low mileage I was sure that I can run the marathon but only if I am careful. Based on my 1:39 half marathon time with a perfect training a 3 h 30 min (5 min/km pace) would have been realistic. Though, after the reduced training I targeted a sub 3:50time, knowing that if everything goes very well I may finish under 3:45.
I started the run very conservatively. Based on my trainings and my 5 h 35 min half-ironman in September I knew that the marathon would not be difficult for my cardio-vascular system and lung, but if I am not careful I may end up limping after 30-35 km. It is important to note that my long runs were deliberately much slower than my target race pace. I knew that the final kilometers are  in unknown territory aka blind spot. I ran the first 26 km in cruising mode. My pace  was 40-45 second per kilometer slower than my half-marathon pace so I could even chat with a seasoned marathon runner. It was like a journey to the real starting point. I started to use my mind to evaluate my legs, my tiredness after that point. As I felt the initial signs of calf tiredness I continued with a moderate pace. I consumed gels every 5 km starting from km 20. I felt very well after 34 km. My legs were ok, my HR increased gradually but was still well below the the zone in which I start to deploit my reserves quickly. In km 35 I started to accelerate to under 5:10 from the 5:22-5:25 cruising pace.
In km 40 I accelarated further to 4:44-4:55pace which was close to my half-marathon pace. I finished the marathon strong. The 3:46:02 time was in line with the efforts put to the training. It is a good feeling that I see further potential to improve my time.
In hindsight it is easy to write that I could have been less conservative in my pacing and could have easily finished 2-3 min faster. But I do not regret my pacing. I did not want to take any risk jepoardising the goal.  Istvan Ory thank you again for the training plan.
Goals for next year: More triathlons, less running. This year I realised that I prefer the versatility of the training to olympics distance, or 70.3 triathlons to Marathon training. Furthermore, my calves and Achilles tendons can cope much better with shorter runs and longer rides.

The second half of the year depends whether #Maccabi Suisse participates at the pan-American games in Argentina. If yes I will focus my training to that event.

Another Marathon? I do not plan but do not exclude to run in late November or early December in the Portuguese, or Spanish summer.

My Malaga Marathon was a great excuse to escape the winter, and enjoy the local meat, wine and 21 degree after the race. Coming back to -7 was a real shock. 😀.

Stolzer Robert mit Medaille…! Bravo!