{"id":344,"date":"2011-03-05T11:20:38","date_gmt":"2011-03-05T11:20:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.andrewtully.com\/?p=344"},"modified":"2011-05-11T12:05:05","modified_gmt":"2011-05-11T11:05:05","slug":"barcelona","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.andrewtully.com\/?p=344","title":{"rendered":"2011 Barcelona Marathon… bare legs and running shoes"},"content":{"rendered":"

In keeping with the old saying “the lesson of history is never learnt” during the last 3 months I skillfully pushed back, dropped and ignored huge chunks of my training schedule for this marathon. This was going to be the one to break 4 hours but the combination of Christmas and winter were\u00c2\u00a0working\u00c2\u00a0against me. \u00c2\u00a0Some might say it was my own fault but I don’t talk to those people anymore. Preparation and training was poor to say the very least. I missed all my long runs with the exception of the most important 20 miler. I missed most of my midweek shorter runs too and I knew I was in for a hard race.<\/p>\n

I had planned on running with some others from Ireland and Belgium but as time went on they all dropped out through injury and other issues but being the tight fisted git that I am and having booked the flights and hotel I was going regardless. Luckily Barcelona is one of my\u00c2\u00a0favourite\u00c2\u00a0cities, and\u00c2\u00a0Spain\u00c2\u00a0is one of my\u00c2\u00a0favourite\u00c2\u00a0countries… I was looking forward to getting back there and exploring those bits of the city that I hadn’t managed to get to before.<\/p>\n

I flew in very early the day before, getting in for breakfast. Once checked in I headed to the expo to collect my number, timing chip, t-shirt and whatever else they wanted to give me. I spent the rest of that afternoon pottering before a traditional pasta dinner that night before retiring early. The very last thing I did that night was panic… there was no way I could start… \u00c2\u00a0I simply hadn’t trained enough… or at all… how insane was this? I called my best friend… she calmed me down and\u00c2\u00a0convinced\u00c2\u00a0me that I had to start, there was no question about that. She also \u00c2\u00a0suggested that I carry enough cab fare just\u00c2\u00a0in case\u00c2\u00a0I do get into trouble but the bottom line was it’ll be OK. I slept well that night.<\/p>\n

The next morning I was up very early and one of the first down for breakfast. Guests in running gear trickled in as I ate as healthily as possible. \u00c2\u00a0The hotel was within easy walking distance to the start and finish, \u00c2\u00a0and proved to be popular among marathoners, when I left the entire breakfast room was full of bare legs and running shoes.<\/p>\n

I joined a group of English runners for the walk to the start. We talked about the challenges of training through the winter, of course I lied and agreed that while \u00c2\u00a0it was hard to get out to run it had to be done… gotta stick to the plan!<\/p>\n

With my luggage checked in and joined the ever growing line of runners behind the start line. I knew I wouldn’t finish in any less than 4.30 and to my horror the slowest\u00c2\u00a0category\u00c2\u00a0was 4.30 and higher. \u00c2\u00a0Surrounded by pensioners, potential medical emergencies and comedy moments waiting to happen I mingled until the starting gun sounded the\u00c2\u00a0beginning\u00c2\u00a0of a great run through a great city.<\/p>\n

I love races in Europe, they do food so well! In Ireland and the UK races are well supplied with water and gels, just what you need to get around the course. In\u00c2\u00a0Europe\u00c2\u00a0they feed you! Each water station had a variety of food options; fruit, nuts, biscuits, chocolate… wonderful!<\/p>\n

The weather was perfect as we started; the sun had just risen, it was dry and the temperature was cool. I started slow and\u00c2\u00a0steady, keeping to my 10 minute mile pace as closely as possible. The route was amazing. We passed so many of the city’s best sights and the support was terrific. I really enjoyed the run and passed the 20 mile mark without any issues, my cab\u00c2\u00a0money\u00c2\u00a0was safe!<\/p>\n

The last six miles got progressively harder but I was within reach and knew I could do it. I had last nights words of advice running through my head, they were pulling me to the finish line. When I made it across I was so happy with my 4:45 time, that’s a pace of\u00c2\u00a010:51, not too far from my planned 10 minute mile pace. \u00c2\u00a0According to my Garmin I burned\u00c2\u00a03943 calories but I\u00c2\u00a0guarantee I inhaled that amount and more at the frequent food, er… water\u00c2\u00a0stations.<\/p>\n

My first Marathon of 2011 in the bag! Next is\u00c2\u00a0Luxembourg\u00c2\u00a0in June and this time I will stick to the plan and YES, I will beat 4 hours!!!<\/p>\n

Finally, the view that greets you after \u00c2\u00a0crossing the finish line:<\/p>\n

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In keeping with the old saying “the lesson of history is never learnt” during the last 3 months I skillfully pushed back, dropped and ignored huge chunks of my training schedule for this marathon. This was going to be the one to break 4 hours but the combination of Christmas and winter were\u00c2\u00a0working\u00c2\u00a0against me. \u00c2\u00a0Some […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-race","category-running"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.andrewtully.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.andrewtully.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.andrewtully.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.andrewtully.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.andrewtully.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=344"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.andrewtully.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.andrewtully.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.andrewtully.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.andrewtully.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}