Amsterdam 2022 Marathon Recap

Oct 16, 2022

Training

Some background. Amsterdam is my 8th Marathon. In the past, I never felt I got a good training cycle, because of injuries during training, where I had to skip a lot of the speed work.

This time I was able to manage injuries, between a hamstring I pulled at the end of Paris, April 2022, and lingering Achilles tenderness from a year before and recurring calf strains. I was actually able to follow a training plan, without having to skip most of the main workouts and do mostly slower runs instead.

I also lost about 10 lbs I had put on from COVID.

I followed both the McMillan plan, Strava offered, and that by PPTC coach Honerkamp, starting about 16 weeks out, with a base of about 20 miles per week already.

By 8 weeks, I was putting in 50+ mile weeks, plus a longer 60 and 80 mile week.

I also had 2 to 3 quality workouts weekly for about 6 runs a week. Two of those workouts were tempo and intervals, usually Tuesday and Thursday, with the longer on Saturdays. I also lifted free weights twice a week.

A big difference, compared to previous training, was a couple progressive long runs, where I'd run slow 8 miles, run at half marathon pace 6 and 10k pace for 2, which really fine tuned my endurance levels.

Getting closer to marathon day, but not tapering yet , I could tell my tempo runs were getting easier. On one MTG session, fellow member Thomas even commented I was barely breathing during a 6 Mile tempo, while I ended up breaking away from the pack half way through.

The benefits of my training was further confirmed with the 4 minute PR I accomplished at the Dutchess County Classic Half, 5 weeks before the Marathon.

Using both the Half and my training runs, I used a couple of marathon predictor calculators that had me at a 3:10 marathon, 20 minutes faster than my PR of 3:30.

With that, I set myself to get at least my Boston marathon qualifying time of 3:20, with the goal of a 5 minute buffer at 3:15 and an overall 7:30 min per mile pace, faster than my PRs 8 min pace.

Getting closer to race day, everything seemed to be working well. With the colder weather approaching, I made sure to keep my core warm and wore calf sleeves, after learning from previous years that I tend to get calf strains when the weather gets cold (the theory here is the body priorities keeping the vital organs warm, or your core, and this draws blood and warmed from your extremities, which I attributed to getting these strains. I even bought a pair of arm sleeves to help...something new).

Travel

Starting a carb load 4 days before, I had a nice plate of spaghetti and meatballs at the airport (Thursday). And the plane served plenty of carbs for dinner/breakfast. I also drank as much water as I could stomach, since plane travel tends to dehydrate. Sleep on the plane could've been better.

I went straight to the expo after landing. And I took naps Friday and Saturday, feeling ok catching up on sleep. I never did get any shake out runs in, but walked a good amount.

For meals, I had French toast, 1 egg, 2 sandwiches and cookies the day before, and Pho Thursday night.

Race day

It was a drizzly 55 degrees...but the forecast saw the clouds parting and the sun shining later into the morning.

Taking a train from the hotel, I encountered a crowded platform of other runners waiting for the train with me.

I dressed somewhat warm to the race and removed any extra clothing to put into bag check closer to the start time.

I would usually have throw away clothing, but didn't plan well for this travelling overseas.

The croissant with strawberry jelly, plain low fat yogurt mixed with fresh banana and half a serving of a protein/creatine/glutamine shake, I had 3 hours before the start, was sitting well. I was also sipping on the electrolyte drink, provided on the course, along the way from the hotel (AA Drink High Energy).

Waiting on the port-a-potty line, Justin and Yichi (fellow PPTC teammates) approached and we chatted a bit, hoping to see each other at the start.

I dropped off my bag...a different procedure from NYRR races, as we didn't need a clear plastic bag. Instead, a numbered sticker was just put on my Paris Marathon backpack and a matching one on my bib. It seemed a bit chaotic, but worked out well.

The start was in the Olympic stadium. Spectators were allowed in the stands. There was an outdoor urinal trough carousel I quickly used (not sure what it's actually called).

The track was filled with runners. I was in the second wave, coded Pink with 3 to 3:30 expected times. In the middle of the field, runners were warming up and I proceeded there to do my leg swing warm ups and some light stretching. There was an occasional muddy puddle I successfully avoided.

Five minutes before start, I took a Maurten gel and tried looking for my teammates, but it was way too packed, so I just waited for the start.

The first wave set off at 9 and you could see them on the jumbotron. And then mine started at 9:05 (so I really had 10 mins to start). I tried to keep the 3:10 pacer in front of me and the 3:20 behind.

Everything went smoothly the first 8 miles. After already testing out the electrolyte drink the day before, I felt confident drinking it at every aid station I came across every 3 miles or so. Per Adam Devine's advice, I swished it in my mouth before swallowing.

Forty minutes in I took my second maurten gel.

I was consistently able to keep a 7:30 pace and tried to draft behind groups of runners and keep a triangle formation I read about in a PPTC group post, and that I also used in a couple training runs and the Dutchess County Half.

I was questioning whether I could keep this pace another 18 miles, but using Adam Devine's mental training, I reminded myself of some key training runs I did to help motivate myself.

In a couple of those 20+ mile long training runs, I used no fuel and just water, going just a minute slower, so I knew I had it in me and just needed to keep my nutrition instep.

I had a few second winds throughout the course, continuing to have the electrolyte drinks at each aid station and a maurten gel about every 40 mins. This was a big difference, that I think helped me from other races, where I usually just drank water and depended on my own fuel.

I made use of the sponges at most aid stations, which I've never really done before, mostly to wipe any annoying stickiness from the gels. This was actually more of a mental boost!! European races tend to have sponges at every aid station, while Americans only once later on in the course ..or I've noticed.

At about mile 13, I broke away from a couple of runners I was drafting, but then fell back before them again...maybe I got a little too confident there.

There was a girl named Elena in front of me I was running behind too, since the beginning (our names were on our bibs so I kept hearing her name called). She went ahead of me at about mile 16 after I stopped at a water stop.

My waist belt was starting to bounce and getting annoying, and I was figetting trying to tighten it. I was getting close to where I was going to meet my girlfriend at mile 18 and I was thinking of just giving her my belt, phone and headphones, which I had yet to use.

So I took out the 2 remaining gels and put them in my pocket, and low and behold, my belt stopped bouncing. I realized after the last gel I consumed, I created an imbalance.

I never did see my girlfriend on the course (train issues), which was kinda of a good thing because I was in so much of a zone, it wouldn't have done either of us any good for me to stop.

At the 17 mile point, I was able to successfully pass those 2 guys I was drafting behind.

Oh, almost forgot to mention my right quad was feeling bruised, like someone had punched it. I've had similar happen to me at the NYCM, which I always attributed to all the hills and coming hard down the Queensboro. But Amsterdam has no hills, so I was like wtf! And then I started questioning the advice I gave others to build up your quads with squats and lunges to absorb the impacts, and now my own advice was failing for me!!

But...the bruised feelings didn't get much worse and by mile 20, I barely noticed them anymore. I also told myself to visualize fresh blood flowing into my legs!

At this point, I decided to turn music on, a random Marathon playlist I found I never really tested. Oops... another thing tried new. It had a mixture of calm and upbeat music, and I skipped songs depending on my mood..and from past marathons, my mood always got sour at this point..

https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmTTRP3nUaYa2N1SZVMbn5jscIQ8qCgUS&feature=share

With 6 miles away, I tried something else new…again! At the expo I bought a Science In Sport caffeinated gel, cola flavored, I never tried before. I wanted something caffeinated at the end to help me through and I failed to get something to test out during training.

The gel settled in perfectly. I still drank electrolytes at every aid station, and added some water in too. As I started breathing out my mouth more, as I picked up the pace and needed the extra liquids to keep it from drying out.

Around mile 22, I ended up passing that Elena girl...and I started pushing the pace, surprised at how much energy I had. I did my best to keep my form strong, but admit I was slouching a bit as I pep talked myself to push through and remind myself of all my training. I concentrated on keeping my legs from overstriding, which I attributed to my hamstring strain in Berlin.

I noticed one guy going at my pace and stuck with him. I was passing runners and the plan was to really push it the last 5k. I knew my watch was at least 0.2 miles ahead of the course, so I was doing the math based on that and said at mile 23.5 I'll go all out. I kept redoing the math and trying to estimate my finish time to make sure I met my goal. From previous races, I tended to miss a mile in my calculations somewhere and it wasn't going to happen again this time.

I knew I shouldn't let up or I'd sacrifice all the other previous miles of work! Feeling the soreness and fatigue, I again reminded myself of all the training and fuel I gave myself and this could be my only time to have a chance at BQing! I really felt like it helped, because despite some pain and fatigue, this was feeling easier compared to other marathon endings!

Speeding and passing so many runners, I kept watching my time. I even yelled out some motivation to others, as I heard my name called from spectators!

Approaching the 800 meter mark and the subsequent dwindling other markers, I kept my head down and continued focusing on form and made myself into Olympic stadium, confronted with cheering crowds as I made the last 200 meters or so through the finish line with a time of 3:16:48... hopefully enough buffer for BQing and a 13 minute PR!

https://results.sporthive.com/events/6981282006063051264/races/483567/bib/5432

https://www.strava.com/activities/7971240544

Post Race

Still in the stadium, we were given our medals, and plastic sheets to keep warm. There were no refreshments except a water trough, where I went to drink water upside down from a faucet and wash the grime from my face.

Exiting the stadium, I walked into Justin, giving hugs and congratulations. Then exited, where we saw Yichi. We were then given a banana and energy drink. We took some pictures, said our goodbyes and I picked up my bag.

Summary

Key points for this training are:

Managing injuries
Following the plan (because of no injuries)
Setting a goal
Progressive long runs
Mental training
I did a couple of 20+ miles training runs with no fuel the morning of (except for trace minerals in my water) and during the entire run, except for water fountains (which I assume has natural minerals in it. The couple days leading up to it, I did carb load with pasta.
Fueling strategy…I ate more simple carbs during the carb load, the week of, plus using the course fuel. And the Maurten gels were easier to stomach than others gels, that leave an overly sweet taste in my mouth.
Good rest throughout the entire training cycle
Keeping my core and extremities warm, in training and during race. I believe this prevented recurring calf strains I've experienced in the last couple weeks of training for previous races. I wore calf and arm sleeves.
Strength work
Managing injuries..yes I said it twice!

Key Workouts

Progressive Run. 8 mile wu, 8 miles between half and full pace, 2 mile cd

https://www.strava.com/activities/7747703067/overview

Dutchess County Half Marathon

https://www.strava.com/activities/7828056513

PPTC No Fuel Long run

23 miles long run. I carb loaded the 2 days before, but ate nothing the morning of or during the run. I did add trace minerals to my water and drank at water fountains

This was part of an 80 mile week

https://www.strava.com/activities/7785683241

Marathon History

2012 Disney Marathon

https://resultscui.active.com/participants/30035469