You might notice that this is a bit more detailed than usual, which is because I wrote it for Swedish Marathon society (Marathonsällskapets).
After feeling a little more than dehydrated one morning at Danny and Tatel's place after a night out in Barcelona in mid-December I found myself searching the internet for races to do and booked the Seville Marathon for 19th February. It gave me something to focus on over the bulk of the winter and had 10 weeks to get in shape for it.
I’d had a busy few weeks in September/October with the Stockholm Half Marathon, the Ä-Stadsloppet Half Marathon and Karlslundsloppet in Örebro, and then a 54km Mountain race in Loja, Spain called the Ultimate Frontera which was all great but it meant that November had seemed flat and slightly uneventful in comparison despite having relocated to Andalusia (Spain) to work with a Ultra Trail Running Company.
My training before Christmas had been going very well; I’d taken 4 days rest after the Ultra race and felt my leg speed and strength had returned quickly. I was average between 90k and 100k per week, running hard and feeling fit. I came back to Sweden for Christmas and managed a couple of sessions with my club, Örebro AIK and in between some solo runs, I took time to relax before returning to Spain in mid January with 5 weeks left until the marathon. My training became more structured and involved a long run each weekend of 30-40km, an interval session mid week consisting of sets 400m to 2km or timed intervals of 30 seconds to 4 minutes, I also worked on my hill repeat sessions to build leg strength as I was finding it much easier to find hills in the Sierra Nevada/Alpujarra mountains than in my home town of Karlskoga!
With two weeks remaining until Seville I found a local 10km race to test my fitness which worked really well and it helped to banish some doubts and build confidence that I was in good shape after reaching a personal best of 31:59. On the final Sunday, 1 week before the run I did a 38km run to help re a stage of a local stage race called the Al Andalus Ultimate Trail, all off road and very mountainous but a comfortable pace and I felt ready for the Seville Marathon.
On the Saturday, the day before the race, my friend and I drove the 250km over to Seville and discussed times along the way. He was aiming below 3:30 and I wasn’t sure but I mentioned below 2:40. Once we arrived in Seville we collected our race numbers and packs from the Olympic Stadium and checked into our hotel. The race pack was like a late Christmas with shorts, vest, socks – a runners happiness! Already we sensed that the race was well organised and it quick for us to collect what we needed and then enjoy the excitable atmosphere surrounding the marathon. We then took the short trip into town to have some food and relax. We found a nice Italian place and ate some pasta and pizza and talked about running and living in Spain. Seville was alive, there was plenty of parties going on in the city and a parade had been going on that afternoon, Seville is famous for its oranges and there’s lots of oranges trees dotted around the centre of the city which look incredibly picturesque again the white building.
After dinner we headed back to the hotel for an early night but I couldn’t get to sleep so early and after preparing the race kit and number I spent a couple of hours reading the final chapters of a marathon training book which contained some pretty useful information for the previous day and then calculated some splits for tomorrow’s race. I sort of laughed at myself for not having this ready before now, but in my head I’d just thought run 2 x 80 minutes and you’ll be OK. To hit 2:40 I’d have to run 3:47 per km, I’d run 2:48 in a training run so I began to think that 2:40 might be a bit conservative so I calculated what 2:38 and then what 2:37 would be per kilometre and came out with 3:43. The training book had a chapter on warm up before a marathon and also how to pace a marathon, and the two pieces of information I took from those two chapters and used was that a warm up should be no more than 20 minutes and include only 10 minutes of running, thus keeping your glycogen levels stocked up, and about the pacing it mentioned that due to general fatigue the second half of the marathon is usually 1 minute slower than the first. My target was now to run 2:37, and run 1:18 for the first half and 1:19 for the second half, decided at 1am on the morning of the race!
The morning of the race arrived and we had both slept well. We ate our breakfast made the day before and headed to the Olympic stadium where the race was starting. Although we got there early we stayed in the car and under estimated the time it would take to leave our drop bags and use the toilets which were inside/underneath the stadium. We split up and eventually, with about 5 minutes to go headed out to the start. It was chaos and there was no order to start in, just 6000 people pushing towards the front line including me. I pushed passed a few understandably annoyed people and was eventually stopped about 10 or 15 lines back from the front, frustrating but probably the only bad thing about the race. I know that sound petty but when I was running 3:30, I stayed back and started with those guys because I knew that the seconds matter more the faster you intend to run. I was tapped on the back by a Swedish guy, who turned out to be Micke Johansson from FK Studenterna and had recognised my Örebro vest. We had a quick chat but soon the gun went and we were off.
It was a great setting for the start of a race, but all focus was on staying relaxed and trying to move past people and into a steady group. After starting close to the front at Stockholm Half Marathon I’d gone off like a mad man and within the first few kilometres was in a world of lactic pain so I was keen to not let inexperience and excitement get the better of me this time. I kept moving through the crowds and very quickly after leaving the stadium the route took a nice straight, wide road which lead up to a turnaround at around 3km which made it easy to move forward. I passed the first, second and third km in 3.37, 3.39 and 3.39 so ahead of schedule slightly but still trying to find a group to fit in with. Eventually just after the 3km marker I found a pack of around 10 or 12 runners who were moving along nicely at around the 3.35-3.40 mark and I felt fresh and energetic but kept hold on myself. We ticked through the fourth km in 3.35 and after passing the first water station the group had started to work together happily passed around water and later sponges, it was a nice feeling to be running in a pack and it made the running seem easier. I really get a kick out of running in a group.
The temperature was very comfortable around 9 or 10 degrees at the start and as we passed some roundabout and then crossed over Barqueta bridge we were at the 10km mark and another water station. I kept taking on water and made sure I drank the sports drink right from the first station. The group seemed relaxed although we’d dropped a couple of runners and we’re now down to 8 of us. We’d gone through the 2nd 5km in 18.07 which was the quickest of the race and although looking down at my watch at the kilometre markers I didn’t feel the need to continually check the pace and found it more relaxing just to stay with the group, and the race.
We passed some great sights in Seville and the city was very special. Seville is the fourth largest city in Spain, and situated on the River Guadalquivir. It makes a perfect marathon city because it’s a flat city with spectacular architecture and there was plenty of great things to see throughout the entire course.
Just after the 15km mark, I hit a bit of a problem with blisters. I haven’t suffered problems with blisters since first starting running a couple of years ago when I took off my shoe after a 50km race and thought I might need plastic surgery. I spent the next 6km’s thinking about why I had blisters today, I thought about any changes to my diet or fluid intake but by the time we then turned a corner and ran through the half way barrier and I clocked the time at 1:18:02. I couldn’t believe how well we were going and how close to my intended time we were, I got really lucky with finding the right group and although I had clocked the 10km at 36:20 and knew the pace was good I was really happy to be on schedule and it lifted my spirits and made me instantly forget about any problems with my feet. The group was down to 6 now but all seemed strong and focused, we started to pass other runners and we were continuing to help each other out with water and sponges.
At the 28km mark, the guy in the group who had seemed strongest for the past 10km’s, Joan Pique Serra made a break and left the group. He later finished in 2:35:38 so it was a good move for him. I thought about going with him but I was on schedule and didn’t want to deviate from the plan after coming this far. I had misjudged the Barcelona Marathon the year before and really paid for it and I knew the second half really started at the 30-32km point so I held back and continued running with now 4 remaining guys.
We went through the 29th and 30th kilometres both in 3:46 but then slipped to 3:49 on the 31st. The group I was in has shrunk again to 3 of us, and I felt strong and knew it was at this point I needed to put the work in so I made a break too. I didn’t look back but I knew I had a big gap on them very quickly and I was gaining on a couple of runners in front quickly. I just kept relaxed and didn’t feel like there was a big step up in effort to gain a few seconds per kilometre but if I can take one important lesson from the race it would be that after the 30km mark, everything you have counts. I passed 2 stray runners and then closed on a group of 3 runners that seemed to be part of a team working together, I tapped one guy on the back and said hello but then passed them just outside the main “Plaza” on the lead up to the Royal Palace. It gave me a boost again but there was a long straight road and allowed me to see the long gap between these guys and the next runners I could catch. I was at the 35km mark and I knew if I kept focused that I could hold it together and make the time.
The next 3km seemed to fly by, there began to be more and more people lining the streets, supporting the race and also bicycles directing the runners through the final twists and turns as the race headed back over the river and entered the park. I managed to pick off quite a few elite runners who were either having problems and just slowing in the last 2 or 3km, the sun was high now and the temperature had reached 17/18 degrees which you could see from the temperature signs around the city, the surface changed to hard concrete as we entered the park but I saw the 40km marker and didn’t care, there was another 2 runners to catch within sight which gave me something to concentrate on and I picked up my pace again and went through the 41st km in 3:36 and then saw the stadium in front where we were finishing. I picked off the two runners and then kept my pace steady for the last km, within the last two kilometres I had passed a few runners but two of them were unable to run because of cramps and I didn’t want to go too hard in the last few hundred metres and that happen to me. Looking back that it feels like I played it too safe but at the time it seemed like the right thing to do, as the race entered the tunnel and headed under the stadium I knew we were almost there, supporters were everywhere enjoying the sun and the race and the feeling of entering the stadium with maybe 10 thousand spectators on the other side of the track was absolutely incredible. I passed another guy with 500 metres to go and the final 300m are ran entirely on the track similar to Götebrogsvaret. The crowd was great, I had looked at my watch and I had 60 seconds to run 300m but I couldn’t help waving at the crowd in the final 100 metres, I was a very happy man when I crossed the line, I felt a massive sense of achievement more than the execution of a training plan, I felt happier with executing the race plan and sticking to my goal. I was so ecstatic I kissed the girl handing out the medal and was told I came 21st place and clock was exactly 2:37:00.
After the race there was plenty of fruit and water available and the finishing bag had everything needed to refuel. I picked up my drop bag and headed to the warm up room with intentions of doing a cool down jog and some stretching whilst waiting for my friend Mick to finish. I bumped into Micke Johansson again who had also had a great race and ran 2:39:05 for 29th place. We were tired but happy, and discussed the crazy start but agreed that it didn’t hinder us too much and both found it easy to settle into a nice race and enjoy the course.
Eventually we found Mick and he was over the moon about his great time of 3:31.30, the atmosphere was great and without doubt aided by the cloudless blue sky and hot sun. We gave Micke a ride into town and then found somewhere to eat. Despite the sore muscles, nothing seemed a pain and everything was funny. It had been a great day and I would certainly love to do the marathon in Seville again. We drove back towards Granada and enjoyed a coffee in the sun on the way back.
We arrived back to an Andalusian Carnival Parade in town, there was smurfs and umpa lumpa's everywhere and many men dressed as women. Had they already found out about our results and thrown us a big party or was this the annual festival in Alhama? You can see the link below to get an idea!
Results - XXVIII Maratón Ciudad de Sevilla (2012) - General Classification
A link to the finishing 100m on the track at the Olympic Stadium of Seville (Estadio Olympico de Sevilla)
Finishing Straight (Estadio Olympico de Sevilla)
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