Anyway we headed off to Gatwick very early Saturday morning. The plane was full of mostly stag parties or other marathon runners - I was sitting next to two guys were were running their 10th and 11th marathons so we got chatting about our finishing times and previous marathons we'd run. Got to Prague early afternoon, managed to find our way using the buses and metro to the hotel, then headed off to the Expo. I was a bit surprised that the Expo was nowhere near the start/finish of the marathon, (and it was a bit of a trek trying to find it) but then neither was the VLM expo. After the Expo we had an Italian - plenty of carbs for the day ahead! Here I was going through the motions of running a marathon but it just hadn't sunk in yet!
Sunday we got up early and got our running gear on. I chose the loose shorts and black tank top I'd worn for London, with an charity vest from a half marathon last year, that is the most comfortable vest I own. I had a light breakfast of croissants, a banana, small cup of tea and some water (I paid 11 euros for that...) which turned out to be the best pre-race breakfast I've ever had. I am now going to stick with pastries for future races!
We found the start/finish of the race easily enough, but the baggage area was a total nightmare to find. It was marked on a map, but it was not particularly clear - plus with the start pens taking up long sections of the tiny roads it make way-finding almost impossible. We asked several people and they all gave completely different (and incorrect directions). Must have spend a good half hour literally running up and down roads trying to find out where to go. I am not kidding when I say i was panicking - it was 5 minutes before the start of the race and we still had big backpacks on and nowhere to leave them. If we left them somewhere they would no doubt get lost or stolen. They were too big to take with us. I totally wished I had left everything at the hotel and just arrived with what I was going to run in. But we finally found the place, off loaded our gear (in the rush I nearly forgot my ipod!) and ran towards the start pens. It was the worst race experience ever! Luckily it all worked out fine in the end. Although the race had already started, I was in one of the pens near the back and so there was still a good 10 minutes before I actually crossed the line. Plus there was chip timing as normal, so a few minutes late didn't matter. The only difference was we did not get to enjoy the music playing at the beginning or the airshow above (everyone was looking up watching what looked like thousands of balloons being released, but I saw virtually none of that).
Luckily the race of the race went fine. Have just run London, my plan was simply to finish in a time somewhere between 5.20 and 5.45 (expected to be towards the slower end!). I would also take regular walking breaks and would pause at each drinks station to take on water, gels and cool down using the sponges. It was already heating up to be a hot day. I set my new Garmin to the run-walk cycle with 6 minutes of running and 1 minute of walking, and aimed for a running pace of 12 min/miles. I knew it would feel very easy at first, walking within the first mile, but hopefully I would be thankful for this come mile 20!
It was mostly a great route - making the most of the city centre and including many of the famous landmarks along the way (not that we stopped to take photos or appreciate them though!). We crossed the river, back and forth, several times including over the famous Charles Bridge, which made for interesting views as you could see other runners in the distance. Much of the route was along the river bank and there were quite a few supporters out. Not as many as London, but still a good number. There were a few dull areas going out of the city through some industrial estates and alongside main roads which weren't very exciting, and roughly the first and last 10k were the same (I did not know we would be running part of the route twice, but did explain why the KM markers went 1km, 35km, 2km, 36km, 3km, 37km etc!). It took a while to get used to the kilometer markers (they did show miles, but in much smaller writing and only every 5km) but you soon get used to it and I had my Garmin set to miles anyway so always knew where I was.
Plenty of drinks stations along the way - with water, energy drink, orange and banana slices. They also had buckets of water with sponges to use to cool off - this was much appreciated! It was turning into quite a warm day, warmer than London and I was heating up. A sponge was lovely and refreshing. When I was done sloshing the water over my arms and shoulders, I tucked the damp sponge down the back on my tank top to try and keep my upper back cool. I realised afterwards that I had forgotten to wear sunscreen, and would no doubt go pink after being out in the sun for around 6 hours - but even if I had put some on, it would have all come off now from the sponges anyway!
Miles 1-6 were quite nice, a very easy pace and got to see huge crowds, good sites and a lot of the city. Miles 6-13 were getting very hot, but the pace was still fine. I even saw Alli around mile 12, as she doubled back about 2 or 3 miles ahead on the other side of the road! It was great to see her and we gave each other a little congratulatory hug to see us through the second half!
Between miles 6 to around 17 or 18, I was surrounded by the same faces all going along at the same pace. Many of them were also running and walking so we hop-scotched each other a few times. One was a guy who wore a 50 States Marathon Club tee-shirt. We chatted for a bit and turned out he'd run over 70 marathons in total, including (as his tee-shirt suggested) at least one in every US state. He;s also just run London 3 weeks previously! Impressive!
By 20 miles, my left knee, which had been niggling during London, was really hurting. I had to compensate by running slightly on my right, which made my right hip feel quite sore in the final few miles. Needless to say by this stage I was hot, exhausted, slightly dizzy and hoping it would soon all be over. My walking breaks were extending well over their minute intervals, and the running was a slow plod. However, despite (or perhaps because of) my much slower pace, I felt I was in much better shape than the equivalent mile during London, when I really was in a bad way! The marshals and crowds in the busier areas kept me going and it was fun to hear them shout in different languages. Many shouted in English, since my running vest had English words on it, and there was a small Union Jack on my running number. I'd written my name in marker pen on both my arms too - although on my right arm I'd managed to do the "J" back to front so it looked more like a lower case "t"! I did hear a few shouts of "Go Teena!"
Sadly my Garmin battery died at 25 miles, so I had to go by my stopwatch for the final mile of run/walk. Mind you by this point I was not following the Garmin that strictly anymore so didn't really matter. Just meant I would not have a GPS map of the entire route. However I was determined not to walk in that final mile, and tried to pick up the pace. There were some great crowds in the last km, especially after the 800m to go banner which went right into the Old Square. I saw the finish line in front of me and even saw Alli again taking photos! I just about squeezed in a bit of a sprint finish to make it under 5.40. Final time, 5.39.55!
Got a lovely, well crafted medal, a decent goody bag and lots of cheers and support as I finished. I love the medal as it has a picture of the Astronomical Clock on the front, one of the most interesting landmarks in Prague. I got it engraved once I'd collected my baggage with my name and time.
We got a bit lost again, trying to get back to the hotel, but eventually found it (guess what - it was now cool and raining) and collapsed painfully onto the beds! We ate our goody bag energy bars and then both ended up falling asleep for a few hours! We went out in the evening later - hobbling along, wearing our medals - and had a really nice pizza. Got chatting to a bunch of guys from the UK on a stag weekend - they even left us their bottle of wine to finish off! (They were on third third night of drinking already - they'd obviously not paced themselves and couldn't finish it off!).
We had to leave Prague the next morning, for an early afternoon flight, but it was a great weekend and very glad to have finished my third marathon, and first one outside of the UK. I was not bothered about the slow time as it gave me a chance to enjoy the race without the pressure of finishing with a PB or beating my London time. It was just good to run and to have finished another 26.2 mile run. Besides, I am sure the 50 States Marathon guy is not worried about getting a PB every time! It also let me recover a lot quicker than after London (although was still very sore that evening and most of Monday), and was back swimming and cycling by Wednesday.
Pics to follow shortly!
Thanks Alli for sharing the great weekend with me and well done on your time!
PS - The title of this blog entry, A Marathon In Bohemia, is a little nod to a Sherlock Holmes short story! (There was even a shop dedicated to the stories, called Baker Street, selling all sorts of pipes and caps and Holmes-styles accessories!)
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