2024 Berlin Marathon – Kelly Kortick
Race Date: Sep 29th Results: 2024 Strava: Berlin marathon
12 weeks out
I think marathons are generally ran by following a 12-week plan, 6 weeks to build, then 6 weeks for the marathon specific work. My plan was to do the exact opposite of that. I was using the Femmi app to guide my training which helped a lot over the next few weeks.
Training in Australia was going well. I was feeling strong and running more than I ever had before. Confidence levels to crack sub 3:30 were high!
Training in Australia was going well. I was feeling strong and running more than I ever had before. Confidence levels to crack sub 3:30 were high!
6 weeks out
Now let me preface, this next 6 weeks was without a doubt some of the best 6 weeks of my life. But in all honesty, the running sucked. We’re about to get a little grim here but bear with me.
I thought being on holiday and travelling would mean I get to live the ‘athlete lifestyle’. I could sleep as much as I want, eat heaps of tasty food, not have work to worry about, run at 10am, feel fresh and recovered every day. I was wrong.
I thought being on holiday and travelling would mean I get to live the ‘athlete lifestyle’. I could sleep as much as I want, eat heaps of tasty food, not have work to worry about, run at 10am, feel fresh and recovered every day. I was wrong.
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I landed in London and was about to embark on a 6-week girls’ trip with my high school besties. The day I landed we did a huge site seeing walk around London, walking over 30,000 steps. The fatigue in my legs that evening made me realise how sedentary my usual work is. This was about to become the normal for the next 5 weeks. How was I going to marathon train on top of 30,000 steps per day???
If you have travelled Europe, you’d know that they sting you with many dollars to even add in overhead luggage to your flights, let along checked in baggage. So, we collectively decided we don’t need checked in baggage, which meant I could only bring ONE pair of running shoes. I wanted a shoe that I could walk around in, run on road, run on trail, and it had to be not ugly. After many conversations with many people around what this perfect shoe is, I landed on the Hoka Challenger. I welcome you to the next 6 weeks of training - long runs, speed sessions, it had to do it all. And now, I can’t wait to throw it in the bin. |
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This 6 weeks was some of the most difficult training I have ever done. I was having the best time of my life travelling and I didn’t really feel the need to run for my usual stress outlet, or to get my body moving, or to socialise, or to get outside. I had that covered with everything else I was doing. My legs were always fatigued and heavy, I actually can’t remember any runs during this time that I finished and felt good and fresh. I felt like I was inconveniencing my friends by having to work runs into our travel plans. Running any earlier than 7:30am meant I was in the company of people partying and drinking from the night before which wasn’t always comfy being on my own, female and in unfamiliar places. Anyways I settled on being okay with one long run, one marathon tempo session, and anything else was a bonus. I was hoping that the time on feet would count towards something.
During these runs I often questioned if I even like running? Why was I actually doing this? The obvious answer being that I had the unique opportunity to run Berlin Marathon in a few weeks. The other being that I knew I could run a good marathon (for me), I really really wanted to run and marathon and enjoy it (something I knew would only happen if I trained properly) and I had a goal that I inherently knew I could achieve and I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it. Part of me also knew that I do better when the expectations are lower, so maybe this was my way of convincing myself that I was struggling more than I actually was, so my goals started to shift and the pressure started to lift.
Race week
Blake arrived and my mindset instantly shifted. It’s amazing how much more excited and inspired you feel being around runners. The main event of the day is the run, everything else works around it. I think that’s why being a part of a run club like the flyers is so great, we all bring excitement and energy towards running and it makes us all get better together. I had missed that!
We tapered in London, keeping the travel to low walking activities and prioritising fuel and recovery. Putting my Saucony Endorphin Speeds on was a real treat! The legs started to feel fresh, I had my spring back in my step.
We flew to Berlin on Friday night. It was easy to spot the runners, they were all wearing their super shoes. At the time I thought this was quite funny to be wearing super shoes on a flight.*
We tapered in London, keeping the travel to low walking activities and prioritising fuel and recovery. Putting my Saucony Endorphin Speeds on was a real treat! The legs started to feel fresh, I had my spring back in my step.
We flew to Berlin on Friday night. It was easy to spot the runners, they were all wearing their super shoes. At the time I thought this was quite funny to be wearing super shoes on a flight.*
Race day
I woke up at 6:30am after a solid 10 hours sleep, this was almost unheard of. The nervous excitement will usually have me awake until the early hours of morning.
I fuelled with waffles and a coffee, then we set off to the train station. The guy walking in front of me was wearing his vapor flies and smoking a cigarette, quite the contradiction in my opinion.
Then we battled through the usual pre-race stress - the jam packed train to get there, the exceptionally long toilet lines and the crowd following to the start. Blake and I parted ways for our different start waves. I snuck behind a tree for another nervous bush wee and finally found myself at the start.
I fuelled with waffles and a coffee, then we set off to the train station. The guy walking in front of me was wearing his vapor flies and smoking a cigarette, quite the contradiction in my opinion.
Then we battled through the usual pre-race stress - the jam packed train to get there, the exceptionally long toilet lines and the crowd following to the start. Blake and I parted ways for our different start waves. I snuck behind a tree for another nervous bush wee and finally found myself at the start.
The vibes were wild. I thought to myself, wow this is going to be the best part of the day, this is so much fun! We waved to the weather gods for a glorious day and then we were off!
My plan was to go out at 5:10s but found myself getting comfortable at 5min/kms (and who am I kidding, I never actually stick to my said race plan). I had Ingrid in my head, find a rhythm that feels good for you. My heart rate was low so I decided to stick to it.
My plan was to go out at 5:10s but found myself getting comfortable at 5min/kms (and who am I kidding, I never actually stick to my said race plan). I had Ingrid in my head, find a rhythm that feels good for you. My heart rate was low so I decided to stick to it.
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I can't begin to explain the atmosphere of this event. The crowds, the entertainment, the support was nothing I have ever experienced before.
I soon realised that the start line was just the beginning, the race itself was on a whole new level. And soon enough, I was a quarter of the way through the marathon. That went by quickly. |
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- 15km - I haven’t seen a single pace runner and I can’t find a pack that is fitting my rhythm. I was okay with this; I think I might actually prefer being in my own rhythm.
- 17km - this is where I blew up during Queenstown Marathon so I'm at least going to do better than that monstrosity.
- 21km - still feeling good! Legs feel springy and my effort feels low. I was thinking about advice given on the inside running podcast, the first half of the race should feel boring, you should be able to completely relax.
- 23km - had gel 4/6, only 2 gels to go! We're basically there.
- 28km - I planned to put my headphones in around this point but didn’t even want to, no music, not even Taylor Swift, could match the feeling the crowds and support were giving.
- 30km - 12km to go, which is about an hour of running. I had expected myself to start to bonk or at least anticipate that a bonk was soon approaching but I still felt good? I know you can sustain your threshold for an hour before you start to fall off a cliff. Maybe I should pick up the pace a bit. I let myself get a bit puffy.
- 32km - Let's give it some and see how long I can hold on. I feel good still, so if I do crash, it probably won’t be until 38km, at that point I can still just crawl it in.
- 35km - I’m suddenly starting to notice everyone being in my way. Maybe I’m getting tired and getting less tolerant to the people shuffling in front of me. Or maybe they lied about their predicted finish time. Note to self - overestimate next time. This is annoying.
- 37km - it’s just parkrun to go.
- 38km - I still haven’t crashed; this was when I would anticipate I would hit the wall 32km but I’m still feeling good. Is it possible to run a marathon without hitting the wall?
- 40km - starting to struggle but this level of struggle is a lot more comfortable than that 4th km at Newy during an all-out 5km effort. I’m very puffy now but it’s still a whole lot easier than any of the training sessions I got through while travelling. Maybe they did help for something.
- 41km - seeing the Brandenberg gate and running through it with the crowds was surreal. Also I was flying, I was Eluid Kipchoge.
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Finish - 3:27:54!
OMG so proud of that! Official time 3:27:54 😮 14-minute PB! A run that gave me a feeling I’m not sure will ever be able to be matched.
Blake also ran a huge 24-minute PB, running 3:15! |
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* Writing this on a flight to Tromso where we just said goodbye to Blake’s luggage (via air tag) which was left behind at Oslo airport. Wearing your super shoes on flights to marathons suddenly makes a lot more sense.
