Maratona di Roma 18th March 2012.

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Gerald Hamilton
5 years ago
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Maratona di Roma 18th March 2012. This is a final story started just before marathon where I will tell you all about last hours before the race.

1 Maratona di Roma 18th March This is a final story started just before marathon where I will tell you all about last hours before the race. I will share with you how it was running in Rome and what do I think about the city and county as well. It was my first time in Rome, fist time in Italy but another FunOfRun that I have. The last night in The Netherlands just before departure to Rome I slept well. I wasn't nervous at all, maybe because everything from logistic perspective was done. I had a small problem with registration. I had to send my health certificate twice before they assigned a bib number and complete the registration. The other problem was with fly ticket. I bought them in advance but later on I realize that I will not have enough time to collect my starting package (too late in Rome), so I had to buy another ticket. With two fly tickets everything should be fine and I will be there for sure. Saturday welcomed us with great weather. Sun was knocking to our windows and light wind kept the temperature in a low range so it was not to hat. I went to the train station wearing only t-shirt and it was great. I had trousers and other clothing as well on me. This is how the journey started. Next step, airport in Eindhoven and fly to Rome. Flight took around 1hr 45 min and Italy welcomed us with great weather (around 17 C with a bit of cooling wind). We transferred from plain to arrivals hall within less than 5 min and were the first ones in the transfer coach going to Roma Termini (central communication hub in Rome). Next step marathon expo. We took a metro to go there. Unfortunately everything was so crowded including the city itself as well. There are so many cars so it is impossible to find an inch to park. I was expecting that marathon will be fully packed as well but this I will see later on. I cannot wait to run, not only to have a chance make new PB but discover one of the greatest city in the world. On the course we will pass so many historical places with great heritage and hundreds of houndreds years of history but first things first. I need my starting package to be able to run on Sunday. Finally we arrived in the expo and now it is time to see what they have here and maybe do some shopping. I have got my racing number, 3772 with attached time chip. A part of this, I've got as well nice backpack, t-shirt, bottle of water and bottle of isotonic drink. In the expo I seen many companies but comparing to Lucerne they did not give any free samples. Just before exit I saw on TV my name so I was happy to complete the registration. It was the confirmation that I am in.

2 As an overall the expo was busy but manageable. It was possible to have pasta but you have to pay 4 euro so I didn't go. It was 6:30 pm when we finished there so it was time to go to hotel and check in. Later we had an early dinner and small walk around so time will pass faster. Sunday morning we had to do everything again. I woke up at 5:00 am as I want to be sure I will have everything under control. First quick breakfast and check the weather to know what clothing I will need. It was great, nice but a bit cold. Than prepare backpack and run to metro to be next to the Coliseum at least 8 am. We were there at 7:20 am and we were just waiting for the last count down and signal to go. My GPS was set up, Polar HR already on so I was fine and ready.

I hope everything will go according to the plan and I will cross finish line with big smile. There was only one problem with my right leg. When I moved my feet up or down I felt pain.

3 I hope everything will go according to the plan and I will cross finish line with big smile. There was only one problem with my right leg. When I moved my feet up or down I felt pain. This is very bad and not good start for the race. In addition the first 2-3 km were crowded and nobody could run fast, including me. There were some parts that I almost walk. I should give them better marathon PB so my bib number could be smaller and it will be easier run in front of the pack. I started running faster but after 5km I was already far far behind the schedule so I had to run much faster than planned to gain so time. I knew it won t be good as later on I will not have enough power to keep the pace. In addition I had this pain in my leg so everything was not looking good. I was very strict with drinking so every 5km at aid station I looked after my hydration and drank at least 1 portion of isotonic drink and use water to cool down my head. I was feeling good so I kept the same speed. Only after 14 km I was able to bring my average to 4:30 min/km and this was already 14 sec slower on each 'km' than planned. As from the beginning I had a pain in my right leg so I decided to not force myself and try to keep my average pace as steady as possible. It was not easy as we run a lot on old roads and surface was not good for that. My HR was around so everything was looking good. After half way I knew that on this marathon I will not break 3 hr as watch show 1:34:01. Based on this the best case scenario will be the marathon inside 3hr 10 min. Anyway this was my PB for half marathon so I was happy. The rest of the marathon I was trying to keep the same pace. I manage to have 1 min 10 sec spare over 4:30 pace. I was able to manage this until 33 km and then my pace was slower and slower. When I reached 40 km I was thinking that maybe I will stop (I had the same at 20 km) as I was already over 3 hr and had no intention to move my legs. Finally I kept my mind occupied and stopped thinking about it and just move my legs forward to keep running. I did not care about time anymore and this was the best solution. The goal was just to cross the finish line happy as I knew that I will have new PB. Just before end I did one picture to capture the timer and happily finished my third marathon with new PB almost 16 min faster than previous PB set in Barcelona, Spain and over 20 min faster than last marathon in Lucerne (Switzerland). My HR average was 182 and HRmax 193 measured during whole marathon. In the picture below you can see official certificate with break down for each 5k.

I have got my finisher medal and finally could go and discover the city centre.

I know now that my GPS is not 100% correct as during this run it indicated almost 2km more.

mean I have to always keep this in mind that my GPS is very optimistic and always want

Now I will try to run the same loop and see how my timing change and it will be easier to

I thing this pain in my leg and crowded start affected my overall time unfortunately not

4 I have got my finisher medal and finally could go and discover the city centre. Maratona di Roma is history now and great lesson for me. I know now that my GPS is not 100% correct as during this run it indicated almost 2km more. I run with the same speed as of my training days and my average was 15 sec slower so this mean I have to always keep this in mind that my GPS is very optimistic and always want make me happy. Now I will try to run the same loop and see how my timing change and it will be easier to compare. I am happy that I did my PB but it could be better with time. I thing this pain in my leg and crowded start affected my overall time unfortunately not as much as 12 min. This basically mean that on this day running with this speed I could not break 3hr. Maybe I was not ready to do it and improve my PB for 30 min. The next step will be 100 km in October as a last target run in 2012.

As overall conclusion I think Marathona di Roma is a great place to run, maybe not the best to break times but definitively if you want to have lots of fun and see lots of history.

5 As overall conclusion I think Marathona di Roma is a great place to run, maybe not the best to break times but definitively if you want to have lots of fun and see lots of history. I like it a lot and it was great idea to stay a bit longer to discover the great city of Rome as well. Most likely I will not run here again as I want to try other places but it was great experience. At this point I run already marathons in: Barcelona (Spain), Lucerne (Switzerland), Rome (Italy) and half marathons in: Brussels (Belgium), Spijkenisse (Netherlands), 2 x Lowicz (Poland), in addition: 2 x 20 km in Brussels (Belgium), 10 km in Rotterdam (Netherlands) and 10 km in Skierniewice (Poland). In the end I want to add few small details. As overall Rome is great, especially pizza and cappuccino.

Pizza is very very thin that you can almost see through and coffee so smooth that you can get addicted almost immediately.

It is very popular that people just overcrowd tobacco shops to have this great morning drink and then run to work.

I will recommend to leave you car at home as finding parking spot is almost impossible and there is high probability that you car will be

6 Pizza is very very thin that you can almost see through and coffee so smooth that you can get addicted almost immediately. I do not drink coffee but here is just great and I love it. It is very popular that people just overcrowd tobacco shops to have this great morning drink and then run to work. It is only 1 euro and you are in heaven for 5 min. Believe me it is worth it. I will recommend to leave you car at home as finding parking spot is almost impossible and there is high probability that you car will be screech or damage. Public transport is cheap and easy to use. We had chance to try many thinks and opportunities to see many places so travel & run was great decision. We definitely recommend and will do it again. I cannot wait for another trip and next time we will go to Milan (September 2012). I hope you enjoyed this short story. FunOfRun (FoR)

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