On May 5, the Republic of Tatarstan hosted the Kazan Marathon 2019, which brought together about 9000 runners. As part of the race at the classic distance of 42.2 km, the Russian Marathon Championship was held in which the strongest marathon runners of Russia and athletes from other countries took part.
I took 4th place among women (amateurs) in the 23-34 category.
At a distance of 42.2 km, 217 girls finished taking into account the Russian Championship and I took 30th place among all of them.
The day before the start
The day before the start, I don't do any training. Usually this is the day of arrival, check-in, registration, etc. - a hectic day. This time, at least there was no need to go anywhere, to check in, since the marathon took place in our city.
We went to check-in at 9.30 and returned home at 14.00. The husband and the guys went for a walk in Kazan in the evening, while my daughter and I stayed at home. Since it is not advisable to walk a lot before the race, you need to save energy.
I tried to go to bed early at 21.30, but nothing came of it, and I was able to fall asleep only in the first hour of the night. Excitement interrupted sleep. Thoughts were hammered by the start. I thought about how to start correctly, how not to fall down the distance. According to the forecast, the weather on the day of the start was broadcast hot, so this also made its own adjustments.
Start day
Rise at 5.00.
Cold and hot shower.
Breakfast: buckwheat porridge 100 gr, a mug of sweet tea, a small piece of bread.
At 6.10 we left the house and drove to the starting point.
It was cool outside in the morning, cloudy and I really wanted this weather to be preserved for the race.
Upon arrival at the launch site, we threw off all unnecessary things and took them to the storage room.
The start was at 8.00. the weather at that time was still normal, the sun was behind the clouds, but the temperature was already 17 degrees.
Warm up before the start
I ran 1 km, after that I did some stretching exercises and a couple of SBU. After the warm-up I went to my cluster. When registering, I indicated that I would run for 3 hours and should have been assigned to cluster “A”, but I was thrown into cluster “B”. That year there was also a jamb with the distribution of clusters, and as a result, I was then thrown into the very last cluster.
A few seconds left before the start. The body jitters, sometimes it doesn’t hit the teeth))) The clock was already ready ... The countdown started ... 3..2..1..iiii, started running.
Tactics
Taking into account that the weather was not quite running, the coach and I firmly decided that it was not necessary to start at 4.15 right away, otherwise the heat could cut down. We decided to start at 4.20 and so run 5 km, if it is comfortable to run, then it will be possible to add a little bit.
Layout: 4.19 4.19; 4.19; 4.19; 4.16; 4.18; 4.15; 4.19; 4.16; 4.15; 4.20; 4.14; 4.16; 4.16; 4.25; 4.27; 4.19; 4.12; 4.05; 4.03; 4.15; 4.13; 4.16; 4.17; 4.20; 4.23; 4.17; 4.20; 4.06; 4.16; 4.13; 4.11; 4.13; 4.14; 4.16; 4.20; 4.18; 4.21; 4.30; 4.28; 4.22; 4.25;
On the whole, it ran well. After 10 km the sky was already cloudless and the sun began to bake.
The track is not bad. There was one rather unpleasant ascent of 2 km. I slowed down into it so that my legs would not hammer. There were also small lifts, if in the middle of the distance they were not particularly felt, then in the end it was already difficult to run in them. At 36 km after a small climb, I could not return to my pace, my legs did not want to run at all.
The last 5 km were not easy. The temperature by this time was already about 24 degrees. I was not adapted to the heat at all. In training, I ran in tights, a jacket and a windbreaker, so my body was probably in shock from this weather on the day of the marathon. As a result, the heat at the end of the distance began to make its own adjustments and did not spare anyone.
200 meters before the finish, I saw the scoreboard and realized that I had no chance to run out of 3 hours, but there was a chance to run out of 3.02 and then I started to roll, and the result was 3.01.48. The fact that I did not run out of three hours, I was not particularly upset. I did everything I could, and I am very happy with the shown result. A little more than a minute and a half was not enough for me to reach the standard of a candidate for master of sports. Improved her personal best by 7 minutes.
Equipment
Shorts, tank top, socks, cap, NIKE ZOOM STREAK sneakers, Suunto ambit3 run watch.
Distance meals
Took 4 Sis gels. I carried them in a special running belt.
Once again I was convinced that four gels per marathon are a lot for me, three gels would be ideal for me.
I ate gels for 12 km, 18 km, 25 km, 32 km.
I have been using the belt for gels for more than a year, if in the previous years everything was fine and I ran with it without any problems, this time there were problems. I tightened the belt for gels to the maximum, but it still turned out to be big for me. I had no choice and I had to carry the gel in something, so I ran with the belt I was. In general, in the distance I had to worry a little with him. Now knowing this nuance, I will somehow shorten the belt.
Organization
The organization has grown significantly this year. The food outlets along the distance were gorgeous. There were many tables and it was convenient to take water on the run. Moreover, the water was not only in glasses, but also in small bottles. There were also wet sponges that saved from the heat. At the end of the distance, volunteers poured additional water from the bucket.
What was my mileage in training, you can see here https://vk.com/diurnar?w=wall22505572_5924%2Fall
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