I was lucky enough to take part in the Barcelona Marathon on Sunday and wanted to fill you in on the outcome. This was the start of my heaviest week of training pre-first 100 miler and my first race overseas so the intention was to take it nice and slowly. An early start with the race beginning at 08:30, I found my starting place and got myself focussed for the next 26.2miles.
The temperature at the start was in the low 20’s, a bit different to what we’re used to here! I chased the protection of shade wherever possible and used any water stations to douse myself in water to keep my body temperature down. The shower they had mid way through the course was a welcome addition! Taking in some of the best sites the city has to offer – including the Camp Nou, Sagrada Familia and the Arc de Triomf – I pushed myself as hard as I could to grind out a new Personal Best time of 3hrs 17 mins and 07 seconds which was good enough for the top 8% out of 19,000 runners! I’m ecstatic with this!
Nutrition wise I used Gu Gels which became sickly after the 4th portion, a few sips of some water every 5kms for hydration with a little cup of Gatorade close to the end for a final blast of sugar. I could feel myself lagging toward the end and only the adrenalin of doing better than expected kept me going so definitely something to be learnt in terms of fuelling during a race.
From the bib collection to the expo the day before the face and to the volunteers, entertainment on the course and the organisation at the end, I couldn’t fault the race at all. Certainly a road marathon I would recommend to others if they get a chance.
Now I head to the Jurassic Coast challenge starting this Friday which sees me taking on 3 extremely hilly marathons in 3 days with high winds and heavy rain forecast. A completely different race awaits!