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What a beautiful and unique marathon course! The 3 Countries Marathon (Sparkasse Dreiländerick Marathon) runs along the pristine Lake Constance with the backdrop of the Austrian and Swiss Alps nearby... It starts on the picturesque Isle of Lindau, Germany, crosses the bridge to the mainland, follows the shore of the Lake to Bregenz, Austria, and then weaves inland through forrest, farms and neighborhoods toward Switzerland. The race turns around in Switzerland, to return us to Bregenz, Austria for the finish in the local Fußball Stadium.
It was sunny, calm, and REALLY HOT (80-85F)... in Europe many of the marathons start late... 11:11am for this one.
This race was "for fun" for me... I had completed the Rev3 Full Ironman Triathlon just 22 days before and the HFP Olympic Triathlon Series Championship just 15 days before... my mind and body were not up for another big effort. I decided to take my camera along and record the experience in photo and video and really soak in the full international experience. My full photo album can be found at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=95349&id=1130619233&l=8f310f72ef and videos will follow soon, I hope.
I stayed the weekened in Bregenz, Austria. spent all of Saturday exploring the area. The city of Bregenz is fairly typical European city with good food, shopping and outdoor cafes everywhere. Pfänder Mountain is just outside of town, and I spent a few hours on the beutiful mountaintop area. It was breathtaking! I had a great Italian dinner at an outdoor cafe in the Grandplatz area of Bregenz.
Race morning had some real logistics to it. I chose to stay by the finish line, to avoid parking issues before the race, and not being able to get back to my car after the race. Bregenz is across the lake from the Isle of Lindau... so we needed to take the ferry across the lake. That alone was a beautiful experience! About 30 minutes to cross the lake in the calm, cool, sunny morning... Lake and Alps all around!
Once at the starting line, with the 6,000+ other athletes, we were greeted by the Mayor of Marathon, Greece! He was there to mark the 2,500 year anniversary of the historic run in 490BC by Pheidippides the Greek messenger who delivered news of the battle of Marathon. The Olympic torch was brought to the race and lit a flame at the Start and Finish lines. Very cool to pass under the same fire from the Olympics! Our race medals also had a commerative side for this amazing 2,500 year anniversary.
The race itself was again, not a big push by me. It was my second race overseas... and there are definitely things to get used to when racing abroad - mainly related to nutrition. I have realized that traveling in Europe is not condusive to staying hydrated like it is in the USA. I have to make a real effort to drink enough water! Coffee, beer and wine seem to be about all I get at restaurants. A 750ml bottle of water costs about $10! Beer is like $3-5... Coffee + beer + me = DEHYDRATED! I realize this now... looking back! It hasn't bothered me in training runs in the past (up to 24 miles in Germany) - but race conditions are different, and this is something for me to work on for future trips and races.
I started running about 7:30/mi pace for the first 8 miles per my plan. I did this with no trouble, all the while taking pictures and videos along the way. When I wanted to step my pace up for the next 1/3 of the marathon, I wasn't quite feeling it. 7:10/mi pace felt harder than it should have for me... but again, it was 85F and I was not getting nutrition I was used to on the course (I need to see what is in Peeloton Isotonic Solution).... I carried and quickly emptied my Fuel Belt filled with Cera Sport.
OK - how awesome is the name "HARD" for a town on the route of a marathon?!?!? My half-marathon split was 1H 37M.
Once we hit Switzerland (about 30k) I was starting to feel the heat, the sun, and the lack of proper nutrition... and the lack of marathon specific training in the past few months. Training for the marathon in an Ironman triathlon is definitely different than training for a straight Marathon, like I did to run my 3:14 in Boston this spring.
I didn't have the drive to put myself in the Hurt Locker for this race, so I backed off, kept the pace comfortable and enjoyed the atmosphere, sights and sounds... and take a lot of pictures. In the last 5K, I was actually overcome with cramps. I hardly ever get cramps, but with the combination of the heat and the lack of sports nutrition available to me, I got them quite bad. Not just my legs, but in my arms too! I was walking a bit to get some salt capsules into me and walk through the cramps when another runner came upon me, grabbed me by the arm, in broken english kept telling me it was only 3K to the finish and "Ve must run now". I picked it up again and chatted with him. My broken German and his broken English made for an interesting conversation. Turns out we were both Ironman triathletes who just recently competed, and were doing the race for fun. Very cool!
Once we circled back into Austria and passed back through the town of Hard, Austria again, I knew the finish line was coming soon... and my cramps had passed. I thoroughly enjoyed my run through the tunnel of screaming spectators into the stadium and to the finish line. A 3:40 marathon was one of my slowest (3:13 is my PR), but the experience of running through quaint little European towns and a couple big cities, while passing through 3 counties in such beautiful (but hot) weather, along a gorgeous lake and surrounded by mountains... was just incredible!
The crowds were fantastic along the course as well! The Isle of Lindau was simply PACKED with spectators! Very cool. The Bregenz, Austria area was a continuous tunnel of German speaking fans yelling to us "Hopp Hopp Hopp"... "Zuper"... and a bunch of stuff I had no idea about... :) In Switzerland, there were kids handing out food and drink at the aid stations and randomly along the course. It was so cute!
Post-Race was pretty great too! The entire stadium infield was filled with food, drink and massage tents. Oh - and did I mention Weißbier? That is a GREAT post-race recovery drink! :)
After I recovered, showered and changed back to my street clothes... I found a great outdoor restaurant in Bregenz, right on the lake, and enjoyed a delicious serving of proper Austrian wienerschnitzel. It was fantastic! Then I had to jump in my car, and make the 7 hour drive back to my little inn, in Swisttal, Germany and get ready for work the next morning.
This was a great weekend!
