VILNIUS (10.09.17)
Prior to flying out to Vilnius for number 12 of 28 I was contacted by a Lithuanian sports journalist working for the marathon who was keen to interview me. I thought our interview would be used on the marathon website but it actually made it into Lithuania's main newpaper and site, giving ME a nationwide platform! Lina very kindly contacted the Lithuanian Football Federation to see if they would be able to sell me a national shirt to run the race in. They actually agreed to give me a free shirt with my name on the back!
I interviewed Aleksas who lives in Lithuania and suffers from ME and told me his story. We've estimated that up to 10,000 people in Lithuania suffer with ME, the situation there is bleak for sure. The interview has been read over 5,000 so far and hopefully together with the press coverage, it's made a small impact.
I flew out to Lithuania via Warsaw from Heathrow and after a mammoth trip we arrived and checked into our hotel. Huge thanks to Novotel there who were incredibly kind giving us a free room upgrade, late check out and a free meal after the race; truly unbelievable. We got over to pick up the race number and goodie bag and were able to climb the Bell Tower in the cathedral square which gave great 360 degree views of the city. After a quick pasta meal and wander around town it was time to catch up on sleep and stretch for the race.
Start
The race started at 9am on Šventaragio Street, a short walk away from the hotel. I was pretty tired still and with a big of a dodgy stomach not feeling too confident of running well, especially when I opened the curtains to see beautiful cloudless sunshine! Cathedral Square was a hive of activity and there was a military band playing as the runners lined up. I'd decided to go in the 4-5hr pen to begin with and to see how things went. 'Eye Of The Tiger' comes on and it's loud, really loud. Perfect! We charged off out of the centre towards the river and everything was pretty bunched, especially when the path narrowed and I got an elbow to the chest. This is always a problem when they put half marathon runners in with the full marathon but after a couple of miles things spaced out a bit and I could concentrate on my race strategy of staying ahead of 9 minutes per mile. The first part is pretty standard dual carriageway fare, it's undulating but not particularly challenging and there's a handful of people standing on bridges tooting horns. There was a 100 marathon club member in red limping along with knee heavily strapped, fair play that's guts, long way to go. I grabbed a cup of water and there was a big hole in the bottom, hmm 2.5 miles until the next drinks station and I've only succeeded in drenching my bib. An hour in and the course has reached Vingis Park which provides a welcome break from the sun as we ran through the forest, uphill to begin with and then a very nice long decline at the turn around. Lithuania is full of green spaces so it's really cool to get out of the town for a bit. I was making good progress at this point, 7 miles done in an hour, perfectly on track to go sub 4hrs, I was about 6-7 mins ahead of schedule in fact so all good at this point.
Middle
Back into town after a long out and back on the opposite side of the river and Gediminas Avenue where we were staying was lined with people cheering and banging drums. There was a nice atmosphere here, it was a long road towards the Cathedral followed by a sharp right turn and a pretty sizeable climb towards the Uzupi district. I managed to grab a bottle of water from Cat here and just about get up the long incline without stopping, I'd see this bit again on the second lap (around 24 miles) and it would be painful. More cheering and questionable dance music pumping out of speakers around the Town Hall as the course meandered through the old town and then dropped sharply towards the halfway point. I veered off to the left and saw all the half marathon runners finish, sensible people. There was only a handful of us carrying on and lap 2 begins with me getting the Ipod out as I usually do at this point. It was still warm but luckily there was a bit more cloud cover and I was going steady at 8.40 min/miles, nicely inside the 9 min/miles I needed for a PB. I was at 1 hr 52 at the halfway point which is probably about right, I'd go quicker in training but I'd be carrying my own water then and its these chaotic water stops that are costing me time as I waited for them to pour. There weren't any elite runners on the course which was probably the first race that I've experienced like that though as it got to 17m there were a fair few swift runners about 3-4 miles ahead of us on the other side of the traffic cones going in the opposite direction. I found 16-22 to be the hardest part really. Not much support and a trudge up the A. Goštauto highway with a tight turn back into town. I took on some Honeypower gels and popped a couple of Ibuprofen as I could feel my hips tighten up a bit. I was at 20m and still on track though slowing down a fair bit although desperate not to allow my brain to make me walk like those around me. If I was going to walk it would only be through water stations and for 1 minute up that nasty 24 mile hill on the proviso that I sprinted down it the other side.
End
Back along the main boulevard in downtown Vilnius, I saw Cat in the crowd and tried not to grimace for her photo. Big hill time. My friend Tim had warned me about this one. It's not that steep on it's own but once you've conquered it, it goes up again a few seconds later. I jogged up it cursing, clapping, singing, shouting to myself, anything to keep me on the edge. I still had 3 miles or so and 30 minutes to do it in and my pace was dropping quickly. I'd ruled out a personal best at this point, the new target was a sub 4 hr race, I'd get plenty of flatter, cooler courses to attack for that I thought. Local police with menacing guns were clapping and cheering the runners along, that was pretty cool. Also a fair few people enjoying sunny pints were shouting and banging inflatable batons at us. The cobbles were making a mess of my knee and I added that to my growing list of injuries, not long to go though, 20 minutes and I'll get to sit down. I made one last stop at the water station grabbing and necking 5 cups of water. The cap got turned around backwards, time for one last push. It was downhill at mile 25 and I picked up speed and felt pretty good, I was still somehow running OK and looking at the watch was unbelievably back on for a PB. I'd either picked up a bit or got my maths wrong, it was probably a bit of both. When you've been running for 3.5hrs your brain doesn't work properly that's for sure. So 1.5 miles left (you always allow a bit more for all the weaving/traversing on the course) and 19 mins to do it in, very doable. I sped up and decided just to tank it and see what happened. I did one of my fastest miles of the race and could finally see the end of the course. I waved at Cat just short of the line, genuine shock on my face as I realised this was going to comfortably be my best race so far. Over the line, I punched the air, grabbed the medal, water and alcohol-free can of beer. It was a memorable race and well-timed after 3 fairly average previous marathon times (albeit all in hot conditions) had left me wondering if my training was working and if I was ever going to improve.
On to Amsterdam in 5 weeks time!
To sponsor me please visit: www.justgiving.com/mikeseumarathons
Pics
Official photos: here shortly.
Gallery photos
Weather
Beautiful sunny skies and 18C for the first half clouding over nicely for the second half. Not bad for me but still a touch warm!
Ratings
I interviewed Aleksas who lives in Lithuania and suffers from ME and told me his story. We've estimated that up to 10,000 people in Lithuania suffer with ME, the situation there is bleak for sure. The interview has been read over 5,000 so far and hopefully together with the press coverage, it's made a small impact.
I flew out to Lithuania via Warsaw from Heathrow and after a mammoth trip we arrived and checked into our hotel. Huge thanks to Novotel there who were incredibly kind giving us a free room upgrade, late check out and a free meal after the race; truly unbelievable. We got over to pick up the race number and goodie bag and were able to climb the Bell Tower in the cathedral square which gave great 360 degree views of the city. After a quick pasta meal and wander around town it was time to catch up on sleep and stretch for the race.
Start
The race started at 9am on Šventaragio Street, a short walk away from the hotel. I was pretty tired still and with a big of a dodgy stomach not feeling too confident of running well, especially when I opened the curtains to see beautiful cloudless sunshine! Cathedral Square was a hive of activity and there was a military band playing as the runners lined up. I'd decided to go in the 4-5hr pen to begin with and to see how things went. 'Eye Of The Tiger' comes on and it's loud, really loud. Perfect! We charged off out of the centre towards the river and everything was pretty bunched, especially when the path narrowed and I got an elbow to the chest. This is always a problem when they put half marathon runners in with the full marathon but after a couple of miles things spaced out a bit and I could concentrate on my race strategy of staying ahead of 9 minutes per mile. The first part is pretty standard dual carriageway fare, it's undulating but not particularly challenging and there's a handful of people standing on bridges tooting horns. There was a 100 marathon club member in red limping along with knee heavily strapped, fair play that's guts, long way to go. I grabbed a cup of water and there was a big hole in the bottom, hmm 2.5 miles until the next drinks station and I've only succeeded in drenching my bib. An hour in and the course has reached Vingis Park which provides a welcome break from the sun as we ran through the forest, uphill to begin with and then a very nice long decline at the turn around. Lithuania is full of green spaces so it's really cool to get out of the town for a bit. I was making good progress at this point, 7 miles done in an hour, perfectly on track to go sub 4hrs, I was about 6-7 mins ahead of schedule in fact so all good at this point.
Middle
Back into town after a long out and back on the opposite side of the river and Gediminas Avenue where we were staying was lined with people cheering and banging drums. There was a nice atmosphere here, it was a long road towards the Cathedral followed by a sharp right turn and a pretty sizeable climb towards the Uzupi district. I managed to grab a bottle of water from Cat here and just about get up the long incline without stopping, I'd see this bit again on the second lap (around 24 miles) and it would be painful. More cheering and questionable dance music pumping out of speakers around the Town Hall as the course meandered through the old town and then dropped sharply towards the halfway point. I veered off to the left and saw all the half marathon runners finish, sensible people. There was only a handful of us carrying on and lap 2 begins with me getting the Ipod out as I usually do at this point. It was still warm but luckily there was a bit more cloud cover and I was going steady at 8.40 min/miles, nicely inside the 9 min/miles I needed for a PB. I was at 1 hr 52 at the halfway point which is probably about right, I'd go quicker in training but I'd be carrying my own water then and its these chaotic water stops that are costing me time as I waited for them to pour. There weren't any elite runners on the course which was probably the first race that I've experienced like that though as it got to 17m there were a fair few swift runners about 3-4 miles ahead of us on the other side of the traffic cones going in the opposite direction. I found 16-22 to be the hardest part really. Not much support and a trudge up the A. Goštauto highway with a tight turn back into town. I took on some Honeypower gels and popped a couple of Ibuprofen as I could feel my hips tighten up a bit. I was at 20m and still on track though slowing down a fair bit although desperate not to allow my brain to make me walk like those around me. If I was going to walk it would only be through water stations and for 1 minute up that nasty 24 mile hill on the proviso that I sprinted down it the other side.
End
Back along the main boulevard in downtown Vilnius, I saw Cat in the crowd and tried not to grimace for her photo. Big hill time. My friend Tim had warned me about this one. It's not that steep on it's own but once you've conquered it, it goes up again a few seconds later. I jogged up it cursing, clapping, singing, shouting to myself, anything to keep me on the edge. I still had 3 miles or so and 30 minutes to do it in and my pace was dropping quickly. I'd ruled out a personal best at this point, the new target was a sub 4 hr race, I'd get plenty of flatter, cooler courses to attack for that I thought. Local police with menacing guns were clapping and cheering the runners along, that was pretty cool. Also a fair few people enjoying sunny pints were shouting and banging inflatable batons at us. The cobbles were making a mess of my knee and I added that to my growing list of injuries, not long to go though, 20 minutes and I'll get to sit down. I made one last stop at the water station grabbing and necking 5 cups of water. The cap got turned around backwards, time for one last push. It was downhill at mile 25 and I picked up speed and felt pretty good, I was still somehow running OK and looking at the watch was unbelievably back on for a PB. I'd either picked up a bit or got my maths wrong, it was probably a bit of both. When you've been running for 3.5hrs your brain doesn't work properly that's for sure. So 1.5 miles left (you always allow a bit more for all the weaving/traversing on the course) and 19 mins to do it in, very doable. I sped up and decided just to tank it and see what happened. I did one of my fastest miles of the race and could finally see the end of the course. I waved at Cat just short of the line, genuine shock on my face as I realised this was going to comfortably be my best race so far. Over the line, I punched the air, grabbed the medal, water and alcohol-free can of beer. It was a memorable race and well-timed after 3 fairly average previous marathon times (albeit all in hot conditions) had left me wondering if my training was working and if I was ever going to improve.
On to Amsterdam in 5 weeks time!
To sponsor me please visit: www.justgiving.com/mikeseumarathons
Pics
Official photos: here shortly.
Gallery photos
Weather
Beautiful sunny skies and 18C for the first half clouding over nicely for the second half. Not bad for me but still a touch warm!
Ratings
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