Esta carrera que hiciste ha llamado bastante la atención aquí en inglaterra y con tu permiso pensaba en publicar la traducción en el foro de atletismo http://www.eightlane.com – prácticamente todos los atletas de fondo de inglaterra lo han visitado alguna vez. Dime lo que opinas de la idea cuando puedas. Obviamente no pasa nada si no quieres que lo haga.

Felicidades, que te vaya bien este año rumbo a los campeonatos Europeos.

PD Saludos a Dani Sanz (lo mencionas bastante en estos blogs), y también (si los conoces) a Jorge Martín, Juan Carlos Plaza, Jesus Galache y los demás con quienes entrenaba un par de veces en mi año de estudios en Salamanca en el 2006.

I Promise I’ll Thank You

41st kilometer of the race. After so much suffering, completely knackered, I arrive at the Anotea Sports Complex. And there the members of the green army are waiting for me, jumping and shouting. Suddenly, it that sorry state, the title for today’s post comes to me: “I promise I’ll thank you” by the legendary Rosendo. I come to my senses again and I make the final push before I enter the stadium. I don’t know what time I’m going to do; I just think I have to get in to the stadium in order to convert the suffering into happiness at reaching my goal.

This marathon has a before, a during and an after. And today it is charged with emotion because of all the pain I had inside after The Worlds.

During the summer, as you all know, it was a very sweet moment when I got to The Worlds. For the first time in my life I was running in the major championship, and on top of that I could prepare for it dedicating myself fully to it without having to work. In June I became a full time athlete. Lots more rest, decent food at times to suit my training, and finally I could do 125 mile weeks because I could build them up without getting injured. 10 weeks of hard training was an impressive test that made me believe I could do anything. I was much fitter and in much better shape than I was for this San Sebastián marathon.

I started at my own pace and at 5.5k I was already in the first group of white runners. My plan was to stay back there for a few kms and then see how I felt, but I felt so good, I felt at 110% for The Worlds, and that is very difficult for a first timer! But then came the moment where I nearly fell because of that damn pavement irregularity, and because I made a sudden movement to avoid falling, I felt a sudden pinch in the upper right insertion of the right calf. You all know what happened, I carry on with a torn calf in the group up to 19.7k where I stop because my calf won’t let me run any more. I’m forgetting something. At 15k, knowing that I wouldn’t get to the finish, I went past Laura, Dani, Manu and Angel B and I made and OK sign like I usually do to Laura: it was a lie that I felt good. Yesterday that sign was the reason Laura didn’t trust me. But yesterday it was real, ha ha.

During my leg rehab, my doctor, Xavier Leibar, who in my opinion is the man who knows most about the marathon in Spain, told me about “untraining”, that is to say, that the training is there, and that I had to do lots of pool work and bike work so I would not “untrain”. I needed something new to motivate me, and I had to count the days on the calendar to see which the next marathon would be. I looked at the calendar, and we had two options: take a risk and run in November, or wait until March / April. After looking at several races, and after talking to my coach and manager, we decided that San Sebastián could not be bad. All that remained was the opinion of Leibar, with roots and residence in Guipúzcoa, who knows everything about the event. And he said to me: “Go for it, your summer training will come through”.

So I started to train for San Sebastián. Juan Carlos thought we could try it, but if we did it, it would be the last time we ran a winter marathon. I went on building up, and from time to time my calves were killing me, and I did two events, Cantalejo and Paris, which I used as training as I did sessions in the days leading up to them. After Paris we were quite doubtful, but that week I started to train much better, and I made the first big push, running 125 miles and ready for more.

We decided on Behobia as the initial event in which to see how I felt. And it was a good decision. The Atapuerca cross-country was economically more attractive, but to a marathon runner money is very low in the list of priorities terms of preparation. And in this way, we completed six weeks of high volume, going towards the marathon full of confidence, although way short on preparation compared to the summer.

So that’s where Laura and I turned up on Friday evening. Some members of the green army had already arrived, some staying in Irún (some people have family everywhere), some in Zarautz and some in San Sebastián. Some were coming on Saturday. In total 17 people came who believed in me and my chances of doing well. “I promise I’ll thank you”.

The nicest thing when we arrived in San Sebastián was that Rafa Iglesias and his wife had been assigned a hotel suite with two terraces with amazing views, as well as the usual luxuries that come with this type of room. This was a really kind gesture from the management, who bent over backwards as much as they could, for whom I am pleased to have gained a good result in return for the excellent treatment I received. So, on Saturday morning I went out to jog for a while to work out where the course went in this area. In the afternoon I went to get my number as well as Pablo’s, as he was arriving a bit later.

Afterwards, I joined in at the start of the green army’s gastronomic tour, and after spending a bit of time with them (they’d been on Mount Igueldo and doing tourism), Laura and I went up to the hotel to rest. Dinner (rich in carbs, of course) and bed to sleep. I slept at 00:30 and I got up at 06:00.

I had breakfast with Pablo. My coach took my drinks bottles to the Anoeta stadium at 8 and Pablo and I went to warm up. All the green army was there at 8:55, with their T-shirts, the banner and various percussion instruments, making me feel indescribable warmth.

At 9 in the morning we started, and immediately Pablo and Asier hit the front, the Ethiopians who were there don’t even go with us. We go through the first km in 3:12, this is bad!!! But we go through 2k in 6:15. I feel amazing, I ask them for a bit more pace and they give it to me. I was surprised that the first drinks station was at 3.5k. Asier thought that perhaps I didn’t know and he stopped in case I didn’t know so that he could get it for me. But I did know, so he had to sprint to catch up with us again, and then had to drop at 4.5k.

Pablo hit the front, and we carried on at about 3:03 – 3:05 pace, and we arrived at Zuriola beach: there I stuck to Pablo’s ass, all down the boulevard and all the way past Concha beach. And with the wind that blew against us, Pablo stayed at 3:05 pace. The poor guy was finished off by those 5 or 6 kms, so he had to stop at 14k. He took away the worst part of the first big lap, so respect to both pacemakers for their work.

And the green army? I saw them at 3k, 7k, at 13k, and I knew they would be there when I went past the half-marathon point. I went through in 65:10. To Laura I just made gestures to say that everything was Ok, but she ignored me. The rest were ecstatic that the qualifying and the victory were not out of my reach. It was the first marathon in which I’d come out of the first lap at a fast pace (in Seville I went through in 67:20 in better conditions), and I didn’t know how I was going to respond, but I saw myself running 67 minutes and 2:12 at least. From 20 to 25k I ran 15:07, my quickest split, and from 25 to 30 I did 15:16. And there the race begins again, back at Concha beach. There are lots of spectators, but I can tell the forces are with me, when the race referee, who was at the front of the field on a bike, leaves me. The wind is strong, and I push as hard as I can. I look at the split where the wind is strongest and I see I’ve dropped to 3:18, and from there I look at the watch, but I’m still doing well; I’m going to be well under 2:12. From there, I know how it feels to run a marathon. Up to now all the marathons I’ve run started at a comfortable pace and I finished them more or less in one piece. This time I suffered. A lot. In Ondarreta I went through a bad patch, with stomach problems, my calves were no longer calves. I started the 38th km with such agony…from there I was heading back into the city centre, and another factor came into play: the bends. They helped me perfectly, they gave me great trajectory and they encouraged me. Them and the crowds made it less hard, but everything hurt. I looked at the clock at 40k and I saw I had passed at 2:03:52. I didn’t even calculate, but I got to 41k and there were Luis, Angel B and Pep Guardiola (yep, I was hallucinating, ha ha), shouting and supporting as hard as they could. I missed Laura (she said she was so nervous that she had to stay in the stadium staring at the finish line). “I promise I’ll thank you”.

I did the lopp of the Anoeta area and I went into the stadium. I pushed as hard as I could because I knew that it was a PB, but I didn’t even know what time I was going to do. I looked at the clock: 2:10:44 and I couldn’t believe it. The gamble of running in November had paid off. And there was everyone jumping for joy. Hugs from Xavier Leibar, what a hand he had in this time, and from Juan Carlos, my coach, who had a face of satisfaction that I’d never seen from him. You can see he loves the marathon, and we’re going through unforgettable experiences. Believing 100% in his methods makes the limit higher every day. And with the help of Dani, Miguel and the rest who form the work group, that trust in and are excited by the project and without whom this day would not be worth 2:10:44.

I changed quickly so I didn’t get cold and went through drugs control. Next thing: the second Basque tavern in a month. San Sebastián bring me luck. And afterwards? I was only thinking about going to get showered, collecting my things from the hotel and going for lunch altogether in a restaurant where me and Laura ate on the return journey from Behobia that had a very large dining space where we could all go and park without problems (quite a problem in San Sebastián). We went out and took the customary photo in the exit and I will keep it as a nice souvenir.

The food was very pleasant, with all the members of the group, the mister and Pablo Villalobos, and then the return journey, all with different destinations but I hope everyone leaves with happy memories of yesterday’s race, as I will remember how they encouraged me.

And now? Well today I’ve spent all morning on the sofa. I’ve got my reappearance planned for the Salamanca “San Silvestre” race, but I’m very scared that in 27 days I’m not going to be in the form I was in last year, but I hope to be able to beat the Brevas and the Balbins, (get training Loranca’s pacemaker). I’ve got to recover well and set out other small goals, like the Spanish national cross champs, or a half marathon, before getting serious for the European champs in Barcelona, and with the time I ran yesterday (I can’t see six athletes who’ve run quicker) I’ve already got a place.

Thanks for all your support, for the congratulations and for having been there all this time. It’s a pleasure writing about my life experiences for readers like you.

Me ha resultado muy curioso leer la crónica de quien me pasó como una exalación (tu km 40; mi kilómetro 21) cuando iba todo concentrado, todo orgulloso y todo feliz en en final de la marea verde.

Mi tiempo final, (4h 10) también me supuso marca y me dejó feliz. De acuerdo contigo: la organización en fantástica y muy profesional.

Puedes creer que desde fuera se te veía lanzado y no se notaba tu agotamiento.

Me gustaría enviarte un correo privado para ofrecerte venir como ponente a un curso de Entrenamiento de Resistencia en Cáceres. Si puedes enviame tu correo a contacto@solucioneswellness.es y te comento las condiciones.

Un Saludo

ENHORABUENA!!!!

Mucho ánimo, mucha suerte con las lesiones……cuida a tu mujer Laura que por lo que veo está volcada contigo. En Barcelona estaremos muchos miles apoyándote y sufriendo contigo.

Un abrazo sincero y emocionado desde Pamplona