Amsterdam Half Marathon 2023

Backstory

Post-Rotterdam Marathon performance, I was sure of breaking my 1:25:34 Half Marathon with another training block. But I got a foot injury in the last few km of the Rotterdam Marathon, which resulted in not being able to run for almost a month. I tried multiple times to have consistent high-mileage weeks, but my body was not responding the way I wanted. Some of my tempo runs showed that with proper execution in the race I could break 1:28 in the Amsterdam Half Marathon. But 2.5 weeks before the Amsterdam Half Marathon, my hamstring was pulled, and I was not able to run properly leading up to the race. But it is what it is. Overall, I decided to finish with a good race without thinking about timing.

Training

The plan was simple 5 tempo runs and 2 Marathon pace workouts before the race.

• Tempo 1: 6k at 4:07mins/km. This was a big motivation booster for the first tempo run.
• MP1: 21km w/16km at Marathon pace. 16km MP ended up at 4:25mins/km. Wasn't the best, but it was still in a good direction.
• Tempo 2: 7k at 4:06mins/km. At this point I felt like maybe I could get 1:26 in the Amsterdam Marathon.
• Tempo 3: 8k at 4:08mins/km. Had to take a few underpasses which slowed down the workout, but still on schedule.
• MP2: 25k w/18km at Marathon. I wanted the paces to be between 4:20-4:25mins/km but my legs stopped pushing hard. I had no idea why my body was not responding. Eventually I ended up running 18km at 4:30mins/km which was really bad.
• Tempo 4: 10k tempo. I always try to run a 10km tempo to get an idea of the pace I want to run during the half marathon. But after 2km my hamstring got really tight, and I had to stop after 3km.
• Tempo 5: 10km tempo. I wanted another 10km tempo. I was not able to hold a constant pace, but after 6km my hamstring gave up again, and I eventually had to stop after 8km.

At this point I thought I was pushing way too hard. Maybe I shouldn't give my best in the Amsterdam Half Marathon and should just run a 4:15-4:20mins/km pace, and if I feel good around 15km I can still push hard in the last 5-6km for a sub-90. I did an 80km mileage week 1 week before race week, with a 32km long run, just to keep my legs a little bit tired to get the feeling of a marathon.

Course and race plan

Amsterdam Half Marathon is a super-fast course. Since I live in the Netherlands, I didn't even have to adapt to the weather. And since I am used to the transportation, I don't need to worry about anything. Also, the last 4-5km of the route is where I used to train for almost a year in Amsterdam, so it was the perfect course for me.

Pre-race plan: Since I still had pain in my leg, I thought about not pushing from the gun. I put KT tape on all the places that were hurting. The plan was to keep a constant 4:15mins/km. The start time was a little bit weird for me. I am not used to running races at 1pm.

Race

2km | 8:30 | 8:40. Garmin GPS was all over the roof. My pace was 4:20mins/km. 5 sec slower than I wanted.

4km | 17:00 | 17:20. I tried little bit my hamstring was tight and ankle was still hurting. At this moment I gave up with the idea of sub90.

6km | 25:30 | 25:55. Some people from the back joined me and we started pushing little but I was still way behind the target.

8km | 34:00 | 34:30. Every kilometer I was dropping more and more. My legs were getting more tight. I wanted to hit the 10k before quitting.

10km | 42:30 | 42:59. Tried pushing a little bit in last 2 kilometers. There were people ahead of me who were running at a constant pace. It was easy to follow as long as possible. I decided to hit til 16km before giving up.

12km | 51:00 | 51:10. Dropped some 4:05 splits. My legs started feeling a little bit better. But I was still not sure if I can hold this pace for long.

14km | 59:30 | 59:20. More 4:05 splits and I was ahead of my expected time. But I was still not sure how long I can hold this pace. Legs are getting tight. Just wanted to see 4:15mins/km now. We are not going to run fast.

16km | 68:00 | 67:40. I was still 20sec faster than the time I planned. I can see the Vondelpark is coming soon. I can still go under sub90. Just don't go out fast. A few people are running ahead of you, definitely running sub90 pace. Follow them.

18km | 76:30 | 76:15. I tried slowing down a bit to not crash. The goal is just sub90. Vondelpark is looking very tempting to start running past, but easy for now.

20km | 85:15 | 85:15. I was bang on time. People ahead of me started to fade. I wanted to chase them but I knew my knee is still not in the best shape. Let's not get in the moment and finish easy.

21.1k | 89:50 | 89:27. I so desperately wanted to sprint seeing the track in the last 200m, but I held on to my pace since I have to keep my training block going.

Nothing to worry. Just relax, I think with a healthy leg and proper tapering I can still break 1:25. But that was not the goal today. The goal was to cruise the race healthy and keep on running. Surprisingly, I ran the exact time I ran in the Rome Half Marathon in March. But this was the hardest race I had. It gets really tricky when every second matters. If I had been slow by 1 sec every km, I might have missed sub90. But for now it's time to relax and get ready for the Valencia Marathon in 6 weeks.