Route
Elevation - Grade - Distance
Click here for: Official results
Click here for: GPX file
Related posts in this series:
Click here for part 2: Perched at 1000 metres
Click here for part 3: Lessons learned and lessons confirmed
Click here for part 4: Marco Olmo, ultranarathoner, is the guest runner
I’ll say this first: my finishing time for this marathon is 5:24:05 (5 hours and 24 minutes and 5 seconds!). My personal best for the distance is 2 hours 45 minutes. But then I was 31 and there was pancake-flat Amsterdam; now I’m approaching 50 and here were the Madonie mountains.This Ecomaratona delle Madonie has taught me some lessons and confirmed others I had already learned. Let me share them with you.
I now realize that running up hills in Malta, no matter how steep or long they may seem to my eyes or feel to my legs, is nothing in comparison to running up kilometre after kilometre of mountain gradients regularly in excess of 10% and on occassion around 30%. The only way to simulate the experience is on a treadmill by ramping up the inclination. This was a minus point in my preparation.
Twice-a-week speed work is what most training programs and coaches feed us in order to make us quicker. This is one fast session too many because the route has few paved sections (excepting the opening and closing 1.5k) or flattish off-road tracks. Think of it this way – you own a Ferrari but have to drive it on Maltese roads. Speed is pretty useless, isn’t it? I followed the traditional preparation, hence a second minus point.
If you’re not a natural descender, don’t do it. Hearing that there are 2 mountains to climb, with an overall elevation gain of 2000 metres, might lead you to believe that this is a climbers’ race. True, but only up to a point. The sting in the tail for uphill runners like myself is the final 10k, which is practically all downhill on stone-strewn switchbacks, making it technically difficult. I was way too cautious on the descent, employing the mountain bike equivalent of the granny gear. This meant that all the good work I put in going up was, bend after bend, being lost. It was so disappointing to find that 5….10….20 runners took advantage of my weakness. Third minus point – not having tried to improve my downhill technique.
On some training runs I prefer wearing a cycling jersey with a full length zip. This is ideal for unsettled weather conditions as I can regulate the body temperature according to how I’m feeling. Race day turned out warm, sunny and rather windy so proudly I donned my Mellieha AC club vest. This was not the ideal gear because during the walking phases along the exposed mountain tops, the unforgiving wind turned the hot sweat into a chilly fluid. It was an additional and unnecessary discomfort. This makes it a fourth minus. (As an aside, other runners thought that my club was “Jescar Construction” because the dominant logo of the sponsor is many times larger than the club badge itself.)
Heart rate helps to train smarter. Heart rate does NOT help to race this event. Although I took my HR monitor with me to Sicily, I decided not to wear it on the day. How can it help you when in one section we had to move onwards and upwards with feet and hands? Finally, a plus point for me.
Similarly, time or pace. The pointlessness of pace is self-evident but maybe no so about time. Many of us are in the habit of glancing at our watches. Caution! It can be psychologically suicidal to do so here. When merely walking is a struggle, when you’re half-way up the second mountain with the distance marker saying you’ve covered 25k, when the Madonna dell’Alto sanctuary is still a few kilometres climb away, the last thing you want to know is that in a normal race, you’d already have completed a marathon. To my credit, the first time I glanced at my GPS was as I crossed the finish line. That is why I was incredulous that it was already 2pm (set off at 8.30am). Second plus point.
Specificity is key. Train for the event you’re aiming for. If it’s off-road, then key sessions have to be done on the trail. Generally, I followed this rule as most of my kilometres were logged away from tarmac. As mentioned earlier, I didn’t prepare adequately for the climbs and none at all for the descents. So here, being generous, I give myself a half point.
Click here for part 2: Perched at 1000 metres
Click here for part 4: Marco Olmo, ultramarathoner, is the guest runner
Click here for part 5: Technical information
It’s Saturday, the day before the Ecomaratona delle Madonie, 43 kilometres of up and down running along the paths of the Madonie nature park and its mountains. My last training session was Wednesday so today I feel obliged to go for a 30-minute jog. This is merely for the mental reassurance that the muscles haven’t atrophied and the heart can still keep the blood flow circulating at a more rapid rate.
Petralia Sottana, the village that serves as my base for my 3-day stay, is a spaghetti of narrow, cobbled streets that cling to the mountain-side at an altitude of 1000 metres. This means that I either start up and end down or vice-versa. I opt to let gravity lead the way knowing that it’ll be a bit of a fight to let go of its grip on the way back. All in all, it was a pleasant half-an-hour and it left me plenty of time to shower and build up to the next challenge – an Italian style buffet breakfast!
Click here for part 3: Lessons learned and lessons confirmed
Click here for part 4: Marco Olmo, ultramarathoner, is the guest runner
Click here for part 5: Technical information
A taster from last year’s edition:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bw0OFwQzZ5o
Click here for part 2: Perched at 1000 metres
Click here for part 3: Lessons learned and lessons confirmed
Click here for part 4: Marco Olmo, ultramarathoner, is the guest runner
Click here for part 5: Technical information