Nice-Cannes Marathon

Hi everyone!

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Today I'll talk a little about the development of the Nice-Cannes marathon. It all started in saturday morning, an easy jog then a few miles of cycling, all quite mild, the idea behind this type of works before or after either competition or training, it is increasing blood flow and, in the absence of a major muscle work, increase with that the rate at which nutrients reach our muscles. There are many mechanisms that are initiated with physically active, our body is not just consuming calories, but also striving to nurture better and if accompanied by an intake of quality nutrients, then ultimately this results in a faster recovery or a better set-up. The rest of the day was quite entertaining. Together with Erwan, a French friend, we were dedicated to clean our bikes, which is very important, it allows us to detect potential mechanical problems, but also because it increases the useful life of components.

At the end of the day came the expected pasta party, on this point, I will say that while the consumption of pasta during the training period is not the healthiest choice, that given the low nutritional value of refined foods and the potential for dehydration that accompanies this kind of food, concepts change just before the races since the objective is to maximize the performance and not health. It was a great time, a good film of motivation and very good company, Erwan, Karl and David (all runners!).

The night was not the best. For some reason, that I think I came to realize, my dream has become quite light. This brings me no problems during the day, but still gets a little annoying at night, especially before a race and especially if you to get up before six in the morning to catch the train.

During the morning a good smoothie, an energy bar (banana flavor) and began the journey to the train station in Nice ending a 10-minute jog from the start of the marathon. It was pretty hard! There are many people involved in events like this around here, so the train was full, in fact I managed to take the train about thirty minutes later than planned. I arrived in Nice and then jog a bit, I found Rodrigo y Consuelo, two very good Chilean friends, they arrived to live in Nice almost a month ago and they enjoy the sport's practice as much as I  do. We made it to time with Rodrigo at the start and place us in a good position. A little further we find Erwan and Karl, which was very good news because the initial plan was to try to run together the marathon in 3:15, although this was slightly faster than my expectations.

The race began with fifteen minutes late due to the huge number of people who used the train as transportation. The first kilometer was a bit slower than the average rate at which we had to run, but we soon recovered the difference. The land is beautiful, is a race along the coast from Nice to the city of Cannes (famous for its film festival). Supply positions arrived really soon and the good company and good feelings meant that the first few miles were fairly straightforward. After a few kilometers, nature called, I mention this to advise you, if that occurs you at some time, especially in the first few miles, it is better to listen the call. Failure to heed may have a considerable influence on your performance and the longer you postpone, the effects are more harmful. It costs me meet with the group, although this represented a slight tightening for at least a mile. While the race takes place between locations, there are several small towns between Nice and Cannes, allowing that throughout the race has much support from spectators. That always helps, I love to motivate people to give encouragement to other runners, especially for endurance events, support from a stranger can fill you with courage when your energy is flagging. Everything went very well at the level of feelings, it was also nice to see people of all ages, sizes, textures, races, all together for the same reasons, traveling the same road, accompanied. Each has a different history, different motivations, different preparations, customs, rhythms of life and yet we were all there, in the same place, treading the same footsteps of those, already long before, had walked this path.

Everything was even better than planned, we were a few seconds on average which was good because last kilometer 23, the race really began. This is because while the coastal route is fairly flat, past the 23 km the outstanding terrain becomes something a little bit hard. I must say that the slopes are hard in both directions when you are running in this type of events, so overall time wasted is easily retrieved when you go down . For me this was not an issue at the level of feelings going well and to see Rodrigo and Erwan in such good condition, my forces revitalized. It was not my first time, and I must say that running as a group, besides being a very nice experience can help you much in terms of motivation. 21th km, we arrived at Antibes, which is the city where I live. Here we found some partners of our triathlon club (Antibes triathlon) who kindly being delivered isotonic gels and drinks to the riders. Great help!

We got to mile 23 and started climbing. Was considerably less heavy than I expected, we were all with excellent feel and Erwan took the responsibility of taking car of our pace, to avoid running too fast and keeping the good feelings.Thanks Erwan!

Rodrigo was very good, strong at all times. He was the only other Chilean running the marathon so it was always a pleasure to ride with a fellow in these foreign lands so far apart.

The ups and downs continued, it was really a run, along with some shots of the coastline, beautiful countryside to join us, which, together with a perfect climate (18 ° C) helped greatly to maintain the good feelings. In a forthcoming talk I will talk about nutrition before, during and after these types of events, because from my point of view, it plays a crucial role.

Everything went as planned. Several people, about 12,000 people started, so we were accompanied at all times, maintained a fairly consistent pace which allowed us to overcome many people who perhaps started too fast.

Upon arrival at kilometer 32, we still maintain the agreed rate but given the good feeling it was time to push a little. Strangely, I am much more comfortable jogging at a pace of 3:45 to 4:00 minutes per kilometer than 4:37 which was the rhythm that brought us to this point, so I pressed a lot. I felt very strong so I went in that direction, without forgetting to take water supplies and remember the famous saying
"Shower your self with the water that you are not drinking up."

The arrival in Cannes was amazing, it's a very nice environment, the route backs to the coastline and there were many spectators, bands and colors. We breathed the atmosphere of the marathon in the air, a city mobilized to welcome all runners.


At the end
I finished in 3 hours 09 minutes. Not my best time in a marathon, but excellent given my expectations and plans. Especially since I had throughout the race the best feelings. Reflection of this is that I burned 2092cal that is a small amount for a marathon. Economy is really important!!

The results were wonderful, Erwan and Rodrigo broke both his best individual marks, and Karl did an outstanding career.

Some miles jogging, stretching and a small entry into the calm waters lapping at the shoreline of Cannes, accompanied by Consuelo who managed to reach the goal before us despite how difficult it became the entrance to the city, completed a wonderful day.

I want to thank Consuelo enormously for their support and for being the muse of my friend Rodrigo, Susana (my mother) and  Carlita (my girlfriend) for always joining me in spirit at every challenge no matter the long distance, and especially Rodrigo and Erwan  to allow me to join them in my third marathon of the year.

Thank you very much to you too for reading this article, I hope u have a nice evening and hope to meet tomorrow to continue sharing my views and hope that the information is published to serve you in any way.

I would like to finish by saying that even if it was not my best time, I can say that it was one of the greatest runs that I ever made. Remember that ultimately the goal is to enjoy physical activity and healthy living, share with our environment and enjoy the beautiful scenery and stories that abound on our planet. Keep that in mind, many times the searching of performance can makes us to forget that there are other things beyond, which are often more important.

A hug to everyone, have a nice afternoon.

At 293 days of the great challenge,

Schobi.