In 4 hours and 48 minutes, on Sunday 12 April. On one hand I’m satisfied that I’ve managed to attain this achievement, certainly after an injury prevented me from participating in 2014. On the other hand I’m disappointed with my time.
Because I was not unemployed or partially employed during the first months in 2015, I had to practice in the evening. Because it can be hard to see where you place your feet in the darkness I didn’t run on my bare feet like in 2014. After a few weeks of practice I decided to run barefoot during daylight on a Saturday. This turned out to be a bad decision because my feet were covered with blisters after 20 kilometers. Without practice my feet had become unaccustomed to barefoot running, obviously. When my feet had recovered, I decided to compromise: I would run the marathon on Xeroshoes Amuri Z-Trek minimalist sandals.
I had also tried the Amuri Cloud model during practice. A 20 kilometer run went fine, but I felt the strap connecting to the sole between the big toe and long toe was uncomfortable because it could cause to much friction if the straps were adjusted poorly. Adjusting the straps also required too much stops during the start of the run. The Amuri Z-Trek model turned out to be easier to adjust and served me well when I ran shorter distances with them, like 10 kilometers.
However, during the marathon itself it became clear that the strap of the Amuri Z-Trek sandals located just above the toes was causing too much friction as well. No amount of sports tape could prevent it, as that was pulled loose by the friction too. After approximately thirty kilometers I had to go to a first aid station to fix the bleeding.
Of course I’m very disappointed with XeroShoes. After some communication with the retailer the conclusion was that a smaller size would have helped, even though I had measured my size correctly. I don’t want to use sweaty shoes and insist on using minimalist sandals, but Xeroshoes is hard. Maybe I’ll try a smaller size of the Z-Trek model in the future, but since I completed the Rotterdam Marathon I can count my runs on one hand. And for those runs I used shoes. Because the Xeroshoes failed me I’ve been so demotivated that I almost gave up running completely.
As for the marathon itself, I ran the first 30 kilometers in 2 hours and 52 minutes. After that it went downhill. My ego had a hard time seeing much older men and short women overtaking me. I think I was more fit in 2014 as I had gotten more practice then. For 2015 I was naive to follow a schedule which advocated that shorter practice runs (less than 30 kilometers) could prepare the complete marathon. On top of that I didn’t follow it accurately.
Maybe I will run another marathon in the future to achieve a better time. Coincidentally the 2016 Rotterdam Marathon takes place today, but I’m volunteering as a traffic controller. I want to return the favor to the volunteers who handed me water and patched up my feet. To the English speaking participant (number 16069) who encouraged me when my spirits were low after the 30 kilometer point. To the public which cheered the runners to push on. The marathon makes us experience an amazing sense of community in Rotterdam, an experience which I want to contribute too.