On February 15, I ran the
Split Marathon in Croatia. This race
wasn’t originally part of my plan. I had
plans to visit Croatia, but I was going to run the Zagreb Marathon in October.
As I was planning my race
schedule, I was having trouble finding a race for this weekend. Ideally, I like to space marathons two weeks
apart, and I already had races scheduled for February 1 and March 1. There were good races this weekend in Fort
Lauderdale and the Phoenix area, but the flights were outrageously expensive. If I was going to spend that much on a
flight, I might as well fly to Europe.
As I expanded my search
to foreign races, I noticed the Split Marathon was this weekend. Split is a popular tourist destination in the
summer, but February is low season. That
was both good news and bad news. The
good news is that it wasn’t crowded, and hotel rates were incredibly
affordable. The bad news is that very
few airlines have flights to Split at this time of year.
I could get to Zagreb on
a Delta/Air France itinerary, but to get from there to Split, I had to book a
separate itinerary with Croatia Airlines.
Thursday, February 12
I arrived in Paris on an
overnight flight from Minneapolis. I was
hoping to get a nap on the flight, but turbulence made it impossible to sleep.
From Paris, I continued
to Zagreb on an Air France flight that was operated by Croatia Airlines. Because my flight to Split was booked
separately, I spent one night in Zagreb before continuing to Split. It’s risky to book flights with two different
airlines on the same day. If a delayed
flight causes you to miss a connection, neither airline is responsible for
rebooking you on a later flight. Waiting
until the next day gave me a cushion. It
also gave me a chance to visit Zagreb, which made this trip a two-for-one deal.
I took a taxi into town
and checked into a hotel near the city center.
Then I had the rest of the day to do some sightseeing in Zagreb, which
is the capital of Croatia.
I booked a free walking
tour, but it didn’t start until 4:30 PM.
That gave me time to do a workout at the hotel and explore some nearby parks.
I’ve done free walking
tours in several other cities. It costs
nothing to sign up. After the tour, you
tip the guide whatever amount you feel is appropriate. I met the guide for this tour, Robert, at the
Meteorological Post, at the north end of Zrinjevac Park.
Our first stop was Zagreb’s
main square. While we were here, Robert
explained some of Zagreb’s history.
Our next stop was a
smaller square with a relief map of the city.
Robert pointed out where we would go on this tour, as well as some
places in the lower town that I might want to explore on my own.
Next, we went t the
cathedral. The outside of the cathedral
is being restored, so I didn’t take any pictures. By the time we were done touring the inside
of the cathedral, it was already starting to get dark. Consequently, I didn’t take as many pictures
as I ordinarily would.
As we continued exploring
the upper town, Robert pointed out several restaurants and museums and made a
few recommendations. Then we passed
through the Stone Gate and continued climbing to the highest part of the city.
Zagreb’s best-known
landmark is St, Mark’s Church. It was
already dark when we got there, but the church is lit up at night.
After descending several
stairways, we detoured through a network of tunnels that were built during
World War II.
We finished back in the
main square. It was already getting
late, so I walked straight to dinner from there.
Whenever I visit
someplace new, I have to try the local pizza.
I had dinner at a pizzeria that was more or less on my way back to my
hotel. After dinner, I had some rakija,
which is an after-dinner drink that I discovered last year on a trip to
Serbia. It’s common in the Balkans, but
I’ve never seen it anywhere else.
After dinner, I was able
to get to sleep almost immediately. I
slept well for a few hours, but then I woke up and had trouble getting back to
sleep. I was just starting to sleep well
again when it was time to get up.
Friday, February 13
My hotel was in the lower
town, where there are lots of green spaces.
After breakfast, I went for a morning run through a series of connected
parks, squares, and botanical gardens.
They form a U shape, so they’re collectively called “Lenuci’s
Horseshoe.”
I flew to Split in the
afternoon. I stayed at a hotel that was
just a few blocks from where the marathon starts and finishes. Conveniently, it also made a good base for
sightseeing.
My hotel was located
within the walls of Diocletian's Palace, so you can’t drive right to the
entrance. I had my taxi drop me off at
the waterfront, where a porter from the hotel met me to lead me to the hotel. We entered the palace through this gate.
Then we walked through
the lower level of the palace. If you’re
a fan of Game of Thrones, it might look familiar. Some of the scenes were filmed here.
Next, we walked up these
steps to get to the main courtyard.
After going up more
steps, we walked through the vestibule.
On the other side of the
vestibule, we walked through this courtyard to get to the hotel entrance.
After checking into my
room and unpacking a few things, I went to packet pickup, which was under a
large tent in the promenade, next to the waterfront.
By the time I got back to
my room, the sun was already setting. It
was getting too late to do any sightseeing, so I went to dinner at a restaurant
that was recommended by one of the hotel employees.
I slept better that
night, but I still wasn’t able to sleep through the night.
Saturday, February 14
This hotel only has seven
rooms. Breakfast is included, but it’s
not economical to have a buffet for so few guests. When I went down to breakfast, I was told to
sit anywhere, and they would bring everything to me. They weren’t kidding. After the server brought me a pot of tea, she
came back and set down a stand with three plates. One had pastries and various spreads. The next had various slices of fruit. The third had meats cheeses, nuts and
olives. There was also a basket of
bread. She also gave me a menu, in case
I wanted to order anything else.
After breakfast, I did a
workout. About the time I finished my
exercises, I heard a loud clap of thunder.
It had been raining lightly, but soon it was pouring. I didn’t venture out until the rain started
to wind down again.
The vestibule has good
acoustics, so people often gather there to sing. From my hotel room, I could hear different
groups singing.
I was signed up for a free
walking tour of Split that started at 11:30.
As luck would have it, the rain had stopped by then.
I met the guide at the
“Split” sign at one end of the promenade.
At least half of the tour was within Diocletian's Palace. The palace is like a small city. It was built for the Roman Emperor
Diocletian, who used it as his retirement home.
Some of the features I saw on the tour were familiar. Others I had not seen before.
This is the bell tower,
which was built later than the rest of the palace.
Just outside the
cathedral, there’s a sphinx. The
original parts of the palace are 1,700 years old, but this sphinx is 3,500
years old. It was brought from Luxor,
Egypt.
This passage is
the world’s most narrow street. The name
translates to “let me pass.”
We left the palace
through this gate, which was originally used only by the emperor. After that, the rest of the tour was through
other parts of the old town.
Outside this gate,
there’s a statue of Gregory of Nin. They
say if you rub the big toe and make a wish, it’ll come true, but only if you
don’t tell anyone your wish. I rubbed
the toe and silently wished for dry weather during the marathon. My wish didn’t come true.
This is the altar from an
ancient monastery that was only recently excavated. It’s the only remaining part of the
structure.
This is the main square
of Split’s old town. The city’s oldest
restaurant and hotel are both located here.
This clock, near another
gate to the palace, is noteworthy because it's partitioned into 24 hours instead of 12.
This building, next to a
different square, is the only baroque building in the city.
After the walking tour, I
took a brief rest break at the hotel.
Then I went back out to do some sightseeing on my own. I started by climbing to the top of the bell
tower. The stone steps are much taller
than normal steps. Going up was tiring. Coming back down was a bit scary.
The views from the tower
were great, but I wasn’t prepared for how windy it was at the top.
Next, I went for a hike
through Marjan Park, which is on a hilly peninsula at the western edge of the
city. I hiked to three observation
decks. From the first one, I had a view
looking back toward the old town. From
the second one, I had a view across the bay to the other end of the city. From the last observation deck, I could look
out across the Adriatic Sea.
After that, I went to
dinner at another restaurant that was recommended by an employee at my hotel.
Walking back from dinner,
I was surprised how many runners I saw doing last-minute shakeout runs along
the waterfront.
I got to bed earlier that
night, and I slept well for most of the night.
Sunday, February 15
Sunday was race day. The race didn’t start until 9:00, so I didn’t
have to get up too early. Nevertheless,
I was awake before my alarm went off.
The first thing I did
when I got up was to check the weather.
It was raining. I showered, got
dressed, and went down to breakfast, not knowing if the rain would stop in time
for the race.
Knowing how much food
they bring you for breakfast, I told the server to only bring bread and a pot
of tea.
We had to be in the start
corrals by 8:45. My hotel was close to
the start, so I didn’t leave until 25 minutes before the start.
It was still raining, and
it looked like the rain would continue for the first half of the race. The temperature was about 50 degrees, but
with the wind and rain, it felt like low 40s.
I didn’t expect it to warm up noticeably during the race. I started the race wearing a plastic rain
poncho.
At packet pickup, we were
given color-coded wrist bands. According
to the pre-race instructions, we needed these to get into the start
corrals. In practice, nobody was
checking.
I wasn’t sure what my
goal should be. The course is moderately
hilly, with roughly 1,000 feet of total elevation gain. I was also concerned about the wet
conditions. I knew there were sections
of cobblestones where we ran through the old town, and they can be dangerously
slippery when they’re wet. I started the
race with a wait-and-see attitude.
I was assigned to corral
B based on my estimated finish time. I
saw a 4:00 pace group who were also in corral B, so I lined up next to
them. I didn’t know if I could run that
pace for the whole race, but it seemed like a reasonable pace to start.
We started on the
promenade. From there, we followed the
waterfront toward Marjan Park. The
pavement was mostly smooth asphalt, but we sometimes ran over crosswalks that
were paved with cobblestones.
I was paying so much
attention to the cobblestones that it was difficult to keep an eye on where the
pace leaders were. The first kilometer
or two were congested and people weren’t all starting at the same pace.
I found myself getting
ahead of the 4:00 group, but I saw a 2:00 group for the half marathon. They had the same target pace, so I followed
them.
The first seven or eight
kilometers were an out-and-back section that took us around the southern edge
of Marjan Park. As we ran up a hill, my
impression was that it wasn’t as tiring as I expected. Later, we reached a bigger hill, and I had to
work harder to stay on pace.
There were timing mats
every 5K and at the turnaround points of each out-and-back section. Each time I crossed a timing mat, I briefly
lifted the front of my rain poncho, so it wasn’t covering my race bib. In all likelihood, my timing chip would have
registered through the plastic poncho, but I didn’t want to take any chances of
missing a timing point.
The aid stations didn’t
all have the same beverages. Most had
water and Isotonic (sports drink). Some
just had water. A few had Coke. Even at the stations with Isotonic, there was
typically only one or two volunteers handing out cups of Iso. At most of the tables, I just saw water. On the rare occasions that I got a cup of
Iso, I drank the whole thing. When I had
to settle for water, I just drank a sip.
Conditions were cold enough that I didn’t need to drink much to stay
hydrated.
Coming back toward town,
I started to notice a strong headwind. I
was running behind a large group, so I was somewhat sheltered from the wind.
As we came back through
the old town, I reached another aid station.
I was trying to reach for a cup of water, but a few other runners
suddenly darted between me and the volunteers.
I had to briefly come to a stop to get around the other runners to get a
cup of water. That caused me to fall
behind the pace group.
As we turned away from
the waterfront, I had to fight the wind by myself at the same time I was going
up a hill. I quickly realized that it
would be too tiring to catch up to the pace group.
I knew the 4:00 group was
somewhere behind me, but I didn’t want to slow down enough for them to catch
up. I continued running at the same
pace, even though it meant fighting the wind by myself.
For the next few
kilometers, we were running through the old town. We made a number of turns, and some of the
streets were cobblestone. I managed to
keep up a consistent pace, but I was cautious about my footing.
By the 10K mark, we were
beginning another out-and-back section that took us through more modern
neighborhoods. Going out, we had a
strong headwind, and I really wished I was still running with the 2:00 group. Fighting the wind by myself took a lot of
extra energy.
I saw a group of women
who were singing. They were really
good. They sounded like a professional
choir. As I got closer, I noticed they were
all nearing red scarfs. During my
walking tour on Saturday, our tour guide told us about groups of professional singers
who would sometimes gather in the palace vestibule to sing for the
tourists. You can recognize them by
their red scarfs.
In addition to running
into the wind, I was also going uphill. When
I saw that I was getting closer to the pace group, I worked hard to catch up to
them. It took a lot out of me, but I
caught up to them near the top of the hill.
After that, I had a group of runners in front of me to shield me from
the wind.
We were still a distance
from the turnaround, but now we were running downhill. I started to get ahead of the pace group, but
I was able to follow a line of runners who had all moved to the same side of
the street. Running behind them gave me
shelter from the wind.
I was relieved when I
reached the turnaround. Now, instead of
a headwind, I had a tailwind. I had to
run back up the hill, but it was much easier with the wind at my back.
Before long, I crested
the hill again. Now I was going downhill
with the wind at my back. That gave me a
chance to recover from that long section that was into the wind.
Somewhere around 16K, we
reached the end of that out-and-back section.
After two turns and another kilometer, we reached the point where the
marathon and half marathon courses diverged.
Runners doing the half marathon turned left. Those of us doing the marathon turned right
to begin another long out-and-back section.
Like the previous one, this one was into the wind going out. Also, we again had to go uphill on the first
part of this section.
By now, the rain had
stopped. I no longer needed my rain
poncho to keep me dry, but I had mixed feelings about getting rid of it. The wind was cold, and I was worried I would
get too cold without having the poncho to help retain heat. The downside of keeping it was the added wind
resistance. When there was a strong wind
gust, my poncho acted like a sail, increasing my wind drag.
At one point there was a
gust of wind so strong that it briefly brought me to a standstill. Then I had to fight hard to get back up to
pace.
I could no longer follow
the 2:00 pace group, as they were doing the half marathon and had turned the
other way at the previous junction. I
could see a runner who I had been following on the previous out-and-back section,
but I didn’t know if I could catch up to him.
I found a different runner
to follow, but it seemed like the wind was slowing him down. My choices were stay behind him but go at a
slower pace or continue at the same pace but have to fight the wind myself. I chose to keep going at the same pace.
I caught up to another
runner, but before long I passed him.
That happened a few times. As I
started to pass one runner after another, I assumed everyone was slowing down
on this section. After all, we were
going uphill into a strong wind. Then I
got a split from my watch for mile 13. I
sped up to 8:36 in that mile. It was my
fastest mile of the race.
I saw a pace group coming
back on the other side of the street. It
was the 3:00 group. At this point in the
race, I figured they were about 30 minutes ahead of me. That meant I still had to fight the wind for
15 more minutes before reaching the turnaround.
A few moments later, a
pace group caught up to me. It was the
4:00 group. I was surprised to see them
right behind me when I had just run such a fast mile. They apparently were going a little faster
than their target pace. When I reached
the halfway point, I saw that I was two and a half minutes ahead of schedule
for a four-hour finish.
As the road turned
downhill, I got ahead of the group again.
As we neared the end of this section, we made a couple of turns. After the first turn, the wind was at our
side. After the second turn, we had a
tailwind. That’s the good news. The bad news is that I could see it was
uphill on the last leg before the turnaround.
I reached the turnaround
right at 22K. Now I was running into the
wind, but it was downhill. I continued
to stay ahead of the 4:00 group.
At the bottom of the
hill, we turned out of the wind. After
another turn, I had a tailwind. My rain
poncho was still acting like a sail, but now it was helping me instead of hurting
me.
Coming back, we again had
to go uphill at first, but after cresting that hill it was downhill with the
wind at our backs. This was another
chance to recover.
I eventually reached the
end of that out-and-back section. Then
we merged back in with the half marathon course. We continued in the same direction for a
short distance and then turned to enter a stadium. I had seen this same stadium from one of the
viewpoints during my hike through Marjan Park on Saturday.
We ran one lap around the
track and then left the stadium again.
There was an inflatable arch at the entrance to the stadium, and the
wind almost blew it over.
After leaving the
stadium, we had to run up a short hill.
This hill was steep enough to force me to slow down. It was tiring, but it was brief. Then I turned the corner and started heading
back toward the old town.
Just after that turn, I
reached an aid station. This one had
water and Coke, but only in bottles. I
grabbed a bottle of Coke and started to take the cap off. Immediately, foam poured out of the
bottle. My motion as I ran was shaking
the bottle.
I had to pour off the
foam before I could drink. I drank what
I could, and then I tossed the bottle to the side of the road. I couldn’t drink the whole bottle without
stopping to walk, and I didn’t want to slow down.
Soon, I was running
downhill again, but the previous mile was a slow one. I didn’t get discouraged. I reminded myself that it was only a slow
mile because of the hill.
After another turn, I was
running into the wind again. My rain
poncho was a liability again.
I saw another runner stop
and put something into a trash bin. I
considered taking off my poncho and stuffing it into the same bin. Then it occurred to me that we were running through
a residential neighborhood, and that trash bin belonged to one of the local
residents. I didn’t feel it was
appropriate to be using someone else’s trash bin, so I continued to run wearing
the poncho.
As the miles got tougher,
I questioned whether I would be able to stay on pace to break four hours. I was on pace for now, but I didn’t know how
much longer I could keep it up. My
backup goal was to break 4:05, which would still be good enough for a Boston
qualifier. At this point, I could do
that just by averaging 9:40 the rest of the way. My slowest mile so far was 9:30. I kept that in mind, but in the meantime, I was
still fighting for 4:00.
As we got back into the
old town, I was seeing kilometer markers for the half marathon and the 10K
race, but I couldn’t remember when I last saw one for the marathon. I was relieved when I finally saw the 31K
sign. I didn’t know when the courses
diverged again, so I was relieved to know I had not missed a turn.
As we got close to the
promenade, I saw the 42K sign.
Apparently, we would come this way again at the end of the race and
finish the same way the half marathon finished.
As I reached the
promenade, I finally saw where the courses separated. Runners who were finishing turned onto the
promenade to run toward the finish line.
Those of us doing the marathon would reach this same junction
twice. The first time, we continued
straight just a little farther to turn onto a sidewalk right at the water’s
edge. We were running parallel to the
promenade, but a short distance away.
We still had to do one
more out-and-back before coming back into the old town. It was a little more than 5K each way. I already knew that we would have a headwind
going out and a tailwind coming back.
At one of the aid
stations, I saw volunteers holding out white cups that I assumed were
water. Then I heard one of them say,
“Cola.” I was almost past her, so I had
to stop and reach back to get a cup. It
was much easier drinking Coke from a cup.
This out-an-back section
was always close to the shoreline. At
times, we ran by different bays. That’s
where the wind was always strongest.
Early in this section, I
saw a hill. I was relieved to see the
runners in front of me turning to leave the road. Instead of going up that hill, we followed a
sidewalk alongside some railroad tracks.
Our route was level – for now.
We only followed the
railroad tracks briefly. Then we turned
and ran past one of the bays. There were
several ladders at the water’s edge, making this bay look like a giant swimming
pool.
A wind gust briefly
halted my progress. The next 5K weren’t
going to be easy. I was constantly
fighting strong wind gusts.
After that bay, we went
up a ramp. Halfway up the ramp, there
was a switchback. That gave me an
opportunity to look for the 4:00 group.
Looking back across the bay, I couldn’t see them coming.
I was slowing down, so it
was a relief to know that I still had a comfortable lead over the pace
group. That gave me confidence that I
could still break four hours. If I could
stay ahead of the group until the turnaround, it would be easier coming back.
I ran over a hill that
was gradual going up but steep going down.
I knew I would eventually have to go back up that steep hill. I wasn’t looking forward to that.
I ran by another bay that
had a beach area. There were metal barriers
on either side of our route, but the wind had toppled them.
There was a line of palm
trees between the sidewalk and the beach.
From the way the wind was blowing the trees, it looked like I was
running in a powerful storm. That’s what
it felt like too.
When I started to see
pace groups coming back, I was able to estimate how much farther it was to the
last turnaround. It always seemed too
far.
When I saw the 35K sign,
I figured I probably had about one more kilometer of fighting the wind. That turned out to be a pretty close
estimate.
Suddenly, two runners
passed me. It wasn’t the pace group, so
I didn’t panic. Still, it occurred to me
that it had been a long time since anyone had passed me.
In the distance, I saw a
yellow truck. I wondered if that was where
the turnaround was. It was actually an
aid station, but when I got there, I could see the turnaround a short distance
ahead of me.
After making the turn, I
looked for the 4:00 group. I couldn’t
see past the crowd of runners at the aid station. When I reached the aid station, I could see
the pace group. I estimated that I was
about a minute ahead of them. I still
had about six kilometers to go, but the wind was at my back now. I was pretty sure I could stay ahead of them.
When my watch gave me a
split for mile 23, it was slow. That
mile had been mostly into the wind. My
previous two miles were also slow, but they were also into the wind. When I eventually finished mile 24, I saw
that I had brought my pace back down. I
was running out of gas, but the toughest miles were behind me.
With about a mile and a
half to go, I had to run up the steep hill that I had run down earlier. I saw other people walking the hill. I ran most of it, but I had to walk for five
or six steps at the very top.
When I got my split for
mile 25, it was slow, but I attributed that to the hill. As far as I knew, that was the last major
obstacle.
In the final kilometer, I
crossed the promenade to come back into the old town. The course would loop back around to the
other end, but first I had to run up a hill.
I also had to fight a headwind on this hill. Then I reached a lumpy cobblestone
section. Could this hill get any more
difficult?
I breathed a sigh of
relief when I reached the top of the hill, turned out of the wind, and got back
onto smooth pavement. Then, I
accelerated.
I still had to cross two
more short sections of cobblestones.
Those were the only places where I wasn’t fighting to pick up the
pace. On the cobblestones, I just wanted
to get through safely.
With just over 200 meters
to go, I turned back onto a street I had run before. Then I saw the 42K sign again. Just past that, I made the turn onto the
promenade. As I reached the finish line,
I made a point of lifting up my rain poncho so it wasn’t covering my race bib. Then I stopped my watch. I was a little slow stopping my watch, so it
read 3:58:11. My official time was 3:58:09.
I had been worried about
the rain, the hills, and the cobblestones.
It turns out the wind was the toughest part of this race. Somehow, as tiring as it was, I still broke
four hours. It’s reassuring to know that
I can still do that, even under tough conditions.
As I continued through
the finisher chute, I received my medal.
I saw a long line for medal engraving.
I didn’t know if that was something they did for everyone, or if it was
an option we paid for when we registered.
If so, I didn’t pay for it.
Without knowing, I didn’t want to wait in a long line. I headed back to the hotel, so I could take a
long hot shower.
My race packet included a
gel packet, a bottle of Powerade, and a protein shake. I refueled with those and waited until later
to eat a real meal.
When I was ready to
venture out again, I went to a restaurant that was inside Diocletian's Palace. I didn’t want to walk any farther than I had
to.
Monday, February 16
I slept so hard that the
6:00 AM church bells didn’t even wake me up.
I also slept through my phone’s alarm.
Fortunately, I didn’t need to be up early.
When I got up, my
Achilles tendons were so tight I could barely walk to the bathroom. After a hot shower and some stretching, I
could walk normally, but they were still tight.
My flight back to Zagreb
wasn’t until the afternoon, so I was able to have a leisurely breakfast and do
a workout before getting ready to leave.
The hotel arranged for my
taxi to the airport. They told the
driver where to park and escorted me to meet my driver outside the palace.
My flight to Zagreb was on Croatia Airlines, but my remaining flights were booked through Delta. For that reason, I’m spending one more night in Zagreb. I need to be at the airport in time for a 6:30 AM flight on Tuesday, so I checked into a hotel that’s close to the Zagreb airport.
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