Boston Marathon 2012

Its not everyone that gets to run a Boston Marathon, so i consider myself lucky. Even if the conditions on the day meant i failed to hit my target goal. However despite that my Boston 2012 was the best run marathon Ive done, I still came away with a shiny new PB, and an overall result that id only dreamed about.

Hamm Winterlauf Series 15k

The weather was once again Ideal for the start of the 2nd race in the Hamm Winterlauf Series. This time over 15km. It was cold, and only the slightest of breezes blowing on a dry (and a little dusty) course.

Id decided to change my fueling for this race I ate a good carb rich dinner the night before, and treated myself to a few chocolates and sweets  while watching TV. Instead of breakfast, i just drank a couple of cups of fresh coffee, and took a gel 20 minutes before the start.

The start of the 15km is on the track just like the 10k however in the 10k the runners are split into two seperate races, in the 15k we all start together, So it means an even more crowded start, This time i only managed to get about 10m from the start line, and was standing over about lane 7.

Hamm Winterlauf Series 10k

My local winterlauf Series is also Germany oldest running 3 race winter Series. So it goes without saying that i am entered.

clipping from the local paper

But not only for nostlgic reasons, the series, a 10k , 15k, and HM make for a great appraisal of your marathon fitness, both in the individual Races but also if you take the series total time. You come away with 4 marathon predictions for the price of 3.

Röntgenlauf UltraMarathon 63.3km

I am an Ultra Runner!

The seed for this was laid during my training for the Münster Marathon. I was putting in a lot of millage, There were 3 weeks in a row where i ran over 100 miles a week, topping out at 192km in one week. I believe it was Stephen of Run Like you Stole It that commented that there might be an Ultra in my not too distant Future... which got me thinking.

The plan was to run fast in Münster, and if that fell through attempt it again in a second autumn marathon. If Münster went well then i would 'Reward' myself with an 'Easy' introduction to Ultra Running with the Röntgenlauf. Ive never really considered myself a fast runner, Yes i have some decent PB's but i always felt i was built for endurance not speed. So the thought of doing an Ultra allways intrigued me.

The Roentgenlauf with its 63 km seemed like the ideal introduction. It worked into my race schedule well, and it seemed like an achievable distance with limited Ultra training or experience. My prepartion consisted of my existing aerobic base, the Tetoberg Waldlauf followed by a 48km run the day after, and a few hill sprint workouts. Certainly not ideal, but it was sufficient.

The Röntgenlauf itself is a fantastic event that i would highly recomend. It offers races over Half Marathon, Marathon, and the Ultra. The Ultra can also be run as a team of 3 runners each running a Half Marathon distance. Its also extremely flexible you can register for the ultra and drop out at the full marathon, or register for the marathon and run the ultra, and you will be classed appropriately. The course is simply stunning at this time of the year.

My Taper was pretty uneventful, a few little aches and pains, just what youd expect. I was nowhere near as strict with myself as during the Münster Taper and the result was much more relaxed. Carbo loading started wednesday. I chose to favor potatoes rather than rice or nudels because potatoes apparently have a higher nutritional value.

I spent quite a bit of time trying to decide on a race pace and draw up a pace plan. This was complicated both by the distance and the effect of the hills. In the end my plan was reasonably close, but a littel too optomistic given the hills. The night before the race i suffered my own brain failure as i spent a good hour going back and forth trying to figure out how to make sure i didnt wake up too late ... that night we switched from summer time to winter time here in germany... i guess nerves will do that.

The morning however i woke up at the correct time and just followed my regular race day process. Breakfast was a healthy portion of porridge, with a sliced bannana and walnuts mixed in, topped with milk and honey. Showered dressed and 'body glided' i was ready to go. I arrived at the race start area with a good hour and a half to go. Picked up my start number, and then went to go get changed into my race kit.

I had prepared my short running tights the day before, I wanted to take a gel at km 5 then every 10k after that...but my shorts couldnt hold that many and i only have a start number band or a hydration belt. I didnt want to carry the hydration belt so i decided to pin the gels that wouldnt fit in my pocket to my tights. I positioned them on the sides and it was quite comfortable they didnt wobble around and didnt get in the way.

I had also chosen a long sleeve shirt, it was a good 13°c when i arrived, so i wouldnt need a jacket for warmth, and the weather report was predicting no rain, so the jacket stayed in my gear bag. My shoe choice was made after the 48 km training run, i was testing my Brooks Glycerin 9's and they had shown themselves worthy of my trust.

I hung around in the start hall hoping to meet Henning who was also running the race for the first time, but with 20 mins to go i headed for the start line, turned out id just missed him there. I couldnt find him there either, and thought id end up running the race without him.

The start came, and i was still standing a little to the side, I watched a good number of runners go through the start gate, before stepping into the flow and starting my run. The first few hundred meters were hardly behind me when Henning turned up on my shoulder. It was a plesant surprise, and we would run together for the next 26-27km. The course starts with a little sightseeing loop through Lennep. A very picturesque village, and birthplace of Willhelm Röntgen who discovered XRays.

That first little loop was an introduction to the hills, however we were caught in a lot of trafic and were not able to run the pace according to my plan. There were almost 2000 people on the start line, and the course was quite narrow, it didnt really start thining out until after the first10km, It was too crowded on the downhills prior to that to run faster, and the uphills...well they were a bit steeper than expected, so there was no picking up places there.

I knew that from km 10-15 it would be constantly down hill, so we started to pick up the pace, and places as we began overtaking the runners ahead of us. somewhere after km 15 I realised that Id over hydrated that morning, So I waited for the next steep hill and steeped off the course for a 'breather'. It turned out to be the prosecco hill... at the top you were invited to join the spectators there in a nip of prosecco. I didnt loose too much time and caught up to henning pretty quickly.

The first HM went by pretty quickly, I was chatting to henning, and we were crusing along. My legs still felt really fresh, in fact i commented that so far it felt like a pretty normal sunday long run. The Traffic had gotten quite a lot lighter after the first HM as we shed all the runners that were going no further.

The Second HalfMarathon stretch is pretty much flat overall, but has lots of short sharp ascents and descents in it, with only the ocasional flat stretch. Around Km 28 we hit the first real trail like steep uphill, and even though i power walked it I could feel the lactate buildup in my legs. Id managed to walk past a few of the people ahead of me, but Henning looked like he was struggling a little on the hills. I waited till he caught up and we started running again.

At some point we went under the Müngstener Bridge, the highest railway bridge in germany. Henning was starting to strugle more and more on the hills. Id hopped that we'd be able to run to the 50k mark together before each finishing in his own pace. But it didnt turn out that way. Henning told me to not worry about waiting for him anymore, so I wished him luck, and set about trying to maintain a steady pace.

Km 32 - 36 was mostly a gentle rise, and i started picking up a lot of runners, mostly marathon entrants but also quite a few of the ultra runners. I was still feeling strong and was running well. The course went past the Castle Burg but i cant say I recall seeing it. At Km 37 there was a brutal descent on an asphalt road, my toes were hitting the tips of my shoes despite being laced properly, I started to worry about my feet, and wether i should stop and re-tie my shoes. but after a few more bone jaring meters the descent was over.

From Km 38 through to km 47.5 the course was an almost constant ascent, just a few short downhills as a break. I picked up quite a few Marathon runners, and eventually came to the marathon finish line. The clock showed 3:46 and the announcer commented that i ran to the finish line / timming mats  looking fresh. but i didnt stop there... there was still another half marathon to go. After the Marathon distance we passed the Eschbachtalsperre and kept climbing, My tolerance for when i would start power walking on the hills started to drop, as did my ability to start running again once id started walking.

That stretch was the hardest for me. It really took its toll. Id also stopped picking up runners, all that was left on the track were the ultra's and the HM relay runners. They were all pretty fresh still and the ultras were few and far between. The hills were really grinding me down, The one bright spot was the homemade musli bars at the refreshment stations.

Eventually I crossed the 50km mat and my legs had started to recover a little. I was able to maintain a slightly higher pace again and started to close the gap on the runners ahead of me. The course had changed a litle and was winding through farmland over asphalt lanes. I had to smile to myself a few times as i realised that i was running an ultra, that this was the furtest id ever run. the longest id ever run. That for most people the idea of running this far is something they just cant understand.

My 'Plan' was to run steady through to km 55 and then see what was left in the tank.... well just prior to km 55 there was another big hill, that I 'power' walked up...although there wasnt much power mostly just walk. my legs were starting to hurt, and they didnt feel like they recovered any on the following downhill. Infact i felt even worse. I recaled reading at that many people experience a second wall around 55km or so. I wondered if this was what i was starting to feel.

It was strange I felt that  could keep running, my breathing wasnt laboured i even felt like i had enought energy in my body it was just that my legs were getting sore and feeling tired, I wanted to keep pushing but they just wouldnt do anymore... I let Tony Auldenshaws mantra run through my head a few times 'F**k the legs, F**k em'. It also occured to me that most of the other ultra runners must be going through something similar.

The next refeshment stand had salted pretzels on offer... heavenly. after the gels, and the musli bars i really enjoyed something non-sweet and salty. I briefly considered the cola, but said no, ill have that at the last stand. The next section of the course was more or less flat running alongside the wuppertalsperre another man made lake.

I elicited a brief laugh from a relay runner that id just passed when i stopped, whipped out my camera and took a photo before starting to run again. I was able to maintain a pretty good pace, my legs seemed to have given in to Tonys Mantra and were now just doing their thing and turning over pretty good. I passed a couple of ultra runners and put space on them, The last refreshment stand was pretty busy, with lots of spectators. I called out for cola as i arrived, failing to notice that there was beer on offer.

There was another short flat section alongside the lake, I started to feel like my right hamstring was going to cramp up. I played around with my breathning rates switching to a non symetrical one to try and ease it... which it slowly did. then i got to the final hill. And walked my way to the top. There were lots of walkers with race numbers on that confused me a little, and quite a few spectators and other people walking on course, But by that point id given up worrying about places and just wanted to finish the damn race. I even managed to do an old man shuffle up the final section of hill to the applause of the spectators. They yelled it was 400m to go and all down hill...

It took me a good 50m to build up my speed again, but then i ran to the finish line with a decent bit of pace, no end sprint, but still. I ran over the mats, through the people at the finish line and was a little worried i wouldnt stop before the barrier holding back the spectators... but i avoided that disaster when my legs decided enough was enough. hands on knees and head down i stopped my garmin with 5:35 showing, and then a young lass put my finishers medal over my head.

I looked around there must be something to eat and drink here, i wasnt sure where it was, eventually i realised it was in the hut right by the finish line, i grabbed a cig cup of coke, banana, oatysnack, and a danish pastry, and sat myself down on a chair. The local TV crews and reporters were standing around in the finishing area, Waiting for the first female runner to come in, but no one was interested in me. I went back to the food for seconds, and realised my legs were starting to tighten up. Besides id also seen that the beer tent was just outside the finishing area. So i went out grabbed a alkohol free wheet beer, and started walking in circles to try and keep the legs turning over.... two beers later and i was starting to feel cold.

I headed for the showers, and then lined up for a massage from the phsio's. I kept having cramps in my left calf when the physio would press into the muscle.. eventually however he worked that out. After the massage i struggled to tie my shoes as each time i bent foward to tie them the top of my quads would cramp up... my god i thought, im falling to pieces here. Eventually i got  myself sorted out.

I ran into Henning again, turned out he'd really hit the wall in the third Half... still he had fought on and finished his first Ultra too. I went back to the finish line to cheer on a few of the runners, and then when i started feeling cold headed for the hall to watch the prize giving.

All in All it was a great day, and a great race. I finished my first Ultra, and in a pretty handy time too. I wasnt able to stick to my pace plan, but i did run a very evenly paced race throughout which was something i wanted to do. I learnt a few good leasons that will be handy should i ever decide to race this again. In particular my preparation definately lacked sufficient extra long runs to condition my legs to the pounding that they will take on a race of this distance. I also discovered the the hills were a lot more brutal than i initially expected. But that the tactic of power walking them didnt cost me much time at all.

My Stats for the race are as follows

Chip Time: 5:36:13

Splits

1st HM: 1:53:37

2nd HM: 1:51:51

3rd HM: 1:50:44

50km: 4:27:00

For a 22nd place overall from 400+ finishers and 5th place in the M35 Category.

here Lady Garmins take on the whole thing

Teutoberger Waldlauf - 29km

Most of the races I've run have been pretty flat, the hilliest being the Bossendorf Volkslauf and that only had 175 Hm (+175, -175) but i have my sights set on an ultra marathon with 800 Hm this autumn. The teutolauf with its 600 Hm was the ideal race to use in my preparation. It is also held on a Saturday which would mean i could use Sunday to do Back 2 Back (B2B) Long runs.

The week leading into the race i had reduced my millage, partly in response to a cold i was recovering from partly to prepare for a hard weekend. I began Carbo loading on Thursday and had friday as a total rest day. Friday was also the day when i tried to sit down and figure out what sort of time would be possible. I looked at the results from the previous year. I knew i wouldnt be up to the same level of performance as in Münster, so i decided to be cautious and set a goal of 2:15 which is an average pace around 4:45/km

Saturday morning i woke up to crystal clear skies and a forcast that said it would be 14°c. Absolutely perfect racing weather. Breakfast was my now almost traditional porridge, with banana and walnuts topped with milk and honey. The good thing about the 13:50 start was that breakfast was at a decent time of the day.

When I arrived at the start you could look up into the hills... a little daunting for a someone who's used to doing hill work on a mole hill. I picked up my start number, the organisation was excellent, no waiting, and a free gel sample thrown in. I changed into my race outfit and then took my bag back to my car. I had time to do a quick ten minute warmup, before removing my jacket and heading for the start line.

I positioned myself about 10 meters back from the start line, meaning there was probably about 100 runners ahead of me. The start shot went and we were off. The race started out pretty flat for the first 4.5km as we worked our way along the base of the hills. I slotted in behind a guy wearing an ultra marathon finishers shirt and we picked up a few places after the first 2k as the typical people who had started too fast found their own rhythems. Then we turned left and started to climb... and climb... and climb. I had changed down a gear reducing my stride length, changing my breathing but i was working pretty hard. Eventually the hill got so steep that i decided to switch over to power walking, so with hands on my knees i clambered up the hill.

I was pretty much the only one that switched to walking, but over that section i only lost perhapes 5m on the guy ahead who kept running. But it gave me the opportunity to get my breathing back under control. Once we hit the top we followed the ridge of the hills, there was a mix of short downhill sections and easy uphills. The tracks through here were wide and covered in gravel, so very easy to run.

Eventually we started the first major decent, and i let gravity assist staying up on my toes and leaning down the hill rather than sitting back on my heels. Then all you have to do is concentrate on turning your legs over fast enough. I discovered that compared to the guys around me im a pretty decent decender. I picked up a number of places. We came to the bottom at around km 11 where i took my first gel. then headed through a really nice park before the next steep incline.

This one was stright up the hill, it started off with steps and then continued with a single file track. All of the runners around me walked this ascent. At the top we followed the ridge, this section was much more technical, lots of tree roots making foot placement a little tricky, It was also made up of lots of little dips and lumps. I got passed by half a dozen guys that were clearly a little more used to running on such a technical surface.

Eventually we came out onto some ashphalt country roads, and headed back down into the valley, once again my decent helped me pull back a number of the guys that had passed me,  I had passed and been passed by guy with the ultra marathon shirt several times during the race. we reached km 20 and i took my second gel before the final ascent.

The last ascent was broken up into several smaller climbs with one really steep section at the end. the combination of smaller ascents meant that all the guys id put distance on on the downhill had caught back up to me when we got to the final steep section, where we were all once again chose to walk. Once we got to the top we had a mostly flat couple of Km before the final descent.

Once again i let loose and was able to make up a number of places, but by then my ribs and the sides of my torso was starting to hurt a little from the descending. During all the descents i was on the line but still felt in control. At the bottom we had 2km to go, it was the first time i looked at the garmin with an eye towards what time i was going to run...It showed 2:07.. 2:08 and i realised that the 2:15 i had targeted was still a possibility, so i dug in and tried to run the last 2km hard...

I picked out runners ahead and tried to close the gap, it worked on a couple, but then thee was a slight rise before the last 300m to the line... and Mr Ultra marathon shirt pulled past me again... i tried to go with him, but he had too much left in the tank, I did manage to pick it up a little in the final 50m where the spectators were lined up and corssed the line with a 2:15:36 showing on the clock.

The chip nett time turned out to be 2:15:24 putting me in 72nd place overall from 871 runners, and 11th from 73 in the M35 Age Class. I am very happy with the result. The event was great, the organisation good, and the post race refreshment was alcohol free beer.

Hammer Stadtlauf 10k

Given the start line for this race is about 30m from my appartment i dont think you can get much more local. It would be unforgivable to not enter.

The Hammer Stadtlauf is another of these great City runs where it is as much about the childrens races as it is for the adults. In Hamm they have a special program where primary school kids start running and collect 40km ... and then run the final 2k of their 'Kids Marathon' at the City Run. Its a great idea, and good to see that kids of all abilities were giving it a go.

My day started off with me watching the Berlin Marathon, and Pattrick Makau setting a new WR, The conditions in the mornign were absolutely perfect for running, but as the slower 3/4 of the berlin marathon field will atest the afternoon was a bit too warm and the sun was pretty hot for an early autumn day.

I had my hopes set on breaking the 40 min barrier for the 10k, and tried to convince myself that the sun would be lower by 16:00 and that there would be more shadow and it wouldnt be so warm. I helped out as an impromptu race volunteer for the 5k race and the first couple of childrens races, before heading home to have a cooling shower and change into my race gear.

I did a 10 min warmup, and then headed back to the appartment for a drink and to put a bag of frozen peas on my neck. Even in the warm up it was clear the 25°c temperatures would make for an uncomfortably warm race... still i tried to remain optomistic. A couple of minutes before the start i headed down to the start line and found myself a place in the second row. Took a few deep breaths and wished my fellow runners luck.

Then we were off, the first km passes the main crowd twice as part of a warmup loop before getting onto the main route. Which meant with the adrenalin and the crowds pushing us on we all went out a bit faster than planned, my first km was over in 3:42 and i specifically held myself back. The front runners quickly opened up a gap and the rest of the field strung itself out behind them.

The second Km was still a little too fast at 3:55 but much more in tune with what i was expecting to run. Km 3 & 4 were much better, bang on the pace i knew i needed at that stage of the race to finish sub 40, I also managed to pull back 3 or 4 runners that had gone out too fast at the start.

By then however the warm conditions started to make themselves felt, my legs were really heavy and started to get that lactate burn i was wary that if i tried to maintain the pace Id end up blowing up completly. With the marathon preparation i havent done a lot of running at LT or faster. My pace slipped to 4:12's for Km 5-8, One of the runners that id pulled back earlier came past again and slowly opened a gap on me before having to pull off to the side around Km 7 ... could have been me i though to myself if id tried to hold the earlier pace.

From about Km 6 on we were also overtaking the slower runners as the route had 4 loops. That made it more difficult to see the runners ahead of me. but i did get the occasional glimpse and saw that i was holding steady with them. I hoped that my endurance would help me close up on them in the final lap.

I had recovered a little and managed to pick up the pace again in Km 9 with a 4:07, I knew the sub 40 was out of reach, but not that runner in the red 50m ahead of me. Id also managed to get a decent splash of water on me at the drinks station on the last time past which also helped cool me a little.

I dont really have much of a sprint finish, I much prefer to wind the pace up from further out and run to the finishing schute in a steady pace... so with 1 km to go i started to wind up my pace a little... And the footsteps i could here behind me helped push me a bit further. Unfortunately they stayed close behind, closing slowly, before he blew past on the last little rise before the finish line, a taste of my own medicine since thats how i like to pass people myself. Still he did help push me to a 3:56 final Km.

I crossed the line, i wasnt seeing stars, and i wasnt quite as blown out as at the end of Munster or NordKirchen, but it wasnt far off. i grabbed a drink and sat down to catch my breath... it still amazes me just how little time it takes to go from a state of total exhaustion back to relative comfort... another great side effect of running. I had heard the announcer call out 40:30 as i came in, my garmin said 40:27,  but we had to wait till all the runners finshed before the official results were published.

Imhappy with the official 40:28, It might not be sub 40, but it still shaved over a minute off my previous PB set in Olfen just 3 months earlier. I finished 11th overall from 82 starters (this years field was much smaller than last year), was 10th male, and as a cherry on top placed First in my Age Group. Thats only the second time Ive managed that, but this time i got an actual trophy. Ok its made out of plastic, but its the first trophy I've ever won for sporting achievment, so it will be taking up some prime real estate on the shelves in the living room.

Münster Marathon

This was the big one for me, the first marathon that i would race from start to finish. Id set myself a goal at the start of training that i felt was reasonable, sub 3:10. But my preperation races didnt go quite to plan, and i was starting to doubt my ability to actually maintain the required pace for the whole marathon. It seemed to me that it would depend on the weather.

So the days leading up to race day i kept a close watch on the forecasts. The Friday before raceday was absolutely perfect running weather, a cool 12°c in the morning rising to 16°c by midday with overcast skies and a gentle breeze. Unfortunately the weather forecast predicted a turn in the weather for the better for saturday 27°c ... with the warmth staying around on sunday... it was predicting temperatures of 20°c overnight rising to 23°c during the day ... I was mentally preparing myself to miss my goal.

The Day before the race i spent the morning with my kids, we watched England narowly shutout Argentina in the Rugby world cup before i headed home for another round of carb loading, spinach ricotta tortelini with a little cheese and herb sauce. I put my feet up in the afternoon drank lots of water and watched a few films. I had a small serve of whole wheat spaghetti with herrings for dinner, a bannana for desert before hitting the sack early at 9:30.... Surprisingly I managed to fall asleep pretty quickly.

Sunday the alarm went off at 5am I got up and went for a short 10-15 minute jog, much to the amazement of a couple of women that were still out celebrating a long saturday night. Then i tucked into a medium sized bowl of porridge, topped with banana walnuts and honey. Had my first Coffee in over two weeks and the got myself prepared for the race.... you know toilet, shower, lubing up etc.

It was only a 45 min drive to the start, but the only cheap parking place in Münster also happened to be directly besides the start zone, so i needed to be there early to get through the roadbloacks and get a park space. During the drive i looked at the temperature reading in the car... 19.5°c the sky was looking clear too. I thought to myself 3:15 is also a great time.

I got myself a park, got out and walked around a little before going back to the car eating a small protein bar and putting my seat back and closing my eyes for a little while, I didnt sleep more sort of a few moments of meditation. The temperture was up to 21°c and humidity was sitting at 80% by 8:30. The sun had come up and it was looking like it might get really uncomfortable. I put some sunscreen on my shoulders, visited the port-a-loo's, locked up the car and headed for the start blocks.

At 8:46 we had a minutes silence to remember the horror's of september 11 Ten years earlier.  Directly after i took my first Gel, washed it down with a cup of water, the first drink other than my morning coffee. I didnt want to have bladder presure issues like i did in Vienna so i didnt drink any extra fluids race morning. The start process from there seemed to go pretty quick. I guess because i was chating to Henning a fellow DailyMiler that was also running. Although we started in the second block we were right at the front and probably only 10 meters from the start line.

My plan at the start was to slowly ramp up into my race pace over the first 5km. So i had planned the first km in 4:45, the next 2 in 4:40, and 2 more at 4:35 before holding 4:29 through to km 32. Id rehearsed the whole sequence several times in training and although i wasnt bang on the times the whole point of not going out to fast in the first 5k seemed safe. My opening 5 according to the garmin turned out to be,  4:38, 4:30, 4:37, 4:35, 4:31 So i was still caught up in the adrenaline of the moment, but nowhere near like the vast majority of runners, In those opening 5k i was passed by hundreds of runners, including the 3:15 pacers. The whole time i kept saying to myself 'your too fast' and 'slow down'

However despite my pace according to garmin being a bit hot, as i crossed the 5k marker i was bang on the required 5k split according to the pace chart i had attached to my Garmin strap.  This was because the start wound around the small roads and lanes of the city center so despite me aggresively trying to run the tangents whenever possible i was still gaining extra distance pretty quickly. In fact by the time we got out onto the more open roads around km 11 Id already run an extra 280 meters on the garmin.

At km 5 i took my second gel, and then concentrated on trying to settle into my target pace. The field had started to open up a little, the buildings provided plenty of shadow and i started to pull back a few of the runners that had flown past me at the start, notibly the 3:15 pace group around km 7 now that they too had settled into a more apropriate pace.

 At the drinks stations i started a pattern that i followed for the whole race. With a gel i would drink an guesstimated 200ml of water, at the other stations the water was primarily applied to my head and clothes to help with cooling and just a mouthfull from each was drunk. The cups were paper so made drinking on the run, especially the bit at the bottom, really easy. For my gels i still used my drink while walking strategy.

Around km 12 we came out of the town and started to run through the very picturesque Musterland. Unfortunately this also meant less shade and from that point i started pulling back runners a lot more quickly. My times through each 5k were pretty much matching up with my pace char. I crossed 10k in 45:54 my pace chart said 45:40, the half in 1:35:02 the pace chart for 21km 1:34:59  I was feeling good, but still wary about the weather and the effect it would have on the later stages of the race.

Coming in towards the halfway mark i recognised Henning a bit further up the road, resisted the temptation to speed up to catch him and just closed the gap over the next few km's. After the half we wound through a small village then turned and headed south, into a little bit of a head wind, Henning and i chatted for a bit, and i encourged him to tuck in behind me, I knew he was aiming for a sub 3:10 as well and that if he slowed too much at that point it would slip from his grip.

The stretch from km25-km30 was quite narrow and we hit a fair bit of traffic, I was being concious not to get lulled into running off pace, Thankfully the weather had also turned a little the humidity dropped away quite quickly once the wind picked up, it clouded over and even started to rain a little. I crossed km 30 in 2:15:14 6 seconds ahead of my pace charts 2:15:20.

My pacing tactic to go sub 3:10 required me to pick the pace up to 4:25/k from km 35 onwards. If i could do that id come in comfortably with a good 30-40 seconds to spare to cover off the additional distance id run over the blue line. However I was feeling really good, my breathing was still easy, the legs were getting tired, but were still in pretty good shape,  and the weather had turned a little.

So i took a bit of a risk and decided to wind things up through the final 10k. km 32 i ran in 4:17 had a down hill i think or i was a little to exhuberant, km 33 in 4:24, km 34 in 4:20, km 35 in 4:19 By this stage the field was starting to thin out, i was still pulling back runners, but not in the droves on earlier... still as i passed each one i imagined my self syphoning off the last dregs of their energy like some sort of evil lich.

I continued to build the pace through each kilometer At this point i started to realise that baring catastrophy id hit my sub 3:10 goal, which gave me a even more energy to keep going. I ran Km 36 in 4:17, km 37 in 4:15, km 38 with the last rise ( i cant reall call it a hill ) in 4:19, Km 39 in 4:15 Km 40 in 4:10. I started to wonder when we would hit the crowds to cheer us onto the finish as for Km 41 in 4:05 we were still passing through through a residential area with very few spectators. The legs now were starting to suffer from a build up of lactates.

But then I came round a corner and the city center was ahead of me, and the crowds too. It was just what i needed and the cheering really helped me to keep on pushing, by now i was trying to forget all about my legs and just concentrated on swinging my arms and hoping that the legs would just sort of follow along. I ran km 42 in 4:00

In typical marathon cruelty the final stretch over the last 4-5 hundred meters was over an uneven and slightly wet cobbled road, with the finish line hidden 50m around a corner. By then i was biting my teeth together and fighting hard, the legs were screaming, my breathing was down to breath for each step, I could no longer really see the crowd i was just looking for the finish line. When would it come when would i see it. It couldnt be much further could it?

Then i rounded said corner saw it ahead and threw myself across the line with the last reserves of what i had. I ran the last 530 meters with an average of 3:51/k Across the line i pulled up took a few steps to the side and thought for a moment that i might collapse. I didnt, thankfully, but it was a distinct possibility for a few wobbly seconds there... then i managed to get some air in and things started to come right again.

I had been so concentrated on crossing the finish line that i hadnt even looked up to see what the clock had showed, So I looked at my Garmin it said 3:06 the seconds were hidden id find them out later on but the first big grin of the afternoon crossed my face and i turned to one of the guys handing out the medals who'd been waiting paitiently for me, collected my medal. and then walked through to have some water poured on my head.

I drank two cups of some funny tasting pink stuff, no idea what it was, got myself wrapped up in a big sheet of pastic, and headed for the banana's... If they hadnt been cut into thirds id have probably set another PB for fastest consumption of a bananna... Then i thought about Henning, would he hit his target? he was hoping for a sub 3:10 as well, but wanted to at least get a possible BQ. He ran in with 3:10 showing on the clock that was all i could see from where i was standing.

We had a couple of post race beers together in the finishing area... its one thing that has to be said for germany, they sure have their priorities sorted out when it comes to post race refreshments... sure it might be alcohol free but your marathon softened brain doesnt seem to notice, and youll not find a better tasting beer anywhere on this planet than the one you drink 10 minutes after setting a new Marathon PB, regardless of brand or type.

We collected our Finisher shirts, Which we then promptly put on as it was getting windy, still raining a little and neither of us came with much in the way of an insulating fat layer. It was too cold for me so i headed back to the clothes bags picked up my stuff and hit the showers, which thanks to the local rapid response environmental contamination units shower system was actually warm.

I picked up my finishers certificate which held another great surprise. My offical finishing time and place. My new Marathon PB is now 3:06:46 I came 72nd overall from the 1983 male finishers, and 13th in the M35 age class. Once again i was fastest Kiwi ... ok its most likely i was also the only Kiwi.

I had one of those outstanding races, a race where i did much much better than i thought i was capable of. Sure race day adrenaline, a well executed taper, and racing under the influence of gels helped pull my performance up above what is normal... but the conditions were not ideal, it was just one of those days where everything just seemed to come right for me, It will be a race that i will look back fondly on.

The Münster Marathon itself is a great event. Its small but not too small, It has a nice mix of city and country racing on a course thats about as flat as you could like. Register early and the value for money has many of the bigger city marathons here in germany beat with perhapes the exception of berlin...but thats berlin after all. It could well become a fixture on my race calender, if not as an A race then as a Great Autum dress rehersal run.

Here Lady Garmin's version of the truth.

Nordkirchen HalfMarathon

The Nordkirchen HalfMarathon was to be my final pace test before the upcoming Münster Marathon. With 4 weeks to go it is ideally timed to show just where your current training puts you.

My preparation in the week before this one was hardly optimal. Id been suffering from an upset stomach that only came right the day before the race. It meant that id not actually done any running at all during that week, for fear of being caught short. Still i knew my prep before that was good, so decided to give it my all.

On Race day it was overcast, we even had a couple of light patches of rain, but it wasnt cool, in fact during the rae it was 20-21°c and relatively humid. I should have adjusted my pace expectations accordingly, but i didnt, i knew that I was able to manage a 4:15 pace since id done that in training 3 weeks earlier, only thing is that was at sub 10°c

I warmed up for the race with some light jogging and a little bit of race pace running, and then returned to the start area with about 10 mins to go. The Race organisers announced that there were over 300 participants, an increase over previous years. I meet a couple of guys from my running group we wished each other luck then headed for the start line.

It was surprisingly open in the first couple of rows, so i just walked up and took a spot in the second row, The countdown started and then we were off. Once again i got pulled into running a little too fast in the first km, but then managed to settle down into the 4:15 pace that id aspired to holding too.

I managed to hold it over the first 7km, In fact at about the 7k mark i mnaged to catch a glimpse of the leaders on a stretch of course ahead of me, first time thats happened on anything other than a very small loop or a long section of out and back. But the warth, and the light head wind started to take its toll and i started to drop off my pace. I had been holding onto a guy running just in front of me, but he managed to put a few meters gap on me, id pulled it back a few times, but i couldnt that time, and then the gap grew as my pace slipped.

I worked my way through the next few km, I was begining to regret the pre-race meal id had some 5 hours before. Apparently traditional italien cabonarra doesnt make a good pre-race meal, especially not if your portion had plenty of pancetta in it. I took a gel at km10 just before the drinks station and did a walk break of 2-3 seconds to make sure i got enough fluids with it.

The next section from km 10 - 13 werre my worst. I was running alone, on some long straight sections of course with a headwind again, my pace slipped back to a 4:45 in this section. It was complicated by the tree cover interfering with my garmin, meaning i wasnt actually aware of what my true pace was...

At around km13 i got passed by another runner, and managed to tuck in behind him, and pick up the pace for a while. I couldnt hold with him fortoo long, but it did give me the confidence to run at a higher pace. My legs were really starting to hurt at this point, and at km15 i knew id have to run sub 4:30 the rest of the way to beat my PB, It was there i had that moment in the race where you need to decide to dig deep and give it everything, or pack it in and just run the thing to the end. I was close to calling it quit with pushing, but i didnt. Instead i concentrated on keeping my legs turning over.

The final couple of KM had quite a lot of twists and turns, not really ideal for running fast, and the there were quite a few places where the ground underfoot was pretty uneven. I found the km 18,19, & 20 to be the toughest. My legs were really hurting now, and i was cramping a little in the lower stomach area. But i was still on pace to come in somewhere around or before my PB...so i kept on racing.

In the final KM i realised that i was catching a couple of runners ahead of me. I like having a target to chase down, so that gave me a good little boost over the last KM and i closed the gap on the closest one finally pulling him back just as we entered the track for the final 300m. I kept on pushing knowing that id never catch the next guy who was still a long way ahead, but not certain if id crack my PB. I crossed the line breathing really hard before colapsing on the inner field a few meters past the finish line.

It took me another 5 mins to get my breath back and fight of a little dizzy spell. I looked at my garmin, but the time only showed to the minute... 1:34:?? I groaned, Id been hoping for a 1:30 at the start of the race and here i was as buggered as id even been and not even sure id beaten my old PB. Eventually i clambered back to my feet and walked over to the refreshments grabbed a couple of drinks some pieces of fruit and then checked the race results on a monitor set up showing them live.

Turns out Id run a 1:34:02 which is a new PB, by about 30 seconds. Id also just missed out on a place in my age group, comming in 4th, the guy that was in front of me that i didnt manage to catch nabbed 3rd. I finished 33rd overall. At the time i was pretty dissapointed that i hadnt managed to get closer to my goal of 1:30, But now with a bit of time under the bridge, Im pretty happy with the result. I still shaved a bit of my PB in fairly warm conditions. Heck the fastest man didnt break 1:20, whereas in the race where i set my previous PB 24 men went under that, So it wasnt a fast course on the day.

For anyone that is still interested here is the tail of the Garmin.

Parkhauslauf Allee Center Hamm

This is not the usual run, for one its not out in the countryside, rather its in the parking decks of the local shopping center, the course looped around the top deck, went down one level looped around the second deck which was nice and cool, and then down one of the access ramps to the ground level entrance before climbing back up the ramp to the 4th floor to complete the loop.

The loop is advertised as 1.6km although bassed on my end result im a bit sceptical and think it might be more like 1.55-1.57 either way its the same loop theyve run each year.

I only entered this one because my youngest son (age 7)  wanted to run in the kids race which was one loop. The kids race was run with all age groups in a single event, 7yo's to 16yo's which knowing my son would spur him onto an even bigger effort as he tries to keep up with the older kids. He positioned himself in the second or thrid row, and waited for the start gun, then he's off. He got away about midpack. The start of these kids races is usually pretty fast and furious, but he's learnt to not worry too much about his position in the first few hundred meters ... then they disappeared down the ramp and the waiting begins.

Not surprisingly it was the 16yo boys that emerged first, with a loacl lad running in to better his route record. but we only had a minute to wait for the little speedster to top the ramp and head for the finish line, in the end sprint he had a head to head race with a boy in front, he pulled back 3m to close on him and pass before the boy realised and responded with an end sprint of his own to finish 3/10ths of a second ahead. My youngest still ran in 11th overall, and took the win in his age group.

I went into the race with no serious ambitions at all, I even decided to run in a brand new pair of shoes that id picked up in the end of season sales the day before. Id been warned that in the parkhaus my garmin wouldnt be much help but i wore it anyway. I got away to a pretty good start and with plenty of room was able to settle into a comfortable pace almost straight away. The field thinned out and i found myself running just a tad slower than the runner ahead... but this time i resisted the urge to try and hold with him... instead allowing him to slowly pull ahead.

On my third lap i ran into the first back runners, but with a wide course they didnt hold me up at all. on lap 3 i realised that the gap to the guy in front had stopped growing, so when we go into the shaded deck i picked up the pace a little to close up slowly on him... we also picked up a few younger runners that had gone out too fast in the begining. I used my evil passing technique of sitting on their shoulder for 20 seconds before putting in a short burst to pull past and open a gap and then return to my regular pace.

The running down the ramp was really starting to take its toll on me, i found the steepness and the constant cornering quite tough. but i guess anyone that was going fast had the same. as i approached the start fininsh line to start my final lap i was passed by the leaders running in, two lads from the same athletic club running side by side...  out the otherside of the start area i finally managed to catch the guy that was in front of me. I pulled past on the short downhill going into the shaded deck and kept the pace on to ensure id pulled clear. by the time we got to the ramp down to ground level i had 10m.

I let myself open up down the ramp, and dug in climpbing back up to the 4th floor deck before putting in a bit of a sprint to the finish line. The new shoes were really good, no problems at all, I even managed a pretty quick time if the distance was really 9.6k... to top it all off i got myself a 2nd in my age group, and the first actual prize thats worth something, a gif voucher for the running shop in the shopping center.

Even better still the race entry came with a goody bag with a towel and magazine, and the race number entitled you to a free bowl of pasta, and there was a 'tombola' ticket for every finisher with all sorts of great prizes... the kids got a guaranteed prize, my son got a new football, but thats where my luck ran put i drew a null when i was eyeing up the mini kegs of beer. still there is allways next year, and i will be doing this curious little race again if possible.

Roruper HalbMarathon

Last year it was 33*c at the start of this race, i only did the 10k that time, This year it wasnt quite so warm, it had been cloudy and we even got a few rain showers in the morning, but the afternoon cleared up and the thermometer was siting around 25*c at the start.

The Roruper Abendlauf is a great little event. Really well organised, with a route running through the rolling hills of munsterland. Plenty of drink stations, and lots of support from the crowd. The half marathon starts 10 mins before the 10k both run along more or less the same course with the half having a slightly longer first loop then repeating the course.

There were some 280 entrants for the half marathon and 400 for the 10k. I paid attention to my warmup for this race, In particular doing some running at near race pace, before stopping 10mins before the start, I waited int he shade until we formed up and got a place in the second row. The gun went and we were off. There was the usual jostle for the first 500m as the course was relativly narrow (1 car width) but i got away pretty good.

Actually i probably got away a little too good, because i found myself running at the back of a group of runners ticking over at 4:15 pace. And although id decided to try running at 4:23-4:25 i let myself be suckered into sticking with them. It wasnt a problem for the first 2km where there was a slight downhill. but from km 2-6 it was a gentle rise all the way with a pretty decent headwind as well. I should have let them go and run my own race, but i didnt. and by km 6 i was starting to pay the price.

Shortly after that we rejoined the main loop for the 10k race, which meant that i was faced with weaving through a fair amount of slower traffic. I managed to hook onto the back of one of the first female runners and follow her through most of the worst of it, before she stretched out on the downhill a bit more than i could and opened up a gap before eventually pulling away.

The middle of the race was my worst section, where i was struggling to clear my legs of the lactate debt id built up in the first few kms where id gone out to fast. I lost about half a dozen places. The heat was really starting to take an effect and i had started splashing the rest of my drink water over my legs to help cool them. the gel i took at km10 didnt sit to well either.

Still along the flat sections i was still pulling off 4:30's but on the hills it was 4:45's on the last hill a runner that had just been footsteps behind me finally pulled up along side me, we exchanged a few words, mostly along the lines of, 'hot eh?' 'yeah', and 'damn fool thing to be doing on a day like today'  It allowed me to stick with him untill the top of the hill, from there i knew it was either a gentle down hill over the last 4-5 km or flat.... so i dug deep, and held onto him for the next 2 km...

then i drew along side him, and we even picked up a few places overtaking some guys who were really struggling with the heat, with about 1.5 km to go we came to the last drink station, I didnt stop for a drink, took the corners really tight and let the party atmosphere push me through a tad quicker. I dont know if he stopped for a drink but it let me open up a 10m gap... and so i dug deep and decided to make my run to the finish I was running at 4:20 pace and though id be able to hold it until the finish, but with about 250m to go my legs were shot, I was running on rubber and there was nothing i could do to even hold the pace, I slowed but didnt loose any places to cross the line in 1:35:39

Its the first time since ive started running that ive not run a new PB, my current PB (1:34:55) was set earlier in the year in perfect conditions on a pancake flat course. Perhapes if id followed my original pace plan to the letter i would have been able to beat it. but im still pretty happy with the result. Ive also learnt some valuable lessons, in particular to be a lot more rigerous about sticking to my own race plan especially in the early part of the race.  Im also fairly certain that if race day temperatures in Münster are around the same ball park as this run then I will not be able to run under 3:10, and it will be beter to take it a bit easier and save the big effort for one of the alternative autumn marathons.

Olfener Citylauf 10k

Olfen is one of the neighbouring towns to where my kids live and this year it was the 25th anniversary of their citylauf. I only decided to register for this one the last day of online registrations. I havnt done any specific 10k training or much dedicated speed or lactate threshhold training, so although i was expecting to set a new PB i knew I wasnt yet in a condition to break the 40 min barrier.

Thursday was a public holiday and the races started at 15:00 with kids events over 1.5km. My youngest competted and did really well against a large field to run in 5th in his race and take a 3rd in his age group. 1.5km in 6:16 for those little legs is pretty damn good, especially since its the longest race he's done so far.

Whilst it was sunny for the kids races it clouded over and the wind picked up as the afternoon went on, it looked like we were going to get some heavy showers during the 10k, I warmed up and went down to the start line. There were half a dozen runners from my running group also there, We wished each other luck, and lined up with 250+ others for the starters gun.

I was about 3-4 rows back from the start and it was pretty tight over the first 1km lots of having to check my step and a few banged elbows, and then just as i though it was over i got boxed in behind a couple of guys that were runnnign just a tick slower than my pace and people to either side... but eventually i made my way past them.

then i tried to settle into my race and run a constant pace, it wasnt easy with lots of twists and turns on the course and the street surfaces of cobbles and concrete paving wasnt as smooth as you would have liked, but i seemed to find my stride. The first 3-4 laps i towed the only female from my running club behind me, she tucked in behind going up the streets with a head wind. I though i might be able to help her bridge the gap to another woman running 10m in front of me, but when i added a little to the pace she couldnt hold with me. I was kind of hoping that i could help her to a new PB since at the begining of the year we both ran similar 10k times. I almost considered slowing to let her catch up again, but decided that that would put my own chances of a PB at risk.

So i set about trying to pull back the runners in front... but thats when it got confusing, because at about that point i started lapping the back runners.... in the begining it wasnt to hard to tell who was on the same lap as me... as the speed difference was significant...i managed to close up to the woman in front and a guy she was running with, and put a little spurt on to pass them through traffic and open up a little gap before returning to normal pace.... then i set my eyes on a guy in a green shirt that was ahead.

It took me a whole lap to close the gap on him, actually i think i kept my ppace constant and he was tiring... i pulled up onto his sholder, waited for the next corner and as we rounded it put a surge on to pass and open a gap up. I was then into the final lap, and started to try and wind up the pace a little, I Think i was still managing to run more or less towards my forefoot or at least not so badly on the heel, i know i was concentrating on this a bit more during this race.

The final lap it was difficult to see who was actually in front of me in the race and who was just traffic. Eventually i saw my quarry an older gentleman that i was not closing the gap on much at all. I chassed him through the whole final lap, bringing the distance down from 15m to 5m... and then on the last turn i managed to dig deep and find a bit more to pull past him and sprint to the finish line.

That i had enough left in the tank for a sprint finish shows that i didnt really pace this race as good as i could have... i should have latched onto the back of a group of slightly faster runners earlier on in the race. If id done that then i may have been able to run in under 41 minutes, but i am still very happy with 41:38 which takes a further 1:10 off my 10k PB. I came in as the 44th Man (of 211) and 6th in my age group.

Haltern City Lauf

The Haltern City Lauf is a small local race, made smaller this year because of a clash with another local event for the kids, the Lippe triathlon. But for me it was a big event. For me it celebrates a year of running, a year when a lot has happened to me personally, where the rythem and structure of training has provided the stability needed to helped me work through things.

I had set some pretty lofty goals for this race, and then faced a big set-back in achieving them when i injured myself, and pretty much all of the speed training id been planning to do had to be missed. The weekend before i did manage to run a warmup 5k and slashed five mnutes off last years time. So i went into the race not sure of achieving my original goals but knowing id do OK.

On race day the weather gods half smiled on us, the temperatures were great it was cooler than it had been in a while, but it was pretty windy. Compared to the weekend before however it was much better conditions, so i knew that baring a real problem id set a new PB. The question was, did i really have a sub 20 in me.

Strangely enough i hadnt spent a great deal of time considering what pace i should try and run at. I was hoping to be able to run at about 4 min per k... and see if i couldnt hold on an get as close to 20 mins as possible.

But first things first my kids were up again, this time racing over 1.2km, my youngest and my oldest both took out a 3rd place in their respective age groups, whilst my daughter came home middle of her race, she later told me she took it easy because she was a little bit tired from doing the afore mentioned triathlon earlier in the day.
 
I started my warmup with 15 mins to go to the start, some dynamic stretches a bit of jogging, some pace changeups etc, then with 5 mins to go i stopped to allow the breathing to get back to normal. I lined up on the startline with the other runners the field was a little bit smaller than last year, but this time l lined up in the front row, instead of right at the back.

The gun went off and I started out pretty quick, I wasnt sure of the pace at that point but i knew i couldnt hold with the guys ahead of me so i tried to settle into something comfortable as quickly as possible. I didnt actually look at the pace until we had the first half of four laps behind us. I was surprised to see that i was running fairly comfortably at 3:45 pace. I was pretty certain that it was too fast but decided on the spot to give it a go and see if i couldnt maintain it.

The next lap and half was pretty un-eventfull, I did pull back a two runners that obviously had blown up after going out too fast, but i was able to hold my pace. The buildings in the town centere seemed to funnel the wind so that for much of the course we had a head wind, I ad no wind shodow, and by the third lap it was begining to tell and i started to fell uncomfortable, about half way through i could tell that i was starting to drop on my pace a little, the garmin showed i was slowing down.

But then i got the pickup i needed, I had caught up to the vanguard bycycle, and then started to lap the slower runners. I allways like to have a target to chase, and i wasnt able to close the gap on the runner ahead of me, but i could reel in the runners i was lapping Then i noticed something else, footsteps closing in on me from behind...The shdowed me into the wind and then pulled past, it turned out to be a small group of 3 runners. They were apparently able to maintain the pace that id slipped off, I considered trying to latch onto them but by then i knew i was on for something good If i could just run 1 more lap without blowing to pieces.

So i let them ease ahead, and concentrated on not letting the pace slip above 4 mins / km. ... the final lap was tough. I was really starting to breath heavily, the head wind was sapping my strength fast, and i could feel my legs starting to burn, then I was pulled back by yet another runner, this time an old guy, I couldnt hold him but a look behind told me that there was no-one else close enough to overtake me... now i just had to run it into the finish and run it in i did. there was nothing left in the tank to put in a final sprint, but neither did i let the pace slip any more.

I crossed the line, and then looked at the garmin not really sure if i was good for a sub 20... and then i saw my time... 19:35, To say that i was over the moon would be an exageration, i was too buggered just at that point to be too happy. I needed to get a drink and catch my breath... then i could enjoy my time.

The sub 20 5k was great and just what id wanted for this event, but you can imagine my surprise when the 5k race results were eventually pinned up to see that id also taken first place in my age group. I have never placed in the top three in my Age group before, and had secretly hoped that maybe with luck id get 3rd, actually last year my 19:35 would have only got me 4th, So i was completely blown away with the age group win. Whats more it was really great to have the kids there to watch me have to go up and stand on the stage and get presented with my certificate.

Man what a year its been, Ive gone from just starting out jogging, to training through the winter, running a marathon, and now to breaking one of those key time barriers, the sub 20 5k!

10th Buchenwaldlauf Welver

The Buchenwaldlauf in Welver was a really great family event. The childrens races started fairly early in the afternoon with 400, 800, 1k, & 1500m events depending on age group run on an athletics track. The longer distances of 5k and 10k were later in the afternoon and run over a mix of street and forest trail, but unusually for events here in germany they were open for children as well.

My Children entered the races in their age groups, run on the track, they didnt want to try the longer distance this time.

The first up was my Oldest over 1km. The number of entrants in the older secondary ages school kids was pretty low so it was combined 'schuller A & B' so 12-16yo's...there were 10 runners in total. He started off strong with a good first 400m and was sitting in 3rd place overall, The runners in front stretched out their lead on the second 400 and He wasnt able to maintain his pace, In the final 200m he was passed by a group of runners coming home strong, he managed to react and pulled back one of them before crossing the line in 6th place overall with a time of 4:05. As allways I am extremly proud that he is willing to run these races and that he continues to give it his all regardless of where he currently is.

Next up was my youngest over 800m, the field of 88 starters in his age group was broken up into 4 starts. 'Schuller D' are the 7-8yo's, and these races start off at a virtual sprint and are run as a race of attrition to see who can hold the pace for as long as possible, there is no steady pacing in these events. His start was no differnt, and he sprinted into 2nd place over the first 100m. the first 400m was very fast in his heat, and he was still holding onto 3rd place, He lost one more place in the second 400 to come home 4th in his start group. He seemed dissapointed, but the overall results showed that he was 5th fastest with a time of 3:11, had he run in any other heat he  would have likely won or at the least have come second.

My Daughter was third to race, similarly over 800m, in her races the field of 38 was split into 3 starts. 'Schullerin C' are 9-10yo's, and these are not very different from the younger ones, the kids that run regularly set the pace at the start and the 'fun' runners try and stay with them for as long as possible. My daughter started off fairly slowly, she had told me she wanted to have a fast second lap. she fairly quickly fell back to the last 1/4 of the field over the first 400m, true to her word she speed up in the second 400 and passed quite a few of the other runners to come home in the middle of the field. In the overall results she was similarly bang in the middle 10th girl from 21 with a time of 3:30.

I had signed up for the 10k, but on the day a combination of the high heat and not wanting to have to make my kids wait around too long for me to start and then finish my race i switched to the earlier 5k race. Coming into this event Ive had no speed training and have only had a few days back runnig since recovering from an injury. Originally id been planning to attack the 20min mark for the 5k in May, I have another 5k in a weeks time and was going to use this as a gauge and as race prep. In light of the injury i decided not to push full out. The Race with its 99 entrants started with a lap of the track, the first curve i was held out in the 2nd lane but was able to move into the first lane on the second curve. the pace over the first 400 was about the 3:50 mark, way to fast to hold throughout the race, but ive been learning about getting a good position earlier on in the race.

Once we were out of the stadium, i decided to sit on the shoulder of the woman running in second place. I figured that she would help me to run a consistent pace. The next part of the course was through a Forest over a well groomed bike path, the best part was that it was shady and cool, just before km 2 however we emerged into the fields and the full sun. Almost instantly i could feel my temperature starting to rise, after about 400m the woman had started to slow and i gently eased passed her. I reached the turn around and was surprised that i wasnt all that far behind the leading runners.

I decided to try and keep the pace steady while i was still in the sun, I managed to pull back a couple of guys that were struggling with the heat, putting on a little burst as i went past each one to ensure that they didnt try and tuck in behind me. Then we were back into the forest. I picked up the effort level, if not the pace, I was starting to close down the gap on the guy running infront of me, but not nearly fast enough, as we entered the forest he had 40m and it was still a good 20m when we emerged from the forest. The race head into the final stretch back into the stadium and then a final loop of the track before the finish line. over the last 200m i was shouted on by my youngest screaming 'end spurt papa' as he tried to run beside me. I knew i wasnt going to catch the guy in front but did manage to closed it down to about 5m, my official finishing time was 20:53 my garmin reports a 20:49 for a 17th place overall and 5th in my age group. Fastest time was 18:13 which attests to the warm conditions we faced.

I have to say i really enjoyed running the shorter race distance and although i held back a little out of respect for my recovering heel the race time was surprisingly good, Given that i havent run over 5k since the first race i entered almost a year ago, a new PB was guaranteed, and with my 'A' 5k race still a week away and the projected weather report showing cooler conditions I an now really looking foward to seeing what i can achieve then.

Here's the tale of the Garmin.

Vienna City Marathon

 I woke on race day just after 5:30 am, I dressed quickly put my shoes on and crept out of the hostel room. The day id been building for over the last 3-4 months was finally here. I started it with a very gentle 15 min jog, across the hostel grounds and along the road. It was light but the sun hadnt risen yet, cool but not cold. Those 15 mins alone doing what ive come to love over the past year was the best possible way this day.

After getting back i showered, lubed up with body glide, checked my gear bag had everything packed in it again (incase the fairies or aliens had decided to abduct something overnight) finally got dressed and headed down to the kitchen. The Hostel reception had said they would open early for us runners, but the kitchen staff wernt there. I decided to be daring and just take a couple of slices of bread from the top loaf of the bread delivery that was sitting outside the prep kitchen. Filled with Banana and walnut pieces they were breakfast. 

I realised that id missed the first bus heading from the hostel to the train station, but wasnt too worried as about half the guys from my running group were still in the hostel. The next bus would be in half an hour at 7:15, which meant that i could take my time sit down and drink a cup of coffee with the protein bar that id planned to eat on the bus. It was the first coffee in 2 weeks, and it was good. Only one other runner from my group staying at the hostel was ready for the 7:15 bus So we headed up to the stop together. Everyone made it on time in the end, but i didnt want to test my luck.

The trip from the hostel to the start line took about 40 minutes, and we bumped into another person from our group while trasfering to another subway. The odds of that have to be pretty thin but these things happen. The trains were all full, you could feel the excitment and the nervosity of the crowd, people were talking in little groups, it was an interesting moment, each of us was about to share an experience be part of something big, but we were all also intently focused on ourselves. I checked my pulse 65bpm...Nerves of steel i joked to my companions.

We arrived at the start line and immediately headed for the toilet. A quick pitstop for the two lads, and then we made our way towards the drop off for the gear bags. Id brought an old jumper with me, but i also had a big plastic rubbish bag that id 'Tailored' into a disposable jacket. When i got undressed i realised that it was already quite a bit warmer than earlier that morning, that id not really need the jumper so it stayed in the gear bag to warm me some other time. I had my gels, my nipple plasters, and a drink in a little plastic bag. I slipped into my trashbag jacket handed over my gear bag and headed for the meeting point.

It was now about 45 mins to the start, I opened up my drink and started sipping it, it was a caffinated red bull style drink, I chose it because of the increassed caffine, the sugars wouldnt hurt either. Another toilet break on the way back to the starting blocks would i thought tide me over. There was a little bit of confusion about the starting blocks, I was expecting something like in Cologne, where each block is cordoned off and starts seperately. In Vienna it wasnt so strict. My coleague and i made our way right up the very start of our starting block it was still only lightly filled.

20 mins to go, my pulse is 68bpm, Im going trough my race plan, shaking out my legs and arms, loosening up my neck and shoulders. sipping my drink and thinking this is it.... Im ready. Im in the yellow block, the corral in front of us is the fastest non-elite block. Half of them are running short loops to warm up, while we all stand and watch...its then i realise that maybe i could go to the toilet again. I didnt wait to think for long the corral was still pretty loosely packed and i could get out and back in from the front, so i headed to the toilet, again... sometimes its good to be a guy, there was once again no queue at the mens open air urinals.

Back in the corral its a few minutes to go the race announcers go through the list of countries represented, I wonder just how many of my fellow kiwis actually made it to the start line.  Then its the Austrian national anthem... some final warning that anyone starting with the elites that doesnt belong there will be disqualified...and then, the marshals remove the barriers between our corral and the one in front... i look at my companion, and join the rest of the people moving foward to join up at the back of the group in front. 2 minutes to go to the start, i rip of my trash bag jacket, stuff a tissue under the band of my garmin just incase, and fling the rolled up plastic out of the corral. The gun goes off and the elites are away, although it wasnt really a gun rather an air horn... 2 minutes later and the horn sounds again,nothing happens for the first 30 seconds then finally we start moving. almost immediately into a jog. There is the usual jostling, but nothing too bad, a bit of space opens up around us and then with almost a continuos peep tone were over the start mat.

Start at 09:01:46 and im #1806 to cross.

The start is up and over a bridge, by the time i reach to top the road in front and behind is just a mass of people. Even before we reached a Km in though i had space to be able to run at my race pace, It was quite a bit faster than my companion, so i said my goodbyes, wished him well and focused on taking it easy, sticking to my pace, and enjoying the start... down the other side of the bridge and i had my first little worrying moment. the course split in two with the runners on our side of the road running around one side of an overpass and the others around the other... I was worried for a second then i figured, no i started in the right block, and this was the course...just run with the crowd. Around the corner the two lanes finally merged.

I heeded the warnings about not getting carried away at the start im trying to stick to my pace but concious that im going a few seconds under it. The Garmin reports a bpm bellow what Ive been running my Aerobic workouts at, and it feels easy. I chat with a couple of the runners around me, were all wishing each other luck. According to the ticker I lost 95 places in the first 5km, but i figure that just shows that i was being successfull in constraining my enthusiasim at the start. I took my first gel as i passed the sign saying 100m until the 5k drinks station, ran through the first 100m or so and then grabbed a water and drank it quickly at a walk before running again.

Km 5 = 24:35 #1901 (+95)

The next 5 km follow pretty much the same, Its still nice and cool the course is mostly flat and ive started to run the blue line...although i must say i was a little dissapointed that i had to imagine it since there wasnt actually a blue line laid down. Being tall is helping as i can pick out the apex ahead and run to it. very few of the runners around me seem to be doing the same. my pulse has now settled in just over my Aerobic training level. Im taking on a few sips of water at each drink station. The ticker shows i pick up a few places.

Km 10 = 49:16 #1856 (-45), Last 5k @ 24:41

Shortly after Km 10 I was on the look out for our supporters, I was expecting them around Km 11, I thought id run past them when i finally saw them at 11.5, it was a welcome boost, because from there on the course slowly climbs as it heads out towards Schloss Schonenbruin. Its not really noticable when your running it but the garmins pretty clear that the pace dropped off a few seconds per Km. I paid particular attention to see both important landmarks at the turn...the Schloss and the BP Petrol Station...(my companions said the previous time they ran Vienna all they saw was the BP) It was about this time that my bladder started to let me know that maybe id like to go to the toilet again... I ignored it figuring that it was still in start nerves mode and not really with the marathon program yet. coming into the 15K drink station i took my second gel, chased it with a good cup of water... and crossed the ticker. Id picked up a few more places and was back to where id started from.

Km 15 = 1:13:35 #1801 (-55), Last 5k @ 24:19

If getting out to the schloss was uphill then coming back to the Halfway point was down hill. It was also back in building lined streets so offered plenty of shade, The road side support was also picking up for the half marathoners amoungst us.. I was feeling really good, and was really enjoying myself. I let the pace creep up a few times on this section, I also started to grin quite a bit. I noticed that i was passing quite a few people although there was allways the odd person that thundered past me, most of which i assumed were ramping up the end of their halfs. I did quite a few high fives with kids watching the race. I tried to interact with the crowds as much as possible...heck i even gave the cheerleader squad a round of applause as i ran past.... It was a city marathon and i was really enjoying myself. The ticker shows i picked up over 170 places in that section, I assume that includes people that decided to cut their marathon short and just run the half. In Vienna you can decide to stop at half way and run in with the half marathoners and youll get an official finishing time for the HM. Personally i think its a great idea, and clearly plenty of people decide to take up the option.

Km 21 (HM) = 1:43:28 #1625 (-176)

Following the action and hurly burly of the final few Km's of the Half the next part of the Marathon was a little dull, there were very few supporters, and by now the sun was getting up pretty high and the road was more often than not in full sun. I was however able to run at a pretty consistent pace, I was feeling better and better, stronger and stroonger as the race went on... I started noticing that quite a few of the guys around me(there wernt to many women) were really starting to sweat, the breathing was getting laboured, the footfalls heavier. The heat of the day was really kicking in. I was making sure that i was taking a sip at every drink station, at the main ones at multiples of 5 i was taking a full cup. The bladder was still telling me i needed to go for a pee... i was still saying nonsense. I took my 3rd gel just before the drink station at Km 25... My routine was to take the satchel out of the zip pocket at the back of my pants at 1km to go...id hold it in my hand untill i saw the 100m to go, then id tear off the top, sqeeze it out, swallow the gel and dispose of the sachet before chasing it with a full cup of water taken while walking, It worked really well. I was just worried id be needing a toilet break sooner or later. The ticker shows i picked up a few places in this section but not many.

Km 25 = 2:01:56 #1589 (-36)

Km 26 & 27 were a bit down pace wise, Im not sure why, i think perhapes the course had a few little rises. and the sun was also working its magic, Then we got to the part of the course where the runners come back at you. I was too late to see the leading elites but i did get to see some pretty good african men and women, as well as the odd european. They sure do make it look easy...  maybe the inspired me a little, maybe it was getting out of some of the sun but either way i was able to return back to my previous pace. I was still feeling really good. I could tell that i was doing better than many of the guys around me.  The numbers of runners coming in the opposite direction slowly started to increase. Shortly before the 30k mark we arrive back in the prater park. The ticker shows that i picked up almost 100 places in this section.

Km 30 = 2:26:34 #1494 (-95), Last 5k @ 24:38

The next section is an out and back the whole way you have runners returning in the opposite direction and you cant really see where they are coming from...the road just dissapears into the distance. I imagine that this is particularly hard if your really starting to feel tired. It took me a while to realise that the music being played over the load speaker system along this section was from pirates of the carribean. I thought it was pretty uplifiting stuff, I was still grinning from ear to ear, still feeling strong and I was approaching decision point. Id chosen a race pace that i knew was not a real stretch for me, Id abandoned that at km15 and pushed along a little bit faster but still within my ability bassed on my HM result at the end of febuary. Id told my training companions that i wanted to run at a controlled pace so that i could enjoy myself, take in the surroundings, ensure that i finished, but that if i was feeling strong with 10k to go i might consider racing the last part. Well i was feeling strong, I had no doubt that id be able to finish. I could just continue to cruise, or i could push a little and find out what thats like. I was already consistently passing people even though i was more or less just maintaining my own pace. Then sometime after km 32 a guy in a blue singlet went past me... the first one i noticed that passed me in a while... he still looked fresh but wasnt going too much faster so i decided to latch onto him. I didnt tuck right up on his shoulder, rather left a gap of a few meters, but i held that gap, and now i was racing. In this section the ticker shows we pulled back almost 200 places. I took my 4th and last gel at the 35k drinkstation.

Km 35 = 2:49:59 #1301 (-193), Last 5k @ 24:33

Now we were back out of the park, The streets were wide, the sun was high and there wasnt a lot of shade. It was difficult, but not terribly so. I was able to stay with Mr Blue singlet the whole time. sometimes he'd pull ahead a little then id reel him back in. Some of the guys we were passing were going backwards fast. I can only imagine how disencouraging it must be to be struggling and have a couple of guys blow past still looking pretty fresh. or at least we were at the start of this section... but that it was a pretty long 5k and towards the end i wasnt feeling quite so fresh anymore. But I also knew that it wasnt too much further anmore...besided my damn bladder was still trying to let me know i should go to the toilet... i figured the faster i go the faster im there...the faster i can take a pee. And then shortly before Km 40 i realised that I was shoulder to shoulder with blue singlet..then i was passed him. I picked up a further 178 places in that section.

Km 40 = 3:13:09 #1123 (-178), Last 5k @ 23:10

I dont actually recall running over the mat at Km 40, It was also the first drinkstop that i passed up the opportunity to take a drink. I was on fire, i was storming home... I was running like greased lightening. I was passing people of the left, passing them on the right. I was...wait just a sec...two guys just blew past me...i look at my watch its got to be around a km to go...I also realise im looking at the highest bpm pulse ive ever seen from myself on it.  The crowd lining the streets is starting to thicken up, I see our supporters again... I pick up the pace a little more and try and hold onto those two guys... nothing like a taste of your own medicine huh? but I dont have the legs, they slowly pull away. i check my watch, it says im over 42 km... but i dont see the damn 42km course marker.... i keep running 100m 200m...then finally i see it up ahead... but wheres that damn finish... its no where in sight... then I round a corner and its there... I push on a little more nip quite a few places at the post, A quick punch of the air as i cross and then im trying to stop running.

Finish = 3:22:46 #1044 (M35 #190), 2nd HM in 1:39:18

It takes the legs a good 10 meters to slow me down to a walk...  I look around not really sure where to go See a lady handing out the finishers medals... i join the queue, have one put around my neck and then realise i havent stopped the garmin yet...Once i stopped running however my bladder finally summed up the gumption to become considerably more insistant.... the 150m walk to the toilet was undertaken with much the same urgency as the last couple of Km's, it was pretty clear, a good indication that i had hydrated pretty well during the race.

I grab a couple of bottles of water look around to see if i can see anyone, and then notice  that goody bags are being handed out a bit further along. I queue up for mine, womble along for a bit more before finding a spot out of the sun and turn my attention to the contents... i cant really recal exactly waht was in it.. a banana an apple, some trail mix, two more bottles of drink, some chocolate thingies,  maybe some other stuff too... either way after about 3-4 minutes mine was empty and my jaw was starting to ache a little from the marathon chewing effort id just put it through.

Finshing the Marathon was almost a little bit of a let down, there was no big revelation, no flood of emotions, maybe i was a little bit numb at the time, but even now looking back on the day what stands out for me is the feeling i had as i was running between about km16 and km32.  The very real sense of joy that i was doing something that so few ever manage to do, and that i was doing it well. I guess that is what they call a runners high... I enjoy my long runs, i love to be in the zone, but ive never really had a feeling of pure joy so strong that i couldnt stop myself from grining like a poor mans copy of the cheshire cat before.

The rest of the afternoon was filled with the usual discussions of who ran what time, the ordeals faced along the way, who hit their targets who missed out on them...  I received plenty of congratulations.... and the challenge to actually race the whole of my next one. and Yes there will be a next one, In fact i already have a race selected...

Finally for anyone that has made it this far and still hasnt had enough, here the tale of the garmin for closer study :)