Dieser Beitrag ist auch verfĂĽgbar auf: Deutsch
The pace of the day: 2:51 min/km. That’s how fast Eluid Kipchoge was on the marathon course today. The first person who stayed under two hours. Awesome. Not of this world. With this impression we went to the local 10k today.
Preparation
The last weeks of training were not really that bad. After a week of sickness in August I was able to train consistently. My desired time of under 45 minutes didn’t seem to be within reach, but a run in your hometown can always awaken unimagined strength.
Yesterday, however, I didn’t feel well: nausea, weakness, stomach pinching… No idea what was going on. This morning I felt much better, my heart rate and HRV are also inconspicuous, so I picked up my race bib.
Prior to the race
Already at the warming up I met many familiar faces: first Thomas, then Lisa and another Thomas ;) Somehow everybody seemed to be very conservative about race times today. Ulrich was quite satisfied with his 5k run – which I could understand very well after checking his run with Strava!
We were all not too far in front at the starting lineup, so I could not welcome “the rockets” Tobi and Sara. I wanted to see how my body reacts to the effort anyway. At the warm-up everything was fine.
Start
The starting shot came quite surprisingly and the pack rushed off. First I relied on my body feeling and didn’t look at the watch. To be precise: the watches. For once both wrists were occupied.
After about two kilometres I dared to take a look. The body feeling said: relaxed. The watch said: are you nuts?!. Nevertheless I stayed at the gas for the first round. You never know… But it soon turned out that this was not a good idea.
So I had to let Lisa go, although I could stay in sight for quite a long time. The weather was really nice and with about 18°C almost too warm. Nevertheless I didn’t reach for water on the way, that the Letteraner had available again at the Kreishaus.
Third lap and I have to step off the gas even more. I usually approach my threshold relatively slowly, but today I was almost immediately over the edge. Of course you shouldn’t look too much at your heart rate during a competition, but because of the symptoms yesterday I didn’t want to go for it.
Finish line
At least I was able to save my pace over the fourth lap and even accelerate on the finish straight. With just over 47 minutes I rolled over the finish line, which is my third fastest time this year.
Support along the track
I especially enjoyed the fact that there were so many familiar faces on and around the track. My family had once again placed well and so I was able to get a little extra energy every time I passed the marketplace.
But also many of the volunteers looked very familiar to me and were always kind enough to cheer me on. Thanks a lot for that! That was really great!
Closure
I was able to chat a bit in the run-out zone – that’s always part of it. But I got cold quite fast and we made our way home. So I only learned at home that Lisa ran on the podium in her age group and took the cup home! Awesome! Congratulations! Also I didn’t see Thomas on the track for a reason: with 43:30 min he ran a new personal best – although he already had a few races in the last weeks. Congratulations, Thomas!
So I’ll close the competition season for this year, step a little shorter and then concentrate on preparing for the 2020 season with new energy. :)
