On my way at Berlin Marathon. I think it´s late in the race judged by the look at my face.
Enjoying it
Enjoying winter vacation with the family and running in unfamiliar places. Thinking about that it’s about time to increase the length of the weekly long run. Gotta get really ready for the half marathon in April.
Spot me if you can!
Here’s a wrap of the official videos from the Berlin Marathon. Spot me if you can. Look for white cap, black T-shirt with New Balance logo!
Winter is here
Winter and snow is here...
Woke up Sunday morning to a view with a layer of white powder covering the streets of my neighborhood. Later on my 10K I had a hard time getting a grip with my normal pair of Nike Structure Triax. Could have had good use of some kind of spikes.
Long time no see
So! My last entry looooong time ago was about a crappy half marathon! What happened afterwards? Well, I was soon back on track with my training. I didn’t quit – I didn’t do any rethinking and I didn’t even considered that maybe I wasn’t up for the challenge of a full marathon in September. No way José!
So where am I now here in early August with only 45 days to my second marathon – the marathon that will make me a marathon runner and not just a man who have run a marathon once.
Ooops – and half a year went by without updating the blog. So – slate clean, and new posts!
Crappy 1/2 marathon
Last week really had it’s ups and downs in my running scheme. Sunday was the day I’d looked forward to for a pretty long time, because i was enlisted in the BT Halfmarathon. A halfmarathon I’ve run a few times before and really likes.
But wow! What a bummer! After about 14K I felt comletely drained and had to run/walk the remaining distance. That resulted in a finishing time welle above the two hour mark – this compared to the 1:50 I’d hoped for.
All the first 14Ks clicked right on time, I hydreated good at every water station and had my gels as well, but there was really not much to do when I bonked.
But why?
Picture taken at around the 18K mark. At this time I had already bonked major time!
I had a few training runs at 18K and 20K in the bag, and these runs were nowhere near that feeling I had in the race. So that was not the problem.
Well – Wednesday i ran a 6K relay for my company. A relay for the top 1.000 companies in Denmark witht the catchline; “It’s not just about being a part of the race – it’s about winning!”. So we gave all we had, and as it was a very hilly and challenging track there’s no doubt about that it took it’s toll on me. Maybe this was a part of the crappy preperations for the race.
And maybe it was due to the fact, that I the evening before attended the Roger Waters “The Wall” concert in Copenhagen. And I admit – I had maybe 6 beers and a burger – not to mention getting only 4 hours of sleep.
I have to say, that the concert was one of the best concerts in my life (and I’ve been to a lot).
So my biggeest problem now is not so much, that I’ve done a pretty crappy 1/2 marathon, but me succeding in deleting the performance mentally, so my training for the Berlin Marathon in September won’t be affected.
Berlin hotel booked
Oh, look at this. I’ve booked my hotel for the Berlin Marathon. The place is called Pension Majesty and is a small hotel in the Charlottenburg district only a few Ks from the start line at Brandenburger Gate. The price is somewhat affordable, and I booked it from Saturday to Monday. I figure out that I in that way have plenty of time to go to the expo on Saturday and get a good nights sleep before driving home to Denmark Monday.
There’s room for 3 persons, so now I just have to find a supporter or two who want’s a nice weekend in the capital of Germany!
What do you think? Doesn’t it look OK?
First run with Camelbak
Sunday I did my first run with my Camelbak hydration bladder. Even though I only did a 12K run, I thought it would be best to test it before engaging longer runs – let’s say 15K+.
I must say it has a perfect fit, and it really is easy adaptable with the to shoulder straps and the strap around the chest. I think I tightened it pretty much, so the pack didn’t bounce all that much.
After just a few Ks I really didn’t notice the sound of water surging on my back, and the weight of the camelback wasn’t at all irritating.
The 12K run didn’t go all that well, though. Either it was because of the extra weight of 2 kilos of Camelbak and water, or it was because heavy legs after a pretty hard week with work and some tough 5K tempo runs. I dunno! But the workout fitted it’s purpose. Getting the LSD run in the log + testing the Camelbak.
Now it’s my plan to incorporate the hydration pack in all runs above 12K so I’m getting used to running with it before the really long training runs.
Reality setting in
Even though it should be spring season here in Denmark – we’re now in the month of March – it’s still pretty cold outside. And sitting here at work looking out at the Copenhagen waterfront there’s ice on the water everywhere, so I’m still running with all the winter gear on – gloves, hat, two inside layers, winter jacket and winter tights.
I’m so much looking forward to the spring! And this morning I saw a couple of snowdrops in the front garden at home. So there’s hope!
Training is going fine. Reality is setting in and I optimize my training schedule all the time. I’m up to 14K in my Sunday LSD (LongSlowDistance) runs, and the training is on track for the BT Half Marathon on Sunday 8th of May!