Winter speed work

stats of the week: run 39 km, gym 3 h

Back home to German winter it was a fairly good start although I am still working to get over the 11h jet lag. Every evening I fall asleep at around 9pm while my normal time is midnight.

I enjoyed our traditional "christmas roast digestive run" in the local woods. A big group of runners of different clubs and several neighbour towns met to have a social sportive morning on boxing day.

Did a cautious speed workout on the treadmill - 5 single km at up to 5:12 min/K. It worked well so I plan to repeat speed work every week from now on. However next speed work is the local 10K new year's eve run at Herne where I expect to finish at a rather slow time of  53 min.

Bye Bye Hawaii

stats of the week: run 17 km, hiked 25 km

The Hawaii holiday ended like it began: by a jog along the Pacific coast, this time at Hermosa Beach, stopover at Los Angeles.

I was able to imbed 1 K at 5:00 min/K but I don't expect my performance to be good at the New Year's Eve Run. I have to be patient and build up again. Main targets for spring 2020 are Syltlauf (33K), Berlin Half and certainly the London Marathon.

Merry Christmas everybody

and a happy new year!

Honolulu - big, hot and relaxed

stats of the week: hiked 35 km
stats of the previous week: run 49 km, hiked 25 km
Honolulu Marathon: 4:43:19

Honolulu Marathon calls itself the 4th biggest marathon in the U.S. and it is certainly one of the slowest marathons in the world. One reason is climate and weather. The early start at 5am helps for nearly 2 hours until the sun rises. But already until then  you will be soaked by sweat. Later on the temperature reached more than 30°c.

I had to take walking rests from 27 km onwards, alternating between running and walking for the rest of the distance. Being in my advanced sixties I can't stand high temperatures like I did when I was younger. I had to stop twice due to stomach problems caused by the heat and the amount of water I drank. However, I was happy to finish still in style. Honolulu Marathon means, that with my modest time of 4:43 h I ended up 45th out of 648 in my age group. The last finisher arrived after more than 17 hours!

Hawaii Part One

stats of the week: run 37 km, hiked 40 km

The week on Big Island of Hawaii was a strenuous one. Daily hiking, occasional running and return to the apartement always in darkness.

We ran on the newly tarmaced Highway 132 that was destroyed by last year's eruption, we joined the Hilo Thanksgiving 5K by chance, and we served Conny Dauben as pacemaker on her 3rd day of the Ultraman World Championships where she finished as a close runner-up.

We hiked the craters of the Volcano National Park and crossed rainforests in several state parks.