Tired with locational pain

stats of the week: cycled 300km, gym 2h

Recovering from the marathon load, it was a week of slow cycling though hilly. By now I get the impression that the marathon caused tiredness reached me late by a week. Tendons and muscles do hurt now and prevent me from starting into decent training again. Meanwhile I experienced the very first spill with my race bike and strained my thumb painfully. At least the legs are okay ...

Not too disappointing

stats of the week: run 61km, cycled 40km, gym 3h

My disappointing time of 4:00:20 placed me 8th of 36 runners in my age group at the local Ruhr Marathon. Sounds still too good to be really disappointed. There were two motivating aspects: First 30K went fairly easy and relaxed, still on 3:49-course. For the final 2K I was able to jog again constantly and to finish strong with a 200m spurt.

When metabolism changed to fat consume at about 33K I got so exhausted that I had to walk several times until 40K. Obviously I had taken too little carbos during the race. Adding to this, race day was the first hot day after a coolish period. But I have to admit that the main reason was my lack of long training runs.

Peak Week

stats of the week: run 59km, cycled 40km, gym 3h

It was a rather tough week, with the 10K race last Sunday, another 5K race on Tuesday, hill training on Thursday and Saturday, followed by a long jog on Sunday.

The photo shows me cautiously running the 5K track race what were the local championships. I thought to win my age group easily without competitors but had to learn that there was a new face almost a minute faster than me. However I appreciate any additional motivation for future starts!

The very last Sub46

stats of the week: run 46km, cycled 168km, gym 5h

Another proper week of exercise,  with the weekend seeing me running a 10K race along the local lakeside. The performance was okay, the result of 45:59 min was probably the last sub 46 10K of my life, so it was kind of a historical day. The (alcohol free) beer was well earned. (thanks to KP for the photo)

It's now two weeks to go until what I call my penalty marathon. After the failure in London I think I have to run a decent marathon and there is a local opportunity at Gelsenkirchen.

Hill at the doorstep

stats of the week: run 45km, cycled 182km, gym 2h

It was a step forward to decent training. I integrated hill training coz last year it helped me to improve my overall fitness without too much strain for the joints. Just at my doorstep there is a steep alpine style path of around 60m altitude difference which I ran up six times. This should make my legs stronger what helps on longer distances as well.

Cautious Come Back

stats of the week: run 9km, cycled 53km, gym 4h

This is how I looked like after 4 hours of running with almost no drinking and eating ... (photo by Isaak Papadopolous)

A slow marathon has one advantage: Your muscles recover more quickly. So I could get back to some movements without major problems. However, I got the impression that my aging process has done another significant step forward. Training should be planned more cautious now and recovery time more regularly.

Worst ever

London Marathon finished: 4:16:31

It was my 15th London and my 39th overall. And it was the worst ever!

Already during the night and before the start I noticed something wrong. The first 10K felt good but soon I knew it was going to become a bad day. Half way at 1:55h looked still okay. After 27K I had to pay the loo a visit. Hoped everything would get better after that. It got worse. Started to walk before 30K. As I wasn't able to drink or eat anything I feared to get hypoglycemic and walked the final 2 miles all the way.

Disappointed Mo Farah said: "It was just a bad day in the office." So it was, what a shame for such a nice sunny day and the best London crowds ever.

My first thought was: "Better give up the long distances." First action at home was: Applying for the next marathon. 5 weeks to go. Things can't get worse now.

Achim and the London Lovers:
4 Runners - 50 Londons