I did the Lindenseelauf 15km in 2015 back when I was on the Jack Daniel’s plan and feeling really good. Things are a little different at the moment (see my health). I finished taking my antibiotics the evening before the race, and my haemoglobin is probably not quite back to 100%, though it is much better than it has been.
I went into the race worried that I wouldn’t manage 1 hour for 15km, I had no idea though, maybe I would be back on form? So I got to the race and had to quickly sign in and get changed. It is part of a 3 race series, and though last time I didn’t do that well, I was still 2nd in my age group. I thought that as long as I do an okay run, I should still be in with a chance of a podium position in the age group.
The Race
I met up with Sebi Dahl and a new guy from TCEC called Lukas. He is damn fast. The race started and I was into 5th place from the start.
The weirdest thing happened though, Sebi always bolts out the starting block, overcooks it and comes back to me, but today he raced smart, hung back for the first 2km, then overtook me. So after 2km I was in 6th place but feeling quite decent. After 5km I took a time split, 19:08, not bad, but way slower than last year.
After about 7km I reached the airport. The first half of the course seems to be slightly uphill, with the second thus being a little downhill. When I turned back into the forest after about 8km I looked and could see a group of 3 runners about 40m back. After 10km it was time for another time check: 38:45, so 19:37 for the last 5km. My leg still felt pretty good though. I was holding my heart rate at about 170, which should be ok for a half marathon, so conservative for a 15km. I looked back again though, and thought the group looked closer – poo.
The last 5km gets back onto the normal 10km Lindenseelauf route, so I know the route well now. I felt like I had a bit of spring in my step still, whenever I made a turn the helper would clap, I then counted until he started clapping again to see how far behind me the group was. It seemed to be about 15-20 seconds, which isn’t much with 4km to go, but with 2km and then 1km to go, it was starting to be significant. With about 600m to go I came out of the forest and the wind hit me. There is a 200m straight before getting to the houses. At the end of the straight I could look back and see that the group was splintered and 50m back. I was so happy I did a little ‘tiger Tim’ fist pump!
Result
So I ran in and finished in 58:21. It is strange to be happy with 2 minutes slower than last year, but I kind of am. I was in 6th place. Won my age group. Lead my age group in the Lindenseelauf series by minutes, and am 3rd overall in the series. We easily won the team prize too with 2nd, 5th and 6th in the race.
The prize givings are always good at the Lindenseelauf. But this time I was too tired to hang around for 2-3h to get my wine, lemonade, beer etc, so I headed straight home. The final leg of the series is in January. I will be looking to better 37 minutes for the 10k, and will hang around for the prizes at the end.
I’m not sure what is up next for me. Haßloch half marathon is in 2 weeks, then Ebersheim Adventslauf 10km 1 week later. I will do Haßloch if Jochen is driving, otherwise it is too far. I will definitely do Ebersheim again.
See you then!