race report – Page 2

Mainz Half Marathon 2016

I wasn’t certain about doing this, the race and/or the blog entry, but at the end of the day it looks like I am doing both! So whatever, lets do this!

I found a cheap start for the half marathon on Friday afternoon. It was from a 30 something guy too, so I decided that I wouldn’t pay to get my name in the results list. My running has been reduced a bit since my marathon. Quality has pretty much been stopped, or at least not organized quality. I have been doing some quite fast Bricks after my bike rides. I think I’ve put on 1-2kg too, which obviously isn’t ideal. My allergies have been playing up too, so have been on loratidine which might explain some of the water weight. Anyway, I got my number on Saturday, ran into loads of people I know and talked down my race, especially given that it would be warm on Sunday, possible up to 27 degrees. Continue reading “Mainz Half Marathon 2016”

Backeslauf 2016 – Burning in the heat.

I hadn’t raced in a while, not since Rotterdam actually. I took 1 down week after Rotterdam and then got started on triathlon training. I have been aiming for 70km per week of running, swim 3 times a week and do what I can on the bike. Training seems to have been going well, my legs aren’t too happy about the cycling, but swimming is coming along nicely and I am running far more than I usually do post-marathon.

So to the race. I did this race last year, it is a hilly 14.3km affair. I cycled to the start in Framersheim, which is about 30km away. It has been a fairly mild winter, it was rarely really cold, but it also hasn’t been warm at any point in spring, up until now! There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and it was 25 degrees, a bit warm for my north of England blood. Anyway before the start I had a good chat with all the regulars and lots of fast runners were there, and most on form as Mainz marathon is in 2 weeks time. Continue reading “Backeslauf 2016 – Burning in the heat.”

Rotterdam Marathon 2016 – Sub3 for the first time

Pre-race:

We got to Holland on Thursday afternoon ready for my first sub3 and stayed in Rotterdam on Thursday night. On Friday I signed in to the race and headed to Den Haag for 2 days. That was a good decision. Den Haag is a really nice town, and only 25 mins away by train. So even on race day I could travel over without problems.

I tapered quite a lot. On Thursday I didn’t run (but walked quite a lot), and on Friday and Saturday I ran with Katja in the park, doing a few strides on Saturday to be race ready. Diet-wise it probably wasn’t ideal as we were away from home. We were eating out and enjoying the buffet breakfast in the hotel. I tried to control myself and keep my fibre down. No spoilers so I won’t say now if that was successful or not! Continue reading “Rotterdam Marathon 2016 – Sub3 for the first time”

Frankfurt Half Marathon 2016 – PB + Goal Achieved!

Five weeks since my last race! Five weeks, that is a long time for me. I would normally have raced at the end of February, but we were away in Cagliari, so I have just been getting stuck into training for the last 5 weeks. 2 weeks ago I did my best long run ever, a 36km run with 2x5km just faster than goal marathon pace, some hills and a final average speed of 4:30/km. I was flying all that week, but then the following week I started to feel the fatigue. After a slow 30km run last weekend I was absolutely bushed, so took the week up to Frankfurt half marathon as a down week/ mini-taper to get ready for the race.

I only had 1 half marathon in my schedule before Rotterdam and there is only one goal for me in a half marathon, and that is to run sub1:20. For some reason that has always been more of a dream for me that a sub3 marathon, maybe because it was always close enough to be a realistic long term goal, but was always far enough away that I knew it would be hard work to ever manage it. Last year I surprised myself in Rheinzabern by running a 1:21:51 in a near perfect race for me. That was great, but it was still 112 seconds shy of a sub1:20! This year my best 10k was slightly short of being equivalent of a 1:20HM, so finally breaking through that barrier was not a given. Continue reading “Frankfurt Half Marathon 2016 – PB + Goal Achieved!”

Groß-Gerau 10km Frühjahrslauf

So just like last year, I had an early February 10k planned to see how my training has been going. Since the last 10k I did 3 weeks ago I have been trying to lose weight. I have managed to lose 1.5-2kg in the last 3 weeks, not extreme but not bad either. I have been piling in the mileage too, so I was hoping to set a nice big PB today.

A look on the sign-up list online showed that TCEC had 3 male runners taking part, Bastian Schäfer, who I know is fast, Sebastian Dahl, who I know is fast, and me! I got the train to Groß-Gerau and promptly got lost on my way from the station to the start. It ended up taking me 40 minutes to get there, and when I did I found that there was no changing area, and one Portaloo for everyone! I did a little warm up and got to the start line, where I saw Konrad another TCEC guy, who I know is really fast, I was worried I not even make the TCEC top 3!

Continue reading “Groß-Gerau 10km Frühjahrslauf”

Lindenseelauf 2016 – 10km Race – PB

So I did this race last year, and decided to run it again this year as it was a good run last time. I had it in my head that it was a really fast course, perfect for setting my 10k PB, which I did last year and wanted to again this year.

My training has been going well, I have only had 2 days off running over the Christmas period, I have been at or over 80km/week for a couple of months, and have pushed on to over 110km last week and this week. I went into this one thinking that a 36:30 should be possible, though I didn’t taper at all for the race.

I’d luckily met Christian Hafner in the supermarket a few days ago, and he offered to drive me to the start. We got there really early, like 1h10 before the start, which on a cold day could have caused problems! I was getting ready when I saw the frequent winner of the race – Martin Skalsky – dressed in shorts. I decided that I too should wear shorts, a good decision in the end, even though it was about 2 degrees and slightly snowing. Continue reading “Lindenseelauf 2016 – 10km Race – PB”

Ebersheim Adventslauf – 2nd place

So this was the one I was aiming for. I wanted to win a race for the first time ever, no age group win, just first over the line. I have followed the Jack Daniels plan very closely and really feel like I am in 36:30 or so form for 10k. Ebersheim is a bit hilly but there is a long downhill too, so it kind of levels itself out. Last year I ran a 39:45 and was really happy with that, I fancied that I could beat the winning time from last year of 37:21, and then just hope that that is good enough to win it.

I got there well in advance and once Andre and Ronald were ready we went for a little warm up jog. The wind was pretty strong and in the wrong direction, i.e. against uphill and with downhill, but it had dried up a bit since yesterday when it rained for most of the day.

I got myself on the start line and was straight into the front group when the gun fired. I wanted to run behind someone into the wind and soon enough 1 person went forward to take up the pace. I was in a 3 person group just behind. After the first 1km the 2 others in my group started to fall back, but the leader was slowing stretching his lead too. After 3km the route goes by the start area and an ecstatic looking Katja was there cheering me on! KMs 4-5 are slightly uphill and on paths that were pretty muddy. I had to run up on the field twice to avoid the massive long puddles on the route. There were also a couple of dodgy corners that were slippy that I cautiously jogged round.

Then comes the downhill. I tried to push the pace a little, hoping to bring back the leader, but my legs weren't quite fully ticking over, with the wind and downhill obviously I was travelling quickly, but not making in-roads in the leaders advantage. On the long downhill there are 2 sharp left turns that then go steeply uphill for about 100-150m, before the downhill continues, they were killers, but also a good chance to see how much lead I had over 3rd place. I could see that 3rd was further behind me that I was behind 1st, so I had a fair lead. Soon enough I got to Harxheim and turned left up the big hill of the day. It was a really hard slog up there, I did have it in my head that I was overtaken on an uphill in my last hilly race, and that worry wasn't helped by the fact that the guy who passed me last time also had moved into 3rd place behind me this time!

I finally got to the top and was pretty confident of making it home without being caught as it is generally downhill until the last few hundred metres. I got onto the home straight and gave the peace signals / 2nd place signs everyone as I crossed the line in 38:57. I can't complain too much as that is all I could give, I guess I underestimated the toughness of the course. The result, though not what
I wanted.

I waited to see Andre cross the line in 48minutes, a great time for him as he had been working with 50 mins as his dream time, then came Ronald who was pointing to his knee, and seemed happy to have got around the course in one piece.

I might do a silvesterlauf somewhere, depending on where we are and if they fit into our silvester (NYE) plans. I do have a few goals left on my 2015 list that I can try to take down, for example an 18min 5km and getting to 2500km running in 2015. I need 114km more to get to that mark, which in 2.5 weeks should be easily doable, even with Christmas in the meantime. The 5km might be a bit more tricky. Somehow I had thought that my goal was 18:30, so as I have done splits in 10km races at that pace, it was essentially done. 18mins is actually quite a tricky prospect, it is obviously doable but it is pretty much full race pace. I think I will head down to the track some time soon when I am feeling good and give it a go.

Otherwise I expect that I will write a 2015 wrap-up post and a 2016 goal setting post. I'll see you then!

Race Report – Lindenseelauf 15km

I haven't been posting my weekly training updates, but I have been fairly religiously following the Jack Daniels' 5-10km plan for the last 9 weeks, whilst slowly increasing the amount I run by 5km every week too. Last week I ran 96km and I will run 100km this week. I have also run every day for the last 40 days or so, obviously a big record for me as I doubt I had run 10 days in a row until this streak!

So to the race. It started at 2:30pm but had to set off at midday to get the tram, train, then bus to the start!. I was happy to see a few TCEC guys were also doing the race, 3 others doing the 15km and the younger lads all doing the 5km. It was pretty cold at about 3 degrees, so I wore long sleeves and long tights, but after a few seconds of the race I noticed that everyone ahead of me was wearing shorts, maybe I need to wear shorts too!

I started and straight away there were 5 guys ahead of me, one more passed me after a few hundred metres. I didn't overtake anyone all day! I looked at my pace and saw that I was running 3:35/km, too fast but not crazy for the first km. I settled in and soon realised it would be a lonely run, the guys in front of me had all paced well, and those behind me were well behind me. I felt a bit tired after 6km, and with 9km still to go I was a little worried, but soon enough I reached the airport which I knew was the furthest point of the course and made the turn. I realised that we had been ever so slightly climbing for a while, so now I could enjoy the slight downhill, though my pace didn't really show that!

At the 10km marker I made a lap on my GPS, it showed 37:30, 10 seconds outside my 10km PB. It also meant that I could technically run 19:30 for the last 5km and still beat my main goal time of 57mins. I still felt strong but after 12km it started to hurt. My heart rate monitor slipped down, so the readings went crazy, I pushed to hold my pace and felt confident of keeping below 57mins, but 56 seemed a real push as I would have to have a great last few km. I could hear clapping behind me after I ran past some onlookers, I was worried that that meant that someone was coming up behind me, but I soon saw that it was a race official cyclist, and they were ironically clapping him – phew!.

The last km was ok, I didn't have a sprint left in my legs, but I wasn't dying either. I crossed the line in 56:28, well inside my goal time, but short of my dream time of 56mins. A quick look at the Vdot charts shows that it was my best run ever, and equates to a sub 37min 10k and a 1:21low HM, both much better than my PBs.

I think that if I had tapered into the race I could have run a bit faster, but this isn't my goal race, so I am happy that I didn't. It was also run mainly on trails, not on asphalt. I think that makes it a little slower, but it is still a good and fast course, they are nice wide trails, hardly technical! I will definitely be back to do the 10km in Rüsselsheim early in January to try to beat my 10km PB again.

I was 7th place overall, 2nd in my age group so I got some lemonade and a certificate for my troubles! The other TCEC guys all seemed to have a good race too, Torsten wasn't ecstatic, but I think everyone enjoyed the run.

Next up – Ebersheim Adventslauf on December 13th

Race Report – Zornheim Bremserlauf

So after 4 weeks of my Jack Daniels plan I was in decent form going into the penultimate leg of the Wingertscup in Zornheim. I had been in Ukraine the week before, so had jammed in 2 workouts on Wednesday and Thursday, before the race on Saturday, but though my legs weren't 100%, they were fine. My Dad was in Germany visiting, so we went to Zornheim well in advance to get ready for the race.

I looked around at the start line and didn't see the guy that always win. Max, my main competitor for 3rd/4th pace was there, but claimed not to be on form. I fancied that I could be on for a good result if that was true, but just before the start, the fast guy rocked up. The race started and there were 5 at the front, I knew 1 was running the 5km, I hoped the 2nd place was too, but he wasn't. The guy who always wins was 3rd, but just ahead of me, Max and another guy from Mainz were just behind me. The course had 1 steep uphill in the first few km, before going downhill for a long time. I was losing time on the uphills, but at least holding my own on the downhills.

After I reached the lowest point on the course after 5km, I was in 3rd, but someone was quite close behind me, Mario from Mainz. Max was way back and the guy that always wins was still only a few metres behind me. The climb started and I started falling back. Mario closed in and closed in, before finally overtaking me. I thought we had reached the top as I was just behind him, and I fancied that as the last 3km or so are all flat or downhill, that I could re-overtake him, but the path turned right, revealing another few hundred metres of uphill ahead. When we finally got to the true peak, he had a good 30m on me. I tried to catch my breath and get rolling downhill, but I couldn't make any real inroads into his lead, then came another little uphill and I was done for, his lead grew to 50m or more, game over, no podium today.

I had a good look behind me, and Max was nowhere to be seen. I reached the last 700m or so and didn't pay attention to which way people ahead of me had run. I looked at the arrows on the ground and saw they pointed in both directions, I thought we had come from the left, so I ran right. I ran along taking the next signed right turn, which soon opened out into a long downhill. I saw that no one was ahead of me, so I had gone the wrong way! I ran back uphill to where I had gone wrong, and Max was just ahead of me. He saw that I had gone wrong and very kindly let me pass him for 4th place. I am sure that I would have done the same for him, but he could have take 4th had he chosen to, I was done after sprinting to get back on course.

My time was 39:15, but the course was a good bit short. A later look at my GPS showed that I had lost just over 90 seconds be running off course, so 37:45 would have been a fair kind of finishing time for me. Mario in 3rd finished in 37:15, so I can believe that 37:45 would be right for me.

I felt like I ran a decent race, but I was definitely weak on the uphills. I need to lose weight if I am going to have a real chance in Ebersheim, though I am starting to think that sub37 could well be doable on a true 10km race, even with some hills on route. The winner in Zornheim ran 35:15 or so, 2:30 is a lot to pull in in 8 weeks, but next time I will be much further through my training plan, tapered and hopefully lighter, so I will give it what I can to go for a win. My plan B is to beat the winning time from last year of 37:21, I can't control other people running dead fast, so maybe just setting a time goal would be better..

Anyway, I expect my next race will be a 15km Lindenseelauf. That will be flat and hopefully the right distance, so I will be able to gauge my fitness properly. Sub 57 will be good (PB fitness), sub 56 great, sub 55 amazing!

Race Report – Landskronberglauf – Wingertscup

Part two of my stupidly planned two post-Ironman races was on Sunday in Oppenheim. It is part of the Wingertscup, and I wanted to run it as a back up race, in case I am injured, ill or busy for one of the last two races of the year ( I need 4 results from the 6 races to be in the final leaderboard) In the morning I was in Worms supporting Katja in her half marathon, where she ran a big 5 minute PB and won her age group too! We waited after the race until she got her prizes, then had to quickly leave to get to my race for 15:30. I had put the 'address' into google maps and 'Turnacker' came up with an address somewhere not far from the station in Oppenheim, on the Rhein side. We got to the station at 14:50 and went to the Turnacker, except that wasn't where the race was. After some descriptive chat about where the run is, we were told that it is on the other side of town. It was 15:10 at this point and Katja's legs were tightening up nicely!

She couldn't run up the steep hill and stairs, so I decided to go on up the hill to the race alone, though it was a forlorn effort given that it was 15:20 by the time we got back to the station. I went as fast as I could and found a restaurant with some people parking. I asked if a race was being, or had been, held there? They said there was, but pointed me towards some trees, apparently I had to go through the forest to get to the run. I arrived at the start sweating like a pig at 15:28, but as so many people had had problems finding it, they had moved the start to 16:00! Lucky me!

The route was a bit unclear, even though they had drawn a nice map!

I had seen that the guy that always wins was there, along with the guy who was 1 place behind me in Wallertheim (the challenger). After a name call of every runner on the start line, we eventually started at about 16:10. Immediately 3 people went ahead, but that was all, the fastest, the challenger, and a girl. The girl fell off the pace after about 800m, leaving 2 ahead of me. They were running together about 5m ahead of me. I felt in control and was hoping that the challenger would over-do it trying to get away from me, and blow near the end. Just after the first lap, they started to edge away from me, I couldn't do much about it.

At the turn on the 2nd loop, I saw that 4th place was actually only about 50m behind me, so 3rd wasn't in the bag yet. At the turn on the 3rd and final loop he was maybe 15m further back, and 1st and 2nd were well gone, so I thought 3rd was mine barring a blow up. I didn't blow up, and cruised in 3rd place in 40:07.

My heart rate was sky high again, I think my body really needs a break after the ironman. I can't usually run a 10k with a 181bpm average, but I did it today! I am happy I did the race, for 4€ I got 3rd place, a medal and a bottle of wine, so I can't complain! I can complain about waiting over an hour and a half for the awards though! I actually had to leave just before they finally got to doing the podium, otherwise I would be stuck there for an hour before my next train arrived.

Now I will take at least a week off, then a week or two of just very easy running, then I will try to pick it up a bit. I want to get some form going for Zornheim in late October, and really be on it for Ebersheim to try for the win.

Zornheim should be my next post in the blog, unless someone persuades me to do some stupid run in the meantime!

Have a good one!