36th real Berlin Marathon 2009: 2:21:39h (20th place)

October 3, 2009

Almost two weeks after the marathon and it’s time for some analysis. Because of the fact that it was the second time I ran in Berlin, I can compare the two performance and the splits:

Analyzing the splits I can say that this year the pace was more steady from the very beginning to the very end of the race. In fact this year I never ran a kilometer over 3:30min, whereas last year I was falling down to 4min/km-pace at the end.

short decription of the race:

km 0-21
On the first part of the marathon the most important thing is to be patient. You should feel comfortable with the pace because this is the easiest part of the race. The first 4-5km were a bit slow with 3:22-23min and the consequence was, that the pace increased the following kilometers because there was a bigger group aiming for sub-2:20h. At halfway I was right on pace (69:52min) and exactly replicated last years halfmarathon time.

very early in the race (around km 4)

km 21-35

During this part of the race the training kicks in: If the training was sub-optimal you will probably slow down drastically already here. For me those kilometers were ok, but I also had to make a lot of pace myself. Last year I was feeling a bit more fresh at halfway and from km 25-33 I followed the group of Irina Mikitenko. This year the kilometer-splits were a bit slower but I was still in control. The heat was getting more and more of a factor and that’s the main reason why I couldn’t maintain 3:19min/km-pace.

km 35-42,125

That’s the part, were the outcome of the marathon is decided. Last year I ran well until 38km and suffered really bad until the finish. Even though this years split time for 40km was slower than last years I improved last years finishing time by more than half a minute. Also this year I was hurting a lot and the last kilometers seemed endless. Still I ran a steady pace, i.e. never under 3:30min/km. Compared to last year that was the main improvement, even if the conditions were warmer than last year. Also the top guys suffered from the heat: from 40km to the finish i.e. 2,195km) Haile was only one second faster than me!

This year I also noticed the last meters of the race. Last year I had some black-outs at the end and didn’t even remember how I passed the Brandenburg gate. Also the crowd on the last 200meters was amazing. The tribune was full of spectators and the noise level was amazing. When the speaker announced that I am the second German the crowds went even more mad! Puuuh, that was really incredible.

Immediately after the race I was quite disappointed that I ran over 2:20h, but I know that running sub-2:20 is only a matter of time.

post-race with my Dad and Dan- I’m not really looking happy

post-race with my support team during the marathon (Dad, Mum, Me, Ulla, Bernd)

Once again I want to thank everyone, who supported me and motivated me along my way to the Berlin Marathon 2009. I know it was not always an easy time with me!

1/2-hour run Zwickau (5th run of the series): 9050m (1st place)

September 9, 2009

When I’m in Zwickau and a running competition takes place at the same time, I’m almost obligated to take part This wednesday was the last (5th) leg of a series of half- and full-hour runs. I already competed in the 3rd run and also this time I ran the 1/2-hour race.

While I was running 9.350m in the last race, this time I collected “only” 9.050m. The conditions today were not as good as last time. In temperatures above 25°C I don’t feel so comfortable and thus I can be satisfied. Furthermore the marathon is only ten days away and there is no use in pushing too hard at this time of the preparation. After all I ran the marathon-pace for 30minutes without any problems and all on my own from the first round onwards.

Here some pics:

very sunny and warm conditions on the track

marathon stride – almost no knee lift, but who needs a knee lift for 42,195km

8. Mitteldeutscher Marathon in Halle/Saale: 10km – 31:31min (4th place)

September 7, 2009

After coming back from my 4-weeks altitude stay on Friday I competed in a 10K the day afterwards, on 5th of September. Last year I competed in the German 10K-championships in the same situation, i.e. coming straight from altitude and 2 weeks before the Berlin marathon. Well, last year I ran a surprising 30:34, whereas this year I “only” ran 31:31min.

However, also the conditions were not as good as last year. Because the German 10K-road championships are next weekend and this would be a bit too late for Berlin I decided to run in the race that is organised from German marathon legend Waldemar Cierpinski (double Olympic Champion in the marathon). So I lined up with his son and World Championships 2009 participant Falk Cierpinski and many others for the 10K that was held in downtown Halle on a 1,7km loop.

The course was not the fastest, with some small hills and some parts that were covered with cobblestones. However, the main problem was that already after 2 rounds (i.e. 3 km) you had to run through the crowd that was lapped and with some 500 runners that’s not an easy task! The “slalom” course took quite some time and also it was not so easy to maintain the pace, running through so many people.

After all I was not unsatisfied with race. I ran constant lap times for most of the race and until around 7 km I was within the range of vision to the 3 leaders (Falk Cierpinski, the Slovak Miroslav Vanko and the Czech Jan Kreisinger). If I would have closed the remaining 15-20 meters it might have been possible that I would have been on the podium, but after 8km I could feel the muscular fatigue that was caused by the four weeks of altitude training in Kühtai and St. Moritz. Two weeks before the Berlin Marathon I didn’t want to destroy myself so decided to keep some energy and settle for 4th place.

TOP 10 of the mens category in the 10K-race:
1 Cierpinski, Falk (GER) 30 SG Spergau e. V. 00:30:53
2 Kreisinger, Jan (CZE) HK 00:30:55
3 Vanko, Miroslav (SVK) 35 00:31:09
4 Haß, Erik (GER) HK SV Vorwärts Zwickau e. V. 00:31:31
5 Zabel, Michael (GER) 40 SG Spergau e. V. 00:32:14
6 Schmidt, Paul (GER) HK TSV Dresden 00:32:29
7 Soos, Daniel (GER) HK Budapesti Honvéd SE 00:32:31
8 Glauche, Eric (GER) HK SC DHfK Leipzig e. V. 00:33:18
9 Recksiedler, Raik (DEU) HK 00:34:24
10 Stoek, Holger (GER) 40 LAV Halensia e. V. 00:34:48
10 Bernstein, Christian (GER) HK SG Spergau e. V. 00:35:39 00:35:37

30. Engadiner Sommerlauf 2009: 27km – 1:34:11h (2nd place)

September 7, 2009

After two weeks of altitude training I ran the 30th edition of the Engadiner Sommerlauf from Sils to Bever on 23th of August 2009. As I was staying in St.Moritz, i.e. between the two towns of Sils and Bever it was a nice way to get some good training kilometres in some kind of race atmosphere. Way better than running alone.
The first 15km of the course were a bit hilly and after 15km the highest point of the course was reached, so I decided to run a controlled pace until this point and run a bit harder for the last part. This “tactic” turned out to be very good and I could really hold the pace high between kilometres 15 and 25. I also caught several guys on the flat part – at km I was in 5th place with a gap of approx. 90 seconds to 4th and in the end I was 2nd, only half a minute behind the eventual winner. If the race would have been a bit longer I might even have had the chance to win the race but after all it was a bit to short to catch the leader and on the last 2 km I didn’t push too hard because there were still 2 weeks of tough altitude training ahead of me.

Kalevan Kisat (Finnish Track & Field Championships) 2009: 10.000m – 31:23,93 (14th place)

August 2, 2009

Seasons Best in National Championships - That´s the way it should be. My time of 31:23 is not quite what I expected but the flu that hit me in the preparation and that caused some 10 days without speed training account to most of the 25 seconds that were missing to the 31-minutes barrier (my aim before the season).

The weather in Espoo was extraordinary. Most of the athletes that had their competition on Friday (just like me) were reminded to the IAAF World Championships in Helsinki 2005. Torrential rain in the evening session and several thunderstorms. Even if during the 10.000m race itself there was only drizzling rain, I was totally soaked after the warm-up. Also the track was very wet but otherwise I liked the track in the stadium. It was the first time I was running on a blue and white MONDO-track and it felt really good.

Also the race felt good and really enjoyed running the 25 laps. Usually it´s getting pretty tough after 6-7km but this time I felt good all the way. Nevertheless, I could not run a faster pace and rather felt like I could maintain the same pace for a longer time. A good sign for the marathon but not so good it terms of raw speed. The second 5000m were a bit faster than the first half and I could catch some guys in the later stages. Still I took “only” 14th place – for comparison: last year only 10 runners finished the 10.000m.

Full results of the race:
1 Lewis Korir Turun Urheiluliitto 28.46,68
2 Matti Räsänen Joensuun Kataja 29.03,73
3 Jussi Utriainen Lahden Ahkera 29.16,38
4 Obed Kipkurui Sjundeå If 29.34,90
5 Simo Wannas Helsingin Kisa-Veikot 30.24,75
6 Henri Manninen Jyväskylän Kenttäurheilijat 30.26,27
7 Anssi Raittila Viipurin Urheilijat 30.40,04
8 Juha Puttonen Jyväskylän Kenttäurheilijat 30.40,58
9 Mikko Tyni Haminan Ponteva 30.42,21
10 Pekka Toivola Joensuun Kataja 30.57,38
11 Joseph Tanui Lahden Ahkera 30.57,41
12 Juho Pirkola Kälviän Tarmo 31.08,54
13 Miika Takala Jyväskylän Kenttäurheilijat 31.08,93
14 Erik Hass Vaajakosken Kuohu 31.23,93
15 Marko Vaittinen Forssan Salama 31.26,26
16 Jukka Kero Turun Urheiluliitto 31.32,54
17 Joni Hulkko Jalasjärven Jalas 31.33,49
18 Arto Perttilä Vaasan Vasama 31.43,68
19 Harri Nissinen Imatran Urheilijat 32.30,45
20 Miika Henriksson Viipurin Urheilijat 33.22,69
Joni Rautio Lapin Lukko DNF
Petri Kykyri Kälviän Tarmo DNF

Altogether it was another great experience to run in this race. Some friends told me that I was also on Finnish TV. This was one of my inspirations when I set my goal of running in Kalevan Kisat.

For the marathon there is still a lot of work to do, but I am already looking forward to the hard training after taking some easy days.

Strömstadmilen 2009 (SWE): 10km – 33:55 (20th place)

July 6, 2009

On my way back to Finland I made a small detour to compete in a 10km race in Strömstad/SWE, close to the Norwegian border. It was the first time for me being in Norway, since my flights were arriving and departing in the Norwegian capital Oslo. After the St. Eriksloppet 2005 in Stockholm it was my second race on Swedish ground. And what a weekend it was!

I stayed in the race hotel, a nice Spa and Resort Hotel together with a bunch of other athletes (Kenyans, Spaniards etc.). The race itself went rather bad. The course was pretty hilly and temperatures were way too high for me. With 30°C and even more on the streets in the sun I always have my problems and hardly find my rhythm. This time it was the same: Already after the first flat 1,5km I lost contact to the big leading group (including approx. 15 Kenyans and some Non-Africans). All the Kenyans that dropped from the group discontinued the race just before I could overtake them – nice. I thought there should be more guys that have to pay the toll to the high temperatures but it was not the case and at the end I ended up far outside of the TOP10. In the second of the two rounds I had problems myself to keep the pace, even though I went out with the handbrake on. I’m just not made for running in the heat it seems. I felt dizzy and it was impossible to change the pace. After all this pace was not even marathon pace yet! So still a lot of work to do. Anyway it was a great experience to run against some international opponents after a long time. I guess in the last weeks I competed to much in my home region in Germany and won too many races there

There are a lot of more stories to tell about this weekend and I’m sure they will come up some time later, so just follow my blog

31. Pyratallauf in Tannenbergsthal (GER): 11,9km – 43:14min

June 30, 2009

Last weekend I had another race on Saturday. For me it was the third race in four days. Unlike the two other competitions this time the course was more challenging: a cross-country like 11,9km with several ups and downs and partly small paths in the forest.

I didn’t want to run a tactical race this time, so I went out harder than usual and decided early on to run my own pace. So after around 1km I was clear of my competitors and was on my own. At the end I had a 1:09min lead over Benjamin Seifert, a cross-country skier who is member of the German team and is hoping to qualify for the Winter Olympic in Vancouver 2010. Even if I won the race against this good opponent I was not too satisfied – the legs were not so fresh and I couldn’t increase the pace as I wanted. Somehow the legs didn’t respond to the signals from the brain. This is just a matter of freshness and after 4 tough workout within 6 days this is nothing unusual.

just before the finish – the humidity was really high that day and old man Erik was sweating a lot.

prize ceremony with two promising cross-country skiers on the podium (Benjamin Seifert, Erik Hass, Stefan Seiffert – from left to right)

1. Zwickauer Firmenlauf (corporate run Zwickau): 4,2km – 13:54,9min (1st place)

June 28, 2009

One day after running 9350m in 30min I had the next competition. My uncle asked me to run for his company in the first corporate run of my home town Zwickau. Of course I couldn’t say no, so I found myself with quite tired legs on the start line in downtown Zwickau on Thursday. I could win the pretty short race in 13:54,9min. The first of the three rounds I had some competition from the ultra-distance runner and world-championships participant Thomas König but already in the second round I found myself running alone even without pushing the pace too much. The legs were feeling ok, once they were rolling and also the atmosphere in the city was surprisingly good, so I couldn’t disappoint the home crowd

Also our team “Heymann Mineralöle” won the team competition in the mixed category. Also in the team was another uncle of mine, an aunt and a cousin. As a family we will remember this event for a long time.
Here some pics:

After the first of three rounds (with running mate Thomas König).

just before the finnish – celebrating the victory.

There was also some media and I had to give some interviews – great fun.

Our team of Heymann Mineralöle

Talking to German marathon legend Jörg Peter (still holding the German marathon record with 2:08:47h from Tokio 1988) after the race.

1/2-hour run Zwickau (3rd run of the series): 9350m (1st place)

June 24, 2009

After a competition-free weekend with several birthday celebrations in my family I competed in a half-hour run on the track in my home town Zwickau. The result of 9350m is a new record for me and at the same time a result that was the best in the last decade in this series of competitions that consists of 5 runs per year. I only covered more than 9000m in 30 minutes once in my life before – it was some 6 or 7 years back when I just dipped over 9km, running something like 9025m or so.

Considering the pretty tough training of the last 10days I’m satisfied with the results. My legs were still a bit tired from the tempo runs on monday (4x 850/1700m) and the legs didn’t respond too well when I wanted to push a bit harder. Anyway, I stayed pretty relaxed because in the next couple of days I will have some more competitions: Tomorrow (thursday) a corporate run in Zwickau and on Saturday a cross-country-like 10K a bit further away.

12. Pobershauer Berglauf (mountain race): 14,9km – 58:02min (2nd place)

June 18, 2009

Saturday, June 13th I participated in a mountain race on cross country terrain in my home area. After being in the Alps for 4 days from Tuesday to Friday and playing 1,5 hours indoor soccer Friday night it was of course just a training run for me but nevertheless a tough one.

I took 2nd place, some 3 minutes behind eventual winner Marc Schulze, who won the race already last year and knew the course. For me it was the first time that I competed in Pobershau and to be honest I don’t know if I’m going there again, because it’s really not the right course if you are preparing for track or road races. It’s only up and down and the underground is really uneven. After all I was lucky that I didn’t got hurt (even if I got insect bite in the 2nd of 4 rounds and had to stop several times to check if there is a swelling on my left foot, where I got it). During warm-up I also felt a sudden pain in my back on an downhill-part, so I ran conservatively not to get a sore back. Also the legs were not fresh after hiking in the Alps. Anyway, I could recover fast and on the following Sunday I could run a 27K-long run with two 5K-intervals in around 3:35min/km-pace.