Just for a change I did a bike ride today. The first bike ride of the summer (yes, summer seems to be here now). Of course a “normal” round of 50K was not enough and I did a 98K ride in hilly terrain, partly on trails. I survived the 4-hours journey pretty well and can even climb the stairs almost normal i.e. without aching quads. Let’s see how tomorrow will feel. Anyway tomorrow will be back to running.
One day after the 1/2h-run I did a second test run in my home town Zwickau. This time it was the 2nd corporate run, where I started for “Heymann Mineralöle”, my uncles company. I could defend last years title but unfortunately our team (including 4 members) was second this time.
The race itself went pretty ok even though I was on my own after 500m once again. At the end I had a lead of 1:10min (results here). The pace was around 3:25min/km on a muddy ground so I’m optimistic that I’m on the upswing again. With some good summer training I might save this season with some good results in the autumn. However, to do that it’s still a long way to go. The journey will start next week, when I’m going to St.Moritz/SUI.
My first test after some time of detraining and it was not too bad. Anything over 8.500 would have been ok, so I was satisfied with the 8.600m. I was running all on my own after 400m and conditions were great (just over 10°C and drizzle rain).
With some speed training the results should get better from time to time. Right now it’s not even marathon pace, but the summer lays ahead of me…
It’s Eurovision time this weekend and there is kind of a hype in Germany. The reason for that is a 19-year old girl called Lena, who might bring back some Eurovision-pride to Germany. Bookmakers see her in the top 5 (at least), so if you are in a country that is eligible to vote: Call for the German entry “Satellite” by Lena Meyer-Landrut. Germany: 12points.
How I got interested in the Eurovision song contest? Well, I guess it started when the Finnish metal band Lordi won the contest some years ago and brought the event to Helsinki. In general it seems to me that in the Nordic countries the Eurovision is more accepted and traditional than in Germany. During my time in Finland Eurovision was always a big event and that’s how I started to find out that it’s not only about folk and pop music.
For my part, I’m invited to a wedding today so most probably I will have to watch the review.
As an athlete waiting is one of the few things you’re not good in. You always want to improve and take steps forward. However, this is not always beneficial and being patient can actually save you a lot of time. At the moment I’m waiting to get in shape again. I just want to know if everything is alright with my body and after that I want to see how far I can push myself in training and competition to get back to the fitness level where I used to be in 2008.
The first small step is already taken as I’m back to 2 runs a day since monday. I did 15-25km/day with one shorter and one longer run. Speed is very low, i.e. around 5min/km.
Yesterday night I went out for the first time in a long time. There was a presentation of Malaysia and Indonesia from 2 international students in one of the local student clubs. A nice way to meet some international people, even though all of them spoke a fluent, good German. Being around people makes waiting easier, so I guess it’s not the worst idea to go out every now and then to make contacts that are not related to sports in the first place.
The last months and weeks have been a continuous downward spiral for me running-wise. Just when I thought I hit rock bottom and couldn’t sink any lower there was another setback.
I spend the last two weeks for a major break and some detraining. Most of my runs I did with some mates to get the fun back to running. Furthermore I went to see some doctors to check if there is something wrong in the system. End of last week I had blood tests but unfortunately I will only get the results next week.
This week I’m planning to start more serious training again. Nothing too special though, just increasing the mileage to something around 140km plus some alternative training. Let’s see how my body will respond.
Another week of easy training, i.e. only basic mileage with some general conditioning. At least I got 14 training runs for this week, despite the fact that they are all rather slow and also pretty short.
Last weeks training:
Mo: AM: 30min easy, PM: 60min easy
Tu: AM: 30min easy, PM: 60min easy
We: AM: 55min easy, PM: 55min running including 40min medium effort
Th: AM: 45min very easy, PM: 65min easy
Fr: AM: 45min easy, PM: 20min warm-up jog + 75min indoor soccer (pretty intense)
Sa: AM: 55min easy, PM: 50min easy
Su: AM: 60min easy, PM: 65min easy
Last two weeks training:
week 15:
Mo: AM: 85min easy, PM: 30min easy
Tu: AM: 60min easy, PM: 60min easy
We: AM: 55min easy, PM: 1/2-h run: 8.850m
Th: AM: 65min easy, PM: 60min
Fr: AM: 55min easy, PM: 30min easy
Sa: AM: 30min very easy , PM: 40min very easy including 1K in 3:25min
Su: AM: 25min very easy, German Championships Halfmarathon: 72:09min
week 16:
Mo: 135min easy cycling
Tu: AM: 105min easy cycling, PM: 30min stepper+15min elliptical trainer+15min easy running
We: AM: 30min easy, PM: 60min easy
Th: 85min easy
Fr: AM: 55min easy, PM: 40min easy + 75min indoor soccer
Sa: 55min easy
Su: AM: Hamburg Marathon as a visitor, PM 55min easy
To cut a long story short: My worst placement in German Championships ever plus my worst halfmarathon time in a Championships race.
I felt that the shape was getting better the last 3-4 weeks but still that was not enough to reach my reduced aim of running sub-70minutes. The one and only positive thing I can take from this race is, that I finished it … even if the last 3 kilometers were like jogging and just reaching this finish line.
The first 5K were right on pace (16:32min) and even the 10K split was still acceptable (33:32min) but after that the lights went totally off… there are no excuses or good reasons for this performance except bad training, wrong lifestyle and missing dedication.
I hope that I have reached the bottom now and things will get better step-by-step. I’m willing to get back and I will use this week to think about new ways and adjustments of the current situation.
early in the race
later in the race
post race – sometimes a picture tells more than thousand words
My last test before the German Halfmarathon Championships (April 18th) was the first 1/2-h run in my home town Zwickau on Wednesday. The result of 8.850m was just above my minimum aim of 8.800m and every distance starting with 9 would have given me some confidence for the upcoming weekend.
The km-splits were: 3:19/3:23/3:26/3:26/3:26/3:26/3:26/3:24 + 850m. The first 4 and the last 2 laps I was lucky that I had some company from my club mate Remo Barthel (in between I could lap him). Seems that Remo is going to develop to a good training partner. After the competition we even went for an ice-bath in the local river (“Mulde”) together.
Now I will have some easier days until the German Championships in Bad Liebenzell and hope to run sub-70min on this fast course.