Monday, October 16, 2006

Buy one, get two

You may have wondered why it took several weeks to give you the results for the race. Well, I had to think about it a while. On one hand it was a wonderfull weekend up there in Bremen visiting Steffi. On the other hand it was quite an intense experience.

I am still not sure what to think about the result of 3:35 hours. It's not good and not bad either. I had just one training run after the Ostseeman in August, so I did not demand a 3 hour race from myself. I thought about 3:15, yeah, that would be ok.

But on Sunday morning I stood at the start, and suddenly I spotted the three hour pacer with his white balloons. It was a wonderful morning, a little cold, but the sun was coming out already and starting to warm us. I didn't have time to think much as the countdown was beginning already.

10, 9, ...., 3, 2, 1, GO! So I ran, and ran, and ran, and followed the three hour pace. Don't know why, I just thought I can do it. It felt hard from the beginning. Not really hard, but I had the feeling that it is a little too fast for me. Anyway, I decided to try it and make slower once my mind gets weaker than the body. I ran, ran and ran. Until the half marathon which I crossed just under 1:30, perfectly in time. Our group of 3 hour runners had diminished to less than 15 people.

Then the moment came. My mind said: I can't do it again, no more half marathon in 1:30 today, give me a break. I slowed down. People were overtaking me. More people were overtaking me. A Smart came, followed by the first women in the field. They overtook. I became slower and slower.

I came to the point where it was really hard to believe in finishing, my muscles became sore. I had never experienced that before in that intensity. This feeling was interrupted by the cheering crowd at the finish. Wow! The second half marathon took more than 2 hours.

At the end a good experience for myself. And definitly one, that you have to experience on your own.

Next time I will do it better,...

...or make it the same way again. Time will show. ;)

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