(tune in that funky Lenny Kravitz song here)
As some of you might know (and some of you don't but never dared to ask) I started to run in March 2011. Okay, there were some poor attempts a few years before, but never anything serious or long lasting. After a short amount of training I felt like I needed some kind of motivational factor throughout the year. That's why I registered for my very first half marathon. It's going to take place coming Sunday in a beautiful Austrian region called "Wachau" alongside the Danube, lined with vineyards and old castles. I'm filled with anticipation and excitement to say the least and I'm VERY looking forward to that race. I've been training for over six months and I most definetely feel like I'm up to the challenge. Wheater forecast says it's going to be cloudy with a good chance of some light rain, or in other words: perfect running conditions!
Last Saturday I participated in another fun run, also taking place in our beautiful neighboring country. 13.44 km on a route I've been running quite often the past 6 months. It runs along both sides of the river Inn which marks the border between Germany and Austria. The river is being crossed twice, via a hydroelectric facility and a skywalk. It's a very appealing running course with minor elevations.
I set my personal goal to one hour and seven minutes, assuming a pace of 5:00 min/km. I knew it was going to be tough, but boy did I have no idea what I had to expect. You know, we did say good bye to summer here already, but it returned with blazing 29° C (84,2 F) the past weekend.
Long story short, I finished with great difficulty at a time of 01:07:33. The heat almost got the best of me and I virtually collapsed by the time I crossed the finishing line. But after a few minutes of regeneration, almost 1,5 liters of liquid intake and a cold shower I felt happy as a clam. :-)
I made it. 8th in my class of age. And nothing on earth can take that away from me. Here's a (slightly blurry) picture of me about 300 meters before the finishing line. You can see a part of the skywalk in the background. Do you know what a "runner's high" is? I felt the exact opposite at the time that picture was taken... *g*
I am extremely proud of you! Well done! As you know I recently trained to run 10km and for me that was and always will be far enough! My little legs just weren't built to run further than that! Well that's my story and I'm sticking to it!!
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your race on Sunday - you will be super I am sure!
Now what I could say is that sports medicine claims the human body has been built for running 20 kilometers or more a day because of the way our ancestors had to get their food. But evolution developed our minds to invent supermarkets and cars. So to hell with sports medicine :-D
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