first up I want to apologize, that I am only writing about my Marathon now, two weeks after the event, but after a very demoralizing run, I wasn't in the mood to get it done in the one day I had between the Marathon and going to Romania for a holiday. The only positive thing about this run is that I have made it to halfway and maybe that I got a bit of a tan :)
But let's start at the beginning - Since Christine went to Romania a few days ahead of me and my mother-in-law was sick, I was on my own, which didn't matter too much, there simply aren't that many photos because of this.
The moment I swung my legs out of bed, I knew, that today was not going to be a good day. My legs felt heavy and strangely sore. After a bread, jam and chia breakfast, I was on my way at around 7am. The drive went uneventful and I got there with plenty of time to spare. I got my bib, took a couple of photos and then waited for the run to start. At this time, it was already around 23°C. At least 10°C more than ideal. There was not a cloud in the sky, which worried me a little, since I don't typically do well in warm weather, which makes the summer Marathons quite tough for me.
Approximately 10 minutes late, we were on our way at 9.40am. Even though I knew, that it was not going to be a good run, I started running with the 03:30 pacemakers. Thinking back, I'm not sure if that was a mistake or if it wouldn't have changed anything anyway. After 5 Kilometers my suspicion, that today was going to be a bad day for me, got confirmed. I felt tired, the warm weather was draining my energy fast and my legs were sore. I kept up the pace until about KM 8, before I decided to slow down to preserve some energy. But even the slower pace took a lot out of me. I still managed to first 10 Kilometers unter 50 minutes, but it went downhill from there - slowly at first, then rapidly.
I still managed to run the majority of the time between KM 10 and 20, only stopping at the drinking stations, which were actually quite frequent, likely due to the weather. Up until the halfway mark (which I finished in just under 2 hours), I managed to follow through with that approach, but after that, my walking periods became more frequent. I had quite a bad phase between KM 21 and 25, where I was worried if I would be able to finish at all. There was not much shade, so I was feeling the full heat of the day, which had risen to around 30°C. At some point I then managed to force myself to run 750 meters of every Kilometer and walk the rest. I managed that for quite a while and I was hoping I could keep doing that until the end, but it just got worse and worse. The sun was merciless. There were lots of people sitting in their gardens that hooked up their water supply and allowed us to cool down a little if we wanted to - much to the gratitude of the runners.
After what felt like an endless period of time, I finally arrive back at the stadium. The last few meters are still very enjoyable, even so. Most likely, because I am overly happy that this torture is finally coming to an end. Not my usual euphoria of finishing another Marathon. A last lap inside the stadium and then I am at the finish. The giant numbers are shamelessly showing me a time of 04:40 - Ouch! My worst time in years. I throw myself on the grass and just lay there for a few minutes. There is nobody waiting for me after all, so I can take my time. A paramedic comes by and asks me if everything is alright. Apart from my poor time, which is borderline embarrassing, I am fine. My arms are bright red, I enjoyed that sunburn for almost a whole week.
Summary: With each Marathon, I notice that my body is less regenerated. I am actually becoming less fit, since I am running a lot less overall. I had hoped that my body would get used to it, but that isn't the case unfortunately. However, I'm at halfway, which is great and I have another 7 week long break now, which will be good for me. This run is done, so no need to think on it further. Duisburg was great as always and I was able to enjoy it even longer this time :)
Below you can see the few photos I took and a link to the official photos, where you can see a few more. I will be in touch on Facebook, my next post will be after the Bad Pyrmont Marathon at the end of July.
Speak soon!
Stefan
Official photos: https://go4it-foto.de/event/59368b547f928c000fea4ec9/117
Main entrance to the stadium, where I collected my bib.
Panarama view of the stadium and the last 300 meters of the track.
This is the entrance into the stadium, probably the best feeling 50 meters of the run.
One last selfie before the run.
And a jump to after the run :)
And my certificate. Hopefully my worst time of the year!
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