Hi everyone,
there I am again with a new report. I admit that I was a little worried about this Marathon and hat a tonne of respect. Roughly 100 Meters altitude more to climb and only two weeks since my last hilly Marathon, but oh well, no point complaining. I put in a whole week of rest after the last Marathon and only did a couple of short runs in the week coming up to this one - 4km & 8km.
Since the run was planned to start at 8 am and we had a 90 minute journey to get there, we decided to stay a night in the Eifel. We headed off unhurried at midday and checked out the mustard mill and bought a few jars.Unfortunately the weather was quite awful and we ended up just chilling out at the hotel, which was probably a good decision anyway.
The alarm rang at half past 6 and I ate a muesli that we brought with us and some chia. Then we got dressed, packed up our things and off we were. We found a decent parking spot and walked a couple hundred meters to the starting area. I already picked up the bib yesterday, so we only had to wait about 20 minutes before the race started. It was still quite gloomy and a bit nippy, but at least it wasn't raining. Before I knew it, we were counting down to the start.
We began on a 3-4 meter wide street and left the little town after about 1 kilometer, before heading into the woods. The first 7 KMs were more or less downhill, so it was an easy start. After 2 Kilometers we had the first little traffic jam, as we had to climb down a slippery hill in single file. We ran past the mustard mill and through the little town with its' charming alleyways and bridges before heading into the deeper forest and leaving civilization behind.
At KM 7.5 it was time to climb one of the more steeper hills and most people walked up to reserve their energy. I still felt quite good at this point, but I also felt it was a good idea to start walking the steep parts early. I did try to walk at a fast pace however. We started catching up with some of the walkers and the ultra-marathon runners, who left a couple of hours before we did and were doing the Marathon distance and a 56 KM run, respectively.
KMs 12-14 were very steep and I had to walk most of it. At the top we were greeted by a young group who were playing music and offering refreshments. Then we started heading back down. I managed to run pretty much all of the downhill parts and most of the flat parts. I did walk up pretty much every hill though and most of the lesser inclines as well.
KMs 17-21 were also uphill, but not quite as steep. There weren't many people who were running up these parts and if they did, they weren't really much faster, so not worth it in my eyes :) I actually still felt quite good at this point, even though my time wasn't much better than in Bad Pyrmont. I assume that my legs were simply more tired in general.
After that we ran up and down through fields and were rewarded with some really nice views and scenery. The sun started coming out and I was feeling good, but my legs were starting to get really sore and heavy. KM 25-30 was probably my toughest phase, at least in my head. At KM 30 it started going downhill again quite steeply and I could let myself "roll" down the hill a little. I spoke to quite a few people along the way and on this downhill part I spoke to a biker, who had done the Marathon 19 times already, but had to sit this one out due to meniscus problems. He informed me that the next uphill part, which turned out to be the steepest part, went from KM 33-35. I told myself, that I would run up to the base of the hill, but was disappointed that there was no hill in sight when I got to KM 33. I forced myself a few more meters, before I got to the refreshment stands just before the hills. I took a little break and started walking up the hill with as much pace as I could muster. I wanted to stay under 5 hours, which was going to be hard.
After what felt like forever, I was finally at the top of the giant hill. I had another drink there, before trotting on down the next slope. I was sticking to a woman and a man, who were running a nice consistant pace and I was focused on staying with them. After a while we got talking and ended up running the last 6 or so kilometers together, with a couple of mutually agreed walking breaks. They really managed to pull me on this last stretch, I actually ran most of it, thanks to them. I think I would not have managed the 5 hour mark without them.
There was one hill left to climb at KM 40.5, which we walked up. Once that was done, it was only 800 meters left to the finish line and we trotted down into the little town, past the church and onto the final straight. The speaker announced us and Christine shot a few cool photos and then it was done. 04:51:50
I hugged my 2 companions and thanked them for pulling me along. I had a quick lukewarm shower in the gym and then we headed home.
Summary: Definitely one of the nicest Marathons this year. Probably on rank two after the Kapiti Coast one. I really enjoyed the track, I found it nicer, because we had more views and no parts had to be run twice and the hills felt better spread out. It felt like there was less uphill than in Bad Pyrmont (even though it was 100m more, almost 800m in total), which, I think, was due to the uphill parts being steeper and less frequent and there being more downhill parts overall. All things considered, I'm quite happy with having a better time than two weeks ago, even though I had that Marathon in my legs and more hills to climb. I'm relieved that the two hard Marathons are over now and that I have a few flat city Marathons coming up.
I now have 4 weeks time to regenerate and then I'm off to Münster for a (relatively) flat Marathon, which should feel much easier than these last two. Who knows, I might even be able to get close to 4 hours again! It certainly was good training for my legs.
Quite a long report, hopefully it wasn't too boring :)
Cheers
Stefan
Quick snapshot from our balcony in the early morning.
Selfie once again.
Found the NZ flag!
And off we go, yep, there's a dog running as well.
42.1 Kilometers later and I'm on my last 100 meters with some companions!
Last steps.
And there's the medal. Don't look quite as tired as after the Bad Pyrmont one if you ask me.
So dreamy. Enjoying the soft grass and the sun after the run.
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