there I am again. 75% done, practically on the home straight. Even though I'm happy after every completed Marathon, I look even more forward to finally having completed them all. The main reason for feeling this way, is because I'm not really happy with my times. Looking at it logically, I know I can't expect to achieve personal bests, but it simply isn't the same feeling finishing a Marathon, knowing you could have done much better with proper training. I am happy, that I am likely going to finish my project without any injuries but I really look forward to throwing myself into a proper training programme and trying to go after that personal best, if that's even possible with a baby ;)
And now to the Münster Marathon - Starting time of the race was 09:00, so we decided to stay a night, to avoid all the stress on a Sunday morning. Finding a hotel proved difficult, so we ended up booking a place via AirBnB. We stayed with our very friendly host Josefine. We arrived at midday, collected my race documents and then wandered through the very nice city. Unfortunately it was quite rainy, so we mostly spent time in some shops. We did see a few nice places though and had dinner in a place called "the blue house". After that, we headed back to our flat and watched some TV before going to bed.
In the morning, we walked down to the starting area and didn't have to wait very long. Almost 2200 runners signed up for the Marathon, so it was a decent sized event. The start went well, even with so many runners, and I joined the 03:45 pace makers. I enjoyed the first 13 Kilometers the most and that has nothing to do with them being the easiest. We ran through the whole city, many different parks and around most of the "Aa" lake. Christine was able to see me run by many times. At Kilometer 13 we headed away from the city, so that was the last time I saw her, apart from the finish. I almost missed her there as well, since she got there a little late. I was lucky that she spotted me from afar and I heared her yell out. I waited a couple of seconds, we took a photo and off I was again. I really noticed the strain on my legs this Marathon. My legs were very sore and I was a bit worried, that I might pull a muscle or a string, but thankfully that didn't happen.
Everything went to plan up until the Half Marathon. Die course away from the city was nice and flat, but nothing really spectacular to talk about. From this point onward, I started including small walking breaks. A couple hundred meters there, a couple hundred meters there, and so on. At KM 30 it was clear, that I wouldn't be able to stay under my goal of 4 hours. I still felt quite fit and energetic, but my legs really didn't allow much more than I was giving. At KM 32, a man named Jens motivated me to start running again. Since we were running a very similar pace and even had more or less the same walking breaks, we decided to run the remainder of the race together. It was his first Marathon, so it was definitely a decent effort. We always chose a point where we would start running again and set a goal, where we would run to. Typically that ended up in walking 200-300 meters and running up until the next full Kilometer. Jens started getting cramps at KM 38, so I kept running without him, but he ended up catching up again quite quickly, so we ended up finishing the race together after all. The last Kilometer was, as it is with most Marathons, very enjoyable. We ran into the city onece more, cheering people were everywhere, there was music and one was almost able to forget the pain. At KM 41 there was a large group of people who cheered us on to keep running, a little earlier than we had planned for our last walking break and we took off again, which was awarded by loud applause. I saw Christine in the crown shortly before the finish line and waved to her. Then it was time to run the last few meters along the cobblestoned road and onto the red carpet of the finishing straight.
We thanked each other for pulling each other along and I congratulated him for finishing his first Marathon. For me it was the 20th. I met Christine outside the finishing area and we walked back up towards the flat, where I was going to have a shower before heading home. Even though the 3 Kilometer walk up there was quite painful, I think it was quite good for me, since I hardly have any remaining pain just two days after the run.
Summary: A very pleasent Marathon, through a very nice city. Hardly any climbs, good atmosphere and plenty of good provisions along the course. Not much to complain about. Even the weather was good at 14°C and dry, building up a little throughout the day. My official time was 04:18:14. Not what I wanted, but I've given that up by now.
Next Marathon is the Cologne one, which will be special, as always. I have three weeks to regenerate. Apparently the course has changed a little, so I'm looking forward to seeing what it will be like.
Below you can find some photos, as always and I will be back for another report next month. Until then!
Stefan
Me in front of the starting area.
Another selfie. Can see Christine's bump a little on this one.
Getting ready in the starting area.
I seem to be running a different route than the pack.
Christine caught me with a bit of luck, so I took a small break. Not sure why I look so cheerful.
Running through Münser City.
Not far to go now.
Still have enough energy for a smile, so it can't be that bad.
Here are the very nice last few meters of the Marathon.
Tired, but happy that I'm getting closer to the end.
And here is the certificate.
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