Tuesday, September 30, 2003

3:24:39 - Berlin Marathon 2003
My first marathon, a day to remember. I couldn't find my right speed, as it was very crowded, especially at the beginning. I lost several minutes on my 3:30 target, but from starting from km 10 it began to get better. I dound the right pace, had a lot of fun with the spectators and the scenic track. I waited for the hammerman to come at km 30, but nothing happenend. My running style was still smooth. No much exhaustion and absolutely no pain in the knees or muscles. Much better than expected. So I accelerated from km 30 until the finish and couldn't completely repress some tears when I passed the Brandenburg gate and ran the final meters.

All went so well, my target 3:30 became a 3:24:39. And even more important, I had no pain and could still walk. After drinking, eating and getting a massage I took my finisher beer in front of the Reichstag. A day I'll never forget.

In the evening Kai, Lothar and me went on a small bar tour in the famous Berlin quarter "Prenzlauer Berg" before driving home in the nigth.

Right now I'm in Stuttgart with Julia, and recovering for the Munich Marathon in 2 weeks, which I will run easy with no ambition for time. More later...

Friday, September 26, 2003

Off to Berlin / Marathon Live Stream
In a few hours Julia, Kai and me will start off to Berlin. We'll stay at my cousin's new apartment and have a nice sportive weekend :)

Saturday is a breafast run from the Charlottenburg Castle to the Olympic Stadium, later in the evening the big open air party at the Brandenburg Gate. Don't miss the marathon start at Sunday 9 am. It'll be aired on tv in major parts worldwide and on their website www.berlin-marathon.com there'll be a live race system. Just type in my start number 20676 and you can follow me live running on the track, see a video of me at the finish... My plan is 3:30 h, finishing around 12:35. Let's see!

On RBB Online there'll be several live streams of the Marathon starting Sunday 9 am. So tv coverage reaches every little corner of our planet. :)

Have fun, as I'll definitely have.

Monday, September 22, 2003

Feeling better
My illness seems to be almost over. Just the stomach pain still remains. But still 6 days left for recovery, that should be enough. Yesterday evening I ran the last 10 km, accompanying Arwed and Thomas on their last 30k run before the marathon in Cologne, which will be a week after Berlin.

Friday, September 19, 2003

I'm ill
It started yesterday afternoon with headache and stomach pain. Later in the night I got fever, couldn't sleep an hour and was sweating the whole time. It's a bit better by now, but the headache still and this weak feeling still remains. Let's hope I can get rid of it asap.

Saturday, September 13, 2003

Thanx for your presents
I didn't plan a party for my birthday on Wednesday, but Marc and Feli dropped by with a cake in the afternoon and later Georg, Kai and Thomas invited themselves for the soccer match and to have some beer. So it was a happy day in the end. I also got some presents, a running shirt, lots of energy gels and bars, running socks... People must think I am seriously running :), mustn't they?

Also thank you to Ling for a nice sweatshirt, to uncle Henning for a Yoyoma CD of Bach Suites which I am happen to play at the moment. Thanks to my parents and grandparents for the financial support and thanks to all the others for the mail, e-mail or phone calls you sent/gave me.

At last thanks to the slow Deutsche Post, that I can still happily wait for the packages from Mom & Dad as well as from Yoojung. So I'll still have some surprises to come, including Julia's present, which she wants to give me personally the next time we see.

Sunday, September 7, 2003

New personal best
The Altoettig halfmarathon was a full success. Wonderfull sunny weather, but luckily with the track going 90% through shady forest. Cause I decided so late to come here I had to start in the second field and had to overtake more than a thousand runners on the narrow forest paths. This was a bit of a pity, I got several scratches and burned both my legs by stinging nettles while overtaking beside the track. Nevertheless, I succeeded running steady 4:15 times per km, speeding a bit on the last 2 km and finishing in 1:28:56 h, improving my old mark by more than 4 min.

Jolle & Julia before the start Jolle at the finish!


I was quite astonished to be that fast today as yesterday's test run was so bad. But fellow runners and an audience definitely make the difference. Berlin can come!

Saturday, September 6, 2003

Halfmarathon
The regeneration week went well. I made a run today and still feel some pain in the muscles and left feet but it's not very bad, so I can continue training, and more important, can start at the halfmarathon in Altoetting tomorrow, a small pilgrim town near the Austrian border. It shall be the last test on the way to Berlin. I've scheduled 1:45 hours, let's see if I can finish in time. My personal best 1:33:34 from last year is in far distance as I lost my speed somewhere during the marathon training. Today, I couldn't even run 5 km in that speed.

On the other hand my preparation for the halfmarathon is perfect. A 10k run 16 hours before the race and a bottle of wine. If I fail to reach the finish in 1:45, I know why :)

Thursday, September 4, 2003

Regeneration
Just three 10k runs are scheduled this week, I need some regeneration from the heavy training in August with 70 km per week (enough for my legs). I have some minor muscle pain in the left leg, but I hope it'll vanish by weekend.

PS: The comments server is down at least until Sept 8, so page building may need some time or give an error while loading. Don't worry, it's not a problem with your browser or some virus. Just simple technical failure. :)