“Everyone can do it”, a statement I heard and read several times since I am curious about ultramarathons (which is everything longer than a standard marathon). Unlike achievements like running a 42k under 2:05 or 100 meter under 10 seconds, running 100 miles is apparently open to all or at least most of us. I start thinking ultra and want to find out if that’s true. If it turns out that I can do it surely everyone else can. It…
Epic. That word describes it all. The finish line was in this awesome marble stadium (which name I should know, but I don’t) and I can hardly describe the feelings when I finally entered it. The pains and struggles with the tough course (very tough) are all forgotten, when you feel welcomed by the ancient landmark and embraced by 2,500 years of old history. The fact that again I did not do the under 4 hours seemed to be dwarfed…
It’s really happening. Just made it to the start line. Atmosphere is great, people are so friendly. The guy next to me on the transfer bus told me that the route we are driving is actually the race course. Arghh! A lot of inclines up to k32, from there it goes down to the finish in Athens. The guy (a local by the way) also said this is one of the harder marathons (he said in fact “one of the…
This is how I look like, when I think I have to do a long run, but don’t feel like it: It’s time to get back on the road tough. Two weeks of holiday have taken their toll and I feel lazy like I didn’t have for a long, long time. But maybe it’s also the Frankfurt Marathon disaster that threw me (subconsciously) back: I double booked the weekend and the Frankfurt Marathon was the one that needed to be…
Was just looking for flights to Frankfurt, for the marathon on last weekend in October. Suddenly feel rather unprepared. Its strange, despite Frankfurt being my 4th marathon, I don’t feel I got it, whatever it is… The right strategy? An idea how to feel prepared? Figured out what the best training is? Getting the whole fuelling topic under my feet, my lack of confidence under control, the right footwear sorted out??? Unbelievable that each marathon seems to be a bit…
I couldn’t resist running home last night, despite a 40 minutes lunch time run, tired legs and sore feet. I had to know what’s happening next in my newly entered zombie world. I will run very, very slowly, I convinced myself, put on my running shoes, earphone and fired up the Zombies, Run! app – Mission 2, I’m coming. You can see the result here. The slow running approach did not last for long. It took the first alarm “zombies…
This is what I was waiting for: An app that lets you run away from zombies!! It’s called Zombies, Run! You won’t believe how this boosts your run. It starts with the announcement “Zombies detected” and you hear a slow signal. You are Runner 5 in this game, and “Zombies detected” marks the point where Runner 5 has to speed-up. If the signal tone gets faster, the zombie mob is coming closer and you have to try harder. If you…
We had a couple of beers last night. Our employer was so nice to open the roof terrace and invite us for some Olympic drinks. Nice view from there, as you can see on the picture. Not sure after how many beers I noticed that cycling home is not an option anymore. But taking the train seemed to be a bit of an anti Olympic spirit. Especially in this awesome weather. I remembered some stories about crazy ultra runners in…
Yeah, the Frankfurt Marathon registration is all done and dusted. A bit of an unconventional way of getting registered though. This is why: I want to run it with my friend Michael. Michael runs it with his company’s running team. And they are very nice, because even though I work for someone else, they offered me to register through them, so that I can run it with my friend. How awesome is that?! Not sure if I am offending anyone…
I kind of warned you in my last post: Let’s talk about pain (and see if it gets halved). While in theory I am a big fan of the whole “listen to your body” thing, “stop before you get injured” and so on, and while I even participated a Chi Running workshop lately (Mantra: easy and painless running), I have to face the fact that I am in pain. It is worst in the morning. A good morning is when…
My webhoster just sent me the bill for renewal of web space and URL. That reminds me that I haven’t running-blogged anything since completing the London Marathon. What a waste of web space rental. Well, I have a full year now to decide whether I actually want to post stuff or to let my little running adventures sink into oblivion. Tough choice. I like writing and I like writing about running, but I hate pressure and don’t perform very well…
… 4 hrs 39 mins. Really? 4 hours and 39 minutes? Didn’t I say, I wanted to run it in under 4 hours? What happened? To cut a long story short: This London Marathon experience was so absolutely amazing, that I just didn’t want it to end. Every 10 seconds some else was shouting my name, cheering me on, offering me jelly babies, home baked flapjacks, hands to high five… Come on, who wants to rush through moments like these? In addition you are passing…
…44540! Unfortunately I posted a wrong number on Facebook a couple of days ago. If you want to track me via www.virginlondonmarathon.com make sure you track the right number. And here a picture for the more visual people among us. I am on the bus on my way to Greenwich, where it all begins. Start for my group is 9:45.
In less than 24 hours it is all happening and I will hopefully have covered the first couple of miles. If you are in London tomorrow you can come to one of the NSPCC cheer points. It would be great to see there! Check out royruns.com/cheerpoints, where I put together a list with little maps and the estimated times, when I will pass each point. But you can also track me. Â Go to www.virginlondonmarathon.com tomorrow and you should fine a…
I can’t believe it, I still have more than 3 days to go and the fundraising target of £2,000 is already reached. Everyone who thinks, Roy, you have done well, should think again. I am an notorious last minute person, who needs the sense of panic to complete things. That means, it is not me who archived this, but you. YOU, every one of you, has done amazingly well. I don’t know how I can thank you and let you…