Blog Move

Dear friends and followers,

due to the new sponsor and new name of the London Marathon

this blog has now moved to

http://virgin-london-marathon.blogspot.com/

Hope I am going to meet you there.

See you

Recovered and enjoying

stats of the week: cycled 110K

It took a very long time for my muscles to recover. Today I did my first jog since the London Marathon. It was so enjoyable! Running through the spring time woods in a light drizzle reminded me of what is really important. One doesn't need to run a marathon. Just moving through nature keeping your eyes open is definately enough to be happy. Speed doesn't matter. Medals don't matter.

Er - this might be the moment to admit that I have entered another marathon not too far away. In fact it is just 10 days to go! I had to enter, there was no choice. I would have prefered to do the Half Marathon through my hometown again. But organisers changed the route. Now I have to go for the full distance to run through Bochum. Luckily it's the first 15K which I love to run. May be I will retire after half way. Alas - I have finished 301 races and not given up once. I would rather walk the second half than quit the race.

My London Struggle

Definately this couple did better than me! Samuel Wanjiru didn't worry about the high temperatures and won by course record of 2:05:10.


Irina Mikitenko (GER) defended her title and surfed to a safe victory after 2:22:11.


After 11 miles I managed to show high spirits but I already knew that this wasn't going to be the best of my days.

Finally having received my medal I was looking content - and I really was. The main target was to finish my 10th consecutive London Marathon. Shouldn't I be happy about this achievement?


Until 35K I was still on target of running 3:30. But right from the start I felt something wrong. With 5K into a marathon one should feel completely fresh like just started. But I felt tired already. Nevertheless I tried to stick to my time schedule. There was a refresh after half way and new hopes emerged. But after 30K I got slower and felt sick. With just 1 K to go I got a strong and sudden cramp at my right hamstring. I lost 2 minutes to get over it. Finally I was lucky that my sickness didn't get worse before I reached The Mall but only 3 meters behind the finish line where I was ashamed to have to vomit repeatedly. A tough finish!

3:35:31 still makes my fastest marathon since my PB in 2004. And just 11 seconds slower than my very first marathon in 1991 - when I was 18 years younger. The longer I analyse last Sunday's result the happier I get...

Finished - 3:35:31

I'll tell you later how tough it was. One of my toughest, so I am happy with my result which is the best marathon since 5 years ago.

Race number 54897

Greetings from London

Perfect weather?

The forecast has now changed to heavy rain and 15°c. This kind of scenery would be perfect. I performed my PB in 2004 in constant rain.

I am off to London tomorrow. Unfortunately I don't yet know my race number. Hopefully you can follow me by LIVE results along the race.

Honestly - I will be happy to reach the finish line. It would be my 10th London Marathon in a row - enough to be proud of whatever the time.

Whether you run in Bonn or Bielefeld, in Hamburg or London, have a good race and great fun.

Vienna and before the final week

stats of week 2: run 58K, cycled 73K, 1 gym

Greetings from Vienna where I guide a group of runners around the 26th Vienna Marathon.

One of the town's famous landmarks: The old big wheel

The very typical residents' view of the world: (And you should hear them speaking ...)

The pasta party is a "Kaiserschmarrn Party", held in the town hall:

A half marathon runner in high spirits shortly before the finish:


I now nearly finished the best marathon training I have done since 2004. But I very much doubt that I will be able to run 3:30. I think I can do something around 3:40... but I'll try anyway. The weatherforecast promises a rainy race day what would be the best case for me.

56 and very tired

stats of week 3: run 56K, cycled 4hrs, 2 gyms

I am 56 now. FIFTY-SIX! When I was 24 my father died of a double heart attack. He was aged 56. Since then I always have imagined myself to pass away at 56.

However, I don't feel like dropping dead tomorrow. In fact I feel like 40! Okay, there is lost hair, a weak sight, wonky teeth, arthritic knees, a deaf ear. Er - I have to admit this doesn't sound like 40 ... but most body functions are still working! Come back in April 2010 to see if I still will be alive.

Once again I missed a running workout this week. I did a tough cycling tour instead, so I am not concerned. But today I had trouble to get through my urgent long run of 30K. I got so tired I don't think that I would have been able to finish a marathon today... It will be really important to recover satisfyingly until race day.