24. straßenlaufcup 2007 (15 km)

10° celsius. partly sunny. 10:00 (1:07:29)

i was late! late to pick up anina on my way to forst rosengarten, the start of today's 15 km race - the second in series from 3 races. luckily it was only 8 minutes late. after picking her up, we chatted about the upcoming and previous races and i totally forgot which way was right or left when the navigation lady told me to stay on the left lane! i turned right and we had to make a detour! i was so unkonzentriert!

it wasn't that far from anina's place to the starting point (thanks to the autobahn). it took 15 minutes to reach there. the carpark was totally full (we couldn't enter anymore). i had to park the car along the sideways (luckily there was an empty spot) and it wasn't that far from the starting point either!

the weather in forst rosengarten was okay. partly cloudy with the sun coming out every now and then. the paths were still wet from the previous days/nights when the rain poured continuously. it could be snow too (i don't know). thank goodness that the weather forecast from few days ago predicting that it could be snowing on sunday didn't materialise. it was in other part of germany (the northeast area).

compare these pictures with the first run fortnight ago : 24. straßenlaufcup 2007 (10 km)

the fields around the forest looked much better than last time.


runners warming up and running towards the starting point. cars were park along the sideway cos the parking space was totally full.


the starting point and the startnumber collection tent
the small signboard says "strecke : 7,5 km hin, 7,5 km zurück". the small tent behind the signboard is for the bibnummer collection. look at the paths - muddy!

even though i brought extra shoes and extra running long-tights for emergency case (too cold and slippery), i realised that i didn't need to use it. i even left my running jacket in the car and decided to run without it. i was somewhere at the back when the race began at exactly 10 am. as usual i had my mp3 on and i was totally relax. just as i crossed over the starting line i realised that i had to overtake so many people in front of me including all the aunties and uncles who looked like they were on sunday stroll than running. worst they covered 2/3 of the paths! the paths wasn't that wide either. although i wanted to start slow, the hordes of extremely slow runners made me much slower. i had to box through them and this means i had to do short sprint to past through them and at the same time running uphill. urghh... next time i will start somewhere in front!

though there wasn't anymore snow on the course, the wet and muddy paths were like a hurdle for us. we had to be careful not to step into pools of water here and there. as i was running behind a group of five and concentrating not to step on the runner's shoes in front of me and didn't look forward, i missed the sudden detour from the front runners and landed in the pool of mud water. the shoes and my running tights were splashed with brown-coloured thing which i hate it very much. it was only around 4 km mark!

the route was a straight forward thing. run a 7.5 km through the hilly forest and come back the same way. well it was really a straight forward thing except that you have to go through the hilly up and down course twice. and it was really tiring! at about 5.5 to 6 km the fastest runner was already on his way back to the the starting/finishing line. wow, he was really fast (finishing time 53:23 mins for 15 km).

i ran 2/3 of the course behind someone (for the tempo and wind resistance) and had to break out from the group or overtake someone when i felt that the person in front of me was "too slow". due to countless uphill and downhill run, i mentally told myself that i excel in running up the slope. and i really did with ease. running down was always a problem for me - i had to slow down and more than once i heard footsteps very, very near behind me. the uphill helped me to stay a distance from the other competitors behind me and at the same time closing up to the runners in front of me. it was like a magnet - being pulled to the back runners on downhill and attracted to the front runners on the uphill.


i guess everyone would be happy in other races when they saw the last kilometer signboard. that includes me but the steeper hill that came shortly after the mark was a big hurdle and a setback of the anticipation of running the fastest kilometer. i just ran my tempo and in the end i was happy with my time. i knew i could run slightly faster if i had started somewhere in front. the hilly course had really boost up my confidence that i would have a better timing if this was to be run on a flat surface.

alsteration (week 8) : 43.429 km
alstering : 14.66 km
non-alstering : 28.769 km

total running (february) : 192.320 km
davon
alstering : 65.97 km
34.30% gehört zu alsteration

too tired to run

5° celsius. cloudy and very windy. 17:27 (0:29:55)

all i wanted to do today was to do a short run. i've decided to run at the hammer park before going to the fitness exercise. my legs were heavy. while running along the road, the northeast wind from russia (according to the weather forecast) really made my life difficult. it was damn cold. i thought 5 degrees celsius wasn't that cold but with strong icy wind blowing into your face, you have no chance. you just have to run through. my fingers were numb even though i wore gloves. i was really relieved once i reached the school hall cos i couldn't bear the coldness anymore. were my running attire not enough to sustain the warmth? hmm... i was really, really exhausted once i stopped the run.

alsteration (week 8) : 28.429 km
alstering : 14.66 km
non-alstering : 13.769 km

total running (february) : 177.320 km
davon
alstering : 65.97 km
37.20% gehört zu alsteration

running or photo taking?

10° celsius. cloudy then drizzle. 16:47 (1:12:45)

i really don't know why i ran today? was it because that my mileage is low (that's true) or just runnning for the sake of running? i guess it was a combination of both. today's run was just a for fun thing cos i didn't want to go to training (due to the weather forecast - slight shower in northern germany and they were right) but instead to play badminton. hmm.... how i missed playing it.

i took my camera as i left home to run. after few hundred meters i realised that it was quite a nuisance since it was jumping up and down in my running jacket. i took a mental note that i am not going to run with the camera for the berliner halbmarathon. it could cost few valuable seconds and minutes (as if i could fast!). anyway, took some photos along the way before i stopped at the bank's atm machine to draw out some money. continued with my running till i reached the alster.

according to the weather news, it is already a meteorological spring. the day is getting longer and it was still bright as i started my alsterrunde.


an der alster
this is where i normally start when i ran to alster instead of driving. one has to be very careful after crossing the road towards the alster. cyclists zoom past you from left and right. to make the matter worse, some of them doesn't even have a headlight when dark (at night or in winter)! the traffic light takes ages to turn red and we as pedestrian has to wait quite long before the green man comes to light.


schwanenwikbrücke
on the green grass near this bridge is a hot spot during the summer, when people storms here for picnic or to sunbath.


alsterperle
a very popular spot all year round. in summer most of the office workers flock here to enjoy their glass of beer and at the same time enjoying the beautiful alster during the night. at times it will be very crowded and some even bring their own stools or foldable plastic chairs just to sit around here to relax.



schöne aussicht
this is the stretch of road (in fact all around the alster) where the rich people have their houses or rented homes. during marathon, some of them will be having their breakfast (with table and chairs) on the sideroad and making the marathoners jealous. wish i could stay somewhere here but the rent started as little as 2000 euros per month i guess (and that must be a tiny apartment). maybe when i win the jackpot!


feeding the ducks, sea(?)gulls and the ???
the sea(?)gulls come from autumn till spring. the graygeese just arrived here in hamburg. the swans are still being locked in their winter quarters. the black birds (i called it the divers) and the ducks rule the whole alster the whole year round!


the blue mosque
this mosque is unique cos it is in the middle of nowhere and mostly it is just a tourist attraction. even though one can pray in the mosque but the prayer's call is not on a loudspeaker as it could disturb the peacefulness in that area and this mosque is right in the middle of a residential area.



langenzugbrücke
one of the many bridges in hamburg. the road on this bridge is a one-way street and it changes direction, depending on the time of the day (6:00 to 12:00 - towards the city; for rest of the day - city outwards).



krugkoppelbrücke
this is the favourite meeting point for runners, whether from running clubs or just an informal get-together between runners. and this is also the place where my bike was stolen. during summer this place (the restaurant below) is crowded with tourists or hamburgers themselves. watching the alsterferry moving under the bridge below you is quite an exciting thing to see (and to photograph).


the wonderful trees at the cliff
i didn't take the picture of the restaurant here cos it was closed. normally it is a good meeting place for people to enjoy their beers and ice-cream (during summer). this is also another hotspot for the runners to start their run around the alster cos the carpark is only a stone throw away.


kennedybrücke (facing the binnenalster)
this is a busy road where the traffics usually stop waiting for the traffic light to go green. this is the place where you have to grit your teeth and act as if everything under control because running up the bridge is not an easy path, either you have to climb a short steep way up from one side or if you are from the other side it will be a long gentle slope. if the weather is windy, be prepared to be blown from one side and if it is in winter, the icy wind would just penetrate your running jacket!

anyway, today's run was a mix of fartlek and photo taking. couldn't be bothered much about the timing, i just enjoyed myself during the whole run except towards the end when it started to drizzle!

alsteration (week 8) : 23.265 km
alstering : 14.66 km
non-alstering : 8.605 km

total running (february) : 172.156 km
davon
alstering : 65.97 km
38.32% gehört zu alsteration

after badminton

6° celsius. dry and slight wind. 19:56 (1:07:26)

at first i thought i would be running and then straight to badminton hall to play the game. unfortunately things came up at the last minute and i have to change the plan. so i played 1.5 hours of badminton and then went off to run.

my plan for today was to run slowly. as slow as possible. unfortunately due to all the excess energy i had after playing badminton, i found out that running slowly was quite "impossible". i just let my legs do the running tempo and soon enough i was in my auto-mode - just nor so fast and not so slow. once in awhile when someone overtook me, i felt like running faster and follow his/her tempo but rationality told me not to. so i kept my speed at a leisure pace.

alsteration (week 8) : 11.193 km
alstering : 7.33 km
non-alstering : 3.863 km

total running (february) : 160.084 km
davon
alstering : 58.64 km
36.63% gehört zu alsteration

a beautiful sunday morning

5° celsius. sunny and almost no wind. 10:09 (2:16:59)

it was such a beutiful day. the sun at its best, the wind at its lowest - just a perfect morning for me. a cold sunny weather, my favourite kind of weather.



went out early in the morning with the thought of running one round around the alster but as i reached there, i'd decided against it. sat at the bench for awhile, watching the ducks, gulls, "diving birds" and even a crow vying for breads. a moment later i had to drive off to the hamburg university (sports department), to the starting point of our biweekly lsd session.

the turn up was great and this time around we had three running groups, after a few complaints that fortnight ago, the 5:30 min/km group was to fast (well, they actually ran faster than 5:30) and 6:30 min/km group was too slow (well, they actually ran slower than 6:30!). as it turned out, the majority opted for the 6:00 min/km and it was one hell of a huge group.

it began with a rundown towards the alster. the faster runners left a few seconds earlier, followed by the rest. our mission for today was to run 2:20 hrs (for all groups) along the alster river. lucky for us that the alster was not yet crowded with the sunday morning strollers.



it was the first time that i'm running this route. i found it such a nice view to run in this area. soon i realised that i've been here before but on the water, canoeing. it was such a contrast when looking from different angle. the chitchatting among us brought back to the same problem as two weeks ago - we were running at a very slow speed (6:30 min/km). not that i was against chitchatting, i was just hoping that we could chitchatting and maintaining the speed at the same time.

as time went by, i began to run in front of the rest, together with mario, a 50+ yrs old guy and still managing a sub-3:30. wish i could run as fast as him. we were joined with three other runners, who were loudly talking with each other. anyway, after almost 12 km, the trainer ran to us and told us to slow down cos some of the guys behind couldn't maintain the speed. hmm... i wasn't that happy and mario told him that according to my gf 305, we were running at the predestined rate - a few seconds slower actually (as i found out later). we slowed down and the rest followed. at exactly 1 hour 10 minutes later after the start, the whole group began to make a u-turn while me and mario decided to run an extra ~2 km before we decided to make a turn. the moment that we left the group, the tempo began to rise. at first we could still talk to each other but after the u-turn, i could only hear my breathe and mario's. we were "speeding", trying to catch up with the group. they had at least 3.6 km advantage ahead of us. we were such in a hurry that at times we ran below 5 min/km. wow... running with someone was really good in order to maintain my speed. we were very, very lucky that we managed to get in touch with the rest of the group about 1.5 km before the end. i was totally out of breathe.

once again we reached the lake alster. it was about 12:20 and the weather was at its best. no clouds and no wind. just the sunshine and millions of sunday afternoon strollers along the alster. whew... it was already a big crowd within our group but running slalom through the throng of strollers was a big nuisance (well, they could say the same thing about us). you had to look out for everything : kids, bikes, dogs, joggers, muds and so on. hmmm....

once again there was nothing much to say about the ground elevation that we ran today. nothing to be proud of. it was just as flat as roti prata (ohh.... i badly miss the roti prata with fish curry).


all in all i was satisfied with the run today but somehow, i am still having a doubt with what i did today - did i run too fast for long slow distance?

alsteration (week 7) : 61.655 km
alstering : 14.66 km
non-alstering : 46.995 km

total running (february) : 148.891 km
davon
alstering : 51.31 km
34.46% gehört zu alsteration

slow down please

9° celsius. dry. 19:20 (1:07:47)

ohh.. how wonderful to see your running mates again. it has been more than 3 months since i did my thursday tempo training. when was that? i think it was in october 2006, when i ran for the very last time in the stadtpark before i switched to badminton (who wants to run in dark, cold windy weather when you can play in a warm hall for few hours of badminton).

anyway, there were almost 30 of us today, most doing their training for the forthcoming hamburg marathon in april. that includes me. well, one thing for sure for me to do this training is that, after yesterday's catastrophic run around the alster (i couldn't do any speeding anymore), i've decided that now is the time to do some workout for my speed.

waiting for the gf 305 to locate its satellites was a bit nuisance. i waited and waited at a point while the rest of the group already went off for the warming up run. after about 2 - 3 minutes, it finally found its satellites. erghh.... so i had to do some catching up with the rest and thankfully i knew the shortcuts through the park and found the group after a short while.

today's training was 3 - 5 x 2000 m. since there wasn't any lighted 2000 m area where we could run, the trainer decided that we do the smaller round. when i ran for the first round, i thought that we would stop at the starting point (which was ca. 1000 m) but my hope was dashed when i saw the other runners in front of me continued to go for the second round (non-stop). oh shit... i've already sped up almost at the end of the first round and now i had to continue running. relax... just run your pace. so i did. when i finally reached the endpoint, i was totally out of breath.

we took about 4 mins to recover before we went on for the next round. this time i was mentally prepared and didn't run fast for the first few hundred meters and maintaining my speed till the last 200 meter of the second round where i pushed myself a little bit. did the same tactic for the 3rd 2000 m but for the 4th 2000 m i've decided to sprint for the last 200 meters. i felt good. one thing i've noticed was that one of us, jens-uwe (who used to be quite slow) happened to have the power to maintain his speed, in fact he was much faster than i am (well, he used to be at least 10 mins slower than me for the halfmarathon). i guessed his will to come to training doing the temporuns and intervall training had paid off. now it's time for me to do the same!

i didn't run the 5th round and decided to go slow with the rest of my group doing warming down run. we chatted along the way and as we reached back to the starting point, the trainer wanted that all of us, including the slower and faster runners, to do a warming down run. hmm... again! nevermind, it was a good training today. i finally enjoyed it. thanks to the weather too.

alsteration (week 7) : 37.248 km
alstering : 14.66 km
non-alstering : 22.588 km

total running (february) : 124.484 km
davon
alstering : 51.31 km
41.22% gehört zu alsteration

i'm running in the rain

9° celsius. rainy and windy. 17:35 (2:01:18)

it was just a few hundred meters after i started to run that i felt the raindrops on my face. should i continue or just turn back? i've decided to continue cos today is my halfmarathon day. okay, it was not really a halfmarathon, it was just about running 2 rounds around the alster from home. altogether the distance is usually almost 21.1 km or slightly more. it is all about slow running to and fro the alster but once i'm there, i will try to push myself a little harder.

so it wasn't any different for today. quite relax on the way there except for one thing - the rain. it wasn't a heavy downpour (come to think of it, it never happens here), just a continuous drizzle. i felt weird and pain on both feet especially on the left foot cos i got the feeling as if my inner foot was placed slightly higher in the shoes. did some foot twirling exercises for my feet but the pain didn't go away. so i decided to ignore it a while, with the hope that if i didn't think about it, i don't feel it. and it worked. as usual once i reached the alster, i ran anti-clockwise around the lake. i thought the rain was bad enough but to top it up here came the wind. how i hate wind. it was quite strong. although with 9 degrees celsius wasn't that cold to run, a wet running attire (including the headgear) with wind constantly blowing strongly on you, you could feel the cold air penetrating your bone. brr...

once i completed my first round, i ran a bit further so that i could make a "u-turn" to continue with second round. this detour was almost a km long (exact was 937.44 m according to my gf 305)! hmm...

started the second round (this time clockwise direction) rather slow but soon i picked up the tempo. isn't it funny that just running on a different direction made everything looks different. i just felt that i could run faster somehow. tried to maintain the same speed till the end and was quite out of breath as i reached my final point.

running back home was quite troublesome as the pain from earlier on appeared once again. i had to run really, really slow but was erleichtert when i finally reached home.

alsteration (week 7) : 24.816 km
alstering : 14.66 km
non-alstering : 10.156 km

total running (february) : 112.052 km
davon
alstering : 51.31 km
45.79% gehört zu alsteration

football?

7° celsius. indoor condition. 19:30

there were 10 of us today who came for the indoor training. after a couple of rounds doing warming up, we played a game for the sake of moving fast in small area. the game today was football. football? i haven't played for such a long, long time and football is not my cup of tea. watching football and knowing the results as well as statistics are okay, but playing? gee... i was really that terrible, couldn't even control the ball when it came to me! but i did manage to score the only goal from my team :-).

then we had to do the coordinative exercises, which was really quite exhausting, even though the element running wasn't in, just a static exercise. the next event was to do what we've learned so far and do it on the 200 meter track. it should be coordinative run, that means, always aware of your style, in other words, style not speed. my calves hurt after doing 3 rounds of that coordinative runs. stretch forward, aware of the landing and always relax. relax?

the final programme was some balancing exercises. well, i thought it was easy but when you have to close your eyes when executing it, you just fell out of balance. tough thing.

the whole training was rounded up by a warming down rounds around the track and some of my training partners showed their skills in doing high jumps.

alsteration (week 7) : 3.280 km
alstering : 0.00 km
non-alstering : 3.280 km

total running (february) : 90.516 km
davon
alstering : 36.65 km
40.49% gehört zu alsteration

24. straßenlaufcup 2007 (10 km)

-3° celsius. cloudy and very windy. 10:00 (0:45:40)

today was the first leg of the strassencup (running series) and the distance was 10 km. drove out from home towards the starting point, forst rosengarten, which was about 35 km away. the road was slippery (due to fresh snow) and i skidded on my very first left turn out. phew... nothing serious happened as i was quite in control of the car, not freaking out like the first time around when the car turned 180 degrees. anyway, i had to drive slowly today, no speeding off whatsoever.

it was the first time i'm taking part in this kind of race. a bit of a gamble actually since i didn't really train up properly. nevermind, this should be just a test and reminder for me to train up.





it was all white as i reached the secluded area somewhere in the forest to park the car. oh shit... hopefully i could get out of the snow later and not get stucked in it (as i saw few runners pushing a car out of its misery). as i got out of the car to get my startnumber, i felt the chilly wind blew into my face. urrghhhh.... damn, damn cold.



the event started at exactly 10:00 am. i stood somewhere in the middle at the beginning of the race. as the race went on for about 200 meters, i realised that overtaking was quite difficult. in fact very difficult. my aim for today was just to run under 44 mins but i guess i could just forget about it.

here were the reasons why i had difficulty with my running today :
1. the weather : the wind made it a lot colder than it already was (i had the feeling that it was -10 degrees!).
2. the narrow, slippery paths that was covered with snow (only 2 lanes!!)
3. the hilly route going up and down
4. lack of training
5. there were 233 participants today - if there were only 3 persons, i could have taken the third place :-)

overtaking was almost impossible. if you want to overtake, you have to do 3 things at once
- speed up;
- be careful not to slip and fall down and
- distributing your energy wisely cos an uphill stretch in front could just blew your momentum away

i didn't overtake that many people and had to settle behind someone else to act as my windbreaker. at about 6 km, someone in front of me slipped and fell onto the snow and half of his running attire were covered with snow. wanted to help him but he was quick to stand up again and continued with the run. gee, if the snow thawed and wet his running attire, it would be really, really damn cold with the icy wind blowing.

it wasn't that fun anymore after i had been running for more than half of the route cos i thought i went too fast at the start and now gasping for air. all i could think of was, when am i going to see the ziel or finishing line. everytime i looked straight ahead of me (i had been running with my view directed on the slippery path), i only saw the hill in front of me. how depressing!


the 9 km mark i saw at the side of the path was motivating but then i remembered that i had been "speeding" at the start which meant that i was going downhill. now i had to climb uphill again before i could complete the race. i was totally breathless and couldn't do anymore final sprint as i reached the final spot. urgghh... i had to train harder i guess.


alsteration (week 6) : 44.212 km
alstering : 14.66 km
non-alstering : 29.552 km

total running (february) : 87.236 km
davon
alstering : 36.65 km
42.01% gehört zu alsteration