run with the wind

7° celsius. windy. 17:24 (2:10:26)

i was tired from yesterday's run. nevertheless, i still want to do my wednesday runs as i did last year. i believe it was essential for my stamina that i will need for the coming marathon in april. so i had to dragged myself out to run in this windy condition.

it wasn't that fun at all to run in this weather. slowly, i told myself. if i could run today, then i could run anytime and anywhere in any kind of weather. well, it was just a motivation for myself to move my ass.

all the way running towards alster was quite a challenge. strong winds kept blowing into my face. it was relatively cold. and as usual i hate wind. things got worse when the first droplets from the sky fell into my head. it started to drizzle. shit. keep going, i told myself. two rounds of alster i did and was totally wet when i reached back home!

alsteration (week 5) : 32.133 km
alstering : 14.660 km
non-alstering : 17.473 km

total running (january) : 84.190 km
davon
alstering : 29.320 km
34.72% gehört zu alsteration

double training

8° celsius. cloudy and slightly windy. 17:22 (0:45:42)

last sunday run was the culprit. i felt really shitty with the timing and now it motivated me to work harder. it should begin with today!

it took me about 25 minutes to ride the bike to mexikoring, the fitness center. as i came, the group was ready to run and rainer wanted the group to wait for me. i told him to go on and i would catch up with the group. changed into my running attire as fast as possible and off i went. they've been running just about 1200 m when i caught up with the group. i guessed the cycling towards the center earlier on already warmed me up. i slowed down, joined the group and chitchatting along the way. we overtook a lady in black and about 10 m later, we heard a loud cry. all of us stopped and thought that one of the ladies from our group had trip on the branches or whatever because it was dark. two of the ladies in the group who were slower helped the "victim". later we learned that the "victim" was so engrossed with her mp3-player that she collided head-on with a huge tree. the danger of running in the dark or mp3 casualties.

the final part of the run was usually supposed to be faster. frankly speaking, i didn't feel like it because i had to follow the pair in front of me who were talking and running and i didn't know the way. so i had to stick behind them and can only sprint up the ramp at the end. it was just okay. nevertheless, we had a "party" since rainer had birthday today and wilfried yesterday. a double celebration with champagne and wine!

after all the celebration, i had to get ready for my next event : indoor running. took a shower and off i went.

a game of hockey was played after the usual warm up around the track. my team won 4 -3 where i scored 2 goals. a hit on my ankle and below my knee was the price i paid. that hurt a lot. then we had coordination run (which was supposed to economize your running style) which i really like it. next came the circuit training and as usual it was tough. i never like it. this was followed with some stretching exercises and warming down run wrapped up the training for today.

alsteration (week 5) : 10.862 km
alstering : 0.000 km
non-alstering : 10.862 km

total running (january) : 62.919 km
davon
alstering : 14.660 km
23.30% gehört zu alsteration

18. bramfelder winterlaufserie 3

7.5° celsius. cloudy and very windy (stormy). 09:30 (1:14:14)

i hate the damn weather! when i woke up this morning, looking out the window, i saw the trees being swayed left and right from the strong wind. well, according to the weather report, the windspeed was about 80 - 100 km/h. it has been going on like this for a few days (that's why i haven't been running for sometime now). to make the matter worse, it drizzled.

i forced myself to get up and get ready for the run today. got in the car and drove to the starting area. the rain has stopped and the wind wasn't that strong like two hours ago. we were lucky. i wasn't really in the mood to run today (for various reasons - no training, bad weather, not enough sleep (3 hours only), wet and muddy grounds, etc). as the race started, i ran quite slow in the beginning, trying not to step in the pool of water. too late, a "traffic jam" forced me to swerve and my foot landed in the water. damn - it wasn't even 200 m from the start!

i ran quite okay for the first two rounds in about 45 mins. then everything went wrong. i felt like vomitting on the way and slowed down. then i felt really tight in my right thigh. i slowed down. the wind had picked up again and worse it was always headwind (although the last two round wasn't that strong). i slowed down. and even walked. i gave up. i relaxly jogged to the end and decided not to pick up any speed anymore. i'm done for today.


alsteration (week 4) : 25.719 km
alstering : 7.330 km
non-alstering : 18.389 km

total running (january) : 51.241 km
davon
alstering : 14.660 km
28.61% gehört zu alsteration

fartlekking around the alster

5° celsius. dry. 17:30 (0:57:47)

i must run today. it has been such a "long time" since i ran. anyway, felt a little lethargic before the run (i've been eating a lot these few days) and began my journey towards alster slow and steady.

after a couple of traffic lights stops, i finally arrived at the alster. (un)lucky for me, there was this guy who probably was running his last kilometer, zoom passed me and left me nothing else to do but to follow his tempo. i did for about 100 meters before i left him behind to continue my run.

the motto for today was ran fast on the "uphill" and slow down later. twice i ran beside a grandma on bike on the "uphill" section and twice i overtook her. it was just a small fun that motivated me whenever i tried to catch up with the cyclist when they cycled up the slope. it went on like this and everytime i saw a slope, i ran faster. i'm training for the coming race in february, where it is all slopes from start till the end.

i was so tired but not 100% dead as i continued another 1.5 hours of badminton right after the run!

alsteration (week 4) : 10.719 km
alstering : 7.330 km
non-alstering : 3.389 km

total running (january) : 36.241 km
davon
alstering : 14.660 km
40.45% gehört zu alsteration

circuit training in indoor hall

18° celsius. indoor condition. 19:30

i played badminton before i went to the athletics indoor hall. after a few rounds of running on the edge of the tracks, we started to play hockey for about 15 minutes for warming up. my team lost 6 - 1 and i scored the only goal for us. nevertheless, the motive of playing hockey was simply to keep us running at greater speed for a short distance and stopped when necessary.

talking about short distance, it was the 200 m sprints that we had to run. it sucks alot even though only 3 round were needed. i was okay for the first two rounds which included a break in between. the third round i was totally dead that i ran for only the first 150 m and the rest was halfway walk and jog. felt like vomitting after that.

next came the circuit training. there were 5 stations that we had to go through twice. first 3 stations were okay and the rest was done half dead. i really felt that my condition had deteriorated.

we ended the training with two rounds of running around the outside of the tracks. that was tough for me to begin the condition training in the new year.

alsteration (week 3) : 1.784 km
alstering : 0.000 km
non-alstering : 1.784 km

total running (january) : 25.522 km
davon
alstering : 7.33 km
28.72% gehört zu alsteration

cold running in neighbourhood

5° celsius. dry. 17:56 (0:58:51)

it wasn't that clear whether i wanted to run today. woke up in the morning and saw the perfect weather but continued with my sleep. i'm just dead tired.

i told myself that i would run in the evening and when my gf 305 went on strike (couldn't find satellites), i was quite reluctant to run. after almost 1/2 hour of sitting in front of tv and munching the cashew nuts, i dragged myself out and decided to drive to alster, maybe this damn gf 305 could find what it was looking for. drove round the block and parked back at the exact place where i came from cos my gf 305 has found it.

i ran round the block and in the neighbourhood. here and there - without any specific orientation. who cares, if i got lost, i'll just take the train or bus back home - i brought my monthly transport card along with me. hee... hee.. i still have my iphone if everything didn't work.

it was just a relaxing run getting to know my own neighbourhood in the dark.

alsteration (week 2) : 23.738 km
alstering : 7.330 km
non-alstering : 16.408 km

total running (january) : 23.738 km
davon
alstering : 7.33 km
30.88% gehört zu alsteration

first run of the year 2008

7° celsius. cloudy and slightly windy. 16:24 (1:18:55)

not that motivated to run today, but i must run. it was windy outside and i hate wind very much. it wasn't dark when i started the run but that didn't last long.

had to stop several times at the traffic lights (i think they did it on purpose that i just missed the green man when i wanted to cross the road). right at the beginning of my run, the wind started to get stronger and this was really depressing. i thought of running 20 km today, but my sense got the better of me - how could i survive a run after an almost 3 weeks break (it was just laziness :-)).

anyway, there was something new with me today. i was running and listening to the music from my iphone - which means, i don't have to carry my mp3 and mobile phone anymore. only the damn earphones really annoyed me - it kept dropping down from my ears. i had to keep shoving it up and adjusted it into my ears - i guessed i lost valuable seconds during the run! whatever it is, i know that i won't be using it during any races, maybe only during sightseeing marathon. by then i have to get a better earphones with speaker so that i could talk to my friends during the run - like i did during singapore marathon 2006.

there were a number of runners/joggers as i reached the alster. comparing the weather today with 2 weeks ago - this was really mild (a jump from at least 10 degrees celsius). no wonder that i saw some of them wearing either just sweater or even shorts!

the idea of running longer had to be thrown away becos the wind was getting stronger. i realised that when it gets dark, the wind always blows stronger than in the day. i don't know why, it was just my observation. whatever it was, i completed my round and jogged slowly back home.

alsteration (week 2) : 13.402 km
alstering : 7.330 km
non-alstering : 6.073 km

total running (january) : 13.402 km
davon
alstering : 7.33 km
54.69% gehört zu alsteration