Distance: 42.195 km marathon

Couple last marathon and half marathon have been a small success for me. There is no success without failures, and this latest marathon was a failure. Not a total failure but a failure anyway.

All the way to 25 kilometers wen’t by my plan, but then a pain spike hit my hip and I lost my pace. I tried to change my step but it didn’t help and I couldn’t keep up the pace. The pain took the victory after 33 kilometers and I had to stop running. Rest 10 kilometers I walked – and crossed the finish line walking. What a dissapointment!

It would have been most annoying if the run would have been a failure because of lack of training. But no, I was feeling great. What was the cause of the pain? I’m not quite sure yet. It felt in the hip, knee and sole of the left foot. I count as a possible reason or reasons uneven cobblestone roads (maybe a bad step), steep up and down hills (without enough hip stretching) or my recently descoverd new running style (which I used). Or my running shoes: I really like Adidas AdiZero and it’s a great running shoe for good speed, but I have also noted that after 20 kilometers they are getting a bit hard for my feet even when concentrating to strike the ground from heel to toe.

Now the leg feels ok and I’m sure the next run will be fine.

• 10 km: 0 h 50 min, 5:00 min/km (exactly within the target time)
• 21.1 km: 1 h 46 min, 5:02 min/km (1 minute behind the target time)
• 30 km: 2 h 38 min, 5:27 min/km (problems with a leg, already 8 minutes behind the target time)
• 42.2 km: 4 h 30 min, 6:17 min/km (insurmountable problems with a leg, had to walk the last 10 km)

Excellent marathon and excellent run! Two goals achieved, plus one bonus:

1. Marathon in under four hours.
2. Marathon by running all the way – no walking.
3. Plus marathon in average speed of 11 km/h.