European Winter

I knew I should have dressed warmer or was it not enough Mulled Wine?? I am still recovering from a bad, very bad cold and chest infection - coughed my lungs out lately. So, needless to say that training for 2010 has not even started yet and I am getting itchy feet. Hopefully be mid-January this bug is gone and I can put my new Nike runners on (If you into running shoes, London is the place - almost half of the cheapest shop in Sydney).

Anyway, just before I left for Europe I booked a movie night at the Ritz in Randwick and I hope that you may come and join us to watch the latest Clint Eastwood flick called 'Invictus' - a movie based on the true story of Nelson Mandela's efforts to unite his country after the dark years of apartheid.

Please come Friday, 22 January 2010 from 8.30pm to the Ritz bar to join us for a drink and movie in support of The Fred Hollows Foundation. Check my website for more details (www.run4vision.com)

See you at the movie

2 months of resting

I did not stop completely but apart from the occasional run on a weekend, I have not seen a gym from the inside nor put on my runners during the week for the last 2 months now. It was very nice to enjoy a rest, some good wine and food for a while.

Unfortunately it shows with the 4 kgs I put on during that time and the coming festive season won't help to shed them quickly either. Another 3 weeks of enjoying the good live and then on the 11 Jan 10 it is all back to business.

My training plan is set, my goals clear and my determination strong.

I have 8 weeks to get ready for the 100km Coast Trek from Palm Beach to Coogee Beach first weekend in May, then a week to recover before attempting the 45 km of the 6 ft Track in the Blue Mountain. Followed by some more hard training for another 8 weeks before my final test - the 50 km of Canberra.

After that it is all fine tuning for South Africa - The Comrades 2010, here we come. Having ran the best ultra in the world in 2003 I will make next year's race an extra special challenge - running 89km and guiding Francois, my blind South African buddy to the finish line.
Over the last few weeks I started to learned how to guide visualy impaired runner with the Achilles Club in Sydney.

Of course the whole next year is again used to raise as much needed fund for The Fred Hollows Foundation - helping them to reach their goal of eliminating avoidable blindness by 2020!

I very much hope you can be part of my journey again, as only with your generous support I will be able to reach my goals and help The Fred Hollows Foundation reaching theirs.

Wish you and your family a peaceful festive season and a very happy and injury free 2010!
Markus

Fit, Fun and forever Young...

After a week of recovering and getting ready for today's 1/2 marathon, Philip (my Belgium buddy), Uli (our house photographer) and myself were ready for action at 7am in front of the mighty Olympic Stadium. This time the start was staggered in age groups and I was off 2 minutes ahead of Phil....not that it made a big difference, as the first of the 50+ guys steamed pass me after 2 km into the race. It was a perfect day and a relatively flat course which was made for fast times. I was sucked into the speed of the group and powered along in just over 20min for the first 5km, which of course was way to fast and I paid the price in the last 5km which took me 27min. Overall I did not reach my goal of 100min and finished in 103min for the 21km. It was just sooooo hard to keep up with all those fit old farts. It is encouraging seeing 70 year old men running hard and leaving younger ones behind but it is just bloody hard to keep motivated if it happens to you in a race. Moral of the story is that I probably have to keep going, stay fit and have fun for another 35 years before I have a small chance of a medal....there were still a handful of 80+ runners competing but hey, being in the first 5 of a World Masters Game is not too bad after all. I liked the comments of the 99 year old and 6 gold medal winner who said that no one should ever mention the world old to her...unless it has a G in front of it!
So, 2009 is done - 2'000km, 4 pairs of shoes, a great 100km North Face race and a fun time at the World Masters Games. Now a few weeks of resting, staying fit and relaxing before starting a new adventure in 2010!
Happy Feet and stay fit
Markus

Let the Games begin - World Masters Games 2009

First weekend and race done - The Sydney 2009 World Masters Games have begun. After a miserable week with rain and cold weather at least most of Sunday stayed dry.

Uli and I stayed at Homebush overnight to be ready for the 7am start on Sunday morning. I picked-up my accreditation card and signed in for the 10 km race that afternoon.

Since the organisation of these Games are done by the government it should not surprise about the most stupid sign-up system they came up with. For each race I and all other athletes signed up for you need to show up a day prior the race to pick up your race number!?!?! This would mean for me to take off Monday and drive out to Homebush to simply sign in for my race on Tuesday morning. So of course I will give my 8 km race a miss as some of us still have to work, but even for the retiree it means they loose precious time for sightseeing by driving back and forward to sign-up for each days events.

Anyway, at 7am on Sunday morning I was ready at the start of the 10km road race of the World Masters Games. A fresh but dry morning awaited a few hundred starters. Sadly only one wheelchair athletes was competing (his gold was guaranteed). The race was 2 loops of almost 5km and then a short finish into the stadium at the end.

The race number are interesting, as they show the first two digits as your age group and I can tell you it is no fun to try and keep up with number 70456 and getting overtaken by 65346 in the last 500 m of the run....there were certainly some top runners out there and even Darwin Don (80+) finished his race in under 90 min!

I had a far too fast first 5km (20.56) and suffered a bit in the second half but I was very happy to save some of my fast 1st loop all the way to the finish and crossing in 44.17 - my best ever timed 10km! No gold and glory for me but a 31st position in my age groupe and 201st overall. Looks like I have to keep running for another 30 years before I have a good chance of a medal....the 80+ group was the size of 2 runners :-)

A week of rest and recovery before I will attempt another PB with the 1/2 marathon next Sunday. The recovery is more for the hard Opening Ceremony which followed on Sunday evening. Hours after hours of waiting and catching up with fellow athletes in a waiting area before finally we marched into the ANZ (former Olympic) stadium with over 28'000 other athletes from over 95 countries. Was quite a spectacle which I will remember for ever.

Happy feet till next Sunday

16 days to go!

With the Sydney Bridge Run over it is count-down to the World Masters Games now. Last Sunday was actually harder then I thought. Hard to get up at 4.30am to reach the start by 6am, harder to run all the way out to Leichhard and turn around to finish at the Opera House. The humidity and mass of people got to me and I started to fast ending at 10km under 45min but paying the price in the second half when the heat started kicking in. Saw quite a few runners pulling out with heat and exhaustion problems. I did not have a strong finish and crossed the line 1 minute over my target - 101 min for the 21 km. Well, lessons learned and in 2 weeks time it can only get better, right?
I not only hope to improve my time but also reach my other goal of helping 21 blind people to see again by raising enough money for The Fred Hollows Foundation - please check out my fundraiser page on www.gofundraise.com.au/run4vision and dig deep - every little cent helps!
Save training and hope to see you out in Homebush on Sunday, 11 October to cheer me on at the World Masters Games
Happy Feet
Markus

South Africa - here we come

Today I finally signed up for one of the oldest and best Ultra Marathon in the world - The Comrades in South Africa. http://www.comrades.com/
In May 2003, I tasted for the first time the true magic and rewards of running an ultra marathon - hours after hours with 10'000 of other runner racing through stunning country side from Pietermaritzburg to Durban - an unforgettable adventure.

Next year will be the 85th edition of this ultimate human race and together with the Soccer World Cup make a trip to South Africa a must!

Watch this space - Run4Vision will live up to its name and make The Comrades a very special event!

Happy Feet!

Mudgee and beyond

I was waiting for a rainy day to update my way overdue blog, but it seems the sun is winning this battle, so I am bite the bullet....

After all those weeks in the gym it was a real pleasure to run in the sun again the last couple of weeks. Finally last weekend we travelled to Mudgee (3 hours west of Sydney) for the 1/2 marathon. Only problem was the destination is famous for its wines and after two days of intensive training in wine tasting and eating too much cheese, I stood, slightly hanged over and overweight, at the starting line on Sunday morning at 6.30am in my thermal running gear.
Hey, they told me it is going to be freezing cold in the outback....I was very happy that the organiser offered these great running shirts to all participants and I found a pair of shorts in the car, because the pre-start announcement of 24 degrees and sunshine for the run made me panic and change in record time to lighter gear....wise decision After a few km running in the shade and out of Mudgee the sun starting coming over those hills and sure enough it warmed up considerably. Very happy man running along in those shorts and light shirt :-) (I heard some guys overheated badly in the Marathon running in too warm gear).
The run made his way through those beautiful vineyards and the whole scenery made the getting up so early worthwhile. I tried to keep to my running plan but soon realised that the Shiraz and Pinot Noir from last night took the better of me and made me slow down a bit....since I was in no mode to talk to other runners in my state I decided to simple keep my head down and ponder on to the finish. The last 4 km were kind of hard and my proven tactic of catching one bright t'shirt after the other ahead of me failed miserably...nevertheless I made it to the finish and when I checked the clock I realised that my time was the same as for last month race - 98min.
Even so I failed in my goal to reach 95 min I was very happy with my time and glad to catch up with wife and friends at the next winery for a glass of White :-) to celebrate.

So looks like my 95 min have to be done next month at the World Masters Game then. Looking forward to that event - expecting to meet many athletes from all over the worlds and sure making new friends.

MdS fellow Action Jackson did a great 2nd place in Mudgee (only beaten by a 18 year old) and he will be a favorite in his devision in October for sure. His 80min for the 1/2 marathon will be for ever out of my reach

The next 6 weeks will be used to somehow find ways to cut those 3 minutes off my time - 180 sec seems not much but when you have to run 10 sec faster every km for 21 km it becomes quite a project....only time will tell
Happy feet