Sixtuslauf Schliersee (Half-Marathon)

Yesterday, I took part in this year’s seventh edition of the Sixtuslauf at Schliersee in Bavaria. Still excited by the good tempo I managed on the track last year, I prepped up for a relatively close finish time this year, hopefully, even better. Things did not happen exactly the way I had hoped for, and as a result, my pace this year got almost a minute per km slower. Nevertheless, I am more than happy that I finished, and I am incredibly grateful to everyone who shared the run with me and cheered at the finish line. Every run is a challenge, and there are ups and downs. Every now and then, I have to remind myself that timing is not what I got in the sport for. Challenging yourself to finish and sharing the adrenaline with the thousands on the track is all that matters. Although just about every muscle in my body cries for some rest, I am looking forward to the next running challenges. I should hopefully be back on the track as soon as next month.

Some Takeaways from yesterday’s Run

• Try to run in a group with people you trust. Having someone to cheer you up right when your motivation to continue falls down to zero, can do miracles. Unfortunately, I had to run all by myself this time.
• Don’t fall into the anxiety of being in a race. My heartbeat yesterday, was close to 15 BPM higher than during trainings with the same pace. I can attribute that to being in a pack of a few hundred runners, and the expectations I had set in my head.
• Don’t start chasing others right from the start. Start slowly and beat the rest in the last kms. This is a rookie trap that just about every experienced runner can tell you. Yet, I kind of fell into it yesterday, and already at the 5th km, I felt a kind of exhaustion I would normally feel at the 15+ km.
• Don’t underestimate the track. The Sixtuslauf track is partially going uphill through the mountains surrounding the lake. This year, the last third of the track was different, and, as far as I could tell from the metrics, about 50 m uphill higher than last time (400 m altogether). This lead to some serious muscle cramps in my legs, which kept shooting random pain for hours after the race.

Photos