November 8, 2009
Yeah, won my home race. But at the same time: Damn, my right heel is hurting a lot.
Well, most of all I achieved my aim of becoming the first winner of the new City Run in my home city Zwickau. That was one of the main reasons why I came to Germany after studying very hard in Finland. May be it was not the best decision to race but if I wouldn’t have competed I would have blamed myself for not even trying. I mean: Hey, I’m a professional now – or what? It turned out that it was not too difficult to win the race and I didn’t even had to go all out. Falk Cierpinski was announced to race but as his father Waldemar Cierpinski (double olympic champion in the marathon) said, he suffered a stomach flu and couldn’t run. This way I could take it a bit easier and still could win the race in a comfortable manner. Actually I was unchallenged from start to finish.
The time is pedestrian, I know but I didn’t want to push to hard because before the race I didn’t knew if I would be able to finish. My left heel gave me a lot of trouble and now it’s even worse. Might well be, that I have to change my race schedule and have to skip next weeks cross-country championships.
The course of the race was a 3,3 km loop, which had to be ran 3 times for the 10K. A lot of turns, sharp corners and also the underground changed from fast asphalt to cobblestones and sand at one point. All results can be found here.
Tomorrow some cross training and hopefully the heel will recover fast.
start of the 1st city run in Zwickau 2009
October 31, 2009
Embarrassing race for me. But that’s one reason I wanted to take part, making all those lessons again. It seems you never canb get experienced enough. Next time I will have some easy days before this kind of race. After all I was running against the strongest runner in the country. For me it was just another training and actually not even as fast as expected.
The fitness is there but the freshness is missing. Already after the start of the race I was feeling crappy and thought that the guys were going out way too fast and should come back after a while. The opposite was the case. The top group ran almost even lap times while I slowed down during the 3 rounds of 3 kilometers each. My training mates Juha and Miika, with whom I did the hill repeats took 1st and 3rd place and qualified for the Finnish team in the Nordic Cross-Country Championships next weekend. Congratulations! Anyway, I can’t believe that they are 3 minutes faster than me.
Guess also the stress from my studies affected me. All my muscles felt tight and I couldn’t really loosen up and find a relaxed stride. Once the academic stuff is done it should get better I hope.
Results:
Men (9 km, -2°C):
1) Juha Puttonen JKU 30.28
2) Mårten Boström SjuIF 30.37
3) Miika Takala JKU 30.42
4) Mikko Tyni HaminPo 31.09
5) Pekka Toivola JoKa 31.41
6) Miro Laurila KarhU 31.52
7) Joonas Lehtinen TuUL 32.31
8.) Konstantin Kutilainen AsikkRa 33.00
9) Erik Hass VaajKu (GER) 33.26
10) Panu Jantunen ImatrU 33.45
Full results here
October 8, 2009
Two weeks after my marathon I raced in the State Championships over 10K. Of course it’s way too early for a serious race but I did it for my club. Unfortunately I couldn’t medal in the Championships because the guys were just too fresh and after 7-8km my back and legs got tight. If I would have known that before I might not have competed but it was just another experience. I just need my time after a marathon and without a proper build-up it’s not so easy to win a state title against good opponents.
The first kilometers went well and when I threw in my first surge after 4km the race was on. The bigger group of around 8 runners was reduced to me and 3 other guys. The pace was not too hot but when the pace was increased again between 7 and 8km I realised that my muscles were not ready. I could still talk to the guys next to me and the one that passed me at 8,5K but the legs were just not prepared.
Anyway, it was the first time after two weeks, that I ran under 4:30min/km-pace. Now the new training season can start and a 33:38min is not too bad for this rather slow course.
results of the race:
1 Uhlig, Oliver 1977 SC DHfK Leipzig 33:05
2 Flegel, Christian 1987 TSV Dresden 33:08
3 Friedrich, Uwe 1972 Chemnitzer PSV 33:18
4 Kämpf, Michael 1976 SG Adelsberg 33:32
5 Haß, Erik 1982 SV Vorwärts Zwickau 33:38
6 Rodewald, Peter 1983 LSV Lok Arnstadt 33:46
7 Herold, Tim 1986 LAC Erdgas Chemnitz 34:27
8 Heisch, Philipp 1984 LAC Erdgas Chemnitz 34:40
9 Thomae, Enrico 1984 LG Vogtland 34:50
10 Harzbecker, Ralf 1957 Sportclub Hoyerswerda 35:10
after the race with my club mates from SV Vorwärts Zwickau
October 3, 2009
Almost two weeks after the marathon and it’s time for some analysis. Because of the fact that it was the second time I ran in Berlin, I can compare the two performance and the splits:
|
2009 |
2008 |
| 5K |
|
16:44 |
|
16:31 |
| 10K |
0:33:16 |
16:32 |
00:32:52 |
16:21 |
| 15K |
00:49:36 |
16:20 |
00:49:32 |
16:40 |
| 20K |
01:06:14 |
16:38 |
01:06:12 |
16:40 |
| 25K |
01:23:07 |
16:53 |
01:23:00 |
16:48 |
| 30K |
01:39:55 |
16:48 |
01:39:36 |
16:36 |
| 35K |
01:56:51 |
16:56 |
01:56:12 |
16:36 |
| 40K |
02:14:04 |
17:13 |
02:13:56 |
17:44 |
|
02:21:39 |
07:35 |
02:22:16 |
08:20 |
|
|
|
|
|
Analyzing the splits I can say that this year the pace was more steady from the very beginning to the very end of the race. In fact this year I never ran a kilometer over 3:30min, whereas last year I was falling down to 4min/km-pace at the end.
short decription of the race:
km 0-21
On the first part of the marathon the most important thing is to be patient. You should feel comfortable with the pace because this is the easiest part of the race. The first 4-5km were a bit slow with 3:22-23min and the consequence was, that the pace increased the following kilometers because there was a bigger group aiming for sub-2:20h. At halfway I was right on pace (69:52min) and exactly replicated last years halfmarathon time.
very early in the race (around km 4)
km 21-35
During this part of the race the training kicks in: If the training was sub-optimal you will probably slow down drastically already here. For me those kilometers were ok, but I also had to make a lot of pace myself. Last year I was feeling a bit more fresh at halfway and from km 25-33 I followed the group of Irina Mikitenko. This year the kilometer-splits were a bit slower but I was still in control. The heat was getting more and more of a factor and that’s the main reason why I couldn’t maintain 3:19min/km-pace.
km 35-42,125
That’s the part, were the outcome of the marathon is decided. Last year I ran well until 38km and suffered really bad until the finish. Even though this years split time for 40km was slower than last years I improved last years finishing time by more than half a minute. Also this year I was hurting a lot and the last kilometers seemed endless. Still I ran a steady pace, i.e. never under 3:30min/km. Compared to last year that was the main improvement, even if the conditions were warmer than last year. Also the top guys suffered from the heat: from 40km to the finish i.e. 2,195km) Haile was only one second faster than me!
This year I also noticed the last meters of the race. Last year I had some black-outs at the end and didn’t even remember how I passed the Brandenburg gate. Also the crowd on the last 200meters was amazing. The tribune was full of spectators and the noise level was amazing. When the speaker announced that I am the second German the crowds went even more mad! Puuuh, that was really incredible.
Immediately after the race I was quite disappointed that I ran over 2:20h, but I know that running sub-2:20 is only a matter of time.
post-race with my Dad and Dan- I’m not really looking happy
post-race with my support team during the marathon (Dad, Mum, Me, Ulla, Bernd)
Once again I want to thank everyone, who supported me and motivated me along my way to the Berlin Marathon 2009. I know it was not always an easy time with me!
September 9, 2009
When I’m in Zwickau and a running competition takes place at the same time, I’m almost obligated to take part 
This wednesday was the last (5th) leg of a series of half- and full-hour runs. I already competed in the 3rd run and also this time I ran the 1/2-hour race.
While I was running 9.350m in the last race, this time I collected “only” 9.050m. The conditions today were not as good as last time. In temperatures above 25°C I don’t feel so comfortable and thus I can be satisfied. Furthermore the marathon is only ten days away and there is no use in pushing too hard at this time of the preparation. After all I ran the marathon-pace for 30minutes without any problems and all on my own from the first round onwards.
Here some pics:
very sunny and warm conditions on the track
marathon stride – almost no knee lift, but who needs a knee lift for 42,195km
September 7, 2009
After coming back from my 4-weeks altitude stay on Friday I competed in a 10K the day afterwards, on 5th of September. Last year I competed in the German 10K-championships in the same situation, i.e. coming straight from altitude and 2 weeks before the Berlin marathon. Well, last year I ran a surprising 30:34, whereas this year I “only” ran 31:31min.
However, also the conditions were not as good as last year. Because the German 10K-road championships are next weekend and this would be a bit too late for Berlin I decided to run in the race that is organised from German marathon legend Waldemar Cierpinski (double Olympic Champion in the marathon). So I lined up with his son and World Championships 2009 participant Falk Cierpinski and many others for the 10K that was held in downtown Halle on a 1,7km loop.
The course was not the fastest, with some small hills and some parts that were covered with cobblestones. However, the main problem was that already after 2 rounds (i.e. 3 km) you had to run through the crowd that was lapped and with some 500 runners that’s not an easy task! The “slalom” course took quite some time and also it was not so easy to maintain the pace, running through so many people.
After all I was not unsatisfied with race. I ran constant lap times for most of the race and until around 7 km I was within the range of vision to the 3 leaders (Falk Cierpinski, the Slovak Miroslav Vanko and the Czech Jan Kreisinger). If I would have closed the remaining 15-20 meters it might have been possible that I would have been on the podium, but after 8km I could feel the muscular fatigue that was caused by the four weeks of altitude training in Kühtai and St. Moritz. Two weeks before the Berlin Marathon I didn’t want to destroy myself so decided to keep some energy and settle for 4th place.
TOP 10 of the mens category in the 10K-race:
1 Cierpinski, Falk (GER) 30 SG Spergau e. V. 00:30:53
2 Kreisinger, Jan (CZE) HK 00:30:55
3 Vanko, Miroslav (SVK) 35 00:31:09
4 Haß, Erik (GER) HK SV Vorwärts Zwickau e. V. 00:31:31
5 Zabel, Michael (GER) 40 SG Spergau e. V. 00:32:14
6 Schmidt, Paul (GER) HK TSV Dresden 00:32:29
7 Soos, Daniel (GER) HK Budapesti Honvéd SE 00:32:31
8 Glauche, Eric (GER) HK SC DHfK Leipzig e. V. 00:33:18
9 Recksiedler, Raik (DEU) HK 00:34:24
10 Stoek, Holger (GER) 40 LAV Halensia e. V. 00:34:48
10 Bernstein, Christian (GER) HK SG Spergau e. V. 00:35:39 00:35:37
September 7, 2009
After two weeks of altitude training I ran the 30th edition of the Engadiner Sommerlauf from Sils to Bever on 23th of August 2009. As I was staying in St.Moritz, i.e. between the two towns of Sils and Bever it was a nice way to get some good training kilometres in some kind of race atmosphere. Way better than running alone.
The first 15km of the course were a bit hilly and after 15km the highest point of the course was reached, so I decided to run a controlled pace until this point and run a bit harder for the last part. This “tactic” turned out to be very good and I could really hold the pace high between kilometres 15 and 25. I also caught several guys on the flat part – at km I was in 5th place with a gap of approx. 90 seconds to 4th and in the end I was 2nd, only half a minute behind the eventual winner. If the race would have been a bit longer I might even have had the chance to win the race but after all it was a bit to short to catch the leader and on the last 2 km I didn’t push too hard because there were still 2 weeks of tough altitude training ahead of me.
August 2, 2009
Seasons Best in National Championships - That´s the way it should be. My time of 31:23 is not quite what I expected but the flu that hit me in the preparation and that caused some 10 days without speed training account to most of the 25 seconds that were missing to the 31-minutes barrier (my aim before the season).
The weather in Espoo was extraordinary. Most of the athletes that had their competition on Friday (just like me) were reminded to the IAAF World Championships in Helsinki 2005. Torrential rain in the evening session and several thunderstorms. Even if during the 10.000m race itself there was only drizzling rain, I was totally soaked after the warm-up. Also the track was very wet but otherwise I liked the track in the stadium. It was the first time I was running on a blue and white MONDO-track and it felt really good.
Also the race felt good and really enjoyed running the 25 laps. Usually it´s getting pretty tough after 6-7km but this time I felt good all the way. Nevertheless, I could not run a faster pace and rather felt like I could maintain the same pace for a longer time. A good sign for the marathon but not so good it terms of raw speed. The second 5000m were a bit faster than the first half and I could catch some guys in the later stages. Still I took “only” 14th place – for comparison: last year only 10 runners finished the 10.000m.
Full results of the race:
1 Lewis Korir Turun Urheiluliitto 28.46,68
2 Matti Räsänen Joensuun Kataja 29.03,73
3 Jussi Utriainen Lahden Ahkera 29.16,38
4 Obed Kipkurui Sjundeå If 29.34,90
5 Simo Wannas Helsingin Kisa-Veikot 30.24,75
6 Henri Manninen Jyväskylän Kenttäurheilijat 30.26,27
7 Anssi Raittila Viipurin Urheilijat 30.40,04
8 Juha Puttonen Jyväskylän Kenttäurheilijat 30.40,58
9 Mikko Tyni Haminan Ponteva 30.42,21
10 Pekka Toivola Joensuun Kataja 30.57,38
11 Joseph Tanui Lahden Ahkera 30.57,41
12 Juho Pirkola Kälviän Tarmo 31.08,54
13 Miika Takala Jyväskylän Kenttäurheilijat 31.08,93
14 Erik Hass Vaajakosken Kuohu 31.23,93
15 Marko Vaittinen Forssan Salama 31.26,26
16 Jukka Kero Turun Urheiluliitto 31.32,54
17 Joni Hulkko Jalasjärven Jalas 31.33,49
18 Arto Perttilä Vaasan Vasama 31.43,68
19 Harri Nissinen Imatran Urheilijat 32.30,45
20 Miika Henriksson Viipurin Urheilijat 33.22,69
Joni Rautio Lapin Lukko DNF
Petri Kykyri Kälviän Tarmo DNF
Altogether it was another great experience to run in this race. Some friends told me that I was also on Finnish TV. This was one of my inspirations when I set my goal of running in Kalevan Kisat.
For the marathon there is still a lot of work to do, but I am already looking forward to the hard training after taking some easy days.
July 6, 2009
On my way back to Finland I made a small detour to compete in a 10km race in Strömstad/SWE, close to the Norwegian border. It was the first time for me being in Norway, since my flights were arriving and departing in the Norwegian capital Oslo. After the St. Eriksloppet 2005 in Stockholm it was my second race on Swedish ground. And what a weekend it was!
I stayed in the race hotel, a nice Spa and Resort Hotel together with a bunch of other athletes (Kenyans, Spaniards etc.). The race itself went rather bad. The course was pretty hilly and temperatures were way too high for me. With 30°C and even more on the streets in the sun I always have my problems and hardly find my rhythm. This time it was the same: Already after the first flat 1,5km I lost contact to the big leading group (including approx. 15 Kenyans and some Non-Africans). All the Kenyans that dropped from the group discontinued the race just before I could overtake them – nice. I thought there should be more guys that have to pay the toll to the high temperatures but it was not the case and at the end I ended up far outside of the TOP10. In the second of the two rounds I had problems myself to keep the pace, even though I went out with the handbrake on. I’m just not made for running in the heat it seems. I felt dizzy and it was impossible to change the pace. After all this pace was not even marathon pace yet! So still a lot of work to do. Anyway it was a great experience to run against some international opponents after a long time. I guess in the last weeks I competed to much in my home region in Germany and won too many races there 
There are a lot of more stories to tell about this weekend and I’m sure they will come up some time later, so just follow my blog
June 30, 2009
Last weekend I had another race on Saturday. For me it was the third race in four days. Unlike the two other competitions this time the course was more challenging: a cross-country like 11,9km with several ups and downs and partly small paths in the forest.
I didn’t want to run a tactical race this time, so I went out harder than usual and decided early on to run my own pace. So after around 1km I was clear of my competitors and was on my own. At the end I had a 1:09min lead over Benjamin Seifert, a cross-country skier who is member of the German team and is hoping to qualify for the Winter Olympic in Vancouver 2010. Even if I won the race against this good opponent I was not too satisfied – the legs were not so fresh and I couldn’t increase the pace as I wanted. Somehow the legs didn’t respond to the signals from the brain. This is just a matter of freshness and after 4 tough workout within 6 days this is nothing unusual.
just before the finish – the humidity was really high that day and old man Erik was sweating a lot.
prize ceremony with two promising cross-country skiers on the podium (Benjamin Seifert, Erik Hass, Stefan Seiffert – from left to right)
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