035 ☼ Racing season starts

I'm really looking forward to the next weeks

Welcome to my email newsletter 'Never not [thinking about] running' - a weekly newsletter about running and mental health. If you haven't subscribed yet and you're not sure whether you really want to receive an e-mail from me on every Tuesday, have a look at the archive. Todays newsletter is about the start of the racing season and the joy I associate with it.

Last week

Let's start with a little follow-up to last week, when I described that I wasn't feeling very well at the moment. The situation has slightly improved. A few good nights with a decent amount of sleep, a slightly less stressful life overall, being a bit more selfish (recommendation from my therapist), a few good runs and the world looks a little better.

At least that's one skillset I've developed in the meantime, namely realizing that things aren't going well and that I need to change something. Of course, I should have given myself a break beforehand, but you have to be able to work on something.

About racing

Let's move on to something lighter and nicer. The racing season starts tomorrow and I'm really looking forward to it. A few years ago, I would have said that I wasn't the competitive type, but I actually really enjoy the races now. The atmosphere on site, meeting the usual suspects, the tension and then powering through the race gives me a good feeling.

And it will probably be the same tomorrow and what makes it even more exciting is that it's happening right on the doorstep of my office. Preparations for the race are already underway everywhere, the markings on the ground are already there, the barriers are already in place at the side of the road and helpers are roaming the race site.

The race tomorrow

It's the 22nd Leonardo Campus Run and, if I'm not mistaken, I've already taken part in the first edition - but not so often after that and tomorrow I'll be running the 10km course, which is a bit unusual for me. 4 laps of 2.5k each, over cobblestones, grass, the sports field and cinder paths with lots of bends and changes of direction. In other words, quite challenging. Accordingly, my expectations for my performance are relatively low.

After the whole UTMB preparation, which was marked by various illnesses, the last few weeks have gone really well and according to plan. Last week I ran 82 kilometers, more than in any UTMB preparation week. As soon as summer sets in, everything suddenly clicks into place and I still don't know why. Almost every year in May, my body suddenly screams "Hooray - let's go running!" and not only that. All my health values are suddenly so much better. Don't ask.

Progression in training

In any case, last week was really good. On Wednesday, for example, I ran 32k. That was a bit of compensation for my last +30k run this year, where I collapsed so badly that I no longer knew where my head was. And it actually went much better and I was able to run the course consistently. On Sunday, I then ran 20x400m/200m intervals - that was also much more relaxed than, for example, a year ago at the same time of the year. That gives me a good feeling.

As for the race tomorrow, it's time to see what's possible. I'll use my Stryd power values as a guide. According to that, I could run about 330 watts on the course. That would correspond to a 3:45-3:50/k. That would be a time of around 37 minutes. At the current level of performance, that would be really good, maybe it will be more like a 38-minutes time. As I said, I normally tend to run 5K races, so the race strategy is also a challenge for me.

Hopefully all works out

But that was my big plan for this summer. To increase my wealth of experience, try something new and still benefit from it for the cream of the crop. Because I'm going to run 10k+ races first and do more for endurance and then focus on speed towards the end of the summer. That's the theory. I will report back.

The end

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