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Hay Fever still slowing me down. I can´t train as my nose and ears are fully blocked.

it´s the heaviest reaction i ever had and my head is still aching. i have no problems here in ireland but the reaction from last week in germany is still there and heavy. It´s getting a littlebit better day by day. currently i´m sleeping the fever away…

hopefully i´m back in training next week with easy running.

maybe the little break is good as my calves get a bit of a down time and can relax again. they weren´t really smooth the last week´s.

there is always a positive side – you just have to see it.

1:30:36. Thats the sad turnout of this sundays 21k around my hometown heilbronn in germany.

and it´s all about a allergy thats in me and i havent paid attention – hay fever.

i was over in germany since friday. the weather was very “irish”, pre-race training was fine and gave me the rest of motivation for the race on sunday. the legs felt great and relaxed. i was waiting for the battle.

my target was to get my half marathon PB down to sub 80 minutes. after this years rotterdam marathon with a very defensive half marathon split of low 83 i was confident to reach this target. i know the course as it was a regular training route when i lived in heilbronn.

when i went to bed on saturday evening my body reminded me on a infection thats in me and i havent had since i live in ireland – hay fever. my nose was blocked and i had the usual symptoms. sleep wasnt great but i didnt really thought about the problems. i was looking forward to run.

race morning saw 30 degrees celsius (=86 fahrenheit) and no clouds. at the start area i warmed up and reached my block just wright for sound of the gun. the run started and after a couple of metres there was a big group. this group splited after 3k and i was running with the second group. the pace was fine but i started to get problems breathing in. the problem got bigger and bigger. my eyes started to get itchy and i couldnt breath in as normal. the grasses had me and slowed me down. i couldnt really relax and just fought on. it was impossible to hold the speed i wanted to run.

my dad was waiting with the bike shortly after the 18k mark. when i saw him i walked a bit and had something to drink. i was frustrated and disappointed. the midday sun was hitting hard aswell and i continued my little “jog” to the finish line.

what a silly mistake – lesson learned. again.

this should be an essential part of (running) training.

diana & trey show it in perfection.

miserable day for me at this wednesdays hill race.

you can´t race without passion. you can´t race with fear. today exactly this two things were missing in my race setup.

the weather was shitty as always. after 4 days of pure sun it had an end today. wind, fog and rain were the layout for the Three-Rock Ticknock. 207 mountain runners lined up.

right from the start i felt something was wrong today. i didn´t had the “head” to race. i couldn´t push and i feared to crash on that technical rocky course.

this sunday i´m running the half-marathon in my hometown heilbronn where i need my a-game. i had this always in my mind and the fear to hurt myself on the rocks or crash in that slippery environment never went out of my thoughts.

the course was class. perfect mountain running environment. not for me today.

44:53 h for 10k in the mountains and place 39. my training run today – good night…

OK. this is a running related blog. but this monday runssel cinemas give credit to friend and madman sebastian kienle with his classic superman move on the bike.

second win in buschuetten last sunday!

congrats bro – nice one!

thanks to racepix365. for racereport visit le cheile AC

after 3 races in 5 days i didn´t run today. the weather was first class so i got the bike out and went to the wicklow mountains for an easy spin.

i enjoyed the sun with an 3,5 hour tour.

beautiful day.

the sound of rain and wind woke me up on this saturday morning. i opened the curtains and the weather i saw was just crap. but what can you do? nothing! so i got the usual light breakfast in and headed out into that lousy environment.

leixlip is just down the road for me. so it was a quick drive and i was there. got registered and went on to warm-up directly. the rain stopped but the wind was still there.

the organisers, le cheile AC, lined up the bunch of 350 runners and the gardai closed down the street for the start. the race was on and i sticked into the little leading group. drafting was the moto for me. i wasnt the only guy watching out for a bit of protection against the heavy wind so the start pace was relativly slow.

i hang in and the field headed on towards the first little climb, a bridge. the downhill then saw the first tempo increase and i couldnt really follow. i tried to find my own pace and someone to draft. the route turned into leixlip town so the wind wasnt to heavy. i had couple of good runners around me so i stayed in that little group. after a turn back to the finish they also increased the speed and i couldnt respond.

the way back to the finish on the athletic track was a very tough one as i had to fight against the head wind on my own. i reached the track, where you had to run an additional 400 metres without anything left in the tank. sprinted with the last power to the line where they told me my time of 17:42 (20th). for the conditions and the fact that this was my third race this week i think the result is OK.

i really start to like those shorter distances and i still try to get as much races in as i can.

now it´s time to recover. hill-race next wednesday and then i´m really looking forward to run the half-marathon in my hometown heilbronn.

What can i say? “It was good craic!”

My first experience with hill running was tough as expected. i met up with my clubmate shane and we drove up to the startpoint of the race in the Hell Fire Woods in the outskirts of the wicklow mountains.

a fairly good crowd lined up at the registration. shane and i inspected the course with a little warm up. the first ramp after 400 metres was the highlight and true killer. very steep 250 metres up to the hellfire club.

i didnt know what to expect so i lined up defensively and just waited what´s gonna happen. after a very detailed course description by the race director the stampede was on.

the brutal ramp was reached very quickly. i really had to fight up that steep thing. very hard run through the forest. the ramp ended and the next enemy was the heavy head wind on the plateau. followed by a long downhill the excitment was a mud trail that worked it´s way past the forest and again up and down on slimy trails. really good fun. like little kids playing out in the dirt.

the hill running playground went on and again up to the hellfire club on top of the hill again. i was really struggling. the uphills were alright but the lads where destroying me on the downhill sections. amazing speed by some of the guys. especially on the last steep downhill, the ramp again, i was amazed how fast some guys went downhill. to tell the truth i feared to crash on the rocks so i took it handy.

i ended up with lots of mud and dirt on my shoes and clothes and a brilliant experience. 25:15 said the clock and the result list showed that i came in at 23rd place.

the price giving was in bugler´s pub where i stopped with shane for pints and the usual chit-chat. good day out. see ya next wednesday.