One would think that after running the same half-marathon 4 times in the past 5 years, there wouldn't be anything new and different to write about it. But every year is a unique experience.
The Munich City Run always reminds me of a big Halloween party. The shirt which you're required to wear is orange. Each year it changes slightly, but the main color is still orange. Instead of a number, runners wear the shirt. Most Germans like to wear black shorts when they race. I do too. That's one of my race rituals. For those readers who aren't from the States, orange and black are the two main Halloween colors. By the way, this year's shirt had a blue stripe on each side and white sleeves. It's a bit goofy-looking, but it's a good technical shirt.
When I'm in the starting corral, I usually end up being nose-to-armpit with some guy who decided to wait until after the race to take his monthly shower. This year I had the (mis)fortune of standing by a guy who decided to stand facing sideways instead of toward the front. He didn't just stand facing sideways; he also had his feet wide apart. In addition, he was talking with his friends, gesticulating wildly while doing so, and also moving around. Judging by the number of times that he bumped into his neighbors with his hands, elbows, or feet, he was totally oblivious to everyone around him. That guy needed a lesson in racing etiquette. The good thing is that he didn't stink.
The post-race refreshments at the City Run keep getting weaker and weaker. This year there were some bottled drinks (mineral water with different juices, or plain mineral water), apples, and Power Bars. There was also alcohol-free beer. In previous years there were big pretzels and various types of fruit at the finish area. The goodie bag was really weak. I just got my t-shirt, a brochure with information about the race, and 4 pieces of Traubenzucker (candy that's like a Sweet Tart). The good thing was that there were plenty of refreshments in the finish area. I've been to races where the organizers ran out of refreshments because of poor planning. A large quantity of a few things is much better than nothing.
At most races with a finisher's medal, the medals are given to the runners just past the finish line. After I finished, I saw some runners with medals and others without them. I thought that maybe the top finishers got them. Then I happened to look over to my left while walking through the refreshment area and saw a woman handing out medals. It was a strange location for giving out medals and probably left a lot of deserving finishers without one. I have no idea why the medals were being given out so far from the finish line.
When I was on the U-Bahn (subway) after the race, the woman across from me was still wearing her medal and admiring it. She was turning it so that the front part was facing out and kept picking it up and looking at it with a smile on her face. It turned out that this was her first half-marathon. I remember when I ran my first half-marathon and got a finisher's medal. I felt like I had just won an Olympic medal. When I drove home from that race, I proudly wore my medal. It was cool to see that other first-time half-marathoners have the same reaction that I did all those years ago. This woman looked like she was in her 50s or early 60s, which made her accomplishment even greater.
My time of 1:57:44 was good enough for 431st place out of 1386 women and 27th out of 118 in my age group (W 50-54). As my son said, "Mom, you were better than average." I don't know how I did overall because the men's and women's results were listed separately. There were 4152 men who finished the race. It seems like more and more women are doing long races in Germany. The first time I ran the Munich Marathon in 1993, it seemed like a 10:1 ratio of men to women. Even small local races had a much higher number of men than women. Now German women are realizing that, contrary to popular belief, running really isn't bad for them.
I always get disoriented going from the finish line back to the changing tent. It must have something to do with all of my blood being in my legs instead of my brain. The short way back to the tents is blocked off and everyone must follow a certain path through the refreshment area. Everything looks unfamiliar. This year there was also a walled-off construction site that I had to walk around to get to the tent, which made the way back even longer. It felt like I walked another 5 km to find the tents. At least this year I knew where the U-Bahn stop was.
I haven't figured out what my next race will be. I'm looking at a 5K in San Diego the weekend that I'm there and also a 10K in October in Wolfratshausen (between Garmisch and Munich). For now I'm going to have a nice recovery period.
Showing posts with label munich city run. Show all posts
Showing posts with label munich city run. Show all posts
Monday, June 27, 2011
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Munich City Run Half-Marathon IV
This was the 4th time that I ran the Muenchener Stadtlauf (Munich City Run) half-marathon. My time of 1:57:44 was not what I was hoping for, but it was still respectable. In fact, it was a decent time by my standards because of a couple of factors:
1) Injuries that I had earlier this year. I had problems with the calf muscles in both legs over the winter and it took a while for them to heal. Even as recently as three months ago, I didn't think that I would be able to do this race. My training was accelerated because of the injuries.
2) The weather. It seems like the weather always gets warm on City Run day. Today is the start of a warm spell that's supposed to last most of the coming week. In addition, it was very humid. Ever run through Jell-O? That's what running in high humidity is like. I took a few extra walking breaks to drink, which also affected my time.
I set off for Munich at about 5:10 in the morning. My goal was to get there earlier than last year. The sign--in system that was initiated last year was very inefficient with long lines. Last year I felt like I barely had time to do some quick warm-up stretches, use the porta-potty, then get to the start. This year I got the U-Bahn (subway) train at 6:20 instead of at 6:40 (the trains run every 20 minutes on early Sunday mornings). What a difference 20 minutes makes! There were no lines at all when I picked up my shirt. I had lots of time to warm up, use the toilet, and even use my massage stick.
The morning started off rainy. It rained during most of my drive between Garmisch and Munich. It even rained in Munich after I arrived. But it stopped about 30 minutes before race time and the mercury started to rise. I was half hoping that it would rain during part of the race because it would have been refreshing.
Because of the humidity, I felt sluggish the whole time. When running in high humidity, it's hard for the body to cool itself. This leads to sluggishness. I carried a 0.75 liter bottle of diluted Gatorade and drank almost all of it during the race. I could also tell that I was affected by the humidity because my hands started to swell during the last 5-6 km. During the second half of the race, the sun was also starting to come out, which added to my weather woes. I decided to take it easy for those last few km. There was no point in collapsing so close to the finish, dramatic as that may be. In fact, at the 20 km mark, there was an ambulance going by. My thought was, "I may be slow today, but at least I'm not in the back of that ambulance."
The good thing about taking things slower is that none of my problems flared up. I had zero calf muscle problems during the race. My hamstring issues were also non-existent. However, I did get a cramp in the arch of my right foot during my post-run stretching and my left calf started to cramp as I was walking back to the changing tent to get my bag. After a quick stretch both cramps were gone, never to return.
This year was the first year that finishers' medals were given out. It's a generic medal, but I felt like I deserved one this year. It's silver-colored, very shiny, and says, "BMW, SportScheck Stadtlauf 2011" on the front and, "26 Juni 2011 Stadtlauf Muenchen" on the back. No pictures except for a small BMW logo on the front. BMW and the German sporting goods chain SportScheck are the two main sponsors of the City Run series. There's space to have your name and finishing time engraved on the back.
My next post will be some random thoughts about the race.
1) Injuries that I had earlier this year. I had problems with the calf muscles in both legs over the winter and it took a while for them to heal. Even as recently as three months ago, I didn't think that I would be able to do this race. My training was accelerated because of the injuries.
2) The weather. It seems like the weather always gets warm on City Run day. Today is the start of a warm spell that's supposed to last most of the coming week. In addition, it was very humid. Ever run through Jell-O? That's what running in high humidity is like. I took a few extra walking breaks to drink, which also affected my time.
I set off for Munich at about 5:10 in the morning. My goal was to get there earlier than last year. The sign--in system that was initiated last year was very inefficient with long lines. Last year I felt like I barely had time to do some quick warm-up stretches, use the porta-potty, then get to the start. This year I got the U-Bahn (subway) train at 6:20 instead of at 6:40 (the trains run every 20 minutes on early Sunday mornings). What a difference 20 minutes makes! There were no lines at all when I picked up my shirt. I had lots of time to warm up, use the toilet, and even use my massage stick.
The morning started off rainy. It rained during most of my drive between Garmisch and Munich. It even rained in Munich after I arrived. But it stopped about 30 minutes before race time and the mercury started to rise. I was half hoping that it would rain during part of the race because it would have been refreshing.
Because of the humidity, I felt sluggish the whole time. When running in high humidity, it's hard for the body to cool itself. This leads to sluggishness. I carried a 0.75 liter bottle of diluted Gatorade and drank almost all of it during the race. I could also tell that I was affected by the humidity because my hands started to swell during the last 5-6 km. During the second half of the race, the sun was also starting to come out, which added to my weather woes. I decided to take it easy for those last few km. There was no point in collapsing so close to the finish, dramatic as that may be. In fact, at the 20 km mark, there was an ambulance going by. My thought was, "I may be slow today, but at least I'm not in the back of that ambulance."
The good thing about taking things slower is that none of my problems flared up. I had zero calf muscle problems during the race. My hamstring issues were also non-existent. However, I did get a cramp in the arch of my right foot during my post-run stretching and my left calf started to cramp as I was walking back to the changing tent to get my bag. After a quick stretch both cramps were gone, never to return.
This year was the first year that finishers' medals were given out. It's a generic medal, but I felt like I deserved one this year. It's silver-colored, very shiny, and says, "BMW, SportScheck Stadtlauf 2011" on the front and, "26 Juni 2011 Stadtlauf Muenchen" on the back. No pictures except for a small BMW logo on the front. BMW and the German sporting goods chain SportScheck are the two main sponsors of the City Run series. There's space to have your name and finishing time engraved on the back.
My next post will be some random thoughts about the race.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Two Hours and Two Weeks
Today was my last really long run before the Munich City Run. I ran for two hours. During this run I took short walking breaks every 30 minutes to practice refueling. Only two more weeks to go. It always seems like race day is so far away and then it suddenly it's around the corner.
My run today was super. I started off a little slowly and had a strong finish. The whole time I felt really strong and confident. That's exactly how I'd like the race to go. While I was running I felt my late running partner Bill's presence. He was the one who trained me for my first half-marathon. I still follow his advice because it has worked very well for me over the years. Today was one of those days that I wished was race day. I didn't have any problems with either my calves or right hamstring. Woo-hoo! The only down side was that I got hungry a little over halfway through the run. Normally the combination of Gummi Bears and diluted Gatorade helps to cut the hunger, but it didn't this time. If I get hungry during the race, at least I had practice dealing with that feeling. When I got home I wolfed down a Power Bar.
I really feel like I'm peaking at just the right time. A while back I was slower and felt like my speed wasn't coming back. But it did and at the right time. Just about all of my training runs this past month have been good. There were times during the recent warm spells when I felt sluggish and had "bad" runs. At least I had the bad runs in training and not on race day. I'm really having a good feeling about Munich, especially if race day is anything like today.
Next week's long run will be 90 minutes. After that it will just be 5 km runs during the week to keep the legs loose. I found over the years that a one-week tapering period for a half-marathon works best for me.
The one thing that I'm hoping for in two weeks is cool weather. The race starts at 8 am, so it should start off fairly cool. June in Germany is unpredictable. It could be really hot, or it could be cool and rainy. But for the next two weeks my big wish is that my training continues to go well.
My run today was super. I started off a little slowly and had a strong finish. The whole time I felt really strong and confident. That's exactly how I'd like the race to go. While I was running I felt my late running partner Bill's presence. He was the one who trained me for my first half-marathon. I still follow his advice because it has worked very well for me over the years. Today was one of those days that I wished was race day. I didn't have any problems with either my calves or right hamstring. Woo-hoo! The only down side was that I got hungry a little over halfway through the run. Normally the combination of Gummi Bears and diluted Gatorade helps to cut the hunger, but it didn't this time. If I get hungry during the race, at least I had practice dealing with that feeling. When I got home I wolfed down a Power Bar.
I really feel like I'm peaking at just the right time. A while back I was slower and felt like my speed wasn't coming back. But it did and at the right time. Just about all of my training runs this past month have been good. There were times during the recent warm spells when I felt sluggish and had "bad" runs. At least I had the bad runs in training and not on race day. I'm really having a good feeling about Munich, especially if race day is anything like today.
Next week's long run will be 90 minutes. After that it will just be 5 km runs during the week to keep the legs loose. I found over the years that a one-week tapering period for a half-marathon works best for me.
The one thing that I'm hoping for in two weeks is cool weather. The race starts at 8 am, so it should start off fairly cool. June in Germany is unpredictable. It could be really hot, or it could be cool and rainy. But for the next two weeks my big wish is that my training continues to go well.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
7.9 From the Bulgarian Judge
Today's run was 1:40, the same as last week. My pace was slightly faster than last week's and I generally felt good throughout the run. I started slowly and finished on a fast note. It was one of those days where I wished that today was race day instead of it being five weeks off. The weather started off on the warm and humid side. I ended up having to take my first drink at around 22 minutes instead of at the normal 30-minute point. After that I ran mostly in the shade and took my normal stops at 30, 60, and 90 minutes. The weather also started to cool off as clouds moved in. Toward the end of my run it sprinkled
For the next two weeks I'll run for 1:50. Then it will be the last big run for exactly two hours. Since I started running for 90 minutes earlier this month, I've gone on a flatter course that more closely resembles Munich than the hillier course that I also train on. I'll also keep my "Diabetic's Delight" refueling combination for the race. A Diabetic's Delight is Gummi Bears and diluted Gatorade. Gummi Bears seem to stave off the hunger better than Power Bars or Shot Blox.
I would like to say that today's run was uneventful, but it wasn't. As I was heading downhill on a side trail off the bike path that parallels the main road to Austria, I tripped over a large rock and fell. It was just after I turned for home on an out-and-back course, so I was almost as far from home as I could be. At least the trail was empty, so I didn't have to worry about any injuries to my pride in addition to physical ones. That's what I get for daydreaming! The combination of daydreaming, a naturally short stride, and not lifting my feet high enough on longer runs when trying to keep a slower pace was a "perfect storm" for a fall. I landed on my right side with the impact on the outside of my right leg and forearm and also on both hands. The first thing that I noticed was all of the mud on my arm, leg, and hands. This past week there have been daily thundershowers, which made the trail muddy. The mud just didn't want to come off, even with with using my shirt to wipe off. I looked more like a mountain biker who had finished a long muddy trail ride than a runner. After checking for blood under the mud, and finding none, I carried on with my run. I was able to run back home without any problems or anything hurting. When I got home I cleaned up and found bruises on my forearm, the outside of my right knee, and on my butt around where the top of the IT band would be. I figured that fall would rate a 7.9 from the Bulgarian judge with most of the deductions for having unpointed toes and zero blood.
Next week I won't be running on that trail. It has nothing to do with taking a fall. That trail isn't long enough for me to run in for 55 minutes. When I do runs between 90 and 100 minutes and don't need to run hills, I'll be back on it.
For the next two weeks I'll run for 1:50. Then it will be the last big run for exactly two hours. Since I started running for 90 minutes earlier this month, I've gone on a flatter course that more closely resembles Munich than the hillier course that I also train on. I'll also keep my "Diabetic's Delight" refueling combination for the race. A Diabetic's Delight is Gummi Bears and diluted Gatorade. Gummi Bears seem to stave off the hunger better than Power Bars or Shot Blox.
I would like to say that today's run was uneventful, but it wasn't. As I was heading downhill on a side trail off the bike path that parallels the main road to Austria, I tripped over a large rock and fell. It was just after I turned for home on an out-and-back course, so I was almost as far from home as I could be. At least the trail was empty, so I didn't have to worry about any injuries to my pride in addition to physical ones. That's what I get for daydreaming! The combination of daydreaming, a naturally short stride, and not lifting my feet high enough on longer runs when trying to keep a slower pace was a "perfect storm" for a fall. I landed on my right side with the impact on the outside of my right leg and forearm and also on both hands. The first thing that I noticed was all of the mud on my arm, leg, and hands. This past week there have been daily thundershowers, which made the trail muddy. The mud just didn't want to come off, even with with using my shirt to wipe off. I looked more like a mountain biker who had finished a long muddy trail ride than a runner. After checking for blood under the mud, and finding none, I carried on with my run. I was able to run back home without any problems or anything hurting. When I got home I cleaned up and found bruises on my forearm, the outside of my right knee, and on my butt around where the top of the IT band would be. I figured that fall would rate a 7.9 from the Bulgarian judge with most of the deductions for having unpointed toes and zero blood.
Next week I won't be running on that trail. It has nothing to do with taking a fall. That trail isn't long enough for me to run in for 55 minutes. When I do runs between 90 and 100 minutes and don't need to run hills, I'll be back on it.
Monday, April 11, 2011
The One-Hour Mark
Today was the first time since early December that I ran for an hour. It felt good to run that long again. Over the past month I have been gradually increasing my long runs and have had no signs of the calf injuries that plagued me over the winter. Today's run was a mix of flat roads and trails in the hills. I hit my checkpoints faster than I expected to, mainly because of the cool weather. My legs felt great afterward, even at the faster-than-expected pace that I ran today. My speed has come back in all of my longer and shorter runs.
I'm starting to think that I may be able to do the Munich City Run half-marathon in June if I continue at my current pace. Earlier this year, I thought that it was a definite no-go because of my calf problems. I'll have to look closely at the calendar, but it appears that I'll be able to get in enough long runs to feel confident about being able to go the distance. The only down side is that I won't have any down time if I feel that I need a rest week. I really like to have some built-in rest periods when I train for a long race. I'll also have to build up my mileage faster than I normally like to.
My mind isn't 100% made up about running the City Run. As it gets toward May I'll evaluate how my training is going and take it from there. If everything keeps going this well, I should make it to Munich. I'd really like to do the City Run because it will be the only half-marathon that I'll be able to run this year. It would be nice to run the half-marathon that was part of the Munich Marathon in October. But I just don't see how that will be possible. I'll be in the States for three weeks in August and September, which is when I'd be doing a lot of long runs to prepare for an October race. It would be too hard and rushed to try and prepare for such a long race. I may do the Eibsee Run in late October, but that's a shorter run. Like with Munich, I'll play Eibsee by ear.
If I end up running in Munich this June, I'll bring a photo of my friend Dan with me. I usually bring my late running partner Bill's photo and pin it to my shirt. But Bill has been with me for my last three races in Munich. Dan died last year and was always interested in my running even though he wasn't a runner himself. This is going to sound like I'm ready to be put into the nearest psychiatric facility...when I get toward the end of a training run, I look up at a certain place in the sky for Bill to let him know how my run went. Today I gave two thumbs up toward "Bill's place" and saw Dan there instead. I took that as a sign that if I do the City Run, Dan should accompany me. Dan was my best friend when he was alive. Who better to get me over the rough spots than a best friend, right?
Stay tuned to see how my training is going and if I decide to sign up for the City Run.
I'm starting to think that I may be able to do the Munich City Run half-marathon in June if I continue at my current pace. Earlier this year, I thought that it was a definite no-go because of my calf problems. I'll have to look closely at the calendar, but it appears that I'll be able to get in enough long runs to feel confident about being able to go the distance. The only down side is that I won't have any down time if I feel that I need a rest week. I really like to have some built-in rest periods when I train for a long race. I'll also have to build up my mileage faster than I normally like to.
My mind isn't 100% made up about running the City Run. As it gets toward May I'll evaluate how my training is going and take it from there. If everything keeps going this well, I should make it to Munich. I'd really like to do the City Run because it will be the only half-marathon that I'll be able to run this year. It would be nice to run the half-marathon that was part of the Munich Marathon in October. But I just don't see how that will be possible. I'll be in the States for three weeks in August and September, which is when I'd be doing a lot of long runs to prepare for an October race. It would be too hard and rushed to try and prepare for such a long race. I may do the Eibsee Run in late October, but that's a shorter run. Like with Munich, I'll play Eibsee by ear.
If I end up running in Munich this June, I'll bring a photo of my friend Dan with me. I usually bring my late running partner Bill's photo and pin it to my shirt. But Bill has been with me for my last three races in Munich. Dan died last year and was always interested in my running even though he wasn't a runner himself. This is going to sound like I'm ready to be put into the nearest psychiatric facility...when I get toward the end of a training run, I look up at a certain place in the sky for Bill to let him know how my run went. Today I gave two thumbs up toward "Bill's place" and saw Dan there instead. I took that as a sign that if I do the City Run, Dan should accompany me. Dan was my best friend when he was alive. Who better to get me over the rough spots than a best friend, right?
Stay tuned to see how my training is going and if I decide to sign up for the City Run.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Random Thoughts from Munich
Here are a few thoughts about the Munich City Run...
The changing room situation would never fly in the States. In previous years there were separate tents for men and women to put their bags/backpacks and change their clothing after the race. This time around the tents were marked for men and women. But there were women in the men's tent and vice versa. When I was in the tent after the race doing some stretching and switching from running shoes to sandals, there were two men nearby who had stripped down to their birthday suits. There were also women who had stripped down to nothing with men in the tent. I've been living in Europe too long because that didn't faze me at all. A pervert in the tent was the last thing on my mind while I was doing my post-race stretching routine. Even if there was a pervert in the tent, he probably would have been too tired after running 21.1 km to engage in any deviant behavior.
I also can't imagine having unguarded tents in the States. Someone would go through them during the race and take anything valuable. I know that's a horrible thought about my fellow countrymen. But it seems like if you turn your back on something in the States, it's gone before you realize it. I had my wallet with emergency money, old mobile phone, massage stick (that was definitely the most valuable item after the race), and car keys in my gym bag. Everything was there when I returned. It's wonderful to concentrate on the race without worrying about my things.
It was nice that the trails in the English Garden used for the race were blocked off to non-racers. It's enough of a challenge to find a gap to pass another runner without getting an elbow in the face. But having casual park visitors trying to cross the trails in previous years made it even more daunting. This was the first year that the trails were closed to the general public.
I had two songs in my head that alternated throughout the race: "Long Cool Woman (in a Black Dress)" by the Hollies and "Talking in Your Sleep" by the Romantics. The chorus to "Talking" started playing in my head as I was in line for the Porta Potty before the race. "Long Cool Woman" put me in a good frame of mind because I heard that one during the Neumarkt City Run 10.5K one year when I did well.
When I took the subway back to the park-and-ride where I left my car, I felt sorry for the people sitting next to me. After running 21.1 km, I know that I didn't smell like roses. But they were nice and didn't seem to care. One of the people had done the City Run before. Another one was from California and is spending the summer in Munich visiting friends.
It's nice that all rides on Munich public transportation on race day are free with your race shirt or registration papers. There wouldn't be any place to park near the start area anyway. The subway is very convenient and the park-and-ride that I use only costs 1.50 euro for the day. It's a 12-minute ride from there to the start area. The subway stop is about 100 meters from the changing tents and starting line.
In Germany there are still a lot more men who race than women. In the States the ratio is around 50-50. There were about 1500 female finishers in yesterday's half-marathon and about 4500 men. In the more serious runs, there is an even higher ratio of men to women. Running is still viewed as more of a male sport.
Today was a lazy day, though my muscles aren't as sore as I thought they would be. Earlier this afternoon I took a short walk. Tomorrow I'll ride my bike to work to loosen up my muscles. I should be back on the trails by the end of the week.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Munich City Run
I like the Munich City Run Half-Marathon because it's more of a people's race than a serious one. Most races in Germany are for serious runners only, though that is starting to change. The City Run series is the biggest series of races in Germany. City Runs take place in 8 major cities. I like the route of the Munich run because it's flat and all but 3 km of the half-marathon are in the English Garden.
Because of the warm weather, my expectation was to finish on my feet. I didn't set any time goals due to the heat and humidity. I would be happy with any finish under 2:10. My plan was to start slowly, take drinks of diluted Gatorade that I carried with me every 15 minutes, and eat some Gummi Bears every 5 km. I ended up drinking the full half-liter of diluted Gatorade in the race. The plan worked well because my time of 1:55:52 was quite respectable. It wasn't my best time, but wasn't my worst either. That time was about halfway between my best and worst. My average pace was 5:30/km or about 8:50/mile. I was the 354th woman out of 1539 and 21st in my age group out of 102. I don't know how I did overall because the men's and women's results are listed separately. It's nice to know that I'm not slowing down yet.
After the first couple of kilometers I found my pace and was able to hold it pretty well. Being the non-anal runner that I am, I totally forgot to hit the split button on my watch to record my kilometer split times. When did I realize this? Around the 5 km mark. But I could tell that I was keeping a consistent pace because my time at the 10 km mark was around 54:30 and my time at 20 km was 1:49 and change. Even with the drink stops every 3 km or so, I was able to keep a steady pace. The funny thing was that I felt like I was really holding myself back because of the weather. I decided not to push myself at all, especially in the last 5 km. But even at the later stages of the run, I was passing more people than were passing me. The time seemed to pass very quickly, even in the last hot kilometers.
My left hamstring was a non-issue, though it was a little tight in the first kilometer. Once it loosened up, it was fine. Even the walking that I did when I took my drinks didn't make it tighten up. I did have something weird happen though. Sometime in the last 5 km a woman passed me and bumped me, causing me to stumble. That stumble caused my 3rd and 4th toes on my right foot to cramp. But they fortunately loosened up after a few meters. I did get a bruised toenail on my right foot though. When I did my post-run stretching I used my Stick, which helped to loosen my stiff muscles.
This year's shirt was ugly. It was orange like the others from previous years. In this race nobody gets a number; but everyone has to wear the same shirt. That's part of the City Run experience and also how you get refreshments at the water points. It was two-toned orange with black stripes on the sleeves. It seems like the shirts get uglier each year. But they're good technical shirts, so I shouldn't complain too much. The post-race refreshments were a little weak. The organizers handed out bottles of mineral water and cherry or berry juice mixed with mineral water. There were apples, oranges, and Power Bars. Runners could also get beer. The last time I did this run, the refreshments were much better with pretzels, oranges, and rolls in addition to the other fruit and Power Bars.
The Munich Marathon people were at the 1.5/19.5 km mark and announced that this year for the first time there will be a half-marathon to go along with the marathon this October. The weather is nice and cool in October. Guess what I'm thinking...
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