„Never give up, never surrender.“ Galaxy Quest

after the Marathon is before the Marathon

Sun, 7 Mar 2010 17:30:27 +0800

Last Sunday we participated in the Tokyo Marathon. It was our fourth Tokyo Marathon and we participated in all of them up to now! The weather was pretty much like it was during the first race in 2007. Rain, cold (6 Celsius!) but not much wind. Well, this time, I ran with a rain coat during the whole race. Christiane and I finished in 3:55. The rain stopped around the 40k point and we could enjoy the last 2 km. After the finish, we were interviewed by Japanese TV. Well, had to think hard to understand the questions they asked. They were very astonished to hear that we ran all Tokyo Marathons! Back in China I have to crank up my Mileage now to get into shape for my next race. Today, the weather was really nice (hard to believe but only 14 Celsius! ). So I took the Bull by the horns and did another long run, 30km to be precise. Felt pretty ok, even though I lost 1,5 kg of fluids during the run. Will be much harder when the temperatures are up again.

another new year is near...

Fri, 5 Feb 2010 21:43:02 +0800

Next week, the Chinese are celebrating their New Year. The year of the Tiger is coming. The picture above was taken in Kemer. Interesting spelling of some the international brands!
My running training goes ok. Doing the long runs and track training as well as some medium runs. Averaging 70km/week.

Happy new year 2010

Sun, 3 Jan 2010 22:48:42 +0800

I am just back from a great running week in Kemer, Turkey. We had some really great runs with our running friends and enjoyed the good weather, the friendly people and the great scenery.

Back on the island

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 11:10:10 +0800

My entries have been slow for the past weeks. Need to catch up on a few developments, I guess. Two weeks ago, we went to Japan and attended a great wedding party of our running friends there. Visiting Japan this time, I felt like a tourist. We went to Hakone via the Romance car, cable train, rope way and by boat. Had a great weekend there. In the meantime, temperatures went down a little here in Guangzhou. Today, we did the first Ersha island outer loop. Running on the south river bank is great, because of all the shade the buildings provide. It‘s a total of 11km and it seems this loop can be used for the long runs to come. Btw, we got a spot in Tokyo Marathon 2010. That‘s for the forth time in a row. We are so excited about this. Have to start training again. February 28th is not so far away ;-)

Back from Cambodia

Tue, 6 Oct 2009 22:26:04 +0800

We returned from Berlin and stayed a few days in Cambodia. We visited Angkor Wat and Phnom Penh. Was really exciting and interesting.

3 hours to go....

Sun, 20 Sep 2009 12:06:33 +0800

We are all up and preparing for the Marathon. Like real professionals, everybody is having his/her own special, magic breakfast and special (japanese) tea. We will be taking an early S-Bahn train to Main train station (Hauptbahnhof). As you may know, S-Bahn is having some wagons repaired so we assume the train will be VERY VERY crowded. Keep fingers crossed that we get to the start line in time.

Berlin Marathon ahead...

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 15:04:43 +0800

Yesterday, the group of NAMBANs arrived in Berlin. We stay with friends and a total of 6 of us Wild Foreigners plan to run one of the best Marathons in the world. Word is out that Haile (ETH) and Duncan Kibet (KEN) will fight for a new World record. In the woman division, Askale Tafa and Genet Getaneh -both from ETH- are the top runners. Guess we stay clear from them most of the time ;-) Weather will be a little too warm, up to 20C @ noon time is expected. But will be around 12C in the morning, so should not be too bad. We are about to pick up our BIB nos. Stay tuned for some pics later.

I love hills...

Sun, 6 Sep 2009 13:18:34 +0800

Today, a group of 6 brave Guangzhou runners conquered Bayun mountain. It is an recreational area in the center of Guangzhou, close to the airport. We started @ 7am from lake Luhu and reached the entrance gate @ 7:20. From there, the road winds up for 3km to the 388m high top. Doesn‘t sound that tough. However, the humidity and the temperatures are really exceptional. We stopped for some water every km or so. There are a lot of stores around, so no need to carry own water. The view from the top was not very clear but it certainly must be spectacular on a clear day. The run was ca. 13km long. It is easy to extend it further by adding a loop on a nearby water reservoir. Guess we finally found a good spot to spend the weekends... :-)

A new course

Sun, 30 Aug 2009 11:32:20 +0800

This morning we went to Luhu Lu and met some members of the Guangzhou running club. Luhu Lu is a park/golf/lake area in Guangzhou. There is an entrance into the Bayun Mountains as well. Guangzhou Airport is named after this region. We did not run up the mountain since it was too hot. But we ran to the entrance and did two lake loops, covering a total of 10km. It was a great run even though it was very humid and we sweated a lot. From November on the temperatures will be much lower. Guess we have to wait two more months to enjoy the mountain terrain.

„Marathontraining“

Sat, 29 Aug 2009 18:29:18 +0800

Well, the last two week went by quickly. I could run twice last week (Tu and Th 10k each). Finally or furniture arrived and I was just too busy with other things. Could run four times this week. Not bad at all. Did 30k today on the mill at 5:30 min/km pace. I listened to some audio books. Time did not really fly by, but it was much more enjoyable than watching TV. TV seems to distract me more and my running style changes in such a way that it becomes more difficult to focus on the belt. Tomorrow we will meet some local runners at Luhu Lu Parkview. It‘s a kind of Resort in the center of Guangzhou. Heard that there is a great view. Let‘s hope for good weather...!