Well as prospective entrants for the New York Marathon which occurs in just 7 days Agata and I needed to put in some last minute training.
So what better than to participate in the 2009 Lausanne Marathon :-) Agata was committed to run the 10Km with friends in order to celebrate Simone's birthday, leaving Marcus to run the Lausanne marathon. I was told (by everyone) to go very slowly.
Well that sounds easy in theory. But in practice I saw so many heffalumps walloping past me it seemed rude not to keep up. Despite Agatas' instructions I soon caught up the 03:45 baloon pace man, and then the 03:30 pace man. Then I continued forward and caught up the next group of runners (in block1) who had started 4 minutes earlier.
At Km20 things seems to be going too well when the 03:30 pace man for block1 came into view, and by a combination of corner cutting, and determined plodding of my short fat legs I managed to finish the line just ahead of him. Hence the time of about 3 hours 25 minutes. Wahoo! That is an unbelievable 20 minutes faster than the last marathon.
So early; that Agata was still sitting comfortably in Creperie D'Ouchy when I waddled in (since I had promised to take at least 4 hours).
So all is well, Lausanne marathon completed and hence preparation for New York is assured. Obviously I now have a perfect excuse to put in a slow New York time, "I was still recovering", and I have a few more like: "I was so happy to see my old home town, I got distracted". 7 days and counting down. New York here we come!
Until then, it is time for WINE!
PS: A bit thanks to Lausanne Cantons' brilliant organisational skills. We drove to within 300 metres of the marathon start, parked the car 45 minutes before the race and started running on time. In New York we have to be there 4 hours before the race start. We have been told to bring a sleeping bag, and I am not kidding.
Statistics:
Post marathon weight: 63.8Kg (meaning that I am now a full 10Kg lighter than a few months back. Don't ask me how). Having been overweight my whole life it is time for me to pose myself a philosophical question: Will I now recognise that I'm probably no longer fat?
Marathon time: About 3 hours 25 minutes (oops, I was supposed to run a 4 hour race)
Injuries: None. Also bizarrely I do not appear to be that tired. Agata tells me it's the extra red blood cells from Kilimanjaro that are carrying me.
Agata, Simone, Rashida, Marianna, Ilona and Ania all in great spirits as usual.
