Five Things Running: Issue #27

Late summer running is awesome.

Yesterday I ran the Hamburg Airport Race, organized by the Lufthansa Sports Club. As the Hamburg Airport is the oldest airport in Germany, it is located in the city (and just 5km away from where I live) and a rather small airport. Although Hamburg is the second biggest city of the fourth biggest economy in the world and one of the major aviation hubs in the world (due to Lufthansa Technik and of course Airbus), all the efforts to move the airport out of the city limits didn’t work out, as Hamburg is city-state and the other German states were just interested in the jobs and the taxes, but didn’t like the noise and the pollution, so the airport remained in Hamburg.

The race is 16 km (10 miles) around the airport and it was great fun. I usually run around the airport clockwise from my house and turn it into a half-marathon. This time I ran counter-clockwise and the route was a bit different, but still a great combination between streets (and an airport parking lot) and some trails around the airport. I didn’t win, but finished 282th of 783 men and in my age bracket M50 I finished 37th out of 115. More photos as always on my Strava profile…

And on a semi-related site-note: we all learned this week that Chancellor Olaf Scholz is a runner. He tripped and fell during while being on his usual running route last weekend and now wears an eye-patch, which was probably a great conversation starter at the G20 meeting in India.

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Bobbi Gibb: The Boston Marathon pioneer who raced a lie

“"Women are not physiologically capable of running a marathon." - with this deragatory remark Bobbi Gibb’s application to run the Boston Marathon in 1966 was rejected. She ran anyway. What a story!

How to Optimize Your Pre-Workout Meal Timing 

When I read this, I thought about my pre-workout meal timing. There’s none. When I run my usual 10km in the morning, I run in a fastened state. When I run longer, I have a banana before the run. That’s it. Now I know a bit better.

Two-A-Days: When and How to Run Doubles

I admire people who have the time and will to do two runs a day. I feel bad when I go running and swimming on the same day. Do you do doubles?

How to Know When to DNF

A DNF sucks. Always. The time and money spent to prepare for a race - and then you drop out. This just sucks. I’m still not over dropping out of the Hamburg Marathon after 12 km, but my back and my left leg just wouldn’t cooperate any more. But I came back stronger from this.

Mindset: The Secret To Improving Your Running And Racing

Do you have a mantra? How do you motivate yourself? The brain is an amazing thing if you use it right.

That’s all for now!

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