8:49 in Roth!

I'm just at km 26 when the commentator in the stands announces me: "And there is our krelli from Nuremberg ... and he's on course for 8:39 hours." Yeah, shoulders out and with a proudly swollen chest past the audience. A few 100 meters in front of me is Bernd Eichhorn, the professional from Roth and my turn soon!

But let's start from the beginning. Punctually at 6:30 am, the starting gun is given on the canal in Hilpoltstein. The start goes well, except for a blow in the face I survive the first brawls unscathed. I swim around the turning buoy with a good feeling and know that I cannot go slowly. Shortly before the end I join a larger group and get out of the water after 54 minutes. My first thought: Thanks Chuck !!! (For those who can't do anything with it, go back a few blogs 😉 And that after three weeks of training with Chuck. What happens when I'm locked in the basement with him all winter? At this point I already felt as if I had won the race. Last year I couldn't swim a single meter and suffered a long shoulder surgery. I was never sure whether I could even go back to my old days.

Get on your bike and start off with a pulse that is way too high. After 30 minutes I was able to calm down again and cranked the first bike lap relatively comfortably in front of me. At some point I realized that I was happily pulling a whole entourage around behind me. On Calvary I got rid of my following and drove closer and closer to Chrissi Wellington. The first time Solarer Berg was really cool again. Above I noticed a pulse of 170, again not noticing how effortlessly one rushes up the mountain past my supporters. At the beginning of the second lap I approach Chrissi and see that she is accompanied by a huge group. That was really too stupid for me and I drove past and tried to increase my distance to 1-2 minutes. But this project cost me a lot of energy, in retrospect. The second time Kalvarienberg she passed me again, but this time completely alone. From here on I was a little out of breath and I let my pulse down and rolled "comfortably" into the second transition area. After 4:40 am I finished cycling and ran towards the final marathon.

The first 3-4 kilometers I had a hard time kicking and really had to bite. When we arrived at the canal, things were much better. I let my team-mate on New Year's Eve and stayed within striking distance behind him. From kilometer 6 onwards I suddenly got the "vibes" and ran along the canal in a good mood and with a skirt on my ears. The following kilometers just flew past me! Unfortunately, I had to leave New Year's Eve behind at some point. At km 24 they were all there, I was loudly supported by my parents, grandparents, girlfriend, brothers and many more along the way, thank you! Along the whole route I also got “krelli, you can do it” or the like an insane number of times. heard it was really a dream. That's roughly how it should feel in football to have the home advantage. At km 28, the Michael Jackson Mix was on, I briefly considered whether I should suggest the "moon walk" for the raging crowd 😉 All in all, I was exactly on course.

At km 30, shortly after the second turn at the top of the bridge, there was an indication of what would be with me until the end. Out of the blue I developed a cramp in my back thigh and calf. I was completely flabbergasted, I've never had a cramp in a competition! Start hobbling again and on. Unfortunately he came back at shorter and shorter intervals. Until the end I had to stop and stretch a lot. Well, I lost a few minutes and two places in the overall standings. Pissed off at myself, I ran the last few kilometers to the finish. It would be unrealistic to say that this cost me all of my time, it will probably only have been a handful of minutes. But in that moment it feels like forever.

It also got me a little out of step. Certainly I would not have reached 8:39 hours at the end of yesterday. In 03:11 I finally finished the marathon. Nevertheless, I was happy at the finish and was satisfied with my performance, of course it was nice to see a “4” in second place in the finish time 😉

At the end I was taken to my first doping test. An interesting experience peeing in front of people. Although of course I couldn't do that at first, as dehydrated as I was. After two bottles of apple spritzer it "ran" like clockwork ... haha

a beautiful day!
First party and fast food all day long !!!

krelli

PS: Of course, with the whole celebration, you shouldn't forget the tragic death of the relay swimmer from Forchheim. I didn't find out until the evening after the race. If you know the person or family, offer your condolences. Do not be afraid of contact in this regard. Nothing would be worse than giving the impression that nobody noticed or cares.