Marathon

When my son started kindergarten, he was introduced to his kindergarten in stages. So I had two to three hours left in the morning when it wasn't worth starting anything else. So I put on my sports outfit in the morning, took my child to the kindergarten on the edge of Bremen's Bürgerpark and started walking. First half an hour, then an hour, then an hour and a half, finally two hours. It was pleasant to move around in the fresh air. For the first fifteen minutes, the pulse went up and I had to concentrate on breathing evenly. But then the pulse calmed down and the breathing became even, and the feeling that many runners report came. The breathing is calm and even, the movement goes as if by itself and from there on you seem to be able to run endlessly. The body is relaxed, the mind is free and a flower life develops, a state of relaxed concentration in which you are one with your body. Shortly before the Bremen Marathon, I ran the Bremen leg of the half marathon as a reward for myself. As a reward, I had a caramel macchiato on Bremen's market square. Although my preparation wasn't very professional - I ran at a steady pace for two hours every day - I looked around a bit to see what kind of preparation was available and which marathons were on offer in the autumn.

 

On the website www.swb-marathon.de you can find information about which running categories are offered in Bremen, for example. It doesn't have to be a full marathon: you can run 10 km first to see if long distances are right for you. There are 10 miles, 10 km, a half marathon and a full marathon on offer. The Bremen Marathon Association regularly offers group preparation. You can be informed by e-mail. This way you can train together with others.

 

At www.marathon.de you can view the entire annual calendar of marathons. There are marathons in most major cities.

 

There is a lot of literature on how to prepare for such a race. At the time, I bought two books that offer well-structured, practical preparation:

 

T.Steffens/M. Gröing: Marathon - Die Besten Programme, published by rororo Verlag, price: €6.66.

 

Wolfgang Schillings: Die besten 100 Tipps für den Marathon, published by spormedis Verlag, price: 5,- €.