Hot hot hot

It's hot. And the only member of this household, who is allowed to wear a fur coat and does so permanently, wishes it had a zipper so he could take it off.



Actually it's very hot. And this morning was the start of the half-marathon in Leverkusen. When I got up, I felt like doing a thousand other things than run for 21 miles. Sitting on the balcony with a nice cuppa and a good book, for example. But a couple of hours later, there I was... running and panting in the sun.

Of course it didn't go too well. My foot hurt (silly me!) and the heat was killing me. I don't like running in summer, I am decidedly an autumn/winter runner. 12°C are just fine, thank you. But today for at least 50% of the time there was no shade whatsoever and a bright summer sun over our heads. I don't remember hearing and seeing the ambulance that often at any race before. Several people were being taken care of beside the track by medics.

I started too fast, doing the first k in 5:45. I knew I was doomed when I hadn't slowed down much by 10k, even though I tried. But with people passing you by and dragging you along it is sometimes hard to run a slower pace. Eventually after 15k I fell into a pace that was very close to Nordic Walking. But at least I was still "running". Lots of people walked the last 1 to 2k. My official time is 02:11:13.

Behind the finish line medals were handed out and ... WATER. I drank like a camel after a desert crossing. Anna (official time 01:53:26 - excellent) had a beer. Had I done that I would have been in the hospital now. She stayed and queued for a free massage. I just wanted to go home and sleep, so I did.