I am back in the saddle again...

... riding into town alone... well, not quite alone. I have a new trainer! "But who is it?" I hear you cry. Well, a couple of months ago my friend and fellow running addict Anna started to get faster and faster. In fact, she got so fast that I thought she was secretly doping herself. Eventually she told me the secret to her success: His name is Jens Karass and he is known to the Spiegel Online reading world as "Klemmbrett-Karass" (the English translation of "Clipboard-Karass" doesn't alliterate quite as nicely). Where does the name come from? One of the people Jens coaches happens to be a journalist who writes about his runner's life in the very enjoyable and highly recommended column Achille's Verse. (Best of all: Achim is one of us! He thinks walkers are a pest, too.) He calls Jens "Klemmbrett-Karass", because Jens' favourite coaching accessory is a clipboard. Never leaves home without it apparently!

So, Jens is now my coach, too. Online, because he lives in Berlin. His mission - make me faster, too! More precisely: make me run the London marathon 2007 in 4 h 15 min. It's 5 months and 7 days away. Jens thinks, he can do it. I'll keep you posted.