Small anniversary in Skælskør

A new marathon day - Storebælt Naturmarathon - suppose to be one of the most beautiful marathon's in Denmark, and it is. After only 5K we passed the higest point with a magnificent view over a large part of West Zealand. And hereafter we passed many many beautiful points where it would have been easy to spend a lazy Sunday Afternoon. But for some reason it was more important to sweat, feel the pain and the heat to finsh the 42K.

The preparation for the race was far from perfect. After Copenhagen MT I have had some challenges with my knees and back - somehow I think it is related - so I only managed to train perfectly for one week, where I ran approx 50K in short distances and with high speed. But since my knees and back were still a challenge I did not have great expectation. Actually I just wanted finish the 42K in the least painfull way and with no objective on time.

The race started from the town square in Slagelse. Approx 140 runners in sunny weather. Quickly after start we managed to form a group of 10-12 runners with a pace of 4:40-4:45 per K. Somehow faster than I expected, but the pace really felt nice and relaxing. Almost until ½ marathon we managed to stay together, which was great.

Peer, my training partner from Sorø, entered the race 31K before the finish line and followed the group as well. But the pace was high and we decided to fall back. I think this was good strategy - and later in the race it paid off. (Thank you Peer! - I think it eventually save my race)

After passing ½ marathon I was approx 1 min after the group, but now it seemed some of the runners ran slower, so the group was split, and they began to run in various paces. I could now start to catch up with them, one by one. Great strategy, mentally it was great to overtake them one by one. And by 9K to the finish line I passed the fastest of the runners in the group, and I really had mental surplus.

The last ½ marathon was definately the toughest. Many small tracks with sand, graval path, forest tracks, and very little paved road. And I must admit the last 5K started to be a mental challenge, and on top of this, my left knee started to challenge me. But somehow I got through it, without loosing a lot of time. The last hill: Møllebakken (The Mill Hill) of 15 heightmeters was a tough challenge, and I praised the water supply just on the top of the hill. Hereafter it was almost downhill to the finish line to a great reception in the finish area.

Finish time: 3h28m09s - (Marathon #20),  only 1 min slower than Copenhagen Marathon. The race today was executed well, but I think it proofed my CPH MT time to be slow. The course today was definately much tougher and the weather a lot warmer, so CPH MT should have been faster.

Mental note for myself: remember to bring sunglasses when the weather forecast say "sun"