№41 — Traunsee half marathon
I like to run. Many people do not like to run. They think it is boring. They think it is just the same repetitive thing with no end. For me, running is great. I can stop thinking and just mindlessly go on for kilometers on end. Also, it is the only sport where I can compete and will not end up last. Therefore, I decided to run the first-ever Traunsee half marathon.
I spent a lot of time during my childhood on the shores of the Traunsee and I still do. As long as the weather is good, it is a great place to stay and I appreciate it more the older I get. When I heard about a race going from one side of the lake to the other, I was signed up immediately — in my head at least.
In theory, the route is beautiful. You start at 07:30pm in Ebensee and with the setting sun you run towards Gmunden, having the beautiful Traunstein and the lake on your right. Sounds great, right? Yes! Unfortunately, reality looked more like my first marathon — relatively cold, a slight but almost constant drizzle and only cloud and no sun. The upside was that you do not really overheat in such conditions.
My minimum goal was to finish below 1:59:59. I also set an ambitious goal early in the season when I was still motivated at 1:38:00, which would have been the official sunset, but that target proved to be unrealistic after the trip to Montenegro the previous weekend. Also, not really training the weeks before may also have played a part in that. In the end, I settled for a target time of 1:45:00.
The warm-up program to the race was somehow weird and not at all what I was used to from the other races but given the size of the event — thousand or so runner — it was quite ok. The race itself was well organized, drinks and bananas were evenly spread out and despite the weather, there was a small crowd every second kilometer. In the end, I did quite well. I ran a constant 4:59min/km pace and managed to speed up on the final kilometer to almost reach my limit — according to the official timekeepers I managed to complete the distance in 1:45:01:59, which is good for me.
Looking forward, I will definitely run there again. It feels so much more personal than the huge Vienna City Marathon. If the weather in Gmunden is nice then this race must be an amazing event. For next year, I do aim to be a sun — below 1:38:00 — finisher.
