Forced to take part

stats of the week: run 12 km, zwift cycled 146 km, hiked 36 km, tm walked 10 km

I missed the final date when the cancellation of the Syltlauf was possible. So I received the parcel containing my bib and also the medal. The result is that I have to do it next Sunday. 33 km! 

Photo: This year's bib and medal are the ones from the cancelled run last year.

Luckily the usual time limit of 4 hours is not valid for the virtual version. We are allowed to walk all the distance. I planned a flat route along the river Ruhr and completed a test walk of 20 km that was fine. Target for next Sunday is to finish within 5:30 h.

Virtual LM sold out

stats of the week: run 10 km, zwift cycled 109 km, hiked 25 km
stats of the previous week: run 17 km, zwift cycled 145 km, hiked 14 km

The virtual London Marathon 2021 is actually sold out now. 50,000 bibs are gone, was surprises me as I am not an excited fan of virtual races. Boston follows and offers even 70,000 virtual places!

Regarding Boris Johnson's announcement about Covid openings in summer the real London Marathon has a good chance to take place in October. Maybe only vaccinated starters will be accepted. By then this should not be a problem.

At the moment I can't imagine myself running a marathon. Restricted by several orthopedic problems my jogs don't extend 7 km. Even a half marathon is unthinkable. Luckily walking is allowed at the virtual Syltlauf. The distance in two weeks is 33 km.

Could have been worse

stats of the week: run 5 km, zwift cycled 83 km, hiked 20 km
stats of the previous week: run 4 km, hiked 10 km

Entry to the virtual London Marathon 2021 is now open. It seems to be less popular than expected. The organisers do a lot of advertising. Regarding Boris Johnson's reopening plans one can hope that the usual London Marathon can take place on Oct 3rd. I cautiously begin to believe in this. Everybody will be vaccinated by then, maybe overseas runners will need a test but that will be okay. Fingers crossed.

For me there is a new problem to get back to proper training. While hiking in the local woods I fell on the ice and damaged my left shoulder. Nothing broken but one tendon is cracked completely and two others partly. A very painful experience that will take up to 3 or 4 months till I will have fully recovered. No chance to ride my bike outside now but luckily it is no problem indoors. And cautious jogging is possible, too. Could have been worse.

Groundhog days

stats of the week: none
stats of the previous week: run 28 km, zwift cycled 48 km, hiked 6 km, tm walked 14 km 

The good news is that the MRI showed that my hip joint is fine, no arthrosis found. However the pain forced me to stop any kind of activity. 

The suprising detection is that I don't really miss the daily activity. I nearly feel like I had never done any sports. I am eating the same amount of food as before and wait for taking on weight. Well, Covid life isn't really exciting but I seem to get accustomed to the endless row of groundhog days. I know that I am in a privileged situation. While others have to fight for their livelihood my only trouble is that there is no chance to spend my monthly pension.

New finding

stats of the week: run 16 km, zwift cycled 206 km, tm walked 10 km

What I regarded as a minor tendon problem seems to be more serious. The x-ray shows a hip deformation (called cam impingement) that is not really suitable for intensive cycling. This finding may explain the pain I have developed after I increased indoor cycling over the recent weeks. Cycling indoor is much more intensive than outside because the hip is rotating all the time without a second of rest.

The conclusion has to be to stop cycling completely for a while until the pain decreases. I hope I will be able to jog frequently at a limited pace. I am lucky that this year's London Marathon has been postponed to autumn.

Post from South Africa

stats of the week: run 0 km, Zwift cycled 238 km, tm walked 17 km, hiked 10 km
stats of the previous week: run 12 km, Zwift cycled 76 km, tm walked 10 km

Received my Comrades medal with a delay of half a year what I don't mind. I am just happy to have got it, a quite impressive one earned by running just 10 km. It came with a very nice shirt, too. If the next Comrades will be run virtually again, probably it will, no doubt I will take part again.

I developed a new passion for riding my bike at home. Other people may have a home office, I - as a retired person - have a home gym. I still would prefer to run more often but the mysterious tendon problem is still restricting me.

Streak aborted

stats of the week: run 20 km, Zwift cycled 153 km, tm walked 14 km

Finished the virtual Honolulu Start to Park 10K in 53:11 min what is quite sufficient regarding my limited mileage during the recent 3 months. However, I could not be really happy with it coz I developed a tendon problem that forces me to stop the streak after 56 continuous days of sports activity. Not the best start into covid year 2.