Sunday, May 11, 2008

Geee, these Lithuanians

After my successful half-marathon a fortnight ago I thought that it would be a cinch taking part in an open 10k run in Vilnius. Piece of cake, I thought.

I did not much like the idea that the men and women ran separately. Especially considering that the women were only 22 in total and among these the Lithuanian ace runner participated, plus a Kenyan woman. Already among the men, who went up to 70, I noticed that they all looked as if they had run all their lives. Unlike participants of democratic marathons or half-marathons ....

One step beyond the start I was last! To be honest, it was a shitty route, four times along the side of the river, when we could have run very nicely into Vingiu Parkas, my usual route. My speed was quite awesome, 5.20 to 5.30 per km, despite being the last, but after 5 km I decided to let me hurting feet rest (maybe should not have run with new insoles that feel like stones in the shoes), and gave up. I could say that had we gone into the park, far from the start, I might not have given up....but I'm not sure.

Not happy. Need to go for a long run soon, and either try to improve my speed or find a more democratic group. At least I did maintain 5 km at an excellent speed.

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