When it comes to running, the years of the COVID-19 pandemic were actually pretty good for me. Not that I enjoyed the lockdowns, and I don’t want to downplay the suffering of so many people and the consequences. But when it comes to the flexibility of work and the rise of remote work, I have to say, all of that had a positive impact on my training. I could run more regularly, be more flexible, and, as a result, more consistent.
I don’t want to run like this anymore. It’s not doing me any good. More than that: it’s jeopardizing my health. I’m jeopardizing my health. And my joy of running is at risk too. I owe this realization to a gadget, not my own insight. But let’s start from the beginning.
When Beau Miles became 42, he ran 42 kilometers. Not the full length of a marathon though. So he waited 71 days longer, until he became 42.195 years old — and ran 42.195 kilometers. «To celebrate being alive». The film he has made about this run is a wonderful small masterpiece.
Eliud Kipchoge recently won the Tokyo Marathon in 2:02:40, not much slower than his current world record for the fastest marathon ever, set during the Berlin Marathon in 2018 with a time of 2:01:39. But what does that time mean? Mark Lewis, who describes himself as an average runner who is «not too bad» at any distance, thought about this question a little longer. «It’s a 2 minute 54 per km pace for 42 km; stupidly quick,» he says. But: «I can’t comprehend what he’s doing, not properly.»