I have been running since January 2022, so not for very long. After enduring my first half marathon in October 2022, which took nearly 3 hours, I decided to look for a trainer and reached out to Wolfgang Ermeling from Runners Store, who had just started offering training plans at that time. Wolfgang catapulted me to a half marathon time of 2:04:22 within about four months. He is an amazing coach without a doubt. After about a year of training with Wolfgang, I wondered if I could run a marathon in one or two years and asked him this question. “Yes, you can do it. I believe in you,” he replied, and thus my training for my first marathon began.
That Escalated Quickly
This was beyond my imagination. I was truly afraid of these 42 kilometers, but at the same time, every part of my body wanted to do it. I wanted to achieve it. I wanted to become a marathon finisher. So, I registered for the Vienna City Marathon 2024, which will take place on April 21, 2024, and additionally for the Linz Half Marathon on April 7, 2024, as preparation. However, my biggest concern was whether the training time would be too short, as I was not allowed to train until mid-January due to jaw surgery.
The marathon training included plenty of base endurance runs and long runs at a pace of 6:38 to 6:20, which I often didn’t adhere to (I ran a bit too fast, and my trainer didn’t really like that). Over these three months, I ran between 40 km and 65 km per week, and my longest distance was 25 km. I thought I would have to run 28 km or 32 km at some point, but that was not the case. Since time was short, my trainer often relied on longer intervals like Yasso and VO2-Max sessions, which I found to be the hardest workouts. My body was exhausted after these sessions, leaving little energy for other activities.
During this time, I also avoided nightlife and any appointments that could potentially affect my training progress. Of course, I often asked myself if I would be able to manage these training sessions, considering work, private life, and my mental state.
Three weeks before the marathon, I had completed my longest runs and needed to reduce the training volume and focus on the Linz Half Marathon. The Linz Marathon was a fantastic event with good vibes, and it was fun to run with the people from my club, TriRun Linz. I didn’t find the 21.5 kilometers too bad. Compared to my first two half marathons, I actually felt very good. I started too fast at the beginning but realized that the heat could be dangerous and tried to hold back. The goal was 1:59:00, and I crossed the finish line at 1:58:00 with an average pace of 5:32 – almost exactly according to plan.
Vienna City Marathon 2024
I traveled with my husband, mother, and father to Vienna on April 20th to get my race bib. One can tell that the Vienna City Marathon is an international running event. Runners from many different countries visited the marathon expo to get their bibs. I rarely spoke in German during these two days. The expo was very well organized. I also took the chance to buy some running clothes for the race. After that, we arrived at our hotel, “Melia,” in Vienna’s highest building – the DC Tower, which was just about a five-minute walk from the marathon starting line. The hotel was very luxurious, and it was my husband’s birthday and Christmas gift to me.
The Marathon
The Vienna City Marathon was a special event. The whole city was all about the marathon. Although the weather was very cold in the beginning, the sun came out quickly, and it started to get warmer. The race started at 9:00 with the Donau Walzer song (there was even a Donauwalz-dance in front of the starting line), but for me, I started to run at about 9:20 A.M. in block 4. Initially, I ran quite fast, but then I remembered my coach’s advice to hold myself back. Because I felt good during the run, I ran between 5:55 and 6:10 instead of the planned 6:28. I kept running at the same pace for about 34 km and felt amazing. It was like a regular tempo run training for me. The people were cheering all the time, and the vibe was absolutely amazing. They even called out my name and motivated me to run further. To be honest, I needed their voices.
After the 35th kilometer, I hit the wall and my legs started to give up on me. The last 6-7 kilometers were painful. I struggled a lot to keep running, and my mind was constantly fighting against me. Before the finish line (I think it was about 2 km left), I needed to take a break and walked for a few seconds. Many people were also walking with me. The energy was gone. During the last kilometer, it was only a mental battle. Every part of my body had given up already, but I kept moving. 500 m left. 200. 100. Finish line.
This amazing feeling. I will never forget it.
Running through the finish line, people were cheering loudly. I was so exhausted, but I made it. These 42 km were such an experience with so many lows and highs. The 3 1/2 months of extreme training finally paid off. The plan was to finish this race at 4:28:00, but I did it in 4:17:21. Of course, I wasn’t fast, but it’s a good time for a 34-year-old woman who just started running only two years ago without any prior running experience. I can’t wait for my next marathon. I’ve already signed up for another one: the Generali Köln Marathon on October 6, 2024. Let’s see if I will get better.
