So war der Linz-Marathon, Christian Mayr erzählt:

The Vitalmonitor helped me to prepare perfectly for the Linz Marathon!

If I had to describe the Linz Marathon with one word then that would probably be PERFECT! With a well thought out race tactics and a very good preparation I was able to achieve my goal time of under 3:15h. My average running distance during the preparation was only 46.5 km per week. This shows that Berny Schimpl's training plan had a very good balance between load and unload. The Vitalmonitor was an excellent tool to select the individual training units or to train loosely. Essentially, my preparation in the winter went largely without problems. Especially in the last weeks I noticed an increase in my form. In the week before the marathon, Berny minimized the training so that I would be fully recovered for the race. With a carbo-loading in the 3 days before I could fill my energy stores.

My plan

The plan was to run with the pacemaker as much as possible. This should keep me from running too fast at the beginning. Should I still have enough in the tank at km 37 then I would run the last 5km a little faster. Mentally the plan was to divide the course into three equal long parts of 14km. The first 14km should feel comfortable, at the second 14km pay attention to a clean running technique and from km 28 it may feel like a competition (I heard this once on a TV broadcast of Viktor Röthlin). At the race catering I almost relied on the organizer - and would have been abandoned. According to the information on the homepage, there should be Multipower gels at every aid station from the halfway point. Since I had no experience with these gels I played it safe and took 6 High5 gels with me. So per hour 2 gels which corresponds to 46g carbohydrates. I am just below the usual amount of 50-80g but in the past I often had stomach problems with these amounts in competitions. I was able to implement my plan 100%, which makes me very happy. I also had no problems worth mentioning. Only between km 32 and 34 light stinging in the right lung. Otherwise neither pain in the muscles, joints or energetic problems. Keyword energetic problems: The man with the hammer is such a myth that is haunted around. He is supposed to come after about 35km, suddenly and mercilessly. With the right preparation and the right nutrition during the race, you can safely say hello to the man with the hammer at 35km and gain a bit of speed in the final kilometers. I am especially happy about the negative running split: 1st HM: 1:37:25, 2nd HM: 1:36:47 I surprised myself with that - I would not have thought that I could do that.

I can pass this on to others

What I learned from this race is that it is very important to set an ambitious, but realistic, goal and stick to your race plan. Especially if the whole competition goes according to plan. I also realized the importance of having an intelligent plan - and sticking to it. The longer the distance, the more important it is to have a well thought out plan. With this I was able to reach my goal as a marathon rookie and I can only recommend everyone to do the same. The Vitalmonitor is an extremely helpful tool for ambitious athletes. I don't know anything comparable to make your training as effective as possible. What surprised me was the influence of psychological stress on the body and that the Vitalmonitor captures this very well.