12:46:05.
Two weeks before the run, I started feeling pain on my right knee. Then, sneezing and temperature. Then, my left foot hurt. The forecast for that day showed temperatures around 0-6 C with some light rain. I knew that running in cold weather would allow me to hold my pace longer. Yet I read on Endure that it is possible to die when exposed to rainy weather for prolonged periods of time. That is like watching the movie “Sully” before taking off in a plane across the Atlantic.
To say that I was scared is to put it mildly.
My plan was to run 100 kms of the Mauerweg. My friends would be waiting for me at km 33, 60 and 81 with drop bags. In the last stretch of the route, a friend would pace for me. Unlike my previous long runs, I decided not to look at my distance or my pace. Ever. My only goal was to keep my heart rate below my Z3 upper limit of 145 bpm.
I started running. The first 5 kms went by. No pain on my knee. No pain on my foot. I felt great and pushed all the way through. It was an amazing experience. I am very thankful to my friends for the encouragement and help.
In the end, I realized that my mind was making me believe all these symptoms because I was afraid of failure. I wanted to come up with any excuse to back down. And it is natural. Evolutionarily speaking, our minds are built to make us steer away from pain. That is how we never talk to that attractive person at the party or pursuit that business idea. Because our mind correlates potential failure with pain.
It is all in our heads.
