Keep going. It's worth it.

I always loved walking, since I grew up in the austrian mountains. Walking back in the 80s was the normal choice of transportiation, as was cycling. I enjoyed hours of walking or cycling around in the mountains.

Then life happened, college, work, politics, etc.

In 2010 I wanted to try something new and planned for one marathon. This once in a lifetime goal. In Q3/2010 I tried two 10k to find out whether I would be suitable for the marathon distance. Well...

"No Way," i thought to myself "will I ever run more than 10k".

Half a year later I did my first marathon in about 5 hours. It was all about surviving the distance, no great sub something goals.

After I got my medal I had a rush of dopamine I guess, and was hooked. I did a few halfmarathons, and gave another marathon a try in 09/2011.

I was never good in going fast, but had no problem in going long. So I decided to do a few 6 hours runs. After all in about 3 years it was 17 marathons and ultras.

I enjoyed either the runs in the mountains, or on a 1-2k track the most. Marathons in cities always felt a bit crowded.

After 2014 I focused more on other areas of live - business mostly. And did a few charity runs with friends. In 2019 I had a ski accident and it took some time to recover. In the pandemic I would have had sufficient time, but got myself too distract from all the panic around me.

The training was straight forward. Just being better today than I was yesterday. First I focused on going 10-15 k distances repeatedly - 3-4 times per week, regardless the pace.

After I felt comfortable with going 10-15 k, I worked on getting to an acceptable speed - about 10-11k/hour. Weekends I focused on going slow 20-30 k, and that was it.

Everybody who can run a 10 k, can do a 42.2k. It is just a mindgame.