It’s marathon season. Or maybe even marathon week. Rotterdam and Manchester last weekend, Boston yesterday, London – and of course the Mighty Marathon – next weekend. Bashir Abdi won Rotterdam in 2 hours 3 minutes and 47 seconds. That’s 2 minutes and 56 seconds per kilometer. I can’t even run 1 kilometer in 3 minutes. My legs just can’t run that fast.

I just came back from my morning run. An easy run, keeping my heart rate below 140 beats per minute, which in my case is zone 2. This Saturday I’ll be running the Mighty Marathon, so today is an easy day. Yet, I run one segment hard. It’s a Strava-segment I created more than a year ago. The one I told you about last week, when I broke my personal record. Well, I did it again. Big time this time.

I am in second place

Last week it took me 2 minutes and 15 seconds to run those 570 meters. Which was one second faster than my old record of 2:16 of September last year. Today I did it in 2 minutes precisely. That’s 15 seconds faster. I didn’t know I had that in me. It also means I jumped over Koen Bierens (2:06) in second place. Eric van der Meijden is still the number one with 1:53.

It also means I ran 3 minutes and 28 seconds per kilometer. I can’t go a lot faster than this. My legs just can’t run that fast. I was only able to do it for 570 meters. Not for 42 kilometers and a bit.

Amazing runner

Let’s say I become this amazing runner, and I’m able to sustain this 3:28 per kilometer. That would mean I will run the marathon in 2 hours, 26 minutes and 17 seconds. That’s still almost 23 minutes slower than Bashir Abdi. My time would come closer to that of Anne Luijten, the Dutch marathon champion, who finished last Sunday in Rotterdam in 2 hours, 30 minutes and 59 seconds.

But again, she ran 3:35 per kilometer for 42 kilometers. I can’t even sustain a pace like that for 1 kilometer. I look at these people in awe. I just don’t know how they do it. I can push whatever I want, but – again- my legs just can’t run that fast.