RNZ running training: lack of motivation and self-overestimation-Wiesloch-RNZ

Wiesloch. (stoy) Pummeling rain welcomes us just in time for the first day of training at TSG Wiesloch. From now on, a total of 17 participants will meet for twelve weeks and train together for the Wiesloch city run. My colleague Tobias Törkott and I, Sophia Stoye, are also there.

Because for the RNZ we will be at the start of the ten-kilometer lap of the Wiesloch city run at the end of April. From now on, every Tuesday and Thursday evening, the TSG trainers Birgit Winkler, Gabriele Bräunling and Ruth Weimer will shoo us along the track and show us how we can best prepare. But the beginning is bumpy. Part one of the RNZ running diary:

> First time running training: Since Tobias caught the corona virus right at the start of the running training, I force myself out of the car on Tuesday evening and onto the wet running track of the Wiesloch stadium in the rain. My motivation: zero. A quick look at the group of participants is enough to see that the others feel the same way.

Happy to escape the rain, the trainers first explain everything organizational to us inside, in the dry. But the joy doesn't last long: after a few stabilization exercises, it's back to the sports field. We get to know the classic among running exercises: the ABC of running. "Marathon runners still do it," explains trainer Gabriele. We start with knee lifts, move on to heels and finish with skippings. Even if my lungs make themselves felt in between, the rest of the training is relatively relaxed. Groups form during our rounds in the stadium, some participants already seem to know each other. My impression is that most of them are recreational runners who "just want to get back into the pots", as one participant tells me.

Often the winter or job has slowed them down - or there is a lack of a suitable training partner. At the end, about four kilometers and all participants come together to stretch - relieved to have survived the first training session in the rain.

> A bit overestimated: After the training on Thursday was better than the first time, not only in terms of the weather, my first "homework" of the running training is due at the weekend: Run four times for eight minutes, walking again for one minute in between. To test myself, I skip the walking break and run in one go.

I can cover six kilometers in 40 minutes, but after just the first kilometer my breath begins to get heavy. From kilometer five my left shoulder suddenly hurts - I try to cover as little distance as possible to get home quickly.

In spite of the winter sun, I prefer to walk on the right side of the sidewalk without shade so that I don't have to cross the street again. I only manage a third of my goal of running the last 350 meters: After all, this leaves more time to run out.

Update: Tuesday, February 8, 2022, 6 a.m

Starting today, 12 weeks of training for the city run

By Sophia Stoye and Tobias Törkott

Wiesloch. The Wiesloch city run was canceled two years in a row. The ten-kilometre route through Damelwald and the city area is one of the sporting highlights of the wine town. In 2022, after the compulsory Corona break, people should walk, run or walk again. Two members of the RNZ editorial team from Wiesloch want to take part in the run at the end of April. What were Sophia Stoye and Tobias Törkott thinking? Yes, they don't know that themselves. Ambition? The classic spring sports motivation? Or just an advertisement for TSG Wiesloch in one of the past issues of the RNZ.

Because the athletics department of the city's largest sports club is offering twelve-week running training starting today, Tuesday. The recreational athletes slip into their running shoes twice a week in the stadium. There is also homework to do as fit as possible on the ten-kilometer route. "The first time it's less than ten kilometers," promises Marion Brasse, head of the athletics department. In the course of the sessions, a five-kilometer run will also be on the program to get the right feeling of competition. The runs get longer and longer over time.

The licensed TSG running coaches: Ruth Weimer, Birgit Winkler and Gabrielle Bräunling, all active runners themselves, ensure the best possible preparation. "The know-how is there," says Brasse. Yoga and stabilization exercises or the ABC of running with various tasks are also on the training plan. Many a participant had already taken part in the running group. "Certain prior knowledge should already be there," says Brasse. Running for 20 to 30 minutes at a time - albeit at your own pace - is a prerequisite for participation. Choosing the right shoes is also important. "If they don't fit, it's no fun," predicts the department head.

And what does she think about the participation of the two RNZ editors? They had remarked in advance that they were not absolutely unsportsmanlike, but definitely not trained. Is it enough to go to the gym from time to time or play lower-class soccer? "Yes, that's enough. Nobody has to be afraid," Brasse is optimistic.

Stoye and Törkott's goals are certainly high. You can read in your RNZ whether they will fulfill these requirements and how they are doing.

> Tobias Törkott (32 years old): What was I thinking? Yes, that's a good question. The idea was born quickly. Running training sounds more like punishment to me because I can't quite understand the point of running without a ball, but many people are particularly motivated at the beginning of the year - including me.

For four years, I mostly used the office chair as my main piece of sports equipment. Since the summer of 2021 I've been playing football again in the Palatinate, albeit very, very subclassly. But the birth of our son triggered something in me: you want to get fitter so that the little one can also benefit from you, I thought to myself at the time. Said and done.

It's gradually becoming something, but walking ten kilometers? That's ambitious, especially since I'm still pushing a decent tummy in front of me. The time is even more ambitious: under an hour, that's my target. Let's see if I'll say after a few weeks: The main thing is to arrive.

> Sophia Stoye (20 years old): My running experience is very limited – and can be summed up quickly: registered for athletics training as a child but never went, still registered at the age of 14 and took part in running training for half a year. A friend persuaded me to do this.

As with the St. Leon-Red Spring Run, in which all children in elementary school always had to run, I was by far the worst in running training: while everyone else easily ran the four kilometers to warm up, the trainer accompanied me out of pity on my two-kilometer lap.

After a break of a few years, about two years ago I suddenly found myself enjoying the sport, which I had previously thought was boring. So far I haven't been able to break the ten-kilometer mark and my motivation has only lasted seasonally. But equipped with new running shoes and the right training, that will certainly change soon.