50 years after the Olympics, the European Championships will be held in Munich. Nine sports under one roof is the motto of the multisport event. Four days after the start, the marathon runners will get serious on August 15. Athlete Katharina Steinruck from Eintracht Frankfurt answered questions in the run-up to the European Championships.
She is one of three (individual performance) or six (team performance) athletes nominated by the German Athletics Association (DLV). On August 4, Steinruck ran her last marathon-specific race (MSL), as she recounts in conversation. That corresponds to a distance of 30 kilometers. The 32-year-old will also run training sessions again in Munich. Part one of the interview.
There are only a few days left until your marathon on August 15 at the European Championships 2022. What are the last days before the competition like for you?
Katharina Steinruck: "I have a few quiet days in Frankfurt now. I'm doing the so-called Saltin diet (carbo-loading after previously emptying the carbohydrate stores, editor's note). I have been doing this for twelve years. I start the diet a week before the race. That also includes two more sessions where you tickle the pace a bit."
When are you traveling to Munich?
Katharina Steinruck: "On Saturday. And then it will be exciting."
What does your preparation on site look like?
Katharina Steinruck: "Then of course I'll do another endurance run after the trip. I don't have quite so far to go because I come from Frankfurt. Sunday is the normal preparation, i.e. a run-in. Accordingly, there will be two more sessions in Munich, but they will be quite relaxed. I'll put it this way: There's nothing more I can do now anyway. The training is in, now it's actually: legs up and hope that the form comes."
This year, however, it can be said that you are in top form anyway. I took a look at the key data of your season. One best performance followed the next. What do you attribute to your successes so far - including runner-up at the German Championships, bronze as an individual performance and gold with the team at the European Cup?
Katharina Steinruck: "Due to Corona, our competitions were postponed again. Actually, I wanted to run in Barcelona at the beginning or middle of February. That was postponed. Then I wanted to run in another race. That was completely canceled. And so my targeted preparation, which had started again for me around November after the Olympics, began to falter and I noticed how I was falling. In training, the times stopped coming. I just felt bad and it was clear from my head: now the competitions have to come. Lille was my first competition, so to speak. Before that, I took part in a forest meadow run in our region. It went quite well with a course record. Then came the race in Lille and two weeks later I ran in Berlin, where I also achieved another best time. And that's when I realized: 'Now I'm getting into it. Now I'm in competition mode.'"
You have not yet run a marathon in 2022.
Katharina Steinruck: "Yes, those were all, I'll call them 'sub-distances' - compared to the marathon. I hadn't planned a marathon from the beginning in the spring."
For what reason?
Katharina Steinruck: "I didn't want to run one because the last one and a half, two, three years were simply enough for me. Nevertheless, I ran the standard three times in the run-up to the Olympic marathon and at some point it was enough for me. I was physically exhausted, but also mentally satiated. That's why it was clear to me from the start that I wouldn't run a marathon in the spring. In training, I concentrated a bit more on the shorter distances and didn't take the competitions out of my marathon training, as I had done most of the time in the years before. Instead, I prepared more specifically and also worked a bit more on speed. Of course, that is also the result. But I have to say: I am confident that I can run the half marathon even faster. However, we are not quite friends. I prefer to run five and ten kilometers as well as marathons rather than half marathons."
When did you specifically start training for the European Championships Munich 2022 and the marathon?
Katharina Steinruck: "Basically, I already laid the groundwork in the spring, but then naturally placed more emphasis on short intensities. My longest endurance runs were 25 kilometers long. After the German Championships I started with the MSL runs. However, not as extensive as marathon training actually is, because I still had the European Cup. And you can't train a lot of volume and intensity at the same time. You have to decide a little bit. Especially when you say that you want to run fast again at the ten on the track (10,000 meter run, editor's note). After the European Cup, my marathon training really took off. We then pulled up the volume."
How should you imagine that in terms of kilometers run?
Katharina Steinruck: "180 to 200 running kilometers a week, plus an average of four to six hours of non-specific training per week. That's quite a lot of training. And I find it very pleasant right now that it's winding down a bit now."
You already ran the standard for the European Championships in Munich and the World Championships in Eugene (USA) well in advance of the events. You could virtually decide where you will run. Why did the decision fall on the European Championships in Munich?
"I really didn't make the decision easy for myself. Of course: a home European Championship is mega and actually always comes before an event that takes place outside of Germany - no question. Simply because of the press hype, for the club, it can finally be once again family and friends at the track. And the European Championships are now after the World Championships. So in the fall, people remember the European Championship more than the World Cup. It's longer in the minds."
Katharina Steinruck: Best performances in the 2022 season
- Lille (France), March 20: half marathon, personal best 70:05min; sixth place.
- Berlin, April 3: half marathon, personal best again 69:38min; sixth place.
- Paderborn, April 16: Ten kilometers, personal best in 31:54min; first place.
- German Championships in Pliezhausen, May 7: 10,000 meter track, personal best track time in 32:26min; German runner-up.
- Austrian Women's Run in Vienna, May 25: Five kilometers, personal best in 15:30min; fourth place.
- European Cup, May 28: 10,000 meters, personal best in 32:03min; third place (individual performance), first place (team performance).
Part two of the interview will appear on Thursday, August 11, 2022.
Interview: Michelle Brey
Photo: Robert Steinruck