Originally written in German. Translated to English by AI — please excuse any awkward phrasing.

Or: what did it actually take to show up at the start line on Sunday reasonably prepared?

After pulling the numbers together I was genuinely shocked by how much of my life I’d burned through for this — not meant negatively, I did all of it voluntarily and very, very, very, very happily.

A few general notes first:

  • Season start: early October 2010, unstructured, with alternative sports like inline skating
  • Structured training start: mid-January 2011, calendar week 3
  • All data from season start through 22.07.2011
  • I train by hours, not kilometers — so all figures are in hours, with kilometers as a side note in parentheses

And now for the facts:

Swimming:

  • Total: 92.5 hours (or 280km)
  • Biggest week: Week 11 with 4h (or 12km)
  • Biggest month: March with 13.5h (or 39km)
  • Longest session: 15.03.2011 with 1:38h (or 4.9km)

Cycling:

  • Total: 257 hours (or 7,255km)
  • Biggest week: Week 21 with 11h (or 340km)
  • Biggest month: April with 37h (or 1,072km)
  • Longest session: 10.07.2011 with 5:31h (or 180km)
  • Power distribution: 29% in the “active recovery zone” (0–158W), 45.5% in the “endurance zone” (159–214W)
  • Cadence distribution: 31% between 80–85rpm, 30% between 85–90rpm
  • Average wattage rose from 160W at the start of the year to 190W by the end of the build
  • Energy burned: 152,495kJ or 36,447kcal

Running:

  • Total: 183 hours (or 2,233km)
  • Biggest week: Week 25 with 7h (or 89km)
  • Biggest month: June with 24h (or 305km)
  • Longest session: 20.05.2011 with 2:32h (or 32km) [I did this session 6 times total; this date is just one example]
  • Average pace improved from 4:57min/km at the start of the year to 4:42min/km by the end of the build

Brick sessions:

  • Longest session on 18.6: 5:03h bike (or 153km) followed by a 76-minute run (or 16km)

Monthly training volume (all sports):

  • October 2010: 46:41h (or 954km)
  • November 2010: 53:51h (or 814km)
  • December 2010: 42:29h (or 536km)
  • January 2011: 51:13h (or 765km)
  • February 2011: 53:15h (or 812km)
  • March 2011: 70:54h (or 1,167km)
  • April 2011: 68:57h (or 1,254km)
  • May 2011: 68:23h (or 1,438km)
  • June 2011: 71:52h (or 1,389km)
  • July 2011: 39:36h (or 818km)

Total training volume:

  • 532h (or 9,580km)