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

This week saw the first faster sessions back on the schedule. A bit later than last year, but unavoidable given the training deficit. The priority over recent weeks was laying the necessary foundation for exactly these sessions.

  • Monday: 1h cycling with 4 short high-intensity intervals

  • Tuesday: 1h running with hill sprints and three short threshold runs, ending the day with 1h race-pace swimming

  • Wednesday: 3.5h cycling with 4x30min at Ironman pace, finishing with a 1.5h brick run (1h easy, 30min aerobic). The Wednesday session was really good despite the severe shoulder pain that had come on overnight. At the start of the session I could barely hold the handlebars with my right hand and could barely brake at all. Fortunately it got better over time, so I ended up pushing the 30-minute intervals at 3-4% more power than planned — and it felt almost effortless. The brick run was also good: first hour easy at 4:40 min/km, last 30 minutes at 4:10 pace (including some climbing hidden in there). Coming home brought another shock — my right shoulder was suddenly hanging 2 cm lower than the left, probably from compensating for the pain. And since I couldn’t fix that myself, Tobi had to step in again. Thanks again for the quick help!!
    Oh, one more thing: if an over-60 couple insists on having sex outdoors — why do it right on a busy bike path? And in front of rather than behind their car? OK, maybe they wanted to be seen …

  • Thursday: rest day, or 14h of work, depending on your perspective

  • Friday: rest day, or 13h of work …

  • Saturday: a 2.5h run that had been postponed from Friday, this time with 600m of elevation (as a small act of self-punishment). In the afternoon 20x200m swimming — and I nearly drowned on number 19 … nothing left at all

  • Sunday: 5h easy aerobic cycling and 0.5h brick run

And on Sunday I discovered a new use case for a bike helmet that I never would have predicted. Quite an unpleasant and dangerous situation … I was out on the bike (between Sinsheim-Steinsfurt and Ehrstädt for those who know the area) when there was a dull, heavy blow to my head. I got shaken around and immediately wondered what on earth just happened?!?! Several glances back revealed nothing — no tree, no branch, nothing on the road … weird … strange … what was that??? Two more looks then gave me the answer — and a panic attack: a buzzard was already lining up for a second attack on me!!! Somehow I managed to shoo it away by flailing my arms while simultaneously sprinting away at full speed … I fended off a third attempt using the same method, after which I’d presumably left its territory and was no longer a threat. Ironically, I’d read a news article about exactly this the week before — but that it would happen to me was unimaginable. Thankfully nothing happened. Hard to imagine what would have happened without a helmet …