Swimming — the discipline with perhaps the biggest question marks? Good question, next question. For me it’s still the biggest mystery box — some days it goes really well for my standards, other days not at all. I honestly don’t know why, otherwise I’d have fixed it by now. Let’s hope Sunday is a case-1 day and I have a good one. If I do, a time just under 1h should be possible. My swim form is similar to last year, where I managed just over 1h. ...

What an amazing week … low volume in terms of load, the number of sessions was also reduced a bit … short and fast was the motto. That’s a lot of fun, especially when you can’t stop grinning during the ride 🙂 What was on the schedule? Monday: 1h aerobic swimming Tuesday: 75 easy minutes on the time trial bike Wednesday: 3h cycling and 45min brick run. The bike part consisted of 30min warm-up, 1h at race pace -5%, 0.5h at race pace -3%, 0.5h at race pace, and 2x10min at race pace +5% — it ended up being the fastest training session of my life (34.8 km/h average). Already during the ride I had a big grin on my face and just thought the whole situation was absolutely great. The brick run was equally just fantastic — the legs ran on their own and I had to hold myself back from going too fast Thursday: 1h swimming, without a wetsuit and therefore pretty slow Friday: 45min easy running Saturday: 1h continuous run and 75min easy aerobic swimming Sunday: 1.5h cycling and 30min brick run — plus a déjà vu. I broke my average speed record from Wednesday by another 1.3 km/h — things just clicked. The run was also insanely fast. And that grin again ….. The déjà vu was on the Rhine levee, just before the airfield, when for the second time this year I was attacked by a buzzard! Fortunately I saw it coming — the sun was perfectly positioned behind me so I could see the shadow. After two attempts the bird luckily turned away without actually touching me. Next Sunday is the day of days — when I’ll put everything on one card. Form seems to be there, especially comparing Wednesday’s and Sunday’s sessions to the same ones from last year. ...

… those are the cold hard numbers from yesterday’s race, the last test before Ironman Frankfurt. Or in other words: my very first age group win at a triathlon, and my second-best overall placing ever!!! Much more rested than two weeks ago at the Challenge Kraichgau, I stood on the start line this time to run one last test of the pacing and my form. With the first start wave I went into the water — the cold and murky Neckar. From the beginning things went pretty well for my standards; I managed to stay out of the brawl and quickly found a good draft. I held that for the full 2 kilometers, coming out of the water relatively relaxed in 29:40. ...

Slowly heading into the decisive phase — the last “real” training week was on the schedule, with City Triathlon Heilbronn planned as the finale. Monday: should have been 1h swimming, but it turned into more like getting used to the water … I’ve rarely swum such garbage … Tuesday: 75min cycling with 6x90sec tempo intervals Wednesday: 6h cycling and 15min brick run. After 5.5h someone completely pulled the plug on me — I saw stars; OK, maybe I should have taken in something other than water — but that was exactly the point. The run was then so slow I was almost embarrassed … Thursday: 1h in the pool with proper technique and power again Friday: last long run, 2h jogging around comfortably. Legs felt good, easy, no problems — could have kept going forever -> very good!! Saturday: 1.5h swimming, 20x200m as the main set Sunday: City Triathlon Heilbronn — 2km swimming, 70km (or actually more like 65km) cycling, and 15km running. Full race report coming separately. Teaser: I was very fast and finished 14th overall, topped off by winning my age group. (For the very first time in a triathlon, by the way) Woohoo 🙂

The last rest week was coming up — well-deserved after the previous brutal training block with the Challenge Kraichgau as the small highlight. Looking back it was probably too much rest; the legs weren’t really great for last Sunday’s test race. And too much lying around gives you unnecessary neck pain, which then radiates down to the Achilles tendon … very unpleasant. Monday: 1h swimming Tuesday: easy 45min continuous run (in Frankfurt city center — glad I don’t live there) Wednesday: 90 minutes cycling in the rain, an absolute mess Thursday: 90-minute continuous run Friday: 75-minute swimming Saturday: 45-minute easy continuous run Sunday: “private test race” — 1h swimming at race pace, 3h cycling above planned race pace, and 1.5h brick run with progressions The test race went anything but smoothly and left more marks than the Challenge Kraichgau from the weekend before. Swimming wasn’t great — no power and even less technique. The first 45 minutes on the bike were especially tough mentally; after that it got significantly better and I could hit the planned wattage. The last 15 minutes were full gas — everything left in the tank. The brick run started easy at race pace, then the first progression after 30 minutes to above-race pace, and the last 30 minutes everything left. Afterward I was completely cooked. ...

… or slow start, strong finish?!?!? Both pretty much characterize the key points of my race, but more on that later. After the workload of the previous days I was anything but rested at the start line — quite the opposite of last year when the race came at the end of a rest week and I was fresh. My priorities were therefore mostly on nutrition and equipment, with a faster time than last year being a bonus. ...

The last training week in another three-week block is behind me — a recovery week follows … and then it’s only three weeks until Frankfurt. Race numbers were distributed there this week too — unfortunately I have to give up last year’s privilege of the first start wave and go out with the masses. But back to the actual topic: the schedule of the last training week, with the Challenge Kraichgau as the highlight. I’d already hinted that I wouldn’t exactly be rested going into the race … and that’s exactly how it went, because the schedule included: ...

Two days to go until the first race of the season, the Challenge Kraichgau. It’s always been a preparation race leading up to the season highlight — this year even more so than in previous years. Training under race conditions, essentially. Why? I was injured for a long stretch this year — almost 4 weeks out during the crucial base phase in February/March. During that time I ran exactly 20 kilometers. Cycling only worked with pain. Swimming was at least possible. In running I’ve probably made up the deficit — the recent training results at least suggest so. On the bike there’s still something missing; the long sessions aren’t quite where I want them yet. Of course I’d be further along without the injury, but for the Challenge that shouldn’t really matter. ...

Early this year I got a new wheelset from Zipp — the Firecrest 808 Carbon Clincher. The main reason was that I wanted to go back to clincher tires. OK, aerodynamics also played a significant role in choosing exactly this model. What’s typical for the Firecrest profile from Zipp is the width of the rim — at 27mm it’s considerably wider than other rims on the market. And that was ultimately my problem, and also the reason I hadn’t mounted them yet, let alone test-ridden them. ...

I’ve rarely gotten soaked so often and for so long in a single week, with today being the highlight 🙁 At least it was warm — I’d still rather have sun back. Monday: 3.5h with 3x45min aerobic interval and 1h brick run, the last 20min also aerobic. As hard as it sounds, but enormous fun. Tuesday: attempt at 1h swim training — without a wetsuit I would probably have drowned Wednesday: 75min cycling with 6x90sec tempo intervals and 1.5h running. The 90 minutes of running was split into nine 10-minute segments — 9min easy, 1min hard; 8min easy, 2min hard … down to 1min easy, 9min hard. A session you can easily destroy yourself with, which I successfully did. Oh, and both sessions in the rain. Thursday: 1h swim training or something like it — I was in the water and got wet; calling it swimming is a stretch Friday: 2.5h continuous run, also with water from above. From the start it was more cramp than fight — bad legs and above all zero running technique Saturday: 1.5h in the pool Sunday: 3.5h on the bike, completely showered multiple times and eventually gave up in frustration. Needless to say the short brick run was also in the rain Next up is one more really hard week with the Challenge Kraichgau as the finale, then it’s almost tapering time. What I’ll be capable of I can’t really gauge yet — like last year, I’m doing this race straight out of full training. “Full training” here means a 5h bike session with 0.5h brick run on Thursday, a 2.5h run on Friday, and a 1.5h swim plus 1h run on Saturday.