Be running up that road Be running up that hill Be running up that building If I only could, oh… Well — I can run again! Not quite as pain-free as I’d like, but it’s a start. On Monday I tried it for the first time again — just 30 minutes, since I’ve learned to be careful … It went pretty smoothly, so on Tuesday I went for a second run, and on Wednesday a third. Thursday was run-free, then on Friday I went out for 1.5h … I was pretty fast (4:32 min/km), but afterward everything hurt, muscle soreness everywhere. ...

Can it get any worse than the week before??? The answer is: … … … yes 🙁 Training was basically out of the question — other than some strength training, very little happened during the week. Still: I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Things started looking up over the weekend, mostly because I finally found a doctor who could and actually wanted to help me. It might surprise some of you that it turned out to be a dentist: Dr. Nölting from Wiesloch. He confirmed what I and my physio had suspected — I have a “Craniomandibular Dysfunction”, or CMD for short. Simply put, this is a misalignment of the jaw, which can then affect the neck and back — which in my case it impressively does. Every time I close my mouth or bite down, my spine and pelvis shift. As a further consequence, I suddenly have legs of different lengths. My body was able to compensate for this up to a point, but at some point the load became too much, and that’s what I’m experiencing right now. ...

Calling it a “training week” is a stretch — other than strength training and core work, not much actually happened. Instead, doctor visits were on the agenda. The outcome was pretty much what I already suspected: * a mild Achilles tendon irritation on the right * a scoliotic posture deviation in the lumbar spine region It looks like this: The positive: nothing is broken. Vertebrae, discs, nerves etc. are all okay and fully functional. ...

Not much training was possible unfortunately — the injury hasn’t gone anywhere. So the decision was made to give up not just running, but cycling too, and just fill the time with swimming, stretching, and strength training. You can still suffer with that, but it’s not really satisfying. Especially now that the weather is getting nicer … The week looked like this: Monday: strength training and stretching Tuesday: stretching and swimming (20x200m, etc.) Wednesday: strength training and stretching Thursday: strength training and stretching Friday: stretching and swimming Saturday: rest day Sunday: strength training and swimming (30×100m, in blocks of 3 with progressions from easy to medium aerobic) That still added up to 8 hours of training, combined with the hope that the “rest” will finally make the injury go away.

The title is unfortunately accurate — the pain has not gotten any less, quite the opposite. Swimming is the only sport I can currently do pain-free; cycling is halfway okay; running is currently impossible. At least the cause of the pain seems to have been found — the jaw. It’s interesting how they press on the jaw and neck muscles, you feel intense pain there, and a few seconds later it hurts in your lower back, and shortly after the Achilles tendon starts acting up … ...

It was supposed to be the third hard training week, but due to pain in my back, glutes, and Achilles tendon I had to take an easy week instead. Where the pain is coming from isn’t entirely clear yet — it probably radiates down from the back into the legs. Early last week it was bad enough that walking pain-free wasn’t possible. So there wasn’t much sport on the schedule: ...

And it gets even colder … If last week’s theme was “cold”, this past week is better described as “flash-frozen”. Running at -16°C is doable in a way, but not really fun. That goes even more so for cycling in double-digit negative temperatures. What was on the plan? Monday: an easy run in the morning, a short technique bike session in the evening Tuesday: 1h run with intervals, an easy swim session in the evening Wednesday: 2h aerobic cycling session Thursday: TRX and a correspondingly bad swim session in the evening Friday: long run, 1h 50min Saturday: easy run and a subsequent aerobic swim session Sunday: 4h on the bike, stacking base miles

Right as I start training again, winter arrives … ideal conditions for spending long periods outside. The only positive thing is that it hasn’t snowed — the cold is somehow manageable. Especially since the sun was shining faithfully the whole time. What was on the plan for the week? Monday: an easy ride (1h) with some technique work Tuesday: a 1h run with Tabata intervals (very hard) and in the evening a technique swim session Wednesday: an aerobic bike session Thursday: a rest day with a swim session Friday: the long 1h 40min run at -7°C — surprisingly fast out there Saturday: an aerobic swim session that took a real toll, plus an easy 1h run Sunday: a 4h bike session, also in freezing temperatures OK, a lot of people will be wondering how you can spend 4h on the bike in that weather without freezing solid — it works with: ...

… is the motto for the next 3 months. That means building volume in all three disciplines — up to 5h on the bike and 2.5h running. It’s going to be tough at the start again, but it absolutely has to happen to build the necessary endurance. Over the last few weeks I’ve already pushed my long run up to nearly 2h, which resulted in 4 days of muscle soreness. I’m hoping that was more due to the terrible weather conditions — wind, heavy rain, and cold.

… and a new 10km PR — that’s how the new year started. Why it went so well, I honestly can’t explain. I did everything in my power in the days before to make sure that wouldn’t happen. Didn’t work out 😉 My current training focus is on the bike, where I’m working hard on my IANS (anaerobic threshold). These sessions are relatively short but very intense and genuinely exhausting — so draining that I’m still completely wiped out the day after. ...