So, tomorrow is the big day — the tension is slowly building. The last training session was swept away by the wind, garnished with rain showers and lots of wet, dirty roads. Right afterward it was time to clean the bike. In the afternoon it was time for bike check-in, which is right on the coast at a pretty high and completely exposed location. I briefly held my bike up with one hand in the transition zone and couldn’t put it back down — it basically hovered horizontally in the wind… that’s a first for me. ...

Yesterday was part 2 of the journey — from Reading it was the last 350km by car down to Tenby in Wales. Thanks to Jan’s driving we made good progress — I did occasionally have to retrieve my luggage from wherever it had migrated to and put it back where it belonged, but otherwise everything was fine… In Tenby we navigated the genuinely very narrow streets in search of parking, then off to registration and the race briefing. ...

Part 1 of the journey is successfully behind us. From home with a fully loaded car to Frankfurt Hahn airport, then Ryanair to London Stansted. From there by rental car to Reading, west of London — our first stop. Other things I learned along the way: Airplane landings can sometimes be pretty rough An Opel Astra isn’t what it used to be — not much space in the trunk at all. The bike case barely fit with the back seats folded down The clutch starts to smell pretty bad when you floor it in reverse Driving on the left really isn’t that bad when you’re just the passenger ;) On Friday we continue to Wales.

Or: life almost came to an end… I was incredibly lucky on Wednesday — by just a few very, very tight centimeters I managed to avoid a head-on collision with an oncoming car. I was on my way home from a bike session, riding at around 40km/h in aero position between Horrenberg and Dielheim, when a silver Opel Zafira appeared just meters ahead of me on my side of the road — overtaking two (!) cars at clearly excessive speed despite no-passing signs. Why I happened to look up at exactly that moment I’ll never know, but thank god I did — I could just barely grab the handlebar properly and swerve those crucial centimeters onto the grass verge. A head-on crash at that point would not have been survivable — we’re talking a combined impact speed of at least 120km/h. ...

… or life and training in Germany on Indian Standard Time … 3.5 hours offset to IST (Indian Standard Time) — that was my world last week. Meaning: very early mornings, early work done, off just after lunch, and in bed by 7pm. Once you get used to it, it works — but getting there is pretty draining and anything but fun. What was on the training plan? * Monday: 1h swim * Tuesday: 1.5h easy GA1 bike ride with a few short intervals * Wednesday: 3.5h bike with lots of race pace effort, followed by a 1.5h brick run — all in insanely hot temperatures * Thursday: easy swim session * Friday: 2h run * Saturday: 1.5h swim with 20×200m as the main set — phew * Sunday: 5.5h bike with a 15-minute brick run ...

Monday: early morning shake-out swim to recover from the previous day’s effort Tuesday: 1h run with short pick-ups, plus an easy 1.5h bike ride Wednesday: climbing at the Königstuhl — threshold intervals of 15, 17, and 25 minutes, followed by a little fartlek through the Kraichgau; topped off with a 1.5h brick run, including the obligatory final kick. The session was absolutely epic, but also brutally hard. So hard that by Wednesday I already knew I had no business going to the pool on Thursday. ...

Monday: unplanned rest day — the body was just too wrecked… Tuesday: well recovered, out on the bike for 75 minutes in the morning; a brisk 1.5h evening run, which ended up a soggy affair courtesy of a thunderstorm Wednesday: climbing at the Königstuhl — threshold intervals of 13, 15, 17, and 20 minutes, followed by a 1h run with a final kick… that was hard Thursday: 1h swim, or something like it… I was still pretty wrecked from the day before ...

Since Frankfurt I’ve mostly been eating a lot, sleeping, and being lazy. The last 10 days included 4 complete rest days, topped off with plenty of chocolate, ice cream, fried food, brownies, steaks, cake, and even more chocolate… That was a nice change of pace for once, but since Thursday real life has started up again and I’ve been back to training diligently. I actually wanted to get going again Wednesday, but stupidly an e-bike got dangerously close during an easy Tuesday ride — so I had to give everything I had just to stay safe. Luckily it barely worked out, but one day the e-bike gods will have their revenge and I’ll have to admit defeat on a climb… ...

On short notice I’ve decided to race the Ironman in Wales on September 11th. To be upfront: this will be an experiment — I have no idea how it’ll go. Arguments for doing it: Good current form — maybe I can hold onto it until then The knowledge and experience you gain from it Ending the year on a positive note Another shot at the Hawaii qualification for 2012 — hopefully none of the strong competition will be there Beautiful scenery for the race Arguments against: ...

My longest day of the year started early — the alarm went off just before 4am. I’d slept well and felt good; my legs were loose and I was mentally ready for the challenge ahead. A small breakfast and finally some coffee again, then get dressed and off we go. Together with Tobi, Caro, and Klaus-Peter, I headed to the shuttle bus that was supposed to take us to the lake. ...