After the terribly botched marathon in April I was brave enough to sign up for another long one in autumn. The Harz Gebirgslauf leads athletes from thr valey up to the top of Mt Brocken in northern Germany. It is regarded as one of the hardest marathons around here with 1200 meters climbing. To my surprise it is also one of the oldest trail marathons going into its 42nd year. We signed up together with 6 guys. I’ve always considered…
After finishing my latest race I found myself wondering. What am I doing? What’s my purpose? What’s the point of putting myself and my family through all these endless hours of training? Yes, to some extend I do bike and run and swim because I enjoy and doing it. But definitely not all of it. It takes a greater mission to get up at 5am on Sundays for a long run. And then I thought about why I do triathlon,…
And there it was, my race highlight of this year. It felt weird somehow to wait so long before racing again, but the Mont Blanc Man was my first triathlon since Ironman Hamburg last year. Needless to say I should have been nervous. But I wasn’t. I was really relaxed and happy. Mostly I was grateful that I made it to the start line fit and healthy and that I had the privilege of traveling and racing such a beautiful…
Here we are back from the island. 3 years after my first trip to Mallorca I returned for spring this year, only this time I brought my family. Crazy how quickly life changes. After a few intense months at work with extensive business travel I desperately needed some rest and after months of only riding the trainer in my basement I desperately needed some outdoor sunshiny riding as well. The eagle-eyed reader might have noted that this websites banner was…
On the south western tip of Sweden we find the wonderful city of Malmö. It is a small city, a stone throw away from Copenhagen across the Oresund in the Baltic. Get there by flying to CPH and take then train across the Oresund bridge. Apparently there is (was?) a half marathon across the bridge which must be a fantastic experience, running across the Baltic. Malmö displays an incredible mix of historic buildings with influences from all across the Baltic,…
Brussels has become one of my favorite cities in Europe. The classic architecture is beautiful, historic pubs and restaurants take you back to the belle époque. The European quarter adds a certain vibe of true European-ness. I’ve always embraced the European spirit, but especially when I hang out here in the middle of the politic and bureaucratic Europe I can’t help but to feel glad it still works somehow. I don’t understand the appeal of re-nationalizing European politics, I really…
It has been quite a while since I reported on my status. Maybe it is time to check in again more often, at least for future reference. I was reading through posts from a year ago and am very happy and contend with my journey so far. 12 months ago I was still transforming into the endurance athletes mindset, struggling with making space for my workouts. Today, I don’t question it anymore, neither my ability to hang in there nor…
Usually when I go on a trip I scout my routes in advance. Running in an unknown environment, especially when you’re only there for a day or two takes some preparation to make sure you get a workout in between meetings, conferences, networking dinners and your flight back home. Here is what I like to do. I start with Strava’s global heatmap, which gives an indication of areas that are good for running, and those that aren’t. Big public parks,…
To keep this going let’s squeeze in one of my few adventures outside Europe. I was lucky to get invited to a conference in D.C. in October and took the opportunity to go for a few runs while I was there. Initially I was planning on running around the national mall, but as it turned out my hotel was situated close to the rock creek park and so I decided to collect some miles there. One thing I noticed wherever…
I’m still aimlessly meandering around. I have yet to decide on my next big project for the 2019 season. Until then I sort of wanna work out for fun, but in practice I hardly work out at all. Terribly stressful work and plenty of overtime provide ample excuses for hitting the beer fridge instead of my running shoes. Anyway, I hope that writing more about good memories of running help me get going again. And to make it a bit…