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,…
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…
After my last post on cycling I spent a lot of time thinking about my running. Not the kind of focused thinking for a relatively short while, with quick conclusions. More the kind of thinking that lingers in the back of your head for weeks. Sometimes it pops into your consciousness, with a new idea or new way to interpret data, but mostly it is running in the background. Eventually, I arrived at three truths: I can improve my form…
For a while now I’ve been feeling kinda stuck between seasons. My 2018 racing season is pretty much over, but it’ll be quite a while before I can properly kick off the next season. I haven’t decided on my race schedule and ambitions for 2019 yet, but unless I’ll do another ridiculously expensive overseas race early (which is unlikely!) I won’t be racing again before early May. Which also means that I need not bother with a fully structured plan…
Holy stokes, we’re almost there! I am already deep into my tapering, but ramped into it a bit too quickly. On a business trip last week to Portugal for three days I didn’t have time or the pool to go swimming and neither did I have the chance to ride. So while I managed to move my bike and run workouts around during the week, the swim suffered. Only one session, open water without wetsuit. It felt okay though and…
I’ve been a fan of Portugal and its people since my first visit to Lisbon two years ago. So when I got the chance to present a paper I wrote at a conference in Porto I didn’t think twice. I had three days and two nights to spend, but as always most of it was busy with work. I still managed to take a few walks across town, trying to soak it all in and even a run to the…