Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2007!

Dear Friends,

I wish all of you a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2007. May your wishes finally come true. ;)

The last weeks were packed with work, parties, events etc., so that I missed some birthdays and calls. Sorry for that. Now 2006 is almost over and I am at home in Mecklenburg celebrating with my family.

Yes, I just started my 5 weeks holiday. What a great feeling!

Tuesday we'll go indoor-skiing at the brandnew facility 20 km away. Wednesday I'll travel to Zakopane in Poland to celebrate New Year with friends. Hopefully we'll have some snow. If not, the PlayStation will have to compensate. ;)

On January 5th I'll fly over to the States and visit friends in New York and Chicago for 3 weeks. What a grand start into the new year.

So, enough words are written. Here is my review of 2006 in pictures (click to enlarge):



Hopefully I'l see many of you during next year.

Cheeriooh, Jolle!

I was driving home...

...after a busy working day when I stopped at the petrol station. While the car was refueled I saw that big SUV in front of me with a Mannheim license plate and a TriDubai-sticker on the back. Hmm, who is from Mannheim and member of the TriDubai Professional triathlon team? I know one. Or is it just a fan?

Hmm, I went in to pay and directly faced Norman Stadler, the brand-new Ironman world champion (see below).

Cool, I had met him several times before at local triathon races, but this time it was unexpected. I congratulated him and went home, somehow happier than before.

Some marathon statistics

Last weekend I ran the 25th Frankfurt Marathon. It took 4:11 h to finish.

While updating my training log I saw that it has been my 20th marathon since September 2003, when I ran the first one in Berlin.

Of the 20 marathons I ran have been
- 9 flat city courses,
- 9 mountain and/or ultramarathons and
- 2 marathons within an triathlon.

And I never needed over 4 hours for a city course, except last Sunday in Frankfurt. What is also interesting in this context is, that I continuously reduced my overall training kilometers without reducing race kilometers. In 2006 I ran already over 50% of my kilometers in official races (338 out of 641).

So, just one more statistics for the moment. Tonight I have been bowling with collegues and customers. I had an average of around 50 to 70 per game, one of the worst. This is definitely not my sport, even it is a lot of fun. ;)

The Germans and the Ironman

Once again the Norminator did it. First place at the Ironman World Championships. And third place for last year's winner Faris al Sultan from Munich. Yeah!

Buy one, get two

You may have wondered why it took several weeks to give you the results for the race. Well, I had to think about it a while. On one hand it was a wonderfull weekend up there in Bremen visiting Steffi. On the other hand it was quite an intense experience.

I am still not sure what to think about the result of 3:35 hours. It's not good and not bad either. I had just one training run after the Ostseeman in August, so I did not demand a 3 hour race from myself. I thought about 3:15, yeah, that would be ok.

But on Sunday morning I stood at the start, and suddenly I spotted the three hour pacer with his white balloons. It was a wonderful morning, a little cold, but the sun was coming out already and starting to warm us. I didn't have time to think much as the countdown was beginning already.

10, 9, ...., 3, 2, 1, GO! So I ran, and ran, and ran, and followed the three hour pace. Don't know why, I just thought I can do it. It felt hard from the beginning. Not really hard, but I had the feeling that it is a little too fast for me. Anyway, I decided to try it and make slower once my mind gets weaker than the body. I ran, ran and ran. Until the half marathon which I crossed just under 1:30, perfectly in time. Our group of 3 hour runners had diminished to less than 15 people.

Then the moment came. My mind said: I can't do it again, no more half marathon in 1:30 today, give me a break. I slowed down. People were overtaking me. More people were overtaking me. A Smart came, followed by the first women in the field. They overtook. I became slower and slower.

I came to the point where it was really hard to believe in finishing, my muscles became sore. I had never experienced that before in that intensity. This feeling was interrupted by the cheering crowd at the finish. Wow! The second half marathon took more than 2 hours.

At the end a good experience for myself. And definitly one, that you have to experience on your own.

Next time I will do it better,...

...or make it the same way again. Time will show. ;)

Marathon Preview

I am currently in Bremen. Sunday will be the marathon. But more important is that we had a cool night out in the pubs.

Summer in September...

Life has been exciting the last month. I travelled a lot on the weekends and worked a lot during the week. This will not change so soon, so you get just a short overview for now:

After the Ostseeman I did another sprint triathlon near Mannheim, the same one like last year. But this time I was a bid slower. It that was expected and the conditions haven't been that good as well, as the streets have been slippery during cycling and I had just slept one hour between a garden and karaoke party at Robert's place and the start of the train to Biblis at 7:00 am on a Sunday morning. Anyway, it was a lot of fun and I cycled back to Mannheim after the event instead of taking the train.

The following weekend I attended the wedding of Basti (an old friend from the Freiberg university times) and Eli near Weimar in Thuringia. They celebrated in an old castle and the Mannheim gang was performing a small theater play, which we had prepared in several sessions this year.

See below a photo of the happy couple, who is now traveling through Africa on their honeymoon. The next photo shows me and 3 friends of Basti in front of the castle.





On the way back on Sunday we (me and Judy, the middle girl form above, who I picked up from the Frankfurt airport a day earlier and took back to Mannheim in my rental car) stopped at Waltershausen to visit my granny. She has a beautiful big garden and we also had an applie pie and a beer at my uncles pub.



Last weekend I had been to Belgium visiting Judy, who takes Dutch lessons there. We visited Antwerp, the beaches in Oostende...



...and Bruegge, an old and beautiful hanseatic town.



This weekend I'll be in Belgium as well, visiting Brussels. Next weekend I'll visit an old study companion in Bremen and compete in the local marathon. The weekend after I plan to visit old friends in Ingolstadt and go to the Munich Oktoberfest.

Moreover a new upgrade project starts next week at the customer I am currently working for, so don't expect too much entries at this place soon. ;)

Enjoy the rest of the summer, Jolle!

12:21:28...

...I did it again! What a wonderfull feeling. It took a bit more time, but therefore it was a very nice race day. Perfect weather, maybe a bit too warm.

Swimming went well, I was a lot faster than last year. The bike leg was significantly slower this time, because I reduced speed to avoid cramps. Resulting from that conservative cycling, the running part at the end was very smooth and not such a pain like last year.

Altogether I must say it was a wonderful day and I could enjoy most of the race. And with a bit more training, especially for the bike part, my current personal best will be crumbling.

My mother took some photos, but the old fashioned way, so it'll take some time before I have them. Here are some photos of the evening before:

The swim start at the beach just next to the bike park on the evening before the race.



My bike waiting for me.



Shortly before going to bed at the camp site just 500 meters from the start zone.

11:59:21 - this time it'll be hard to do it again...

Tomorrow I'll leave to Glücksburg with my mother. I am planning to compete in the Ostseeman longdistance triathlon once again after my premiere last year.

Last year I finished in 11:59:21 hours, but this time it'll be hard to do it again regarding the reduced training intensity in 2006. Compared to last years training kilometers I did 30% swimming, 33% cycling and 55% running. So in my opinion I will really get into trouble on the 180 km bike course. This will be the crucial step to success on Sunday.

Regarding this I set my goal on Sunday to simply finish. A new personal best would be a nice brithday presence in advance, but no must to be satisfied.

Press your thumbs for me, I'll need it!



For last years race report (German) you can download here.

Below you can see me accompanying Petra on her 50 km run at the Deutschlandstaffel, a 15 days, 24 hours a day relay race around Germany. I also ran 3 legs and accompanied some on bike. Photos and report can be found in the logbook (German) at the relevant legs. I was involved from Luebeck until Alt Bukow.

Die Deutschlandstaffel braucht Euch wieder...

Two years after the successfull finish of the first Deutschlandstaffel it's time again to start such a challenging event. This relay event will last 14 days and cover 3600 km. I will run a part in Mecklenburg and help recruiting runners.

So, click and take part!!!

Germany on its way...

8 more matches to watch and then the World Cup is already history. 3 of the matches are hopefully for the German team. Now it's already amazing what's going on here, an amazing athmosphere and enthusiasm within the people that I have seen last time more than 16 years ago during the times of the German reunion.

The central World Cup festivities in Mannheim are at the Wasserturm just a hundred meters away from my apartment. So even if I wouldn't watch a match, I would know who has won by the cars and flags passing by.

The picture below I took some days ago, the area is beautifully illuminated at night.



What's going on apart from the World Cup? Well, currently my parents are here for a visit. We'll drive home tomorrow to Mecklenburg, where I'll spend a weekend and run the famous 5 lake run (www.fuenf-seen-lauf.de).

Moreover I have been hiking, biking, swimming, running and canoeing over the last weekends. My apartment has been decorated with curtains and my cousin Lothar and me build a nice loft bed. Maybe more of that later. But nothing promised. Work, weather, world cup, triathlon training and friends are taking most of my time.

Biathlon Victory!!!

Robert and me yesterday participated in the first Piesbach Bi(o)athlon, a summer biathlon event (3 runnning laps, 2 shooting sessions) which is sponsored and organized by Mathias Paul (Pauls Frischekiste), whose company is farming and selling organic food.


(Robert, Mathias Paul, Jolle)

We competed against 45 other teams and made it to the very top with the best running time and acceptable shooting results. It's the first victory in the still very young history of the All-Stars.

Sailing is...WOW

"Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaming: 'WOW!! What a ride!'"
read in Dean Karnazes: Ultramarathon man: Confessions of an all-night runner (Penguin Books 2005)

The sailing holiday was definitely part of the wow-life.

I got the photos from Clemens. Here are just 2 of them:

The ship on the Mediterranean Sea. The photo is taken from a small rubber dinghy, with which we had a lot of fun out there. ;)



The crew on one of the last evenings out on the Sea.

Happy Easter!

My comany ski trip to Austria was the same cool event as last year and I am already eagerly looking forward to next year. ;)

I'm a bit in a hurry, as I'll leave to Croatia in some minutes to go sailing with friends. We'll travel the Croation and Italian coast for 10 days and will hopefully reach Venice from the seaside.

More of that when I return. Happy Easter, my friends!

Spring arrives...

Finally, spring is coming to Mannheim. Today I planted some flowers on my balcony and it's warm enough to sit outside. So it's almost time to say goodbye to the winter, but not yet!

I'll go sking on Thursday with the company. I have been skiing this year several times alrady. The best time we had 2 weeks ago in Austria, powder snow several meters deep, a dream.

In April I will go sailing in Croatia and Italy with friends, that's for sure now and I'm really looking forward to that.

So be greeted from Mannheim with some flowers from my balcony:

What's up!

Wow! Time is running. Another months has passed without an entry here. ;)

But it's mainly due to a lot of activities in my spare time. I have been skiing in the French Vosges some weeks ago, and went out a lot.

This weekend I have been in Cologne for carneval and near Frankfurt for a friend's party. Today I just relaxed in front of tv for the last day of the Olympics.

Currently the Mannheim Eagles are playing in the final for the German ice-hockey cup, so I'll better return and follow the match.

Another year in paradise :)

We're quite some days into the new year already, so I guess most of you are back in daily routine by now.

For me it is true, I am back at work in Mannheim and moreover try to avoid extensive weekend traveling like last year. I want to spend more time here enjoying my flat, go runnning, cycling and swimming as well as going out with friends. Moreover I have time to go skiing from time to time.

Coming Saturday I'll have my first race in 2006, a 50 km run in Rodgau (near Frankfurt/Main). I hope it'll not be too cold. The last training on Monday evening has been quite fresh with less than -10°C. Luckily I can always enjoy a hot tub at home. :)



(The above winter running picture is from a trail ultra marathon in Luxemburg which I ran last November.)

Now, that I'll be home more often, I also hope some of you find the way to Mannheim, as some already did. It's not that difficult, as Mannheim is very good connected by road and rail.

Have a nice winter time, Jolle!