It's done...

...11:59:21 ;)

Now in recovering mode!

Let's rock it!

Sunday will be my sportive highlight this year. I'm getting nervous a bit these days, but time will show...



Friday I'll drive home in an Audi A3 Sportback and have vacation until Tuesday. That is hopefully enough to recover from the weekend.

For the triathlon my mother will join and maybe some old friends from the army and university. I hope they find time, it would be really cool. Let's rock it!

His name is Jolle...

Sometimes Google returns the right things. So just in case that you might forget my domain, simply type in "his name is jolle"...

...and Google will show you the way to my virtual home. ;)

My first triathlon...

...I've finished. The Olympic Distance triathlon in Ladenburg went very well. I was quite slow in the water and very strong on the bike and run, so I finished as 65th overall from 320 starters in a time of 2:37 h.

Following you can find a description of my triathlon from 3athlon.info (in German).

"Ich bin hellauf begeistert von meinem ersten Triathlon. Hab unser Sommerfest als einer der Ersten verlassen, damit ich so ca. 4 Uhr auch im Bett lag und noch etwas Schlaf bekam. Gegen 10 Uhr dann aufgestanden und nach Ladenburg geradelt. Unterlagen abgeholt und der erste kleine Schock, ich hatte meinen Chip vergessen. Die Orga war unkompliziert und freundlich, ich bekam kostenlos in wenigen Minuten einen Leihchip. Und man hat die Änderung auch gleich in den Zeitmessrechner eingespielt. Super!



Dann musste ich erst mal rausfinden, was jetzt in welchen Beutel und in welche Zone platziert werden musste, ist ja als Neuling ein wenig aufregend, vor allem, wenn man so an die Plätze links und rechts vom eigenen Rad schaut. Da siehts doch a weng professioneller aus. Aber Triathleten sind nette Leute und so hatten meine "Nachbarn" den ein oder anderen wertvollen Tipp für einen Rookie.



Mit dem Neo gings dann auf's Schiff, wo doch recht hohe Nervosität unter den Teilnehmer herschte. Es wurde jedenfalls viel geschnattert. Meine Strategie war, als einer der Letzten von Bord zu gehen und mich dann ganz am Ende der Startlinie zu plazieren. Das tat ich auch, die letzten Minuten vor dem Start empfand ich als sehr angenehm, sich ein wenig in der Sonne im Wasser treiben zu lassen.

Aber dann ging's auch schon los. Startschuss und Arme wedeln lassen. Es war wohl eine gute Entscheidung, ganz am Ende loszuschwimmen, um dem Anfangstrubel zu entgehen. Allerdings schwamm ich schon recht bald auf die letzten Schwimmer auf. Nach ein paar Tritten und Schlägen liess ich mich wieder zurückfallen, das in der Masse schwimmen muss ich noch üben. Hab dann jeden 2. Atemzug hochgeschaut, um mir große Lücken zu suchen, durch die ich meinen Weg bahnen konnte. Das Feld zog sich ja auch zunehmend auseinander, so dass ich bald meine Ruhe hatte. Nach 27:13 min stieg ich aus dem Wasser (172.Schwimmzeit). Ich war damit vollauf zufrieden, da ich komplett im Kraulstil durchgezogen hatte, was mir im Training bisher nie gelang.

Die erste Wechelzone war recht schnell passiert. Neo aus, Füße abtrocknen, Socken und Schuhe an, zubinden (da muss ich noch optimieren), Helm auf und ab mit dem Rad. Auf der Strecke erst mal die Handschuhe an, Brille vom Helm und aufsetzen und einen Riegel essen. Dann im 35er Schnitt an die Berge ranfahren.

In Dossenheim hab ich am ersten Berg schon voll attackiert, alles was ging. Mit meinem Gang hatte ich bei den 16% eh keine andere Strategiemöglichkeit ausser absteigen. Dann wieder ein wenig ausruhen und mit ruhigem Tritt in den Anstieg zum Weißen Stein fahren. Ich kam super hoch, überholte Dutzende von Fahrern und fuhr fast 90% des Berges sitzend und auf dem Trialenker hoch, den Rest im Wiegetritt. Oben dann bis zur Bundesstrasse wieder volle Pulle, auf er Abfahrt liess ich es dann rollen und ein paar Fahrer haben mich erwartungsgemäß wieder eingeholt.

Den 2. Anstieg empfand ich nicht als sonderlich schlimm. Ich überholte wieder einige, bevor es an die große letzte Abfahrt ging, bei der ich dieses Mal mit den meisten anderen mithalten konnte. Allerdings hat mich hier ein Pack von ca. 10 Fahrern überholt, die voll am Draften waren, sehr unschön. Bin aber am kurzen Anstieg in Großsachsen am ganzen Pack wieder vorbeigesprintet.

Aufgrund der guten Zeit hab ich bin zur nächsten Wechselzone richtig in die Pedale getreten (Radzeit 1:27:59), was wohl im Nachhinein ein Fehler war, denn ich kam nach dem Wechsel auf die Laufstrecke nicht richtig in Gang. Erst in der 2. Runde gings dann und ich fand meinen Rhytmus und ich konnte noch ein paar überholen. Laufzeit war am Ende dann 42 min, eher schwach für mich, aber die Laufstrecke war auch nicht sehr angenehm, weil sehr viele enge Kurven, die doch auch Kraft kosten.

Mit meiner Gesamtzeit war ich allerdings mehr als zufrieden. 65. Gesamtrang am Ende, das war mehr als von mir erwartet, so dass ich nach einer kleinen Stärkung im Festzelt zufrieden zurück nach Mannheim radelte. "

So the Ostseeman can come. I am fit and with some luck I can finish fourth time the distance, I hope.

Ladenburg Triathlon

Yesterday our global planning and basis administration team jointly visited Mannheim's brewery "Eichbaum". Later we went to the Irish pub like every Thursday. As a last step we went to an Asian karaoke bar before getting some sleep.

Today is our company's summer party, which will be conducted in a location near Mannheim. This time I'll not stay until the end, because I'll compete in the Ladenburg triathlon on Saturday afternoon.

Time is ticking away. The 2 week countdown for the Ostseeman begins on Sunday. :)

Tour de France

Last weekend I've made a bike trip to the Black Forest to visit the Tour de France on its stage through Germany. I went by train to Rastatt near Baden Baden, later by bike to the 4th climb of the stage. I was cheered up the mountain by the spectators that had already crowded here.
Quite a cool feeling and just half an hour later the riders arrived.









After they had passed I started my own tour and rode the stage in the reverse direction back to the start, passing the previous 3 mountains (third category climbs) and passing nice villages.





After leaving the Black Forest I followed the Rhine until Mannheim.
This weekend I'll relax in Mannheim, enjoying the sun. Coming Friday is our company's summer party which will last until Saturday morning, where I'll compete in the RoemerMan, an Olympic distance triathlon in Ladenburg.

I wish you a nice weekend, Jolle!

17 kph average

At the moment I am writing this I'm sitting in the train that takes me directly from Schwerin to Mannheim, an eight hour trip.

It was a nice weekend, which passed too fast again, even I had already taken a free day to lenghten it. But three days are still too short, there's soo much to do at home.

I left Mannheim directly after work on Friday evening and arrived Schwerin around midnight.
Saturday morning I went to famous the 5-lake-run in Schwerin, starting in front of the castle, that beholds our regional parliament and is restaurated with a 150 million Euro budget over the next decades. There are three distances, a 10, 15 and 30 km run. I had registered for the 15 km run (which is actually 15,8 km), that I had also ran last year.

I met some friends from the Berlin Marathon Forum (ForumTeam) as well as members of my local triathlon club. Then a friend showed me his secrets of warming up before a race. Shortly before the start we positioned us in the first row. Actually it was my first time starting directly in front of a race, but with my tenth overall place last year I think it was not too arrogant. ;)
We started fast in a group of around ten to fifteen runners in front, but had to let go seven of them quite soon. Globi and me and two other runners formed a second group and changed the lead several times. It became quite hot and I felt very good at km seven in the race, so I am not sure if I became fast or the others slower, but I overtook them and ran away. From that moment on I also had an official biker in front of me which cleared the way a bit, cause we were running into the 10 km runners that had started 10 minutes earlier.

Right before the finish line I overtook another runner which had been originally in the first group, so I ended the race on the 7th position of around 1150 participants in a phantastic time of 55:33 min, a bit over a 17 kph average. It has definitely been the fastest race in my short career as a runner. ;)

I also got some bottles of a local beer as the prize for the second place in my age group, which I had also last year. There are participating better runners every year, but if I again get seven minutes faster, I may be in the pace for the big trophy next year. ;)

What else did I do on the weekend? Steffi, a good friend and former fellow student from Ingolstadt visited me and we went through Schwerin with my sister, which is an official city guide. Moreover we went swimming in the lake, had a strawberry cake and cherries and went on a boat tour on the Schweriner Lake. Moreover I met my uncle and grandparents again. ;)

As you can see, there was quite some action, so it has been a good decision that I had taken free on today. Sleeping long, go on a small bike tour with my recumbent bike and watching the first hours of the Tour de France coverage was all I did today before I had to leave for the train around 5 pm.

In 5 weeks I'll go home again for the Ostseeman weekend. Oops, it's really getting time to intensify my training.

Have a nice week, Jolle!
PS: Boonen did it again and won also the second sprint final of the Tour de France. Good for me, as I have bet on him getting the the green jersey. :)

Effective training weekends

If every weekend would be like the last one, I would have no doubts in finishing the Ostseeman. I went to Julia in Stuttgart on Friday evening. Saturday we relaxed on the balcony and went running in the afternoon. Following the run in the sun I went swimming before we had a sunset BBQ on the balcony again.

Sunday was time for the one disciplin that had been left out the day before. I got up early in the morning ( a quarter before six) and cycled down the Neckar valley from Stuttgart to Mannheim, passing dozens of wonderfull towns and castles.







I arrived at home around 5 pm with over 200 km in my legs and a considerable sunburn. Oouuch!

Maxdorf Tri

Our relay team did well. We placed third (from the bottom). ;)

Jens (the one on the left) who competed in all three disciplines, had been a lot faster than the three of us.



Anyway, we had a lot of fun and definitely gave our best. I needed a bit under 3 hours for my bike part, as I had hoped before. But the mountains had been hard, as you can see on the photo that has been taken directly after my ride.



On 24 July I have registered for my first single triathlon, an Olympic Distance in Ladenburg near Mannheim. Swimming will be in the Neckar, and cycling on another mountaineous track in the Odenwald. I hope it will be a last good test for the Ostseeman.

BASF Firmencup

Tuesday was race day at Camelot. I took part in the BASF company run at the Hockenheim race course with 4 collegues. My time was 17:38 min for the 4.8 km lap.



On Sunday is the next scheduled event. I will start in a relay team at the Maxdorf triathlon (2-82-20 km) with 2 collegues and take over the cycling part, which consists of a two lap course with quite some ascents to challenge. We'll see.