One week after the Ironman competition in Zurich/Switzerland, I am still struggeling to comprehend fully, what happened only a week ago. It feels good to have it finished. This inevitably cheers up, boosts confidence in future challenges and infuses great thankfulness how marvellous the human body and spirit is. I already registered for next year, probably with a new bike then.
Cheers, t-IM
Yesterday I did my first Ironman. I enjoyed the race 14:22:21 hours long. Thanks to all the supporters! You were great and without you I wouldn't had a chance.
Your onefreeradical!
No sports for the rest of the week! :-)
7 days to my first IM. Yesterday I had the last long training session: 3.8 k swim (1'35''). Everything went well. I felt good.
The water temperature is rising in the Zurich lake.
I guess we are not swimming with a neoprene (actual water temperature is 23.5°C with 1 week to go). Four months ago I bought the 70.3 and I am quite happy with it. I like it even better, since swimming is more "real" in the "shorty".
Training is somehow influenced right now with "moving the house" and "job change". Though I am able to find the right balance over and over again. My nutrition is going ok, though I could be thinner.
For the next week I will enjoy the circus and training becomes a matter of low priority. Have fun! onefreeracial
The early bird swim training of the free radicals started again in the beautiful outdoor swimming pool, 06:00 Uhr Hallenbad Opfikon Glattbrugg:
3 k swim:
6 * (500m crawl, 2 rounds running round the pool, 20 pushups)
at the end I jumped from the 3 m tower - a fear for me to conquer every time again. I don't know why that scares me so much.
Loosing weight, feeling fit, 18 days to the IM....
Absolutely no time to write something here....
....only training counts right now.
Swimming:
- I started to train in a group: http://www.godfrey.ch/
Biking:
- use a bandanna to avoid neck pains from the wind
- mind the heat!
Running:
- training on hard ground is cruel
New bike record. 184.9 km are a really long distance. I learned:
- salt tablets are great to avoid cramps
- at kilometers: 45, 100 and 145 it really got mentally tough to continue
- I ate every half hour in turns powerbar gels and riegels along with drinking water
- I was faster on the hilly part, which I find amazing, since I considered myself slow up and down the hills
The weather conditions were going from bad to very bad, 15°C, rainy, quite freezy. Since it got very dark very soon, I bought a reflecting safety vest at a gas station. It feels good though to have gone through another limit-breaking experience.
27 days to the Ironman. Now I will focus on swimming.
Saturday: 100k 4 hours, it was quite cold, so on the Ironman strecke I stopped at a bicycle shop to buy some sleeve-warmers and another bike-Trikot. It also started raining, so I decided to stopp for today and to do the 180k tomorrow. My knees are getting better. I got new skin and the scab peels away. How marvellous our bodies are made!
Sunday: ... on the road...
Very nice video (7:52 min), what will be taken place in about two months..
today I recieved some competition fotos from the Rapperswil Ironman 70.3: 
The timing is displaying another athlete's time. My time was about 7 hours and some minutes. Awfully slow. "slowmotion" is fitting somehow. ;-)
Hier der Link auf das Einlaufvideo
The bike in the rain is like a wild horse. I fell down two times today. Rain and gravity must have made a plot to punch that stupid triathlete off the bike. Luckily I just had two scratches- each at every knee. I am happy to count this as part of my experience now. Somehow it makes me stronger, though it will be hard to keep up training the next days.
Today I took a sauna to recover, relax and cleanse my lights (Lungen). I need to work on my training plan, on my weight and on my mind's strength. Liss, the cangoroo-pro-triathlete, recommended a very good book to me: "Going long" from Joe Friel, Great book! 
Today I also registered with a new social Ironman network: My page on "I Am Tri" The network is quite interesting, though still at the beginning to emerge. Let's see how it evolves.
Tomorrow I will start also with the weight and stretching training. Now it is getting serious! 6 weeks to the big race!
Yesterdays 70.3 Switzerland IM was my hardest and best triathlon ever. Right from the beginning I had problems to breath during the swim, so my heartrate raised the first time above 174 bpm. I had to swim on the back to have enough air and to control the pulse. On the bike I became very hungry, so I ate too much too fast. The result were stomach cramps, I couldn't speed properly and had problems at the hills. The run was just a mental fight not to give up. I was awful slow, but endured. I am very happy to have experienced how hard it can get and I am right now more determined than ever to go for the Ironman in 6 weeks. I want to finish the Ironman to encourage and cheer up my family.
Lessons learned:
* It's 70% mental and 30% physical
* An old man at the strecke said: "einfach locker durchlaufen" (something like: "just run relaxed up to the end") to cheer me up. That really helped. I repeated that in my mind over and over again - until the end.
* Don't eat too fast on the bike! Start with "Gel". Have a proper food strategy.
* Train more in the lake!
* Really loose these extra-pounds!!!! Light weight saves you so much energy during the race!
Happy racing!
First time I made the half of the whole Ironman-Strecke. It goes two rounds so that I now know the whole course. The "hill" in the middle called "Pfannenstil" is really a huge piece of work. I was impressed. However, on the way back from Forch to Küssnacht I got a flat tire. Luckily not in a race and nothing happened, though I went quite fast downhill. "Pffffffffffffffffff", T-IM
These days I am wavering back and forth concerning the Ironman distance. One day I feel strong and the next day I feel quite frightened. Can I do it? should I better quitt? Am I really prepared?
For now I am focussing on "superior biking fitness", which one of an Ironman-guy suggested. He said, that regardless how fit you are on your feet, you first have to cover the biking distance.
I read an interesting article on First Ironman? The Ten Most Common Mistakes - By Ray Fauteux .
He mentioned:
(1) OVERTRAINING: rest vs. performance vs. untrained muscles
(2) POOR DIET: supplements vs. balance vs. energy
(3) IMPROPER FINAL WEEK PREPARATION: Plan, relax & eat normal food
(4) IMPROPER PRE-RACE HYDRATION: clear urine the week before racing
(5) IMPROPER RACE-EVE PREPARATION: Rest is the order of the day.
(6) POOR SWIM STRATEGY: Avoid the crush.
(7) MISTAKES IN TRANSITION: Take your time.
(8) GOING OUT WAAAAY TOO FAST ON THE BIKE: Relax!! Don't eat or drink for twenty minutes or so.
(9) ABSOLUTELY NO RUN PLAN: Do long run-walks in training.
(10) ABSOLUTELY NO EATING-DRINKING PLAN FOR THE RUN: have a plan that you've thought out long before race day
There were some new hints for me, e.g. doing run-walks in train.
Maybe I just have to do it.
Happy training, T-IM
The last weekend I hosted two triathlon-princesses from Frankfurt: Vero the Hill-queen and Alyssa the fastest Kangaroo chaser in the northern hemisphere. We did the Rapperswil-"Strecke", some commercials and wetsuit-testing in the 12° C limmat river. Great time folks! You are always welcome to any "course" or Strecke or Tri-Camp. :- )
Alyssa shortly before she got lost in the Zurich forest:
Vero, the hill-queen and Tim ascending to the frozen cold:
In front of a shield, which says: Your life will be in danger, if you swim here:
