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:
During this week - the first after the Zürich-Marathon - the focus was on recovery. Biking is going well. Spinning even allowed controlled heart-rate workouts.
I am still amazed about the booster-socks. I experienced a very quick recovery and I believe it is thanks to these socks.
Today I had the first swim after three weeks again. I was reminded that there are at least three disciplines to triathlon. I need to focus on the swim as well. ;- )
happy workouts!
the recovering free-radical
One really good thing in Switzerland is the central database of sport results. Datasport helps to keep track of all the races you may forget: http://www.datasport.com/myds/?tim-scheffmann
Cheers, the one_free_radical
PS: I hardly have any pains from the marathon yesterday anymore. Unbelievable.
In 04:44 h I ran the Zuerich marathon yesterday. This was 14 minutes slower than my first marathon in Berlin. However, right now I am feeling much better as after the Berlin marathon. Things I learned:
* Don't push too hard at the beginning; it will be hard later. I started with 12 kmh (in the group to finish 04:00 h), later I couldn't keep up the speed.
* Better preparation pays off: This time I had no 30 km run - only 24km. Next time I will plan at least for one 30 km run.
* Too much weight is a barrier to speed. I am still above 90 kgs, which is at least 5 kgs too much for the Ironman in July!
* The "booster" - stabilisation socks were great. http://www.bvsport.ch/
* The nutrition was perfect: Iso-star in between. The last two stations I took coca-cola.
* Invite friends, they will push you through. I was surprised to see two friends together with Irina - my wife - standing at the race course; so I simply couldn't quitt.
Here my polar data: 
In 22 hours I will participate in my 2nd marathon. This time I am really not sure, how I will cope with it. I had only two longer runs with 16.2 and 24.3 km. However, I kept the weekly pilage on a good level. 
Here you can read a good running report about the zuerich marathon(unfortunately in German): http://www.poole.ch/sport,racereviews,zuerich-marathon-2003_de.smt
Yesterday I attacked the heartbreak hill in Kilchberg, Zuerich. Great view: 
It's a bit steep (18%) up to 485 m above zero starting from 400 m in 500 m something. 2 years ago I had a muscle cramp right at the increase. Since I couldn't do anything about it, I just rode on. 
Today the IM Australia took place. I just saw an interview with Chrissie Wellington in connection with her race there. She said: "... all I can do is train hard and race hard!" Great attitude. With 09:03 hours she just "rolled" across the finish-line in "downunder Aussie-land" being first again.
I wish Zuerich would have the weather of Port Macquarie. Here the temperature dropped down to 4°C with rain and snow. "If it ain't raining - we ain't training." Perfect conditions for my long run today. :- >
the free radical in the rain
Sometimes we just have to go through some pain:
http://ironmanlife.blogspot.com/2008/03/bright-side-of-pain.html
Sometimes I guess it is good to quitt training sessions or high intensity training.
Sometimes I just quote the saying: "pain is weakness leaving the body."
