Yes, okay, of course kids. Something fresh. Something out of the bizarre corner. Joggers watch out. Development? Improvement!

Somewhat essentially innovative in the running market raises the eyebrows. Whilst Triathletes appear to jump on every trend pretty easy, the general running community watches for a while and then decides pretty old-fashioned.

When I had the chance to snap a pair of the much discussed adidas Springblade I did not spend to much times wondering about clichés and mythologies. The whole thing looks way to extreme and way to diverse to not try it out.

The response is pretty much the same everywhere you turn up with these kicks. People look at this shoe and smile in mistrust. I was the same. Seeing this massive plastic blades on the bottom of a shoe is certainly something you are not used to. But saying that. Everybody who smiles and joked finally wanted to experience them.

I received the box and took ‘em out straight away. Just the resonance of the clapping spring makes you wonder quite a bit. The feeling of this shoe though is not essentially unusual. I anticipated more rebound, more mechanism and more… more… news, I guess. While running with a forefoot stride there is not too much of a new feeling towards it. The sole with its pattern does the job very solid. There is no sentiment of not feeling safe and safe with this new technique.

Then i just jogged around. More less I ended up doing a fartlek around the local route and the forest trails. I tried to hit the ground with different parts of the sole and different speeds. A solid forefoot strike, a middle one, a hit on the back. Pretty obvious you feel a new stride feeling once you run “middlefoot”. The bounce back though is not overly heavy by any means. Adidas pretty much did a good job balancing the plastic and the resistance of these blades.

In general a great publicity stunt and a enjoyable shoe to train in. Technical trails is not really the biggest friend of the springblade but other than that it is a good adding to the shoe collection. I’m not sure if the shoe is IAAF permitted but it definitely is by myself. Good fun for a lot of money, though.

Together with my good friend Fabian I will be competing at this years version of the notorious Ö TILL Ö.

Under the title THE GERMAN SPARKLE PARTY we are teaming up for some swimming and running in Sweden as well as the Engadiner SwimRun.

Make sure to track our training and racing via our Instagram teamsite @yourgsp and give us a follow.

Weather conditions over here are severely fine at the moment. That fundamentally cuts down my time in front of this PC thingy. And that is a good thing. Anyhow, now it is time to swiftly catch up with the last few weeks of working out and racing.

Two weekends ago I ran my home marathon. A couple of months ago the idea came up to win the relay contest. The heart of my lunchtime jog mates and I decided to go for it. The 14th running of the local “Trollinger Marathon” is a biggy around here. Trollinger is the local wine and Wikipedia knows that it is “…almost exclusively cultivated on steep, sunny locations in the Württemberg wine region of Baden-Württemberg.” Enough pride for my home area for now!

Matthias, Steffen and I are working out on the track every Friday. It was a fastidious thought to condense the team-spirit of this little “Lunchtime Track Session” collective into a proper race. Nothing better than a Ekiden to do so.

And as besieged we won the whole thingy. Steffen ran the first, pretty hilly part, I ran the windy middle section and Matthias brought us home with a great effort on the last demanding part. The whole day was good fun and running in a team brought a nice essence to the egomaniac running racing. We are already planning to come back and confirm the win. Until then it is time to run fast around a 400m loop at lunchtime every Friday.

As I write down this post I get sorted for the yearly pilgrim to the Basque country. I just cannot wait for my return to this astonishing place and its sincere and divine community. The marathon around Zegama is something unique (Preview HERE). More than ever, checking the current weather forecast, this year’s version looks like another edition to remember. Friday Flo and I hit the road for yet another outing. I’m counting the hours.

“Why pay the same amount of cash to travel to a close-by island when you could tour to the Alps and run real trails for the same money?” Toni gazed at me. He then began to grin. “Now you know why we come here for that race. I’m glad you came up!” Toni beamed.

I was in party mood when I first heard about the “Hammer Trail”. During the Transalpine Run after race party we chatted away. People from all around the world were ecstatic. Eight hardy days of trans-alp adventuring were behind us. It happened that during the competition we formed a little group consisting of Norwegians, Swedes and a solid Danish core. Every evening after the daily race routine it was time for cuisine and witty talks. When the dialogue turned into “must do races” that last night, the Danish only had one response – “Hammer Trail”.

My response was clear. I wanted to see what off-road jogging in Denmark is like. Andreas thankfully organised the numbers and I packed the car and some friends. We traversed Germany. Took a ferryboat from the German isle of Rügen and sailed over to the Danish atoll titled Bornholm – The home of the ill-famed Hammer, apparently.

After we ticked most of the holidaymaker boxes with some particularly delectable fish buffet in the local harbour and tiny tourism undertakings around our base town, it was time to check out the race venue. We timed it pretty accurate. Just minutes after we arrived at the venue Andreas was about to set of. He and Toni were in the 100 Miler that departed at around lunchtime. We shouted for the two and then went straight to the natural roadways to see what’s on the blackboard for the next day when we were supposed to compete.

When an intentional 30 Minutes jog turns out to be a 1-hour gallop you know something must be exceptional. “Now I’m really, really pumped. I want more. I just cannot wait for tomorrow”. Seb shook his head in disbelieve when we came back after running around the lighthouse and parts of the coastal section.

“Could you please decipher for me?” I questioned the two girls behind the startline to help me. The race director was standing on a chair in front of the 50k bunch. The Danish language is pretty hard to understand. Even more complicated when you are tense. “The path is well marked. There is a good bit of climbing in the first section. Support the runners that are still out there running the 100 miles. That’s all you need to know.” The Management Summary of the little speech must be OK. The Danish miss smirked and whished me luck. “Tak!”

Thomas and I were in the lead straight away. I did not turn my head but there were some other dudes in the back. We talked a bit as we ran past striking trails and landscape that was just beyond believe. I must have sounded like a little school kid on his first holiday spree. Everything is incredible. Everything is so impressive. And the sun. All, everything is just so wonderful. “Shut up and run!!!” should have been Thomas’ answer. He did not say anything.

And then I was on my own. I don’t remember when I moved away. I felt good and still told myself to relax. It is a long way and I’m not 100% sure what’s coming. I enjoyed. I try to appreciate everything and there was so much. The stunning trails led from one great section to the other. The trails along the coast and the scenery in the forest. All great. All so good. All #runhappy material!

It was a 25k loop that formed this 50k race. Once I arrived back in the venue my little crew was chilling in the sun. They were waiting for their race and chatting with Andreas who had already finished his race. He won it and was the first one to see me coming. We had a quick chat and I restored nutrition and drink. I was busy and eager to leave. So I passed the timing map and went back. This time the other way ‘round. Shortly when I left I ran towards the 2nd place dude. We clapped each other and went our ways.

My applaud must have been a bit better then his. When he passed me at around 35k I did not feel like clapping anymore. My liveliness levels were low and I just coasted along. I stayed with him and did a good job for the next 5k in doing so. And then this long uphill section came. It took him a bit less time to run it. I was gone and could not follow. He quickly was out of sight. Now my view was free again. As I was looking at the back of some black Fellcross shoes for quite a while I had the chance now to enjoy the magnificence of the nature again.

This section over the Hammer is very fine. So beautiful when you approach it from the lake – Not so after 48k. I hated it and my calves did not like it either. They started to cramp and I did not look forward to that long downhill from the top of the Hammer. Finally I made it. I made it with a smile and happy with 2nd place. I drank a bit. I ate a bit and then I slept in the warm midday sun. I then woke up to the smell of barbeque and beer. This smell should stay around me for quite a while now.

And as I opened yet another can of ice cold Tuborg I look over to my friend Toni. He came 2nd in the 100 Miler. He looks at his granite trophy and smiles: “It’s not the Alps, but it is very unique!”

Back from Denmark’s Bornholm isle I scripted a tiny piece of writing for Brooks. Just click on the image above to read what went down during the Hammer Trail jaunt last weekend.

There will be an English blog post in the next few days.

Ultimately a bit of text about my recent 10 days in France.

I’m not really sure when I was down there the last time. It must have been in 2006 before my last triathlon in Roth. The Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region in south-eastern part of France is a trusted training destination for us since our local legend Gerd revealed and discovered the place. So this year I decided to go down again. We filled the car with tons of swim, run and bike gear and 8 hours later we arrived at our trailer in Agay.

As there was a good group of about 25 people down there we had a blast while training and eating. Such a great and productive time with very good people.

Truly fun and loads of great impressions once again. This place does not get old. Until next year!

Stunning times in the south of France coming to an end. Just filling my bags with loads of sweat and dirt drenched gear after 9 training days with a great bunch of friends.

More writing and more pictures to follow once I’m back on home-soil. Check my Instagram for more visual content and see Strava for some exercise related information.