Another week’s over – more miles are in. The stunning september weather was my motor for this week.

The sun is not a regular partner for my running but it changed this week. the weather was just perfect for training. No rain, no heavy wind and sun. That keep’s you going!

Monday i had my usual recovery run on grass. Relaxed the legs with a long stretch session afterwards.

Due to work duties i couldn’t make the weekly Bushy Park session. i had to go out on my own. close to my house there is a park aswell which i used for the weekly intervals session. i was happy with that workout as it is always tough to run fast and hard on your own. i struggled a bit on the last two intervals but finished the run strong and still on target.

the wednesday night runs are back! the end of the hill race season is also the start of the wednesday night sessions. during last winter i was regularly running with a bunch of runners and triathletes in tallaght. the group meet at the old mill pub in tallaght and the route is regularly around the tallaght water reservoir (see picture) and roads around the outskirts of the wicklow mountains. as always it is good fun and entertainment. this week was the first week for me with the guys. stunning run as the weather was a pure commercial for ireland. the route is tough but you dont really feel it as there is always a good discussion topic going on. rob was over in germany for the eurobike (biggest cycling fair in europe) and couldnt resist to buy the new giant time trial bike. enough discussion for between the two of us then 😉

early on this week i was writing about my pace run on thursday so i wont come back to these topic again.

saturday morning was time for some hill running in the wicklow mountains. we ran a part of the wicklow way i haven’t been on before. it was a technical trail with some very steep uphill. very technical but good running at all.

the alarm was set early for the sunday run with ratharnham. no problem to get out the bed this time as the sun was there again. we went through bushy park and marlay park. felt very relaxed and comfortable during the whole run. maybe one of my best long runs ever? its the group-dynamic that makes it easier to get the long ones in. good fun and good conversations – the time was flying.

Week 37 – 2009
Total 115k – 7 runs
8 Weeks to NYC Marathon
Monday – easy 10k
Tuesday – Intervals (8 x 1Mile) 15k
Wednesday – moderate (hill run) 16k
Thursday – pace run 14k
Friday – easy 9k
Saturday – moderate (hill run) 15k
Sunday – long run 36k

after a beautiful morning run around the wicklow trails i headed out for some cycling around kildare and wicklow. beautiful weather!

like last week, thursday was a “fast” day for me. since 4 days the weather is stunning. sunshine and 18 °C – perfect training weather over here.

after 20 minutes warm-up with some strides and technique training i went out for a 30 minutes tempo run on the back roads. like last week i tried to start of with a fast but very controlled pace. i focused on stride and arm technique.

my tempo-run route is pretty flat, only at the end of the course there are some steep brigdes. as always i turned around in front of the famous K-Club golf course (Ryder Cup venue in 2007). the first 20 minutes of the run flew buy and i felt good.

Since i increased the mileage the problems with my right calf stopped. its crazy – little running hurts my body more than huge mileage and intensive workouts. at all i shouldnt overdo it. It a very thin line with running and marathon training.

i pushed hard for the last 10 minutes and went “flat out” for the last 5 minutes. during the end i felt that my brain “reacts” better to the pain. since running more less regular hard and intensive workouts i can feel the reaction and the willingness. thats what training is about.

Final mileage for the day: 14 kilometres

Since years it is always the same for me in September…

Zofingen – a tiny 11.000 people village in Canton Aargau, right in the middle of Switzerland, is the show place for a very unique endurance event that always takes my very “special” attention – POWERMAN ZOFINGEN, Duathlon long distance world championships.

Since 1989 a race that some athletes describe “harder & tougher” than an ironman triathlon. A 10k run followed by a selective 150k bike ride. Finally the “icing on the cake” is a hilly 30k run – that are the facts.

The boom time of that race goes back to the 90’s when triathlon legends like Jürgen Zäck, Mark Allen, Paula Newby-Fraser, Natascha Badmann, Lori Bowden, Olaf Sabatschus and Olivier Bernhard lined up beside US duathlon stars such as Ken Souza and Scott Molina. But the times are long gone since the german Andreas Rudolph won the first race 20 years ago.

Duathlon and (maybe) especially the “duathlete’s Hawaii” are victims of an ironman hysteria that sees thousand of people finishing in a numerous of 226k races around the globe. Duathlon is the unloved and neglected stepson of the “swim-bike-run” community. Formerly invented as biathlon to give multisport fanatics a reason to race during the cold winter, the now named, duathlon is far away from a peak phase. This years Zofingen startlist is the proof. Not more than 300 (!) people lined up for challenging 190k – unbelievable.

Where is the prestige gone that made the race even more special than your random iron distance in “example-city”. A competition that saw an unbeatable “Mr.Duathlon” Kenny Souza dropping out in a “in your face” snowstorm with his tiny neon-coloured californian style duathlon outfit. A race that saw couple of ironman champs struggling and even DNF. The rough swiss mountains and running trails that defined and sorted true endurance athletes are not longer a magnet despite a boom in endurance sports in general. Its sad to see a brilliant and honest race out of the focus!

I am a fan!

official website powerman zofingen
FULL results powerman zofingen 2009
pics powerman zofingen 2009
racereport powerman zofingen 2009 – lukas baumann
racereport powerman zofingen 2009 – jonas baumann
racereport powerman zofingen 2009 – Anthony Le Duey
powerman site
report on duathlon.com
2 h. Video from this years race

Training seems to be easy these days. Im happy with this week. Got solid 106k in with 6 runs.

The last couple of weeks i join Rathfarnham AC on tuesdays for their weekly 2k interval session in bushy park. since weeks i run with them and the workout is a good little weekly review and check of how the form is progressing. when i started to run with the lads my form was weak. nowadays the workout seems to really smooth and i can handle the pace and speed good. thats a brilliant feedback and motivation as im running with a bunch of 2:40-2:50 marathoners. thats gives me real confidence in my training and in the way leading to NYC.

another main point in my training regime these days is a 100 to 110 minutes longish run in corcaigh demesne park every wednesday night. this week i was pretty fatigued and the weather was everything but motivating. on that run i think i really explored 14 different types of rain. the route is on grass and i was really happy with that run because i forced myself the whole time to run slow. it worked out and the time flew buy. legs felt really relaxed afterwards.

coach uli gave me a tough workout for thursday. the first tempo run in my marathon preperation: 30 minutes tempo run. here again i was hitting the target. didnt went out to fast and concentrated on stride and body. workout went well.

saturday was the weekly long run day. as i was over in germany for a wedding i had to get my long run in on saturday morning. i didnt want to rush things so i started my run early. this time i got a light breakfast in and went out. it was a windy but beautiful morning. the legs felt amazingly (and for me surprisingly) good. I ran from my hometown through the forrests to our neighbourhood village and ran the course of the heuchelberglauf (a nice regional hill race). it is a 11,7k loop on forrest roads. i ran the loop twice and after a little drink and gel stop at the local bakery i ran home with a nice progression for the last hour. full run was 2:45h.

sunday was planned to be a rest day. i couldnt really rest as i was playing tennis early in the morning then went for a little swim in the local pool and after that i could resist to play football with the lads.

Week 36 – 2009
Total 106k. – 6 runs
9 Weeks to NYC Marathon
Monday – easy 14k.
Tuesday – 2K repeats 17k.
Wednesday – easy long 19k.
Thursday – pace run 15k.
Friday – easy 6k.
Saturday – long run 35k.
Sunday – rest day XT tennis, swim, football

Last two weeks have been fairly busy.

I was travelling a good bit around Scotland, England and Ireland. Despite the travel i found enough time to get satisfying training runs in.

Had a really great long run last weekend, which i started at 9pm in Carlisle. I found a nice loop around the scenic castle. I felt amazing and the time flew by. I’m a night-owl, that’s for sure.

The final result was 88 kilometres with 6 runs. Not bad despite the lack of time.

Week 35 was the first week since months where i got a total of 100 kilometres in. In fact that i had one of the worst runs since months as well. I completely bonked on my Sunday long run in phoenix park.

I had no energy in the tank. The whole failure was my mistake, as i was getting a very, very light breakfast in before the run (1 X coffee plus 1 X mars-bite). I stopped after 120 minutes went home and slept for 3 hours. To get additional mileage in i went out for a 45 minutes jog around Donadea Forrest Park in the evening.

Now i face another week of NYC preparation. Overall i feel good and i slightly try to increase the mileage.

Now
me and my Adidas do the illest things
we like to stomp out pimps with diamond rings
we slay all suckers who perpetrate
and lay down law from state to state
we travel on gravel, dirt road or street
I wear my Adidas when I rock the beat
on stage front page every show I go
it’s Adidas on my feet high top or low
My Adidas..
My Adidas..

Thanks to cliffi for some serious 3 stripes!

Performance, it’s the name of the game!

This one was for the “Write Off” section again. Overall a bad race for me. The only positive thing was that i didn´t quit. I was thinking of it from mile 2 to 5.

Mentally and body wise i´m not up to speed. I knew that i wouldn´t PB in this one but a 01:03:32 is worser than i expected.

It was tough but i never really got out of the “comfort zone”, never really got the whole thing rolling, never was relaxed. The flu shocked my body more than i thought. Even mentally i wasn´t there. Just jogged the thing home at end.

Now it´s heads up and work hard to get back in shape. I don´t need performances like this.

Thanks to Darren and Racepix365.com for capturing that jog 😉