Mid and longterm planning and training

Actually I am suffering from a post-marathon-syndrom. All positive San Francisco hormones left my veins and I am drifting around somewhere between family, business and inactivity at resting heart rate. And here we are.

I am not racing for the time in the race or for the podium, I am racing for the fun and to fight against myself and against my inner weak. Longer races, under extreme conditions are the challenges I am looking for. The races you’d never expect to finish without perfect preparation and training. That’s maybe the reason why the Marathon in San Francisco didn’t get me the power I felt weeks after the first Ironman 70.3 or the Long Distance Powerman in Zofingen.

On the other hand I was deeply inspired by the landscapes in Death Valley and I had the opportunity to drive along the Badwater Ultra Course for more than 100 Miles. That’s why the route through the Death Valley in the week of the race was on my travel plan 😉 An unreal world there, at highest temperatures a few thousand feet high. Running an Ultra under extreme conditions! Out there I’ve realized “That’s what I am looking for”: Fighting out there.

Look at this! Badwater and the road across the Death Valley to the feets of the highest mountains in the United States outside Alaska. Incredible, 135 Miles, 3’962m of vertical ascent, 55°C and a team that is cooling you down around the clock.

But wait … first there is the North Pole Marathon on my Agenda. In a bit more than 6 months we’re going to start on this huge slide of ice, 6 to 10 feet thick with a wind chill of -100°C and temperatures around 30 to 40°C. Again nature, extreme conditions, perfect preparation. And there are some learnings from San Francisco giving me some homework. That’s why I am going to focus now on:

• working on disbalance between left and right leg to relieve my right leg
• no more pain in achilles without trigger points with relaxed and stretched legs
• enlarging my runs (since now max. 17km in training)
• working on my running technique to run smoother and with less effort
• more core power and strength in the legs
• endurance, endurance, endurance
• running in snow, on ice with and without snow shoes (specific for the North Pole)

That’s the short- and mid-time work I have to do.

What’s coming up in the longterm? As I said, there is Badwater, but also the Racing The Planet races and then there is the North Pole Marathon Grand Slam Club, a group of people who successfully did a marathon or ultra-marathon on each of the 7 continents and at the North Pole. As Badwater invites athletes on request, there is a lot of work to show them that this swiss guy is serious about what he’s doing and capable to running on the sun and going through hell.

But for the moment I have to find my way back to serious and continuous training that’s why I am meeting my coach Kurt Müller next Monday to fix the key points. And maybe I need some more race goals on my way through this long fall and winter till spring 2013? After writing these lines, I feel a bit better and much more motivated for my training late evening on the treadmill. Good feelings.

Related articles

• Endurance Races Around The World (calmyourbeans.wordpress.com)
• Running on empty (ireport.cnn.com)
• Face of Defense: Soldier is Giant in Ultramarathon Community (defense.gov)
• Lombardi set for ultramarathon across Death Valley (tcpalm.com)
• Are You Tough Enough For Badwater? (geardiary.com)