Hey there,
I know I haven’t written anything for ages. The life seems pretty hectic and I simply could not start, even though there would be some things I really would like to write about. Since the last post there have been pretty many activities and events I have taken part at. I ran the 73 km ultra distance at P-Weg-Marathon. It was a really nice event with friendly volunteers and nice partners on the route. I try to write about the event at some point, but now my focus is set on the Transalpine Run 2025.
After having thought about the idea of crossing the Alps by foot, I finally decided to be part of this cult event. It partially for sure has to do with my age, and the fact that one is not becoming any younger. A few years ago I started at the short variant – Run 2, but that experiment ended after the first day due to a collapse and a minor injury. I also suffered heavily from the burning sun and did not take enough liquids which caused some heavy symptoms that made me to cancel the day two. Now I intend to be better prepared and most importantly concentrate on the adequate nutrition and intake of liquids.
My preparement has not been optimal; I have had some major setbacks e.g. due to teeth pain. Now the teeth should be fine, but many days were suboptimal due to the pain and I was also a bit of afraid of going for one hundred percent in the training, because the teeth problems obviously may cause more severe issues. Otherwise I have had solid months as well, so I am pretty confident that the endurance and fitness is adequate for such an event. Multiheader workouts with long runs on consecutive days should have given the body the necessary input, so that I can cope with the exhaustion. A multi-day event in challenging conditions is, however, something one cannot be completely prepared for, and surprises might happen.
My training has contained weekly about 40 to 110 kilometers of running, most of the time with the heart rate in the lower areas – basic endurance. Obviously some high intensive interval training sessions were also included. I also started to go to a gym at the beginning of the year, in order to ensure there is enough power in my legs for the demanding vertical traversal. I regarded it important to have enough hours on feet to get accustomed to the lasting stress.
At the time of writing I have finished the last week before the event. On the next thursday I take the train to Switzerland and from there to Lech where the start shot is fired on the Saturday morning (06.09.2025). At this stage one cannot do anything else than try to stay healthy and do not get any injury. It is also soon the time pack the bags and start preparing for the race mentally. I will try to write further posts about this event; let’s see, when it will succeed. For now, I try to get to the start and through the whole week in one piece. Wish me luck 🙂