Have a look at my flickr page, I added a few new pics from our trip to Sedona.
Cheers Andi
Hello everybody,
the last few month were quite taff and a bit crazy. I was sick before I went to the last two Asian races and our plan was to prepare straight after Yokohama for the next block of racing. But on the flight home I catched the flu and was all the time back home in Salzburg in bed with fever.
Just before I left for our last training camp of the season in Arizona, I was feeling better and ready to fly. The coach did a great job with me up here the altitude of Sedona and we built back day by day, looking for the consistency.
Now 1 1/2 weeks later we are in the full swing again and my body is handling the training really well. Sedona is a stunning place and a very motivating and inspiring area. In my flickr account are some nice picks, which I will update every now and then.
My next race is the World Cup in Columbia in about three weeks and since there is not much time, we will race from some solid miles, instead of hard intensity work. Its a bit special again, but the whole year was like that:)
We learned a lot from this year and I`m sure that I will benefit from that different experiences in the near future!
Hello everybody!
The race in Yokohama went as expected and it was again a quite hard experience. After the health problems in august and the short preperation phase, my goal was “just” a Top 30, to get my start place for next year and some olympic points.
I had another solid swim and I was in lap 1 in the lead pack with another 40 guys. The bike course was crazy with about twenty corners per lap where you needed to concentrate the whole way. I kind of enjoyed the criterium style racing, only wished to be in better shape:) The heat was also on, with 38C and 95% humidity, so hydrating was the main goal. After another great transition I was out on the run on 8th place and from now on it was all about surviving and running consistent. With a 29th place I did what I could on that day and raced quite clever, but of course its not what I want.
I said already before the race that my main goal is coming home healthy to able to do the work for my last remaining races of the season. Having said that, I catched a virus on the way home and was for one week down with fever and a heavy cold. great:(
I guess I learned a lot this year, we made some mistakes in the prep in spring and during the summer I was always in a rush, straight after the races, to play the catch up game and raced too much. In reality there is nothing like that and I should have done a few things different and just be consistent, since thats the key. So I learned that the hard way and now I try not to stress and train whats possible till my next race in Columbia.
More on my upcoming races and where we prepare in my next blog, this one is already too long:)
cheers andi
Hello everybody!
First of all sorry for my lack of updates since Hamburg, I had a few quite rough weeks to handle. After Hamburg I trained really good in the swiss alps and was in good shape leading into the London+Tiszi WC race block.
These two races should have been my first peak of the season, where I wanted to make some big points for the olympic ranking. Unfortunately I crashed on the bike leg in London. I had a flat tyre just after making the 1st pack and some great legs on that day. The shimano guys changed my wheel, but didn`t close my brakes. There is one corner on London where you need to slow down and when I pulled my brakes, nothing happend and I went straight into the barriers. Game over:(
I had to wait quite long in the cold rain after the crash and when I came home I had a sinus infection. So again no racing in Tiszaujvaros and instead two weeks antibiotics and no training. Not good at all!
After two weeks with no training it was quite taff to get back into training and there wasn`t much time at all to get fit for Bejing WCS and Yokohama WCS this weekend. But I decided to race, since I need to get back into racing rythm and I picked up the training quite good.
Leading into Bejing Grand Final my expectations were quite low with very little hard running in the legs, but the last sessions with my training Bart in Davos were ok, so I wanted at least a solid race.
Coming race day I felt good considering and was looking forward to get on that hard bike course. I had a ok swim and came out of the water close to the 1st pack, which I was happy with, since I wasnt in the water for more then one week during my sinus infection.
Unfortunately an ITU race marshal thought I did a false start, which was a mistake we saw on the video, and I got a 15sec penalty in T1. So I missed the 1st pack and was in the chase group with some good cyclist like Ruedi Wild, Macca and Pais. I felt good up the 1st hill but already on the 1st downhill the cold killed me. Usually I like the cold, but on that day I couldn`t stand it and was shacking on the bike, unable to help Macca and Wild, who did all the work alone.
Coming of the bike I cramped and was like a stone, no chance to get the cold legs going. So I did a training run, since I didn`t want to drop out.
Now I`m here in Yokohama and try to get ready for the race. I think I did a good job to recover and get also some base endurance work done. Here it is hot and after we didn`t see the sun two weeks in Bejing I feel much better. The Japanese people are great hosts and I like this country a lot. We see how I can handle the heat and humidity on monday and I hope to get a solid race done.
The expectations are again not high, but I want to have a clean and good race which helps me to progress. After that I`m back in a big work block, where that will be and with whom I write after the race.
Cheers Andi
Another WCS Hamburg race is in the history books and I`m already right in the middle of a big training block in Davos. (As I wrote in my last post) I went to Hamburg with a good feeling, since I did a good short block after Europeans, but not completely rested. There was simply not enough time and with three races in a row in august, we needed to fit some training in.
So enough with the excuses:), I had a solid race, but nothing special. I had another good swim, coming around the 1st buoy top 12, so the speed is there. After an average T1 I had to play catch up for about two laps. My legs were really flat from the 1st meter, so I couldn`t take a lot of lead outs on the bike, which is not normal for me. The speed was high this time and the surges hurt my legs quite a bit. I still managed to get of the bike in front and T2 was ok.
I hoped for better legs on the run, but down the long straight, I just had no leg speed and had to settle a slower pace, than I can do at the moment. I managed to get in a solid run and finished 23rd. The result is again some ok points, but not the Top15 I was looking for. But the field is so competitive right now, that I need to have a good to ok day and not a “tired” day.
The next day I watched the girls race with three of my training partners in the field and my AUT team mate Lisa Perterer. They are all inspiring to me and I like to watch them going hard. Barb managed to take over the number one in the world spot, which she really deserve. She is always a true professional and one of the hardest worker I know. Our young austrian showed again a great race, especially after the good race she did already in Edmonton, more to come….:)
With London, Tiszi and Lausanne three races in a row are coming up and I will train as hard as I can the next few weeks to improve my game!
Cheers from the cold mountains!
Andi
Today is my last day up in the mountains, before my team mates + coach daz head off to the WCS race in Hamburg. After the Europeans I had a rough time for a couple of days, since my stomach was still not behaving and it took a lot of energy.
But my spirit is and was high and I really wanted to get that hard training done. So my coach and me had to find a bit of balance and listen very carefully to the body signs. With some good communication and a great support staff we got some pretty good training done. Thanks guys:)!!
The WCS Hamburg is one of the nicest races out there and I`m always looking forward to race there. The crowd is just amazing and our german neighbours know how to set up a big sport event. My shape is not bad and we did everything we could in this short period between Pontevedra and now, so there is no regrets and or looking back. I wanna have a clean and hard race and give the best I can.
Last but not least I wanna say congratulations to my Austrian team mate Lisa Perterer for her 3rd place on the Edmonton WC. She is only 19en years of age and has no experience yet. Its still a long way to go for the WCS races, but if she is willing to do the hard work, (like I see my training partners Barb, Groffy, Lisa, Vix,…) then there is a lot more to come. She is not the only one we have in my home country, we have a couple of young athletes with a lot of talent and if someone shows them the right way, we could have a great future!
Cheers from Davos!
Andi
Mit einer Woche Verspätung kommt nun endlich mein update zu den vergangenen drei Wochen. Nach einem Grundlagenblock in Davos und einigen schnelleren Einheiten, war es wieder Zeit in den Rennanzug zu schlüpfen.
Meine Form war und ist noch nicht am Höhepunkt, aber ich konnte mit einem guten Gefühl nach Kitzbühel reisen. Wir haben wieder einige Schritte nach vorne gemacht und vor allem im Laufen geht es aufwärts. Ich muss geduldig bleiben und zwischen den Rennen hart trainieren, dann werde ich mich von Rennblock zu Rennblock steigern.
Kitzbühel ist immer ein spezielles Rennen, ich liebe es daheim zu starten und gleichzeitig ist es auch ein stressiges Wochenende im positiven Sinn. Ich werde wohl an keinem anderen Rennwochenende so oft gefragt wie es geht und um ehrlich zu sein, tut diese Aufmerksamkeit manchmal gut und motiviert mich unheimlich!
Das Rennen hat dann gut für mich begonnen und ich konnte fast wie gewohnt im vorderen Drittel aus dem Wasser kommen. Dieses mal waren es 18sec zum schnellsten Schwimmer Brownlee. Leider hatte ich Schwierigkeiten aus dem Anzug zu kommen und so habe ich um unglaubliche 16sec langsamer als der Rest des Feldes gewechselt. Ich konnte es kaum glauben, aber habe versucht cool zu bleiben. Anstatt in der ersten Gruppe, war ich nun am Beginn in der Dritten. Nach zwei schnellen Runden am Rad waren im Feld und von da an fuhr ich ein tolles Rennen.
Der zweite Wechsel war dann wieder gut und ich konnte mit der Spitz rauslaufen. In meiner Gruppe mit fünf Leuten ging es dann um den 16ten Platz. 500m vor dem Ziel hatte ich einen guten Rythmus und zur 180 Grad Wende hatte ich kein Problem nach vorne zu kommen. Allerdings aus der Wende raus haben mir beim beschleunigen die Waden zu gemacht und ich konnte nicht mehr folgen. Das war ärgerlich, denn ich verlor dann den Sprint und wurde 23igster mit nur 15sec Rückstand zu Stu Hayes auf Platz 13en.
Trotzdem war ich happy mit meinem Rennen, denn ich habe gelernt nicht nur auf die Platzierung zu achten, sondern vielmehr auf die Leistung und den Prozess. Das vermehrte Laufen in den letzten Wochen und die veränderte Technik, haben sich nun erstmals bemerkbar gemacht.
Vielen Dank an Alle die mich vorm Fernseher und vor allem live im Regen angefeuert haben, ihr seit großartig und habt mir viel Freude bereitet!:)
Nach dem Rennen gab es aber nicht viel Zeit zur Erholung, denn es stand die Europameisterschaft in Pontevedra am Programm. Nachdem es in Kitz extrem kalt gewesen ist, war die Temperatur in Spanien das Gegenteil.
Am Renntag hatte es 43 Grad und es war ein verrücktes Rennen. Pontevedra ist die Heimat von Champion Javier Gomez Noya und ich glaube es war die ganze Stadt beim Herrenrennen an der Strecke. Ich hatte vor dem Rennen mit einigen Problemen zu kämpfen, aber bis zum Rennen ging es wieder und war wieder alles möglich.
Auch an diesem Tag konnte ich wieder ein solides Schwimmen zeigen und war schnell in einer 25 Mann Spitz mit allen Favoriten. In der dritten Runde hatte Brownlee einen Defekt und musste das Hinterrad wechseln. Anstatt am Gas zu bleiben, war plötzlich die Luft raus und wir haben fast angefangen auf ihn zu warten. Die nächste Gruppe war bereits 1:30min zwischenzeitlich zurück und nun wurde nicht mehr gefahren. Ich konnte es kaum glauben, hielt mich aber aber meine Vorgaben und blieb ruhig. Die Verfolger um Brownlee konnten dann innerhalb zwei Runden den Rückstand zufahren und so wurde wir ein enorm großes Feld.
Vor dem Wechsel wurde das Tempo dann enorm hoch, aber ich konnte mich ganz vorne im England “Sprintzug” einreihen. Auf der ersten Laufrunde habe ich mich dann bewusst zurück gehalten und ließ mich auf etwa Platz 20ig zurückfallen, aber knapp hinter Top 10. Ich wusste dass viele zu schnell starten und es war auch so laut durch die Zuschauer, dass ich nicht mal mehr meinen Atem hören konnte, was das Pacen noch schwieriger macht.
Leider hatte ich schon unter dem Radfahren Probleme mit dem Magen und konnte mein Sportgetränk einfach nicht absorbieren. Es schwappte richtig im Magen und ab dem ersten Laufmeter wurde es immer schlimmer. Nach dem Anstieg in Runde drei war ich bereits auf Platz 15, die Atmung super und die Beine toll. Allerdings ging es dann einen KM immer leicht bergab und nun streikte mein Magen völlig.
Ich habe so starke Krämpfe bekommen, dass ich das Tempo drosseln musste. Bei km 7, am Ende des Berges war dann Endstation und ich musste dringend auf die Toilette abbiegen. man könnte sagen nah dran an den Top 10 und doch vorbei! An diesem Tag wären die Top 10 zum ersten mal drin gewesen, aber hätte und wäre gibt es nicht und das wäre auch unfair zu behaupten.
Wir sind noch dabei herauszufinden woran es gelegen hat, wenn das überhaupt so genau zu sagen ist. Ich bin nun wieder in Davos und absolviere gerade einen riesen Block für die Rennen im August. Zwischendurch mache ich noch Hamburg, allerdings will der Coach kein Tapern dafür machen, das wird interessant:)!
(Mehr Bilder folgen in Kürze)
Haltet mir die Daumen!
Andi