It's the journey, not the destination.

Last Sunday, for the first time in my life, I finished an orienteering race with a race time bigger than the maximum race time. I was not yet completely recovered from one day of sickness, so I thought, easy, I just won't run very fast. Not a bit of it! During the race I got more and more tired and told myself: No stress, it doesn't matter. But telling me "no stress" means also killing my smallest intention to move visibly forward! And thus, I walked more than I ran. Together with a lot of lacks in concentration, a long distance (swiss championships 2014, unfortunately) takes time. 3 hours and 5 minutes. I admit, there would have been funnier things to do than lugging myself to the finish. But it was not for nothing: I practised compass-walking and did plenty of find-out-where-I-am exercices! Not least, the terrain was so gorgeous that I wished I carried my phone with me, to take pictures (... but then it would have taken 4 hours, and in consequence I would have missed the last public transport connection home. Luckily I didn't have it with me!)

What happened since my last post here? Far too much to mention all the funny, surprising, beautiful, unforgettable, shocking moments, happenings and heroic actions. But it's time to inform about a slight change in my training style. Because three months ago, a 2-hours-run was still quite long for me. Coming back from a 3h-run (on Lanzarote) felt like coming back from the moon and having bet everything and everyone! But now, 2 hours for example is a quite small duration of a running training. At the moment I run about 3 hours per day on average. Somehow I got addicted to this incredible feeling at the end of a very long training when everything is fine, everyone is good, the energy is endless. During a run, the most frequent question I ask myself is: WHY NOT? And since I can’t find a sufficient reason to stop, I continue. Insufficient reasons to stop are for example:

-          1) the last train of today is leaving

-          2) such long and slow runs might make me slower

-          3) and they might stress my body

But they are simply insufficient:

-          1) there are more trains the next morning - so just run the whole night long

-          2) who cares? who said I have to be fast?

-          3) I don’t think so, because my running style is so heavily economic and joint-friendly (=ugly!!) that my body has nothing against such crazy shit. If the recovery afterwards isn't skipped, notabene.

Logical consequence: run as much as you can! Enjoy the feeling of leaving space behind you under your own power! Some days I finish after 5 hours, instead of the planned 2 hours. And here, as an example, you can read what I’ve trained in the week from july 28 to august 3:

Monday: 4h jogging, 30min strength
Tuesday: 7x1000m on track in 3:50 to 3:36 plus 7x200m in 38s to 36s, running time altogether 2h10
Wednesday: 3h10 jogging, 10min strength
Thursday: 30min jogging, 1h40 in about 4:30min/km, 20min jogging.
Friday: 20min jogging, 20min warm up, 1h04 swiss championships mountain running, 2h30 cool down very slow.
Saturday: 55min jogging, 1h50 jogging always a bit faster.
Sunday: 50min run, 3h15 jogging at the end faster.

That's what I've written down. Total running amount of the week above: 23 hours and 40 minutes. It's comforting, that this was a week in which I worked 41 hours, because this shows that it's possible to exagerrate even with a 100%-job (although not ideal, because in this week I didn't sleep enough).
Maybe this phase of immoderate training runs will be over as quick as it came. For example when the university-sport starts in its full version. But in all probability I will keep it like this. What I certainly won't do again: Bike downhill without a lamp and without company in a steep slope stressed by the sunset. Because it could have ended up MUCH worse! And: train excessively (3x5000m on track with 4h cooldown) and sleep almost nothing within three days. One day of sickness was the clear signal, that this was simply too much.

But now, seven positive things :-):

1) I'm still able to run 10km in 37:40 (Münsiger-Louf, August 9), out of a horrible training amount. Results.

2) I'm able to run 10 hours through the night after a hard race (Münsiger-Louf, August 9) and compete in another race the next day (Ursenbacher-Trophy, August 10). Read the text below to know more about this adventure:

Last Saturday, something really strange happened to me. ..No, ok, it was my own decision. I started for a long cool down after the very hard “Münsige-Louf” (10km running competition, 37min40sec). Somehow I felt very persistent (also due to caffeine), so I decided not to stress to catch the last train to Bern to the buskers festival, no, I decided to try out something new: run the whole night long. I said to myself: It’s a night of a full moon, I’m under caffeine, I have to work only on Tuesday, there’s no race the next weekend (only the next day at 11 a.m. ;-)), so JUST DO IT!
The result: start on Saturday at 18:20 in Münsingen, furthermost point in Interlaken at 23:20, finish in Münsingen on Sunday at 4:30. I would not say, it was easy, but I survived and it could have been more difficult, I think. There were terrible phases of tiredness (Hooray!! My body knows indeed something like a circadian rhythm!!), that made me run not in a straight line, almost weave, and long for the finish. Somehow these phases always disappeared again. All in all I just needed a little bit of patience and all the way enough madness not to turn around or stop.

3) From my home in Büetigen, I theoretically only have to pay 12 swiss francs to get to the sea within two days. This is the amount I've payed for my bike trip to Genova in July, apart from all the (numerous) food expenses and the cost of a new bike in Brig. I took the train until Domodossola (12 CHF for the bike transport), then I cycled from 12 o'clock to 2 o'clock in the next morning, slept 2 hours, carried on cycling, but had to realize that the only chance to stay awake was eating all the time (and this was somehow no option), so I slept another 2 hours and arrived completely exhausted under the hot italian sun at the port in Genova. Beach only 10km further, the tourist information said. No, thank you. Instead: run through the city. And now I can tell you: Genova is the ugliest city I've ever seen! But it's anyway the journey, not the destination.

4) Zermatt (swiss-o-week 2014) was great! Here some epic moments:
- the incredibly cool sheeps (Oberwalliser Schwarznasenschafe)
- the view to the Matterhorn from an unusual direction (picture only in my head)

- the cool rain on my skin
- the incredibly beautiful horses
- the tourists that asked me for the way to Zermatt while we always saw this place down in the valley.
- all these funny and friendly Asians, always smiling and taking pictures.
- the foresight
- the sudden weather changes
- Eric Bucher that lends me a body warmer, so that I don't have to abandon my aim Gornergrat. Thank you!


- the high wind shredding my hiking map
- the energy after a 5h run
- the morning ambiance on the campsite
- the sudden orienteering flow after a phase of unmotivation
- the swim through the Schwarzsee in pouring rain
- the nice people of my club ol.biel.seeland
- the sound of glacial ice falling down
- touching the Matterhorn
- the man on the wheelchair, that was speeding through the village, holding on to one of these electric cars

5) Here are the results of the awesome Strongmanrun 2014 (June 7): Results

6) Almost forgot: World Cup and Jukola in Finland. Awesome, great, fantastic, superb, ... even with terrible results in some races.

7) I've finally found the perfect hot chocolate. In Biel. <3 <3 <3

Warming up for the Münsiger-Louf 2014.

Wasting my last strength for the sake of a good picture at the end of the race.

Heading for Thun, very unsure if I will make it until Interlaken.

Yes, I did it. At about 5 in the morning after the 10 hours run.

Passing the delicious carbonara sauce on my way to Genova.

Genova, apart from its touristic old town, consists of a terribly huge quantity of scooters, motorbikes and cars.

... when you forget to take off your shorts before jumping in the fountain.

Walliser Schwarznasenschafe. Coolest sheeps ever.

Touch the Matterhorn.

Photo shooting also in subprime weather.

My bike for one day.

... when there's just no bigger lake available.

No worries, I'm not always just running. Sometimes I'm also watersliding. Fisherman's Friend Strongmanrun 2014 Engelberg. Can't wait for the next edition!