Another 16 months until my “crescendo”

My training is more or less balanced, I usually achieve my weekly goals with over 80 percent of the targets. There are always exceptions, such as last-minute dates, other commitments and appointments that mean I have to change my training schedule. But that’s no big deal.

Spring is on its way – and with it the long-awaited time for road cycling in the great outdoors. Then the weekly training time will also increase significantly. Because once I’m on the bike, the ride usually takes at least three hours. With three rides a week, that would be ten hours of training on the bike alone.

If I add two hours of strength training, two hours of running and two hours of swimming – which I absolutely want and need to maintain – then I’m already at 16 hours of training per week. That is what it will and must amount to this year. I want to be able to easily cope with this weekly training load from April at the latest.

There are still 16 months left for the further, slow but steady increase until my personal “crescendo” in mid-June 2026, when I will be at the start of the Ironman Austria in Klagenfurt at 06:30 in the morning to successfully finish this competition – and thus qualify for the Ironman World Championship in Hawai’i as a representative of my age group.

In the event that I don’t make it in this first attempt – a lot can happen during a race that in my case will probably last around 15 to 16 hours – but I still have the feeling that I have it in me, I will consider a second Ironman date somewhere in Europe.