The Long Arc of the Discipline
Welcome to the Triathlon section. This space serves as a chronological repository of a multi-year athletic evolution, defined not by a linear trajectory of unbroken successes, but by the realistic interplay of discipline, the lack thereof, long interruptions and the methodical pursuit of personal physiological limits.
The Genesis and the Hiatus
My engagement with multisport began during my university years (2005 – 2010). It was an era characterized by the sharp, high-intensity demands of Sprint and Olympic distance racing. Here, the margin for error was slim, and the training was dictated by top-end aerobic capacity and meticulous pacing. Since this era is already long gone, the memories faded and I will not write much about it. Only this: looking back on my training in these years with today’s knowledge, I would say I had no idea what I was doing.
However, academia inevitably yielded to professional life, resulting in an almost ten-year hiatus from competitive racing. During this decade-long dormancy, while the structured routine of swim, bike and run subsided, the foundational appreciation for endurance sports and performance metrics remained completely intact. The ambition did not disappear; it merely shifted from the short, explosive demands of short-course racing toward the daunting, complex variable management of ultra-endurance events.
The Long-Distance Journey (2019–Present)
In 2019, the decision was made to cross the threshold into long-course racing. This was not merely a return to sport, but a comitment toward the Ironman journey.
The chronological subsections of this site document this progression year by year, highlighting the critical inflection points:
- 2019: 70.3 Rapperswil – The baseline test. A re-entry into racing to assess my fitness level and gauge the demands of half-distance racing.
- 2020: The Pandemic Interruption – A period of enforced isolation and race cancellations that shifted the focus from external competition to internal, solitary base-building. Thanks to the lack of distractions, I was able to built a solid foundation on the bike and run. During this time I did not swim at all for about 14 months, but this turned out to be not much of a problem.
- 2021: Helveticman – A brutal, mountain-infused extreme triathlon, which was my first longer distance race. While the distance was comparable to a half ironman, racing time was significantly longer thanks to 3400m and around 700m of altitude gain on the bike and run, respectively.
- 2022: IRONMAN Frankfurt – The culmination of the initial trajectory: my first full ironman. While the swim was better as expected, the bike and run left room for improvement
- 2023 and Beyond – The subsequent years, characterized by the realistic “ups and downs” of aging athleticism, injury management and the delicate equilibrium between life, professional commitments, and high-volume training.
Methodological Evolution
As you navigate through the annual summaries, you will observe a distinct evolution in how I view preparation. In time, I will append a dedicated analysis detailing how my approach to training has shifted over the years. As a scientist, I closely observed the “Norwegian Method” and adapted it to my personal training.
We will explore the transition from the naive, high-intensity intervals of my university years to a highly structured, data-driven, volume-dependent training required to survive the long distance.
Endurance is a long-term experiment where N=1. These archives represent my personal data set.