Hill of pain

And another one!

It's been a short week at the office - grace to Easter holidays! We're having great weather and I had a doubtless super-dooper-great week of practice. I really think, that those miles from Spain are kicking in now. And not only on the bike... the run is right as well!
So I had already 3 consecutive days of key workouts: a track session with 12x400m on Wednseday, a Ironman-racepace bike-session on Thrusday and a longjog that was quick enough yesterday (again some 2 hours of leg trashing action).

All the same the legs felt quite allright this morning. My plan was to ride Sattelegg today - but not only to ride it... I wanted to "destroy" it. To push my limits and break my PB on that climb.

I rode the 2h to the foot of the climb really cosily. Did some pick ups to losen off the legs and prepare them for the effort. Hm, a mountain time trial is always a tough job! If you start out too fast, you'll suck later in the climb, fading and almost going dopwn backwards. Especially at the Sattelegg - aspiring a decent time, you got to kick it hard at the bottom of the climb, for the first 5 k's. Than it's getting gradually steeper and all you can do, is ride into that burning pain, keep the feet spinning and not think about that blinking heart rate monitor.

Okay, I popped in the headphones from my mp3-player, turning on Survivor's "Eye of the tiger". The start was kind of sticky. I didn't felt all strong, but could get into a nice pace. After the first 5 minutes I was in my rhythm and I felt really strong.

We'd been talking about climbing this hill fast with friends in the camp in Spain - we all agreed that the first section has got to be passed under 15' going for a sub-35-time.

I passed that point in exactly 13 flat. Hm, that was a blast - did I overpace?!???
But I came to an answer right away: What the fuss... ride on! Don't think about "what if's", just finish up that bastard and then you'll see the bill.

A passage with winding turns and steep ramps followed. Riding into the state of growing acidity and hammering heart rate makes you feel sticking to the road. You think your tires are flatting, so slow and tantalizingly is the way ahead. There you got to make up your mind - not trying to judge the pain, what pain anyway?! Just do it, just keep on pushing and there, already the last sharp turn before the peak. My mind - as far as it's still capable of - starts to calculate... huh, this time is going to be really nice! I expecte some few minutes more and there is still a twenty-something on the watch's display. That made me push harder again, and the heart hammered above 180 bpm.
Outch! You bet that hurts! With or without positive thinking. But in the end the pain was worth it...the suffering stopped after 32 minutes and 16 seconds.

I vaporized my former PB, I surpassed all my expectations and, wow, this only at the beginning of April!!!!

This is so great and I was all psyched up there.

I admit, my legs are exhausted and quite heavy now. But after a nice stretch and some rest, the need for speed will show up again.

Keep it up and hit it hard - it's paying off!

Dani "Aguila"Hofstetter

The shitty part comes afterwards...!

Allright, allright, I've been messing aroung quite a bit!! Sorry for the loooong break in my reporting. Hm, first I had heaps of things to do in the office, then I was 2 weeks away, training in Gran Canaria (biiiig volumes and even more fun - simply awesome!). And after my holidays, again, double the heaps at the office.

Well but that's past! We're having sensational Easter weather and I'm up to some serious training. More on that in the next report. Here I'd like to tell a funny story from last week. I was training (run) over lunchtime, cutting my lunch short. As usual I had my regular porridge: healthy oats, cinnamon, nuts, a banana and some hot water.
A colleague (the boss from the trademarketing dept) saw me preparing my meal. So came over to me and asked whether I had been training before. I told him, that I'd been running and would take now the healthy post training snack.
So he had a look on my bowl of porridge and went: "Wow, I always thought that your daily training routine is tough... but having a look to your meal, I suddenly realize that the shitty part's after the sport!".

We had a great laugh and I really like the way the Kraft'ees are looking at my tri business. There' snot the pretentious ooh and ah, there is respect, some distant crazy-judging, but lot's of tolerance and fascination.

By the way: I love those oats, even if it sometimes might look a bit odd!

Enjoy your meal - giddy up!

DH

The atcual sens and signs for myself

For today's story I need to make some detours...here we'go:
This morning's forecast was mixed. I had to expect to get wet on the bike. But I didn't care that much. Well, I had to go first to Altendorf (SZ) to pick up my new helmet. Getting there with some extra mileage startet the ride well. From Altendorf I wanted to ride home directly - it was already pretty dark and overcast and the rain was out to come.
Despite all that, I decided to visit the Tempo Sport guys too. I wasn't sure about this visit (weather, time, training and so on), but finally I knew, if I wouldn't go now, I would have to pick up the items they ordered for me sometimes later.
So I went to the shop, chated here, chated there, tried the new bikes shoes and had my gearing fixed, when all of a sudden, "Storming Normann" Stadler - Hawaiian Ironman Champ himself - popped in. He was accompanied by Werner Bhend, the former Swiss Tri president, who, I heard from serious sources, is quite a top shot groupie ;-))
Anyway, he braged something of what a surprise he'd bring and blabla. I had to laugh for myself. I "do know" Normann already. I met the guy several times before (Zurich, Kona, Power Bar Pre Hawaii Brunch in Kona). He's an easy bloke. But this time, things were different. In a way I was completely disinterested in his appearance. No "wow's", no admiration, no nothing!! I don't wanna be rude... This man deserves respect and has accomplished big things in triathlon. But for much more important is, that when he comes into that shop, watching around shily, not even greeting anybody, he's a completely Joe Average!!!!!!!!
No myths, no "Überbiker" - and above all, rather tragic and self-conscious.

But coming to the point: This episode showed me that I'm definitely past the average tri scene hype thing. I recognized MY true sense of doing this sport and doing it the way I wanna do it.
It's not about fame, the media, the glamour - BECAUSE: The fastest guy's a NOBODY when the race sportlights are gone.

It's a coincident with signal meaning to me. Sorry, Normann, I don't want to put you down, but for me it was a sign for being classy, having so many skills and having them widespread not single-fast-lane.

Thus: Balanced life, lots of challenges and a long term perspective. I'm not afraid of the time after the finish lines of my life. For me, this is the point, where things, where the future starts - and hell, it's a promising future.

Hang in there - and not to be missunderstood: Ride on Normann!

Dani

Growing mature... maybe!

Once upon a time... there was an angry young man. He thought he had to proof
everybody that he was great and unbeatable. Well, you sure know that this
made him even more vulnerable. But anyhow, he kept that attitude for a long
time. It made him a driven mind: ambitious, courageous, but anxious and with
deeply sourced doubts as well. Whether he could perform on his peak level
was very dependent or let's say too much dependent on outside factors.
Missing this made him even more angry and dissatisfied, which, in terms,
affected his skills negatively further more.

It took him years before he learnt to deal with his character. The road
leading up there was narrow and winding. Although it gives an all time
beautiful and scenic outlook, it's a hard way to travel.

Today, after a thousands twists and turns, this man has arrived at a point,
where he likes to be. He enjoys the things he sees in front of him and is
proud of the path walked so far. No regrets and collected experiences make
him a strong and versatile achiever. He's committed, he's focused and he's
not narrow-minded any longer.

He realizes that he arrived on a sound base for happiness. Happiness as the
best performance booster. No need to push, no need to be afraid. He proved
himself in ample sufficiency - the future will only be the bonus that he
earned so much.

Wishes, passion, desire....and the enlightment after all!

It's been a good first training block this year. I've taken the occasion to finish it off with a tough Saturday. That evening I had a great evening out with my girl friend. We ate at a fancy restaurant and talked a lot. This feels so great. Taking off, getting some distance to job and sport. Trusting the quality, the progress in shape and have the easiness to let go.

Same on Sunday, after sleeping in, we had an easy morning. We then went out - it was pooring and winding pretty badly - for a walk and deserved a 2 hours' sauna session. That was sooooo relaxing. I got me drowzy still today.

Today was another day off and so I'm ready for entering the next training phase. I do realize that I like the structured way my life works. The hours at the office, the commitment to the sport...everything has its place. Sometimes I fall back to older patterns. Browsing on the web all kinds of "pro bullshit stuff". Well, it's a glamouros world...shiny stuff, sophisticated gossip and the rest's just trash talk.

Hm, maybe the hardest part was letting go, not taking part (remember that line from a Coldplay song...). I recognized that the quest for peak performance wasn't enough to me. I missed the mind's edge. Training day in and day out is cool to a certain extent, but there's g0t to be more! I have the discipline, the seriousness and the guts of a pro....but I expect more of my life. Travelling the world, trailing the summer and meeting all kinds of people sounds very sweet, but it's a hollow thing and the core is still hard work.

I don't know... I proved (above all to myself) that I could dig that deep, that I could live as a pro, but it wasn't enough. I need more. I need to show all my skills, not only the physical ones.
That said, I'm not judging at all anybody doing pro sports! It's just not quite MY thing.

With the 2007 season I try to CELEBRATE a gigantic final of over a decade of endurance race action. There are fancy highlights, I'd like to attend on my triathlon farewell tour. We'll see how I'll catch it.

All I can say from here is: There is huge desire to have that kick again, to show my guts and proof that even a high profile job won't keep me from improving. That done will allow me to let go and take a slight easier pace for instance.

Settle down, get away from the pro's edge and leave it to those, wanting to do it, just it and nothing else!

Keep it up!

Dani

That's a wrap!

So it is...highly official and fully signed. The contract's done and the timeline is set. I'm really psyched about the oportunities given at Kraft Foods!
It's great if people have so much confidence in me and I don't wanna disapoint them!

April 16th is official kick off with me as a Key Account Assistant (well, the last word is getting dropped ASAP!).

Fingers crossed for a sky rocking impact...

Yup
Dani

The heat is on....

Hey there

At the moment I'm in some flow state. Without real effort, things turn out really good for me. Well, as everybody knows, everything has two sides. And so it is now: Without pushing it myself, I got this unique and all tempting job offer from Kraft Foods.
Well, one of my 2007-targets was an unlimited contract with this company, but that fast and with such a career-charged position....that's a surprise.
The downside.... well my 2007 triathlon schedule gets all tangeld up now. Sure I want to stick to my race plan, but the build for those, the place, where this build's done and the time given for it.... kin dof complicated!

It seems like I should stick to the absolute minimum considering travelling and staying abroad. Forget the 7 weeks in Northamerica around IM CAN and the Worlds in Kona... ! Hm, bad luck, but in the end, if I'm really focused and dedicated to my perfomance goals, I'm sure there is a way, to succeed.

One appetizer for it is my new helmet design. New sponsor, new style - I'm really psyched, awesome!!

Check it out and think about how fast this thing will go!!!

So long with busy regards

Dani