MSD 2022
It seems that after all the lockdowns caused by Covid life is slowly getting back to normal. That means that arces are being held and athletes are able to participate again. Here is a short overview of the events I have finished this year.
25. / 26. 11. 2022: Austria, St. Pölten, Aquacity: 13. 12-Stunden-Schwimmen
Together with my friends Robert and Matthias we planned to take part in this event. 30 teams of three swimmers each had the same idea. That meant that six teams swam in each of the five lanes. We decided to swim for an hour and then take two hours rest. Alltogether we swam about 32 km - not bad because for us it was more like a fun event.
23.10.2022: Austria, Linz: 20th Oberbank Linz Donau Marathon
I had actually thought that my running season was over and wanted to take a training break during October, when my good friend Robert Lintner offered me his BIB for the Marathon of my hometown Linz. He was out with Covid. So I decided two days before the race to take the chance and finish my 62nd marathon. And that's exactly what I did.
After not training for three weeks it was no surprise that I was not aiming for a PB. Nevertheless, on a splendid day I managed to finish the full distance in 4:31:41.
01./02.10.2022: Austria, Tulln: 24-hour-race
Since the Ultra Czech 515 ultra triathlon was cancelled I was looking for a challenge to end my season with. I found this very well organized 24-hour-race in Tulln.
Amalia decided to join me and signed up for the 6-hour-race. She completed nearly 50 km (it was only her seconde ultra run) and finished in 1st place of the women's field.
My start was at 10 am and off we went. The first marathon was fast and I completed it in 4 1/2 hours. The next one a little bit slower (6 hours), and the last one took me 8 1/2 hours. I was walking most of the last part.
In the end I had covered 128 km and finished in 3rd place of my age group (16th out of 44 overall). Needless to say that I was happy.
Thanks to the organisers who had done a great job.
03.09.2022: Croatia, Porec: Porecki Delfin
For the third time I was lucky enough to be on holiday in Porec when the "Porecki Delfin" was held. This is a relaxed swimming competition where everyone can swim her or his own pace on a 5 km course in the sea.
It took me 2:00:51 to complete the distance, a couple of minutes slower than some years ago. Nevertheless I was happy with my performance.
Thanks to Amalia for accompanying me.
19.-22.08.2022: Austria, Upper Austria: Upper Austrian Ultra Triathlon
My biggest project of this year: The UPPER AUSTRIAN ULTRA TRIATHLON.
Swimming the length of Lake Attersee (apr. 20 km), cycling to every of the 13 district capitals (apr. 450 km with 6.000 meters of altitude) and running 60 km from Schlögen back to my hometown Linz.
Needless to say that this was not a race but an adventure that I shared with my good friend and head of the support team Andre as well as with Amalia, who not only helped in the support team but ran the full length of the last leg together with me.
For safety reasons I hired a boat of the water rescue service from Litzlberg: Benjamin and Fabienne were the captain and rescue swimmer, respectively, who transported us from Litzlberg to Unterach in their boat. Originally I had planned to swim from Seewalchen to Unterach (north-south), but due to the wind conditions we changed this plan and started in the south to finish in Seewalchen.
A little rain and a cloudy sky welcomed me at the starting point. I didn’t care because I was going to be wet anyway. Soon I was in the water and off we went, the boat always a couple of meters to my left or right side, depending on which side I was breathing (I changed sides every hour).
Start speed was good, and we were on our way. A short nutrition stop every hour (to take one bottle of “ensure”) and a toilet stop after three hours broke the monotony of the swim. Fortunately my audio book was interesting so time flew by. The wind grew a little stronger for about two hours and I had to fight the waves which made my progress slower, but then it calmed down and it was a smooth swim to the finish in Seewalchen, where I arrived after 8:01:24, having covered 20,41 km. We said goodbye to our captain and his assistant, and after a good dinner at our hotel it was off to bed to recover for the next day.
Another early start and I was on my way on my bike to the first of the 13 district capitals. Not only Andre accompanied me (we met roughly every 90 minutes), also the rain was with me during most of the day. Vöcklabruck, Gmunden, Kirchdorf, Perg, Freistadt and Rohrbach were the destinations of cycling day number 1. Twice me komoot-tour guided me straight into a field, but with a little experience I always found the correct way. The last leg of this day was the hardest, so I was glad to arrive in Rohrbach where Amalia was already waiting for me. 231,45 km in 10:57:13 (2.679 m). Of these eleven hours it had been raining for more or less eight hours, so I was soaking wet. Another nice dinner saw me in bed early for another early start the next morning.
This time it was not a drizzle that woke me up, it was heavy rain that showed me the way during the first three hours of this day. Then the sun came out and (except for a short cloudburst) made for an enjoyable ride until …. until my first puncture of this year! I had already passed through Schärding, Braunau and Ried, but there were still three capitals left. I fixed the tube but unfortunately had overseen a little piece of broken glass so I punctured again. And I had no tube left. After 165,47 km in 8:08:01 (1.842 m) the project seemed to have come to its end.
And here Andre saved the situation. We went back to my apartment in Linz by car, got my second bike, and off we went to the hotel where we were supposed to stay for the night in Schlögen. After a good night’s sleep it was an even earlier start because I still had to finish the 75 km left from the day before. Andre brought me to the sport where I had punctured and at six in the morning I set off again, cycling through Grieskirchen, Wels, Eferding and back to Schlögen (72,67 km in 3:40:23 with 659 m). Amalia was already waiting there, and after a quick shower and a change into my running gear we started the foot race back to Linz. The first kilometers went really well. We were lucky because it was cloudy, but there was no rain, and ideal temperatures for an enjoyable run. After 51,18 km and 6:08:55 not only had Amalia finished her first full marathon, and at the same time done her first ultra run, I had also successfully completed the Upper Austrian Ultra Triathlon.
We celebrated together with the team of “Biergartl” with a couple of beers and a nice dinner.
Thanks for reading and thanks to everyone who contributed to this success.
Total distance: 541,18 km
Total moving time: 36:55:56
Total elevation gain: 5.254 m
Total calories burnt: 23.894
24.06.2022: Österreich, Ottensheim - Linz: Donaubus - Schwimmen
Nach einem Jahr Covid-Pause fuhren wir auch heuer wieder mit dem Donaubus von Linz nach Ottensheim, um dann zurück nach Linz zu laufen (Amalia) bzw. zu schwimmen (Günter). Macht Spaß.
Heuer brauchte ich für die nicht ganz 9 km 1:25:06.
04./05.06.2022: Austria, Linz: Blue Danube Ultra Tri24
Another world's first and again I was the only athlete: The task was to complete as many km as possible during eight hours of swimming, eight hours of cycling and eight hours of running. Unfortunately no one else was interested in participating, so I did it alone.
I was lucky with the weather. The swim went well and I covered 16,16 km in 7:08:47 of moving time, followed by 160 km on the bike (6:10:27) and 50,77 km running (6:41:38) for a total of 226,6 km in 20:00:52 hours.
It was a great experience and definitely a format to repeat.
Thanks to Amalia for joining me during the run at night.
26.-28.05.2022: Austria, Rottal - Bad Eisenkappel: North-South bike tour
After having completed the West-East bike tour last year cycling from the nothernmost point of Austria to the southernmost was on the agenda. The starting point was Saass in beautiful Waldviertel, from where I cycled to the norhternmost point called Rottal. From there it was 123 km to my first stop at Grein, where I had a lovely evening with my cousin Doris and her partner Josef. From Grein it was another 123 km (with 2.400 m of elevation gain) to Hohentauern for the second night, to finish the last 145 km to Bad Eisenkappel for a total of 390 km and 5.100 m of elevation gain. I enjoyed the three days a lot, especially because Amalia was my support travelling with me by car.
20.05.2022: Austria, Pucking: Time trial swim
After two years without this traditional season opener it was time to swim 1 km in Lake Pucking again. Perfectly organized by our friends of Naturfreunde Pucking it was nice meeting some old friends again. Btw.: I am the only athlete who has participated in each single event in Pucking, my time being 0:20:34.
15.05.2022: Austria, Linz: Swimming with the full moon
First ful moon swim of the season. Robert, Matthias, Amalia and two more friends showed up. We enjoed the after-swim-beer at the Bellevue restaurant.
14./15.05.2022: Austria, Linz - Germany, Passau - Austria, Linz: Bike tour
Together with Amalia we had planned this private bike tour. It was her first time to cycle more than 100 km in a day. We had a lovely time and although her bum hurt a little she was really happy to complete the tour. We stayed overnight in beautiful Passau.
30.04.2022: Austria, Linz: 3-Brücken-Lauf
I had not planned to do this 6-km-run crossing the three bridges of Linz but due to the fact that a group of my students also ran I decided to start, together with Amalia.
This time she was a little bit faster than me. I finished in 0:30:05.
23.04.2022: Austria, Linz - Krems - Linz: 300 km bike ride
The original plan was to ride together with the Randonneurs group but at short notice the date was changed, so I decided to ride my bike to Krems and back again, covering 300 km most of it along the beautiful Danube river.
02.04.2022: Austria, Linz: 200 km of spinning
Originally I wanted to take part in the 200km-Randonneurs bike ride, but due to the really bad weather forcast I decided to ride at home on my spinning bike. I do not have to proff anything to anyone, and riding for several hours in the rain with tempareatures around 0° C is no fun at all.
20.03.2022: Austria, Linz: Frühlingslauf
On a brigth sunny day it was nice to experience the atmosphere of a real race after the long lockdowns caused by Covid together with my partner Amalia. I managed to finish the 6 km along the Danube in right under 30 minutes (0:29:53). Amalia was just a little bit behind me.
23.-25.02.2022: Austria, Schöneben: Ultra Winter Triathlon TRI24
The worldwide very first Ultra Winter Triathlon TRI24 is history!
Although not an official race and me being the only participant I could proof that this format is well doable.
Day 1 (Trailrun in the snow) had a big surpirse for me. I had trained three times on the track I wanted to use, and although there was always a snowy cover on this forest road, it was ok to master it with snow chains or spikes. This time it was all different: about 30 centimetres of fresh snow made it a difficult and slow track for me. But no real problem for an ultra. I had expected to cover between 60 to 70 km, but it was no surprise (and no disappointment) for me when my Garmin showed 39,5 km after eight hours (7:06:58 of moving time).
Day 2 welcomed me and my mountain bike with frosty temperatures but a clear blue and sunny sky. Partly on snow, partly on the cycling path around the Lipno lake in the Czech Republic I managed to cover 120,08 km in 6:57:02 of moving time.
Day 3 was the day I had waited for the most, since it meant eight hours of cross country skiing, my favourite pastime in the winter. My good friend Robert Lintner joined me on this day, and although I broke one of my carbon poles the final reading of my Garmin said 78,83 km in 6:38:13.
Altogether I ran and cycled a total of 238,38 km in 20:42:13, which means the I was moving during 86,27 % of the 24 hours available.
12.02.2022: Czech Republic, Cerna v Posuvami: Lipno Ice Marathon
After the one year Covid-break I was back on the startline of this year's edition of the Lipno Ice (half) marathon. This year for the first time together with my partner Amalia.
Unfortunately the ice of the lake was not strong enough to run the full distance on the ice, so the mayor part was aquite hilly trail run, most of it on snow. Only about three kilometers were on ice.
Amalia could win her age group (congratulations) and I finished penultimate due to the fact that I lost my way and did an extra 4 km.
Nevertheless I enjoy this race each year. Thanks to Adela for the good organisation and yet another hat for my collection.
My finishing time was 3:38:35.
22.01.2022: Austria, Schöneben: Cross Country Skiing Day
Since the cross country race of "12 Stunden von Bärnkopf" was cancelled I decided to to a long cross country skiing day (together with my friend Robert). We wanted to cover 75 km, but due to a lot of fresh snow the trails were really slow and so we made it to km 70. Alltogether a nice new experience. It was the furthest I have skied so far.
15.01.2022: Austria, Neuhofen an der Krems: 42nd Neuhofner Geländecup, heat 1
For the 13th time did I participate in this winter classic. Due to my long distance training I am definitely not fast any more. Yet my time of 0:58:35 was better than expected. I did this race together with my partner Amalia who finished 2nd in the women's race - congratulations.
