ANUAL REPORT 2020

Dear friends!

Here is a short report about this year's sporting life, of course with a brief outlook to 2021.

I don't need to mention that 2020 was not a normal year. We were restricted by the virus in all areas of life, including sports, of course.

Nevertheless, I was not inactive last year:

There were a total of 107 swimming sessions (429.50 km in 165 hours), 148 bike rides (11,937.04 km in 422 hours) and 185 running sessions (2,350 km in 260 hours) as well as 26 fitness and gymnastics training sessions (36 hours).

I completed a total of 465 training and competition sessions with 14,706.47 km in 883 hours, 50 minutes and 10 seconds. That means that I nearly did 2½ hours of sport every day for the whole year.

Official competitions were scarce because most of them were cancelled. I participated in only eight of them this year. In addition, I did some “private” events, instead of the canceled competitions, p. e two double and one triple long distance triathlons.

My planned highlight of the season, the Deca-Ultra-Triathlon in New Orleans, was cancelled as well.

The open water swimming days were especially nice. So I was able to swim through the following lakes this past year: Fuschlsee and Grundlsee (both of them each way), Hallstätter See, Ottensteiner Stausee and Traunsee. The latter in particular was a particularly nice experience on a real dream day. The “Danube swimming” from Ottensheim to Linz was again a great experience.

The toughest “competition” was certainly my “private” triple long distance triathlon at the beginning of November (11.4 km swim, 540 km bike and 126.6 km run). Sometimes at temperatures below 10 degrees and with a lot of rain. To go through such a competition all by yourself (without the competitive atmosphere and other participants) requires a lot of mental strength. Amalia accompanied me a total of 40 km while running. Thanks for that.

I saved a lot of money. (Almost) no trips to competitions (I only paid around 500 €uro for entry fees and I only travelled 3800 km), but I lost almost 4,000 €uro at the Deca New Orleans because the organizer did not pay back one single cent although the event was cancelled.

But now a brief outlook for 2021. It is difficult to plan something at this point, but one can still dream and hope that some things will be normal again.

The year should start with the “Steiralauf”, a cross-country ski race in Bad Mitterndorf, followed by the “Lipno Ice Marathon” in the Czech Republic, in which people run on the frozen Lipno reservoir.

The first highlight of the season is hopefully the 173 km ultra run “Dublin 2 Belfast Ultra”, from Dublin to Belfast in Ireland. Then I want to try the “Italy Ultra Race” again in Fano, Italy, a double long distance triathlon. And then comes the absolute highlight of the year: decAustria. I will do a long-distance triathlon in each of the nine Austrian federal states. In order to reach the number 10 triathlons, I will take part in the “Double Ultra Triathlon” in Bad Blumau, Austria, and thus complete my private Deca Ultra Triathlon. You can find more information here: decAustria.

And here a request to YOU: if you have tips on where there are suitable swimming, cycling and running opportunities with appropriate accommodation in each federal state, then I would be very grateful for your help.

Later in the year there will be another self-invented event: the “Lipno Swim Marathon”, where I want to swim through the 42 km long Lipno reservoir in the Czech Republic on two days together with some friends. On the third day we will run back the whole distance on land.

The “comfortable” end of the season will be the “Ultra Czech 515” triathlon near Prague with my friends in the Czech Republic.

Of course, this list is not complete.

I also have other ideas, e.g. a 100-km run from Passau to Linz (travelling by boat or train to the starting point), a 24-hour swim in Pleschinger See in Linz and maybe one or the other “craziness”.

You can find the full list of competitions here (there will certainly be a few more): https://sites.google.com/view/ultratriathlon/thats-me/competition-plan-2021 

I would of course also like to say thank you: To Amalia for the many runs that we did together and for accompanying me on my double and triple long distance triathlons, to Robert, Miriam, Matthias and Fredi for accompanying me in the “double” as well as the beautiful swimming - adventures we had together. Thanks also to my sports retailer Philipp Hehenberger from Machsport, to Florin Popa from my new bike shop, to my  therapeutic masseuse Franziska Wagner and, of course, special thanks to my trainer Thomas Doblhammer, who takes care of my old bones, and all friends of the ultra-triathlon family. It's always nice to swim, cycle and run our laps together with you! I missed you very much this year!

I wish you and me a better year and many injury-free kilometers!

Here some fotos from 2020: https://photos.app.goo.gl/gPH44CQW2FLD9Tab8