The Schramulator and I took a short jaunt over to Euskirchen to close the year off with a hard run. Beautiful conditions, as you can imagine in this our German winter (2C and nasty pissy rain!)
I haven’t done any hard running yet so I knew it was gonnna hurt like a b…. but I got off feeling good in the lead group of 8. At 3 km, Till had to drop and a few km’s later another guy dropped off the pace, and I was still feeling pretty good at this point and was considering making a move at the front, but I was running with heartrate and it was pretty high. The pace stayed hard and these guys were real runners, 60kg a piece and mostly looking pretty relaxed too, so I continued to sit in, hoping that some more might drop off. By 7km it was no longer comfortable and I knew I would have trouble responding to the inevitable move. It came at 8km and we strung out instantly, yours truly at the back. I realed one in and was gaining on this tiny little Bundesliga Triathlete Olli Strankman, but all I could do was hold him within a few metres until the finish line, crossing in 33:22 and 5th place!! On the bright side, I had only lost 8sec to the win, and having not done any hard training I can be really happy with my fitness level. I have been doing a tonne of technique training and been in the weight room a lot strengthening weak muscle groups and felt very stable and efficient the entire run. Looking forward to seeing what goes when I am fit in the spring and summer.
Happy New year to all!! oh, btw, check the results!! ahahahahahah.. people or posting comments there!

Sorry, this one is only in German….

2. Die ersten Topathleten haben für die Cologne226 in 2010 zugesagt

Wir freuen uns sehr, dass wir 2010 zwei Cologne226 Sieger am Start haben werden! Sowohl Olaf Sabatschus (Sieger Cologne226 2008) also auch Joseph Spindler (Sieger Cologne226 2009) werden am Start sein! Olaf Sabatschus (unter anderem durch diese Erfolge bekannt: 6. Platz Quelle Challenge Roth 2009, 1. Platz Inferno Triathlon (2008), 1. Platz Ironman China (2008), 2. Platz Ironman Brasilien (2008), 1. Platz Ironman Brasilien (2005, 2004)), konnte in diesem Jahr krankheitsbedingt leider nicht auf der Cologne226 angreifen und musste wenige Tage vorher absagen. Die Chance für Joseph Spindler (um nur einige seiner Erfolge zu nennen: 1. Platz OstseeMan (2009, 2008, 2006), 9. Platz Ironman Lanzarote (2009), 8. Platz Ironman Switzerland (2008), 36. Platz (Pro) Ironman Worldchampionchip Hawaii (2007), 2. Platz OstseeMan (2007), 6. Platz Ironman Switzerland (2007)) ohne mit dem Titelverteidiger zu kämpfen ganz oben aufs Treppchen zu steigen.

Aber auch wenn gleich zwei der Cologne226-Sieger wieder am Start sind, heißt das natürlich nicht, dass sich am Ende nicht vielleicht ein Dritter freuen kann. Das könnte z.B. der Kanadier Luke Dragstra sein, der 2009 sehr spontan von der Cologne226 half auf die Cologne226 umgemeldet hat und am Ende den 3. Platz belegte! Aber lassen wir seine Erfolge für ihn sprechen: 1. Platz Auckland Half Ironman (2009), 6. Platz Challenge Wanaka (2009), 9. Platz Quelle Challenge Roth (2009), 12. Platz Half Challenge Barcelona (2009), 12. Platz Half Challenge Kraichgau (2009), 4. Platz Challenge Wanaka (2008), 5. Platz Ironman Malaysia (2008), 5. Platz Challenge France (2008), 1. Platz Challenge Wanaka (2007), 8. Platz Quelle Challenge Roth (2008), und viele weiter Top-Platzierungen!!

Ebenfalls für 2010 zugesagt hat der Kölner Local-Hero Till Schramm (Deutscher Meister Langdistanz Roth AK TM20 (2008), 1. Platz Langdistanz Swim & Run Cologne (2008), NRW-Meister Crosstriathlon (2008), Deutscher Meister U23 Crosstriathlon (2007), 13. Platz Köln Triathlon – CologneClassic (2007), U23 Weltmeister Duathlon (2006), 6. Platz EM Elite Team (2006).

Infos zu unseren Topathleten findet ihr natürlich auch auf unserer Homepage unter Topathleten!

The biggest Bierathlon event in Europe!! We hauled down to Zurich bright eyed a bushy tailed on Saturday morning arriving in plenty of time to scope out the course and plan our race. Not such a simple feat as there are so many variables in such an event, and in the end it really came down to tactics.
As you can see from the pics, we were looking goooooooooooooooooooood and were very ready on many levels to dominate this event.
As far as costumes go, however, we were certainly outdone as you will see on bierathlon.ch when the race pix come out.

Anyway, after a solid warm up in the balmy weather we were on the startline and fired up. We decided to go one lap, without drinking.. uh wait, i will give you run down on the rules and the course first: 5 laps with one drinking zone per lap. Teams of two must drink a total of 10 300ml beers in the drinking zone, without puking or spilling the fluids, pretty straight forward, you can drink the beer whichever lap you want but must be in the drinking zone. We were nicely placed in 4th through the first lap, running very steady, and decided to keep going so as to gain control of the race from the front. We stopped after lap 2 and drank one, and we were still just ahead of a team but they were also one beer ahead. We showed our strength in the last 2 laps as we stayed on one-beer, one lap pace after that. We came the last drink station in the lead with 4 beer in the case. We bottoms-ed up those in good time and crossed the line in around 29min for the 6.85km just edging out another team from Cologne who moved up through the field in Stealth, almost stealing our much much cherished victory, also holding the contents of our stomachs until well within the finish area.
A great show of offseason form and we are proud to join the ranks of Jurgen Zack, Norman Stadler, Steffen Riesen, and Ronnie Schildknecht as Zurich Bierathlon Champions.
A long afterparty followed where you can only imagine the atmosphere.. good times had by all!!
pix to come but you can find some at Magic’s fb page. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=38287&id=1433357638 and will be lots on www.bierathlon.ch and on my flickr asap.

Seasons greetings!

oh by the way, i was also at my Coaches lab (Professional Endurance Team) for some testing on Thursay and my offseason form was also verified and training will start to step up in January.

Luke Dragstra in Challenge Copenhagen

Tuesday, 01 December 2009 Written by ChallengeCopenhagen

We promised you charismatic starters in Challenge Copenhagen, and they don’t get more charismatic than Luke Dragstra from Canada! Nobody knows how old – The Dragster or Drags as he is also called – is. His birthday is June 24th, but the year remains a secret. All we now is that he is fast!

This year wasn’t the best of years for Luke until July 12th. At that date Luke raced Challenge Roth and set a PB with 8:13:51 and finished 9th in the strongest field of the entire year. With that time he impressed everybody much more then his pink hair could have done alone. Now everybody is waiting for, what he can do next year, and we are extremely happy that we will find out in Copenhagen!

Situated in Crailsheim (on Team Sport Magicfood.de) near Roth, Luke is a good friend of the Challenge Family. We had a chance to meet him several times this year, and we can guarantee that smiles will be upon every face when he is near, before, during and after the race.

One thing is still uncertain about Luke’s participation in Challenge Copenhagen, which colour will the hair be August 15th 2010? We hope it will be pink, so it will match his bike.
Luke told us that one of the best things about being a pro triathletes, is that he gets to visit so many interesting places around the world. Copenhagen, and the Challenge Copenhagen course will with out a doubt become another favourite. We are really looking forward to welcoming the flamboyant triathlete to Copenhagen in August!

I realized it is time to stop playing journeyman and make a real attack on achieving my career goals. In order to do that you got to be 100% on the start line. The way I have been racing the past years on the road, and doing 4-5-6 IM distance a year, you are always at 85-90% and that is the difference between fighting for wins or trudging in for 5th to 10th or WORSE!

It seems like we can expect a lot more from Luke in 2010 and for Challenge Copenhagen. We are excited to see a 100% fit Luke at the start line in Copenhagen!

Please remember to support The Dragster in raising money for Team Streetkids. For more information on this program please have a look at www.teamstreetkids.wordpress.com

I have been fairly busy of late as I have taken on an op with Planet X to fill some of my spare time with. I have started up training in the mean time and as I sit here and contemplate I realize that I really am in the off-season. I mean the past years have also had somewhat of an off-season but I would normally be south and training for a winter race. Right now I have different objectives and no push to be fit in Dec. Jan or Feb. This is pretty normal for most pro’s but me it is an abnormal and relaxing feeling. I have some very clear goals before me for 2010 and am setting objectives that are going to enable me to achieve them. It is more than jsut training hard and getting fit, which normally the case. I think to live through a winter will harden me up and give me the chance to get my core strength and flexibility back up to snuff and to up my game in swimming and running. I am doing a lot of dynamics training to improve my effeciency and strengthen weak muscle groups. In the spring I will really ramp my bike mileage and by next summer I will be at a new race level… that is the plan. I will have lots of saved up power by then, that is to be sure!
I realized it is time to stop playing journeyman and make a real attack on acheiving my career goals. In order to do that you got to be 100% on the start line. The way I have been racing the past years on the road, and doing 4-5-6 IM distance a year, you are always at 85-90% and that is the difference between fighting for wins or trudging in for 5th to 10th.. or WORSE!! My coach Susanne Buckenlei has helped bring this to my attention and is full board with the new plan.. (well, of course. She is writing!). My sponsors Magic-Sportfood.de and Planet-X are also on board and giving me the oportunity to earn a little money on the side while not taking away from my training time! What could be better!
Anyway, I took the time during my break to have some crazy fun too, as you can see in the photos!
adios!
Karnival1
Karnival2

The race went pretty much as could have been expected. I had hoped for a lot more and felt great the last few weeks since the Cologne 226. I felt really good on the swim and was out in 2nd position but I backed it off when the leader put the pressure on and then hung out in the main chase group. It was never hard but it just seemed to take for ever. The went for the bike, it just went on and on (despite the nice view of the ocean and beaches - which I wasn’t much interested in at the time) but again, i was still feeling good and was in a group of about 8 guys with 2 up the road. Then suddenly around 110km I just lost all power, just when the pace picked up. I’d had plenty to eat and drink but I just couldn’t keep the pressure on and had to roll the longest 70km of my life in the big gear just trying to keep moving. I got out on the run with a decent rhythm and thought I could still run into a decent position. It was warm and I thought some of the guys would have to crack out there. It wasn’t be and I found myself in the finish around 15th despite still going 8hrs47min. Well, as they say, everything is clearer in hindsight but I wouldn’t change my decision to race anyway as I had nothing to lose and depite lots of ups and downs this year I am satisfied with the season on the whole.
4 IronDistance races all under 9hrs with a podium in Cologne and a top 10 at Challenge Roth with a best time of 8hrs13min.
1 middle distance win at the Auckland half and some solid League race results that helped out team finish top 3 in the LBS Cup.
All in all, 14 races. I also overcame some scary injuries thanks to the insight of my physio Joerg Brenn and look forward to building on the this season and come up big in Roth next summer.
Time for a break and some siesta at the CMR Spa here in Calella.
l8r

Made it to Callela yesterday.. very ez comfy Ryan air flight and was happy to see a Challenge Barcelona chap waiting for me to take me to the hotel. Had lunch with Hillssss today and am off to pick up me start number.. oh yeah, a lovely ocean swim in the mediteranean when I came out some Thai chick was offering 40min massages for 10Euro.. not a bad way to start the day out.. massage on the beach. Temps are 25degrees sunny, moderate winds so I think its gonna be fast. Breezed down the bike course as well and they put some new asphalt down on some of the rougher parts.. very nice!! Will put somepix up later or else on my facebook. Check the ticker at www.challenge-barcelona.com. They gave me number 2 so now I really have to perform!!!
l8r
callellasaladhotel Olympic

Check out my freind Freddy’s stroke.. looking GOOD!!! esp at around 22sec!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-P_sa4Psqwc

Cologne Triathlon Weekend 2009 from Cologne Triathlon Weekend on Vimeo.

oh.. yeah.. another change of plans.. Season is not finished yet for me!! I have been feeling great since the spontaneous Cologne swapover and have decided to go ahead with Challenge Barcelona. I think that I can really rip as I have never had such a quick recovery from an iron-distance… feeling much stronger than before Cologne in fact so no holding back on this one.. got nothing to lose and everything to gain!!
C U there!!