Training around X-mas

On wednesday I went to the gym to lift weights whilst standing on a balance board and did exercises with my own body weight and a swissball.

Not my socks! But this is some kind of balance board.

After that I did two hours of indoor cycling.
I was pretty exhausted on thursday after this and due to X-mas preparations and feeling tired I rested that day.

On friday the 23rd I went running for 50 min. incl. 5 sprints and some running exercises plus 3 times 800 m. in my 10k racepace. In the evening I went to my triathlon clubs swimming pool, but I confused training times and could only swim for 25 minutes.

Saturday= Christmas eve, the day on which most X-mas rituals take place in this part of Germany. We went to my girlfriends parents. Before that we had to go shopping for some final presents, so I went running to the shopping with my daughter on the bike. Just around 30 minutes, but alright for a christmas eves run. Did some minutes of exercises after getting home.
Then off to Brittas parents and to the feast. Ate some very delicious traditional german "Rouladen" made of soyprotein, "Knödel" and "Rotkohl".

Rouladen, Knödel, Rotkohl

Had a pea soup as starter and some creamy whip with oranges as dessert. Amazing! I was very full and me and my daughter had to go running for 5 minutes to level out. Presents: I got this book which translates to "Long distance triathlon once in a lifetime".

 

 So I guess my family has coped with my decision.
On the first day of Christmas we went to my parents. I just did 1.30h on my fitnessbike before we went there. Got some money there that I definitely need for some triathlon gear or the application for my long distance once. While on my bike my daughter supported me with Christmas music on her new piano. Awesome!
Dec 26th we had invited my bandmates as well as a few friends to have brunch with us. Me and Firat went running before that. We went to the "Gesundheitspark Quellenbusch" and did a barefeet run there. There is some sort of route which is not really taken care of in wintertime, but it was an experience.
After that we got to the feast, prepared a little more and started eating. All was vegan. My girlfriends "Donauwelle" (translates with "wave of Danube" is a very creamy cherry-chocolate sort of cake).

Donauwelle

I made baguettes with tomatoes and herbalgarlic oil. We also had a chickpeas spread, fruits, potatoeballs, beans, my daughter baked wafers, a friend brought "Mett" (which usually is raw mince used as a spread for bread), another self baked baguette with pepper. It was a real feast!

Mett

"Veggie Athletes" Shirts available soon

Here you can see pics of the "Veggie Athletes" Shirts, which will soon be up for sale. More info will follow soon and on the website of Alles-vegetarisch.de.

Girlshirt backside

Girlshirt front

Tanktop backside

Tanktop front

shirt backside

shirt front

Meanwhile you can check their webshop anyways, as it is just great!

Training sat-tuesday
On saturday noon I started to ride my fitnessbike at home for 30 minutes and later on I went into the gym to do indoor cycling. Unluckily the instructor was sick, so I went on the fitnessbike there and on the rowboat machine. In the end I have spent 1.40h cycling + some more minutes rowing. Almost two hours of sports.
On sunday me and a friend wanted to go running at the Schloss Burg in Solingen, but we just walked around, did a tour in the castle, which is one of the best presevered ones in the west of Germany and then went drinking a tea. Later on I was trying to move a piano (X-mas present for my daughter) from the other stret to our house, but we couldn't. So we went eating at Cakes 'n' Treats in Dortmund again. Had a nice Hawaiiburger. Picked up my daughter later this evening from her friend in Dortmund and drove back home. Had loads of stuff to do for the X-mas party at school as well as the usual stuff for the week, so I ended up doing NOTHING! Crazy, but yeah... muscles can only grow in a period of resting.
On monday I ran to the dentist of my little one with her (her on a bike). In the evening I cycled to the gym to go running on the treadmill, but it had been shut down. No nice gym in my hometown anymore. Shiat!
Cycled back and went on my fitnessbike for another 30 minutes. So in total I did 1.10h on bikes and 40 running.
This tuesday morning I went to the pool near the Centro "Aquapark" where I usually swim on tuesdays, but that one was closed, too, due to a control of the whole building. Went as fast as possible to Herne to swim in the Südpool. Could only do 40 minutes before heading to school. At school I also did the sports around noon with a big group of kids and showed them some exercises with swiss- and fitnessballs. Was much fun. After that I had to grab some food and prepare for the X-mas party. Before getting home from the party I was happy to get some nice white cherry chocolate from my girl. It is very delicious.

I guess all of them are tasty but the right one kills it!

 I had friends coming to help me moving the piano from the other street to our house, but I can tell you it wasn't as easy as here, although we were four persons. It was heavy as f***. Thanks to my bros Ingo and Kiki and my uncle for helping me!

Supporting my friend Björn and training thursday, friday

Got a nice link for german speaking folks:
Björn Moschinsky und Kool Savas gegen Fleischesser in einem Schlagabtausch im ZDF.
Here you can also see how Björn works with little kids to show them the benefits of vegan cooking and eating.

Nothing special trainingswise. I had a long day yesterday due to our christmas feast with my fellow teachers. I have eaten so so much, loads of veggies and veggie gyros I have bought at Vegilicious in Dortmund.
In the evening I went swimming in the pool in the center of Oberhausen again. On thursdays it stays open until 22.00 h. I really like to go swimming late in the evening.

Today me and Britta went to the gym. I did 40 minutes of exercises with weights and swissballs and then went on the treadmill for a 30 min uphill run.

After that we met friends at Yummys at the Druckluft in Oberhausen. Ate a delicious burger and salad there and met some friends. Wanted to go the the HHF benefit sampler release show at the Roots Club in Mönchengladbach, but unluckily all my car passengers couldn't make it so I had to stay home due to my bad driving at nights.

Cover of the benefit sampler

I have been wham-ed at indoor cycling

Shit! It had happened. I have been semi"wham"-ed earlier this week when my daughter came home singing this shitty "last christmas" song, but I have been full on "Wham-ed" by my cycling instructor a few hours ago. She did not really want to play it, but some dude wanted to here it, so I got "wham"-ed there. Shit! Game over!

Anyways... I did 45 minutes of swimming yesterday morning before going to school and that wakes me up!
There was a time when 25 minutes scwimming before school left me very exhausted but now it is refreshing to swim 45 min in the morning.

Found these two interesting links:
Dave Noisy about vegan cycling
Vegan Tour de France cyclist

I have just picked up the "Veggie Athletes" team shirts. Will be for sale through alles-vegetarisch.de soon!
More Infos will be posted here!

Weekend training and watching my favorite movie again

Since I couldn't convince myself to leave home for swimming on friday I went on my bike on saturday morning to go swimming. I did 2km following a training schedule for offseason training. The new pool in the center of Oberhausen is nice, due to a fast swimmers lane. 

The usually divide the pool into lanes, which makes it easier for swimmers with ambitions.

After that me and Britta had to leave to donate blood to check if we fit to donate bone marrow for a little girl from Bochum called Greta. Our incorporated association "The Hardcore Help Foundation" had donated 50€ for everyone who let the DKMS (organisation that checks the blood compatability) check their blood.

Team HHF: Anett, Patric, Phyllis, me, Britta, Rico  Pic by Toni BDHW

My little one couldn't join us due to a Badminton game she had to play.
From Bochum we went on to Wuppertal to meet friends and have dinner. Initially me and my bro Firat wanted to go running , but then we waited for the food and somehow we just ate and were too full to run afterwards. So we started watching my favorite movie "Night on Earth" by Jim Jarmusch which I hadn't seen for the last 6 years, so watching it was great amusement!

On sunday I was very tired still due to less sleeping last night, so I did not do much apart from 1.15h cycling (Ergobike and outside) plus 1h of weight lifting at my gym.

Gasometer OB

Monday: Did a 1.10h, nice 14km run along the Rhein-Herne-Kanal in Oberhausen towards Duisburg passing the stadium of Rot Weiß Oberhausen and the Gasometer. I might only stretch now. Good night!

Wednesday to friday

On wednesday I went to my gym to go indoor cycling. Nothing spectacular, just around 2 hours of indoor cycling. The powercycling II course, the second one this evening, wasn't this hard this time.
On thursday I felt as if I would need to take a break from sports for just one day as I was really tired. For lunch I ate at the YMCA in Herne and they kept a salad dressingfree, so I could make my own vegan dressing. Luckily I had sprouted quinoa and wheat with me due to showing it my students earlier the day, so I could use this to supplement my salad. In the evening I had to go back to Herne and went swimming at the Südpool, but only for 40 minutes. It's been more than a week since I went swimming last time, so it was quite hard.

sprouted quinoa

sprouted wheat

Today (friday) I was tired again, due to hanging out at Michi's place until latenight. Wasn't sure about running or swimming, so in the end I went running for 42 minutes towards the Revierpark Gysenberg and did a few short uphill runs there. After getting home I have done a mixed workout with my new purchases: Kettlebell and swissball. Squats on a swissball is really hard and takes advantage of every muscle in your legs. And then I also did some Theraband, barbell and own weight exercises.

Swissball exercises for bootie, legs and belly muscles

My kettlebell

Sunday to Wednesday

On Sunday I sat on my fitnessbike and did some cardio-strength exercises with my new kettlebell, therabands and barbell as well as bodyweight for almost 2 hours. In the evening my GF wanted to go running, so we went for like 3-4 km, but also walked parts of it.
On Monday I just went to my gym to ride a spinning bike with spinning exercises for 1.20h but on my own.
On Tuesday I wanted to go swimming in the morning, but I have skipped that so I only went running for an hour, did some sprints and went fast towards the end as I had to pick up my daughter from training in time.
I usually do stretching in the evening before going to bed. There was a time when I have stretched after every workout, but now I only do after harder trainings i.e. when I can feel my muscles.

German Tv Broadcast

Click here for the video!

One of the IRONMIND Army. Vegan SE and proud, but also taking it to another level!

Another video to check!
The Veganisator

Vegan cafe/shop in Dortmund/ Training after problems with ligament

On friday I did a mix of cardio and exercises: Jumps, curls, kettlebellexercises, pushups... a broad spectre of exercises and riding my fitnessbike a few times for a couple of minutes. I had to do all of this, since I went to TK Maxx and bought a shitload of stuff, like some nice and functional sportswear from CRAFT, a kettlebell, an exercises ball, etc.    Had to try some of that, of course!
This morning for breakfast I ate: Alpro Soy yoghurt with müsli, macapowder, figmarmelade, mulberrysyrup, agave nectar, goji berries and wheat germs and was full!
I took my GF to her first indoor cycling course ever. The gym I go to is really nice, since the persons working there are nice and they have many cycling courses plus a sauna. So we went indoor cycling and after that I have tried running on the treadmill to see whether my ligaments hurt. Did a few minutes on the treadmill, but it seemed, as if running would work out again. Then we went down to the room to workout and were on our own (apart from the owner fo the gym). So again I mixed cardio and power exercises. Did some stairjumps, exercises on a balance pad and just a nice crossover workout.
Picked up my daughter from her mum's place after training, because she wanted to play badminton since she has to play a big competition tomorrow. We had a falafel and makali in Oberhausen near the station after picking her up and met up with my uncle at the other gym to play badminton.
I also brought my rope with me, so I was trying to stay in motion all the time, even when the others played.
At home I made a soyprotein shake and refined it with gojiberries, pineapple and apple juice and wheat germs.

The proteinpowder I have bought at vegilicious in Dortmund.
The cafe "Cakes'n'Treats" next door is also really nice. Check it, when you are in the Ruhrpott.

Indoor football= fun but dangerous

Went playing football yesterday evening. This usually is my fastruntraining. haha. I got to run fast, but it is not like an hard intervall and much more fun. The downside of it is the high risk of injuries. I do play for more than 4 years about twice a month, sometimes less, sometimes more. Never got any injury, but yesterday I bend my ankle two times and after the second time I had to lie on the ground for a minute before I could move my foot again. Luckily another football player is a physiotherapist and could tell me directly that my ligaments weren't torn. It seems as one broad front ligament could be bended too much, but well... today I could walk again and went indoor cycling. 30 minutes warm up, 1 hour hillcycling. Got a nice potatoesalad, sausage and bread afterwards at home! Yum!