Gran Canaria Part II

On our third day on Gran Canaria I went for a little more than an hour running, but up and down loads of stairs and the dunes. I swam a little in the atlantic ocean and in the pool with my daughter.
In the evening I did some more exercises with bodyweight and Thera bands. I can recommend this book especially for german speaking pals, when it comes down to muscle strength training for triathletes:

On this day I also went to "Free motion tours" (http://www.free-motion.net/en/free-motion-bikes-tours-bikesports-gran-canaria) to sign up for a 70km roadbike tour.
So in the morning I went the almost 3 km to their shop. After setting up the bikes (most work was already done), we started. We went up to the mirador del tunte, towards fataga.

The route got high up. The description of the tour is here: http://www.free-motion.net/en/tour/winter-schedule/fataga-santa-lucia-roller-coaster 
When you look at the pics you can see how beautiful the inner parts of Gran Canaria are. It looks alot like the Grand Canyon.
The "Free motion" staff is very kind and professionally working. I would definitely ride with them again! Our tourcrew also made up a great atmosphere. I even met some other german teachers who live near my city.
After coming back from the tour I decided to keep the bike for a while and drove home with it. I brought it back in the evening and ran towards my 2 girls who were on their way to Playa del Ingels where I dropped off the bike. We met there, ran through the "city" and one of the ugly malls. Later on we decided to walk home through the dunes along the beach, but couldn't swim in the ocean. The waves were just too high and the wind stormy. So we walked for almost 2 hours through the dunes and I could finally feel my muscles. We got home shortly before the pool wasn't accesible anymore, so I just dove in to cool down.
The next morning started off with a refreshing 1h run to and along the beach. I did some running exercises and ran barefeet on the sand. Felt really good!!! Did another 2*10min swimming in the pool later on before we took the bus to the airport and left for Germany.
Training and chilling at the end of october in such a warm climate felt really good and I definitely consider going there next year again. Goodbye Gran Canaira, hello again, Germany!

Vacation: Gran Canaria Part I

We have played a show in Leipzig with my band GetItDone (https://www.facebook.com/getitdonehc).
We went to the Fleischerei (vegan deli, pretty good) before the show at Conne Island. I didn't do much training apart from the usual jumping and shouting on stage and some exercises on that day.
But Micha, Rico Ironmind and me agreed on swimtraining the other morning at 8. So we went for that at the pool "An der Elster" (http://www.sportbaeder-leipzig.de/index.php?page=28) which has a really nice 50m lane. Very new pool, so quite clean. Enjoyed it!
Since I have decided quite spontaneously to go on holiday to Gran Canaria, I went looking for cheap flights, a cheap apartment for me and my 2 girls with a pool and not too far from the sea. After picking everybody up, my bandmates dropped us off at the airport in Cochstedt near Magdeburg. Such a small airport...never seen one alike.
So yeah... we got to Maspalomas and almost everything looked strange. No towncentre, just apartmentcomplexes and hotels. Well... the weather was nice, when we landed, around 24 degrees, slightly cloudy, but much better than in Germany. So what have I done there? Meals: Not too good for a vegan. I have bought stuff to cook everyday, tried to buy as much fruits and veggies as I could (but not much to be found at the small local shops). So well... had baked beans or red sauce and pasta most of the days.

But waking up, watching the beautiful sun and diving in the pool felt really good!
So what else did I do?
On the arrival day I only went for more swimming in the pool as I had my training done earlier that morning in Leipzig.

The next day I went for a short run (6,6km) in the morning and then into the pool, did some exercises with Thera bands and another run in the evening (6km). Fine! Found out about some bike rentals, so the next day began with running 8km (incl. 3x1km a little faster than 10k racepace), then swimming in the pool directly afterwards. I also went to the bike rental (http://www.linosbike.com/site/?page_id=30&lang=de) and got myself a decent roadbike for 18€ a day. Initially I have wanted to drive to the capital of Gran Canaria - Las Palmas - but the bike dude, told me I should rather go somewhere else. So I had to convince my girls to not go to Las Palmas this day and go on a bike tour with me instead. So we rented more bikes and just drove around Maspalomas and Playa del Ingles. Got to a botanical garden and saw a plant of cotton for the first time in my life. We also went to the beautiful dunes of Maspalomas, that are totally worth the trip. Even my shitty cellphonecam can capture the beauty of this:

Bikeriding, dunes in the back!

Los Toros! Had been great fun!

I guess I just fell down! Riding the bull was the only non-vegan act I have done!

We cycled back to the apartment an eventually dove into the pool a few more times in the evening at the apartment.
The next day I had to bring my bike back, so I decided to get up early and cycle from Maspalomas to Puerte de Mogan. Almost 70km in total, so a nice start for the day. I dove into the pool again, ate alot, we brought the bikes back and head off to Las Palmas by public bus.

We walked through the city and finally saw a few older buildings and real cool park near the swim stadium, where many runners trained and another "muscle beach" was situated so I did a few exercises. Nice! Back to the apartment, diving into the pool, eat and sleep!