Parallel Existence Training Feb. 1st to 10th

A fat, buzz-cut woman in front of me at the cash desk. Buying two sausages in a tin foil as a snack during her break at the instore bakery. Disgusting meal, disgusting woman.

Her smalltalking to the woman behind the cashdesk about how fucked up work is.
The cashier complains about headache and her pills which are in the office, so unreachable as of now.
The ugly sausageman has pills onhand and nicely offers to share these with the cashier.

Why don't you get it? Neither this shitty piece of cheap meat will make you healthy, nor your pills will cure any diseases, but just rob the natural pain of an (unnatural) disease. These were my thoughts. But will these people ever change?

Sidenote: Yep, unnatural disease, I suppose. For 15 years now I haven't had any headache.

Stop eating meat, get healthy and fit!
Lose weight, get a haircut, become happy and positive and therefore more beautiful. Will she ever get a tip like this? Would she even care?

Proud and happy of living a parallel existence.

Training  February 1st to 10th
1st: 2 hours indoor cycling in my gym
2nd: 46 min running
3rd: 1 hour indoor cycling, then exercises that train cardio and strength for 50 min (jumps, weightlifting, etc), then 5min cooldown running in the treadmill.
4th: 2.8km swimming, then a show with my band "Get It Done" in the evening at the Cafe Nova in Essen.
5th:  Indoor Trail Run in Dortmund. I took 3 kids from my school with me for this experience. They could climb, ride kettcars and also run the trail. I did one lap for warming up, then intended to run ten laps (12 km), but must have ran 11 or 12 laps. It was nice, but hard to count all these little laps. Found the rubber bands to count the laps after the run.

6th: warmed up for ca. 10 minutes (treadmill, crosstrainer, rowboat machine) and did mixed exercises for 50 minutes, then SAUNA! RELAX!
7th: 2.8km Swimming in the early morning (Aquapark Oberhausen)
8th: 30 min running in different paces on the treadmill, then 1h indoor cycling
9th: 74 min running incl. 3 sprints and some running exercises. Exercises with own body weight and the crate of beer of the other band in our rehearsal room.
10th: Lifting weights in the gym, 2.8km swimming in the evening in our clubs swimming pool in Oberhausen-Sterkrade. Annika Vössing, the European Youth Triathlon Champion also trains there at the same time. Nice to watch her training.

Vote for the best german vegan cookbook/Training Jan 23rd- 31st

There's loads of good vegan cookbooks around lately. You are able to chose the best german one here.
The one from the Oxfanzine is a cookbook (called Ox-Kochbuch) me and my girlfriend have contributed a few recipes.
"Vegan guerilla" is a cookbook by a fellow blogger.
Another one is called "Vegan-lecker, lecker"and compiled by a fellow triathlete Marc Pierschel who also runs "Roots of compassion".
And then there's also the book written by my friend Björn Moschinski called "Vegan kochen für alle".

So well... I have plenty of reasons for this book or another. Decide for yourself!


Jan 23rd: Went indoor cycling for one hour and lifted weights, did some exercises for 30 min.
Jan 24th: It was really cold, so I have decided to sit on my fitnessbike for 1.10h
Jan 25th: Went swimming 2.5km, due to bike problems I had to run home after spreading flyers for my show with 10kg extraweight on my shoulders. 25 min running
Jan 26th: Went on a 14km run with my buddy
Jan 27th: Did some serious weightlifting and exercises for 1.20h in the gym in the afternoon and went swimming in the evening with my triathlon club.
Jan 28th: Ran almost 14km incl. 8 sprints of about 70 meters. Total 65 min.
Jan 29th: Ran ca. 12km with my friend Jasmin in Cologne along the Rhine, afterwards 1km swimming in the new swimming pool which also has an ice skating lane above the pools.
Jan 30th: Regeneration: Just some power and stretch yoga. Relax!
Jan 31st: 2.5km of swimming int he morning. 12km of running in the evening and then 30 min workout at home.

Training Jan 8th- 15th

Jan 8th: Last day without work. I went on my bike early in the morning for a 2.8km swim training.
After that my girlfriend wanted to go to a flea market and so we did. Her on a bike and me running (and in running gear). Just 8km forth and back, but nice. Bought some sportswear there, like a windbreaker vest and some stuff for my uncle (bikeshirt, running shirt, running cap) for very reasonable prices. Also met a friend there who started running a little more than a year ago and had a good talk.

Jan 9th: First day of work after Christmas break. Took a day off and just did power and stretch Yoga for 45 min. Regenerate!

Jan 10th.: Pretty diverse training this day. Did 2.8km swimming from 7-8 in the morning. Ran with my class for an hour without stopping to approve for some sort of running badge/insignia. This was very slow but a nice thing to do. Had a rehearsal with the band and also did almost 20 minutes of working out there.

Jan 11th: Not very spectacular: 40 min. cycling, then 18 minutes running in the gym.

Jan 12th: Did 2h of indoorcycling at the gym. Nice but exhausting!

Jan 13th: 2.8km swimming at the SGZ Altenessen through little kids learning to swim and old people from an aquagymnastics course. Felt like running hurdles in water. At least the sauna was nice there. Did 35 min of workout at home in the evening.

Jan 14th: Did an early morning run of 50 minutes before picking up new tyres for my car. In the afternoon I went on my bike to the gym (9km), did 1.20h indoor cycling, did chestpresses and went 9km back home on the bike. Felt awesome!

Jan 15th: Went climbing at Neoliet in Mülheim again with my cousine, daughter and friend. My friend, who climbed a wall for his first time ever, climbed better than me....

In the evening I went on my fitnessbike for an hour.

First week of the new year = loads of early morning swims

If you want to burn fat (to lose weight or to increase your endurance) you can just easily do sports early in the morning, before the breakfast. Just drink ca. 400 ml of applejuice-water mix and then do sports. This way your body starts to use the energy from the carbohydrates of the juice and then burns fat. This is also good for people that want to do long endurance races (halfmarathon/marathon/halfironman/ironman).
If you don't eat/drink carbohydrates before the workout your body will start burning proteins stored in your muscles.
Jan. 1st: Did a kettlebell workout 3 times after finding this online: Click here!
Ran 5km very slowly in the evening with my girlfriend incl. some sprints and running exercises.

Jan 2nd: 1h indoor cycling then 35 min on a fitnessbike

Jan 3rd: At 6.33 am on my bike to the swimming pool. Swam 3.6km there, cycled back home, and had breakfast. Went 14km running incl. 3 sprints in the afternoon.

Jan. 4th: Again on my bike very early and finished swimming 2.6km at 9, brought breadrolls home for breakfast, ate with my girls and met with my training buddy at 11. Went running quite fastly for 24km, but I felt really tired after 21km. After 19 I had this snack 

which you can order from Alles-vegetarisch.de.









Jan. 5th: Needed a little break from training due to yesterdays run. So I just did a mixed workout that also trained cardio. Kettlebell, dumbbell, swissball, thera bands. If you want to gain strength and get fit, do a workout that trains strength and cardio. As a sideeffect you will build your muscles way more defined due to lesser percentage of body fat through training your whole body and cardio.


Jan 6th: Went on my bike early in the morning again to go swimming (2.6km) and did a 55 min bycicle ride on my fitnessbike. I did a couple of highintensiv intervalls (6 times different duration and different repetitions).
Went off to meet my old colleagues from teaching class and convinced them to eat more raw veggie food. They have tried these fine vegan Schnitzel  and want to celebrate a vegan feast next year! Nice! Always let your friends try as much as you can. If they get turned off, alright, but if they like this stuff there is a chance they will decrease their meat consumption through supplementing with tasteful and healthy vegan stuff.


Jan 7th: Went to my gym for an hour of indoor cycling with my girlfriend. Then I went on the fitnessbike for one more hour, then 10 minutes of fast running on a tradmill and then 5 min rowing. That was it, off to the sauna!


So yeah... burn fat:
- Use your bike more often (I went to the swimming pool on my bike each morning)
- Do sports before breakfast after a fruit juice spritzer
- Don't forget your cardiosystem when working on your strength.

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

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!

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!

Muscles sore

The workout the day before was quite tough so my muscles got sore.
Still I went Indoor Cycling  for 2.10h in the evening, did some stretch Yoga and usual stretching.
On the next day I could rest a little since I had an appointment with my tattoo and old HC buddy Andre Hoppe.
So Far, So Good, So What! Pics to be posted after it gets finished!

The very next day I wanted to go cycling again, so I did a fatburn indoor cycling course followed by power cycling II. My heartrate went on 97% three times. Felt good and exhausted, but the Tattoo hurt a bit.

My muscle were still a bit sore, plus the tattoo still hurt and prevents me from swimming, so I figured it was a good time to rest for another day and watch

with my GF and a friend.
This movie takes you into another reality. It is confusing, challenging, but also beautiful. If you like movies that are more challenging then the usual hollywood shit, then go for it! Nowhere near as brutal as "Antichrist" by "von Trier".
On the next day I met up with my friend Hann in Düsseldorf and went 16 km along the Rhine from the Düsseldorf Fare to Kaiserswerth. It was great, since it has also been a beautiful sunshiny day.
I would have gotten home around 4 but I felt like I need more so I went to my gym and did a real tough workout for 1.10h and relaxed in the sauna.
On the next day I had massively sore muscles.
Thought of resting again, but I wanted to check this Vegan Shop cose to my work, so I decided to run there. It was only 6km forth and back, but I got myself some nice chocolate and other sweets. You can check the store here: javego. It is pretty cheap!
Next day noting spectacular: did 1.20h on my fitnessbike in the evening.

Packing for BCN

Today I have soaked in the last warm beams of the sun over Germany, probably the last time running here with only a t-shirt on. I didn't even want to out to cycle, so I went to the gym later on and did two hours of Indoor Cycling. Had great food later on, salad with carrots and wheat germs, a potatoe pan with zucchini, onions and pepper plus veggie burgers enhanced with soyflour to give it more protein.

Tomorrow I am gonna run on the seafront of beautiful Barcelona, my favorite city! It might also be the last time of the year to swim in the sea! Firat and me will meet in the city after I will get there early in the morning, have breakfast and then run along the seaside to the muscle beach. Yeah... working out in the sun before the wedding party (the occasion for my visit to BCN). Gotta make some food ready to take with and then get to bed! Need to drive to the airport at three... Goond night!