Next races for me!

Now that the triathlon season is over (and if no wonder occurs that I am gonna be flying to the Gamrin Barcelona City Triathlon) I will finally go running again.

My motivation within the last week wasn't high and I had 3 (!!!) days to rest. No time, no motivation to do sports. My muscles still felt slightly sore beyond reason.
Anyways... In october and November I am gonna partake in these two races:

Oct. 3rd: Herne: Herbstlauf of the Herner Triahtlon Team (a young triathlon team def. worth supporting).
Nov. 4th: Herne: St. Martini-City-Lauf

Both will be 10km races. The first one through woods, the second is a fast course within the city of Herne.
I will also have 15-20 kids from school with me that run the kids races.

Those days could be leisure days, or at least have more leisure hours, but I do believe that kids nowadays need to pushed, need to be pulled away from the shit they consume on tv and other media.
Where will this end if little kids don't know how to play, how to run, how to walk stairs?
I will always do my best to give them an opportunity to make this experiences. One life- one chance!

One of my favorite songs!

Veggie Athlete Jasmin/ my band in Turkey/ new vegan Cafe/

My training partner Jasmin ran the last half marathon before the Cologne Marathon in October!

Congrats on the result!!! Yeah!

Since the sports season is more or less over I can rest a little or enjoy finer things in life again.

Yesterday I went to see my friends Deathb4Dishonor play in Cologne and I also put up a merchbooth for the HardcoreHelpFoundation

So my band is about to play 2 Shows in Istanbul due to my friend Emre and his reunited band Radical Noise. I have always dreamed about flying to Istanbul and seeing them pla but now I am honored to even play with them. I cannot wait!!!

Show in Istanbul

Show in Ankara

Together with a few friends I hung out in Wuppertal and got introduced to Falafely. As the name implies it is a falafelplace that has vegan options. Nice and tasty. Check it out while you're in Wuppertal.

I am also very happy about having eaten the catering from Seasons in Gelsenkirchen-Buer. It is an organic, wholefoods cafe/restaurant. I just need to check out the cafe itself, since I have only eaten their food at a festival I have played with my band. Needless to say I am always happy when I find out about vegan spots in my area.

My girlfriend went to a veggie-fare in Düsseldorf where my friend Björn did a cookery show.

She was kind enough to bring me a vegan organic bar. After having tried this I ordered some other bars of that brand and all of them were amazing!!! Found it very easy to eat "active greens" bar while on my bike during my long distance triathlon.

The box of 18 "chocolaty choc chip" was gone after 3 days. So,so delicious!!!

I figured out it would be too expensive to eat too much of these every day so I have tried to make soe chocolate energy balls on my own and the result was tasteful, vitalizing and healthy:

Dried dates, spelt whole flour, wheat germs, mulberry sirup, agave nectar, dried bananas, flax seeds, cacao powder, chia seeds, ground almonds, soymik, peanut butter, maca powder: The energy ball is in the middle!

Finally new "Veggie Athletes" shirts are in the making. Due to several circumstances it had taken very long, but they will soon appear in the "Alles-vegetarisch.de" shop again.

You can also buy the organic foodbars there!

Training Sept. 10th- 23rd

10th: Restday

11th: indoor cycling 53min + power and stability exercises

12th: 36 min yoga

13th: 50 min running

14th: 40 min power and stability, 20 min VO2max (5min warmup, 3x30/30, 2x60/60, 3x30/30, 5 min cooldown) training on fitnessbike

15th: 3h easy running ca. 29km in Cologne

16th: power and stability excersises, rope skipping, yoga, running a few min with my daughter

17th: 40 min running

18th: 1h cycling on fitnessbike

19th: 2x 29,5km cycling to Herne and back later

20th: running ??? no entry... hm.

21st: 1.10h power and stabilty, then sauna

22nd: 3.10h easy cycling (90 km)

23rd: daughter birthday: just safeguarding the kids that climbed, nothing else. stayed awake far too long the day before and needed recovery. But you know what? Season is over, I can do whatever I wanna do! No more too much planning for my training.

Cologne 226 finished (Ironman-distance)

My first long distance triathlon (aka Ironman) is over! I have finished the 3.8km swimming, 180km cycling and 42km running in 10:22:59 hours.

I am happy about that. What I find strange is that I would love to go running, cycling or swimming just today (started writing this 2 days later). I am feeling very good despite the fact that I had lost 4.5kilos on this day. That is alot considering I had only weighted 68-69kilos.

Anyways... 2 kilos are back on already and I can't stop eating. Surprisingly I don't want to have icecream or any other shittier stuff. I am eating loads of pasta with red sauce (just had a plate of pasta and a pizza) and veggies and fruits all day long.

What also makes me very, very proud is the fact that my ironman race got PETA 520€ and hopefully made people think more positive about vegans, sports and power.

After the transition from bike to run I have taken my "Veggie Athletes"-vest, which also hads a PETA and Alles-Vegetarisch.de- Logo on front. People seemed to be curious.

The race: I got to the Fühlinger See at about 6.20 on sunday morning, went to my bike, checked in my transition2 bag (running equipm.) and tried to get ready (dressing, toilettime). I was happy about crapping 4 times before the race. I was also happy about solid crap again. The 3 days before I felt ill and my crap was not always solid (may sound strange, but liquid crap will make your body lose loads of minerals that are very important for races over 3 hours). Crap is a reliable indicator for health.

After checking in I met my friend Sebastian Ueckert, a fellow hardcore dude, who also wanted to achieve that goal of being an Ironman. My clubmates also came early that morning to see the swimstart and lend me a running watch. Thanks!

Somehow I was not very nervous anymore. We got to the starting line and I still had 3 minutes.

We started 5 minutes after the professionals, so no fireworks for us, but that didn't matter as I just wanted to swim. We had to swim up the whole regatta course then almost fully back. I got off the water after 1:08. I was glad! This was my first time transitioning at a long distance triathlon so I didn't want to be too quickly to forget anything and stayed calm. I got on the bike and after 20something KM I started talking to an elder ironman with much more experience. I needed to talk a little. It was cold (10-11 degrees Celsius) and my hands were freezing. He had gloves but I couldn't even take the gels I was offered at the food stall due to my hands unable to grasp. I also needed to wee so I asked him if I could do that while sitting on the bike. Then the motorbike overtook us and gave him a yellow card for blocking me. I wasn't blocked by him at all, because I didn't want to overtake. The street was big enough for other to overtake us, but anyways...

we had to speak to the referees and in the end it was alright. I don't know if this has to be that strict for hobby triathletes likes us, but whatever...

I did quite a big part of the 180km together with that dude. After a while another dude from Poland also cycled with us and it seemed as if he did not know about drafting, because he always sucked on us or basicly anybody else, so that I even thought I could do that too for a few meters. On some races you are allowed to do that, but generally in germany that is forbidden and you can get a penalty.

Sometimes I have seen my friend Seb and we tried to shout encouragement to the other.

The cycling course went from the very north of Cologne along the Fühlinger See to the city centre of Cologne, near the dome and to Köln-Deutz. In Deutz I placed my bike, took my running gear and started running. I was happy to see my supporters even following me a little and filming and taking pictures. The weather became real nice, around 23 degrees I guess. Ininitally I wanted not to eat much during the run but rather try to drink coke (I don't drink coke at home at all) as many of my experienced clubmates do it this way and even I cannot refrain from the fact that coke while running seems supportive. I also had pretzels, bananas, water melons, water and vegan energy gels from carboo 4 u. The first of the 3 14km laps was good, on the second I started becoming slower and around 20km I did not really want to continue running, my muscles became sore. At around 28-35km I got stitches on my right side so I had to slow down a little. After km 37 I needed to speed up again and so I did. My body felt alright and I overtook quite a few people on the last kms. The marathon took me 3:44h, which is alright and about what I have calculated but slower than I had hoped. 10:22:59 h in total is great for a first Ironman! I went to the chill out zone to relax and eat a bit but I wasn't as hungry as usual. From there I head to the massage and it was a good decision as I was first in line. 20 min of massage is like heaven after a race.

Next up we decided what and how to do next. Had to grab my bike, my bags, etc and that took a long time. Then we also had to find the bus shuttle that brought us near our cars (not too near though and I had waited for them to pick me up after 8 minutes of walking.

I am glad I got friends that supported me on that special day. I know that some people got inspired to do more sports on their own and hopefully many people thought critically about the shit they consume and the bullshit patterns of dietary in their heads.

It was a nice run, a nice day, with even nicer persons and a nice meal at Jade Imbiss in Düsseldorf after the race.

Today is day two after the race and I do feel really good again. Found this interesting article yesterday:

http://www.vegetarismus.ch/pdf/Wirnitzer_Handout_TR%20Kongress_2008.pdf

Friends of mine that got into sports before veganism said that it seems true for them. I don't know as I am vegan for 16 years now, which means long before I have started endurance training, but well... if there's only 50% truth to it then everyone should consider a vegan diet even for a better workout efficiency.

There's a new vegan catering company in the Ruhrpott run by real compassionate people.

Check it here!

Training August 20th to September
20th: 59 km cycling to Herne and back
21st: Stability and power Workout + Ropeskipping
22nd: 3.3km swimming
23rd: 25min running, 40min swimming, 26min running incl. 3 sprints
24th: 22km running in 1.41h incl. 73min almost half-marathon pace
25th: 111km cycling in 3.30h
26th: 45min running, 36 min yoga toning and stretch
27th: 1.5h cycling on ergobike
28th: Restday!
29th: 30km to Herne (morning), 42 min running (noon) incl. 2x10min halfmarathon pace, 30km back home
30th: 2.4km swimming
31st: Restday
1st: Srpint Triathlon in Cologne (First day of Cologne Tria Weekend) in 1:26h
2nd: Long Distance Triathlon in Cologne (second day/ PETA Donation run) in 10:22:59h
3rd: Restday
4th: Restday
5th: easy 1.3km swimming
6th: easy 45 min cycling on ergobike, then sauna
7th: ca. 1km lake swimming
8th: 20km cycling incl. 3 sprints, 3km running incl. 3 times fast for 1min
9th: Olympic Triathlon in Xanten in 2:22h
 

An interview with me on the Veganblog of PETA in german

One more week to my Ironman-Distance Triathlon in Cologne. I got interviewed by PETA and you can read the interview here (german only): Interview Veganblog
This is the direct link to the webpage where you can donate money to PETA: Donation

Vacation in Czech Rep./ Slovenia/ Austria/ Italy part II
We were still hanging out at Flufffest. This morning my friends Max and Dom wanted to go running again, but I had 6 hours block training on my schedule, so I went cycling for 5.10h again to Kralovice and Plasy and then through the countryside towards Rokycany through several nice villages, along reservoirs and just afew cars passing by and almost no cyclists although the whole infrastructure is perfect since there are no traffic lights (more roundabouts, if even needed).
When I got back Max' girlfriend Lex gave a lecture on Sea Shepherd, because she spent half a year on a ship in Antarctica. It was breathtaking what she has presented. Here's a link to their website.
After eating much more good food there, watching a few bands and saying goodbye to the english dudes and Dominik I went to bed very tired. But not before Dominik and me agreed on doing an ultra run together next year
The next morning was our time to leave. We went towards Vienna. A nice town to stop by was Jihlave, where we went shopping. The townfortifications looked quite impressive:

Jihlava

 After this we got to Vienna to see Ritual, Verse, Soul Control and Anchor play.
Lseeping in Vienna and planning to visit Schloss Schönbrunn in the morning (the girls wanted to see the park, Micha and me wanted to go swimming). The damage for swimming was 10€ which was too much, so we have joined the girls and went through the park.

Schloss Schönbrunn

Ciy of Vienna

After visiting Vienna we went to Michis father in Spital am Pyhrn, went to the Gleinkersee and ran there. We have also celebrated the birthday of Michis father with his friends and ate soup and veggiestuff while they had a barbecue. We left the other morning and went to the chruch in the village which is pretty big considering the small size of the village.

Bones in the church of Spital am Pyhrn

My car and me at Michis fathers house

 After we left here for Slovenia and Italy I still needed to go swimming, so we stopped in a small city in Austria where I saw signs to a swimming pool. It wasn't the warmest day and I was the only there. The water was 18degrees at max and I had to do 2.4km. I kept freezing for more than an hour after the swim still.

swimming in one of the coldest pools ever

Vacation to Flufffest/ Austria/ Italy + moving/ Training July 19th-August 4th

Long time no post. We had to move out of our old apartment into another own I am buying. So we really had to struggle to bring everything from the old apartment to the new until friday July 20th, because that was the day we wanted to leave for Flufffest in Rokycany/Czech Republic.
It is always nice there, the food on the fest is 100% vegan and the variety is amazing. From raw cakes, over french fries to chili con soja and pancakes.
I have really liked the raw cakes and little ufos which seemed to have a lot of energy, comparable to these here:

My friends Max and Dominik sold their zines again and had the idea to form a running group for saturday and sunday morning at 9. So yeah... on saturday I had to lend one pair of shoes to Chris from Oslo and so we were 9 people running and working out a little. Best way to start the day. After this we had breakfast. I have brought my Babymüsli, which I have prepared with boiled water.

Max upgraded it with sunflower and pumpkin seeds and nuts I think. I also chopped a banana and made it a delicious yet healthy and vitalizing breakfast since I had 3 hours to ride on my bike. I always like to ride on the calm streets of Bohemia: Hills, fields, forests... and just a few people.

Bohemian fields

I rode my bike towards Kralovice and then thought I could just try to get to Pilzen from there and then back to the Flufffest. Right outside of Kralovice I have seen this here:

Marianska Tynice (a former pilgrimage)

I had moved on towards Pilzen and had to cycle through Plasy. It was like 6 min downhill and I had passed another monument:

Kläster Plasy

I went on towards Pilzen, read a map to see where to go and cycled further on.
10 km before Pilzen it rained so hard I wanted to stop. 2 min later I had a flat tyre and had to stop to change tires. It had gotten very cold now and the rain on my skin and not moving much made it even worse.
I even called my friends to ask them to pick me up until another cyclist passed me by, so I went on my bike again and cycled off. The raining became less after the 20 min I had waited. I got back to the festivalsite after 93km with ups and downs. haha

This is part I

Training Aug 3rd to 19th
3rd: went running to the swimming pool forth and back (2x35min) and swam 3.5km
4th: played a show in cologne with my band and did some yoga before
5th: Olympic Triathlon in Sassenberg (1.3km swim/ 74km bike/ 20km run) in 2.19h
6th: 2.30h cycling
7th: 1.12h running, 3.5km swimming
8th: forgot to write it down, perhaps resting oryoga or strength exercises
9th: 2.05h cycling, another 23min cycling later on
Tapering for the Half-Iron-Distance Triathlon:
10th: 40 min swimming (open water) with my Tria Club Buddies
11th: 45 min running
12th: 101km cycling in 3.10h
13th: 36 min toning and stretch yoga
14th: 50 min running incl. 3 sprints
15th: 2.4km swimming, 1.30h cycling incl. high intensive intervall training (8x20sec/10sec + 10x20sec/10sec + 8x20sec/10sec)
16th: Ropeskipping + power and stability exercises
17th: 30 min cycling, 14min swimming, 20 min running at 6-Seen-Platte with my Tria Club Buddies
18th: Half-Iron-Distance Triathlon in Hückeswagen (2km/74km/21km) in a hilly environment in 4.32h, slow jog later on
19th: cylcing slowly with my uncle to my nieces birthday: 20km forth and 22km back plus 2km running because my bike had a puncture

Donating money for Peta/ Training July 11th- August 2nd

I would love to make more out of my long distance triathlon next month and am searching for friends, companies, supporters that want to sponsor me on this triathlon. I will run with a "Veggie Athletes" logo on my back. All the donated money will go to PETA.

Check this!

Training July 11th- August 2nd
11th: 1.45h running easy with some faster km
12th: 65 min running incl. 3 sprints
13th: 3.9km swimming
14th: 33min running inl. stairrunning, 3 sprints and weights for a few minutes
15th: 64 min running incl. 3 sprints
16th: 3.9km swimming, loads of heavy carrying because of moving
17th: 1.40h cycling on fitnessbike, carrying stuff
18th: 4.1km swimming, carrying
19th: Restday, just carrying stuff
20th: 30min running, later strength and stability
21st: 40 min running, strength and stability exercises with body weight, 3.15h cycling
22nd: 6h blocktraining: 5.10 cycling, 45min running
23rd: restday
24th: 45 min running, later strength and stability exercises
25th: 1h Yoga, 2.4km swimming
26th: 40 min running through Triest, incl. loads of stairs and carrying the bike of my girlfriend
27th: Brittas Birthday: Walking through Venice and eating Pasta and Pizza.
28th: 3 km swiming in Florence, 1.35h running on the beach
29th: 57min running through Pisa, incl. 3 sprints and seeing roman remains of antique Pisa, the only vegan cafe is closed for vacation.
30th: 2h cycling from Pisa to Livorno on an antique road, later exploring Rome on a bike, cycling through the Circus Maximus. The vegan cafe we wanted to eat at is closed for vacation. WTF?!?
31st: 2.06h running on the beach in Follonica, then exercises strength and stability and some swimming
1st: 2h cycling on the Lago di Garda! Beautiful! Loving it! Some swimming before and later on.
2nd: Restday (not enough sleep the night before due to driving back home with a stop in Munich to eat vegan Kebab

Interview with Daniel Roth (beVegt.de)/ Berlin

Readers of this blog here might know by now that I also follow the blog beVegt. Both the editors are really into running, so I came across a few questions I wanted to send to Daniel, as he is also very fast and might just inspire other vegans or just sports interested people.
Interview in English here, german version can be read on the bottom of this blog.

1. Hello Daniel, please introduce yourself! (name, passion, blog, etc.).

Hey Björn, I'm 29 years old, from Mainz, and currently live in Frankfurt - a city which I like very much. Since 2000 I'm an avid and by now also quite ambitious runner. My favorite distances are the half-marathon and the marathon, and now and then I also run an ultra-marathon. In 2011 I finished my very first ultratrail run, covering a distance of 67k, and in July I am facing my biggest challenge yet: the K78 Swiss Alpine Marathon in Davos.

Running has definitely become a passion of mine and is a high priority for me, roughly on a par with nutrition. I’m a vegan since August 2010 and on my blog "beVegt" I report on my experiences from these two areas.

2. How did you and girlfriend Kathrin get the idea of creating the blog beVegt?

Actually, to tell you how we started beVegt I have to tell you how I've become a vegan in the first place. I was searching a review for a hydration pack and Google sent me to Matt Frazier's blog "No Meat Athlete". I was intrigued by what I read there - I particularly remember an essay titled "Milk - it does a (baby cow's) body good" which stuck in my head and made me think about the whereabouts of the things we eat for the first time. The essay stated that man is the only mammal still drinking milk as an adult - and not even its own but the milk of other mammals.

I was curious and decided to go meat-free for only one month, just to give it a try and see how I felt. I also started to do some research on meat consumption and food production in general - read books, watched movies, discussed with other veggies on facebook and blogs. Before long, I realized that in order to be consistent I also had to eliminate eggs, milk and cheese from my diet. And that I did, together with my girlfriend Katrin, and since then we have never looked back.

After we had lived vegan for a year and really liked our new lifestyle and the feeling of freedom and integrity it gave us, we wanted to share our experiences with others. Being an athlete on a vegan diet is possible, no matter if you are a beginner or a veteran. Unfortunately, if you only speak German you won’t find much information on this topic on the internet. With our blog “beVegt” we want to change that. We love what Matt Frazier does on “No Meat Athlete” so our approach is somewhat similar - we are not pushy at all but try to show our readers that you can lead an active, healthy and fulfilling life without animal products.

3. I have read on your blog that your move to veganism has also bettered your running. In how far did it change?

I really feel that I need much less time for recovery after a hard workout or a race. In early June I ran the “Brüder Grimm Lauf” - a 82k stage race with some steep climbs and downhill sections from Hanau to Steinau. Both Katrin and I ranked better from stage to stage and in the later stages we were faster than some runners who would most likely have beaten us at shorter distances.

However, I am cautious when it comes to attributing athletic improvement to a vegan diet. It is a bit of a hype in the veggie scene right now: "Eat plants and you will be super-strong". But there are so many other variables influencing athletic performance - training and sleep to name just two - and we mustn’t forget that almost all world-class athletes are not vegan. That said, you might as well argue the other way round: Haile Gebrselassie and Usain Bolt eat meat, so meat increases athletic performance. I think that we have to be very careful with this. I am an ethical vegan, I don’t consume animal products because I don’t want other creatures to suffer for my pleasures. The fact that my plant-based diet does in no way hamper my ambitions as an athlete is rather a nice bonus.

4. What are your current personal best times, and how were your best times before going vegan?

My current marathon personal best is 2:59:49 (previously 3:01:25), my half-marathon personal best is 1:21:53 (previously 1:24:19). At first glance this doesn’t look like a huge improvement, but I'm now working a full time job - in my pre-vegan life as a student I had considerably more time to train and relax than I have now. From this perspective I’m very pleased with my progress and this fall I want to increase my mileage again and try to become even faster. Right now I’m dreaming of a sub-2:50-marathon. I'm sure I can do this and will probably give it a try at the Boston Marathon in 2013.

5. Do you have special tips for before, during or after a run? What is your favorite recipe?

Some time ago Katrin wrote an article on sports nutrition for beVegt adressing exactly those questions: how and what should you eat before, during and after a workout or race. I think when it comes to sports nutrition the most important thing is to take in a good amount of carbs, protein and fluid in the first half hour after you have finished your workout. In those 30 minutes the body can absorb these nutrients better than at any other time. Many athletes neglect post-workout nutrition and will take a shower before they think of eating and filling up their depleted body, but it is absolutely essential for quick recovery!

And my favorite recipe? I like simple dishes from the Indian and Asian cuisine, with rice or quinoa as a basis, plus a lot of vegetables and spices like curry or garam masala. An all-time favorite in our kitchen is "A Grain A Green And A Bean" - This formula combines all the essential nutrients and leaves much room for creativity. As the name suggests, it consists of a whole grain such as rice, quinoa, bulgur, a green leafy vegetable like spinach, kale or broccoli and a legume such as beans or lentils. Complex carbohydrates, protein, iron, calcium - it gives you everything you need as an athlete and you can season it to taste.

6. What does a perfect day look like for you and what is your perfect vacation?

For me, a day cannot be perfect without a nice and decent workout giving me the possibility to relax and feel my body. Add to that a visit to our local whole foods market, preparing a delicious vegan meal with fresh ingredients and enjoying it in the shade on our balcony ... I do not need much more to be happy.

When I’m on vacation I like to be in nature - of which we unfortunately don’t have too much here in the Rhine-Main area. On this year’s summer vacation we will go to the Alps for hiking and then to Davos in Switzerland to run the Swiss Alpine Marathon. A pretty perfect holiday if you ask me ...

7. What goals do you want to pursue in life sportswise but also for your life in general?

As to my goals as an athlete, I would really like to go on setting new personal bests in road races for a few years, yet on the other hand I also want to become a decent ultramarathon runner. A major goal of mine is the North Face Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc - an ultratrail run around the Mont Blanc massif for a total of 168k and almost 10,000 meters of vertical climb. I learned about the ultratrail for the first time when I circled Mont Blanc via mountain bike 6 years ago - since then I have wanted to finish this race at least once in my lifetime.

Apart from running, I try to be content with little and to leave as small a footprint as possible through my lifestyle. And of course I am happy whenever I can motivate people to start running or to pay more attention to the things they put on their plates.

Thanks Daniel for the inspiring words!!!


The last weekend was spent in Berlin.
Berlin, as Germanys capital, might also be the uncrowned Veggie-capital-city.
My band had been booked for a show with H2O.

We were lucky enough to have a friend who plays in Final Prayer to put us on the bill. Thanks Flo! So some of us took the opportunity to visit Berlin little earlier. We checked some vegan spots, I have done a triathlon and hung out with my friend Björn Moschinski and his girlfriend Sandra.
So yeah... we got there on saturday evening and went to Björns restaurant "Kopps" in Berlin-Mitte.

We also went to Sfizy and found it was delicious and cheap considering the huge pizzas we have gotten.

This pic was taken on sunday after I have done the olympic triathlon in Storkow, which was only 60km out of Berlin.

We also went to Coretex-Records on monday where this nice photo had been taken!

by: laurdemanos.blogspot.com

Oh well... we will also play this show on August 4th and it is gonna be a blast!

right before the next Triathlon of the season in Sassenberg.

German version of the interview with Daniel Roth:

        1. Hallo Daniel, stell dich mal bitte vor (Name, evtl. Beruf, Passion, Blog, etc.).

Hallo Björn, ich bin 29 Jahre alt, gebürtiger Mainzer, lebe seit einem Jahr in Frankfurt und fühle mich immer wohler hier. Seit mittlerweile 12 Jahren bin ich begeisterter Läufer und betreibe das Ganze seit einigen Jahren auch recht ambitioniert. Meine Lieblingsdistanzen sind Halbmarathon und Marathon und inzwischen probiere ich mich auch hin und wieder mal an einem Ultramarathon. In 2011 habe ich meinen ersten Trail-Ultra über 67 Kilometer gefinished und im Juli steht meine bisher größte Herausforderung an: der K78 Swiss Alpine Marathon in Davos.

Laufen ist definitiv zu einer Passion geworden und steht ganz weit oben auf meiner Prioritätenliste, etwa gleichauf mit dem Thema Ernährung, das mich seit knapp 2 Jahren sehr stark beschäftigt. Seit August 2010 lebe ich vegan und auf meinem Blog “beVegt - vegetarisch / vegan leben und laufen” berichte ich über meine Erfahrungen aus diesen beiden Bereichen.

2. Wie bist du und deine Freundin Katrin auf die Idee gekommen den Blog beVegt zu schreiben?

Da muss ich eigentlich etwas weiter ausholen und erzählen, wie ich überhaupt zum Veganismus gekommen bin. Ich hatte damals nach einem Review für einen Trinkrucksack gesucht und bin so auf Matt Fraziers Blog “No Meat Athlete” gestoßen. Irgendwie hat mich fasziniert was dort zu lesen war - ganz besonders ist mir ein Artikel mit dem Titel “Milk - it does a (baby cow’s) body good” in Erinnerung geblieben, der mich sehr zum Nachdenken gebracht hat. Er handelte davon, dass der Mensch das einzige Säugetier ist, das auch im Erwachsenenalter noch Milch trinkt - noch dazu die Milch anderer Säugetiere.

Mich hat das neugierig gemacht und ich beschloss dann, einmal einen Monat lang kein Fleisch zu essen, sozusagen als zeitlich befristetes Selbstexperiment. Ich habe mich in dieser Zeit sehr intensiv mit den Hintergründen des Fleischkonsums und der Lebensmittelproduktion allgemein beschäftigt und einige Bücher zum Thema gelesen. Schon nach kurzer Zeit war mir klar, dass ich, um konsequent zu sein, auch Eier, Milch und Käse aus meiner Ernährung streichen müsste. Das habe ich dann gemeinsam mit meiner Freundin getan und es seitdem nie bereut.

Um zu deiner Frage zurückzukommen: Nachdem wir ein Jahr lang vegan gelebt hatten und es uns damit sehr gut ging wollten wir unsere Erfahrungen mit anderen teilen. Mit veganer Ernährung ist Sport auf jedem Leistungsniveau möglich - leider gibt das deutschsprachige Internet zu diesem Thema aber noch nicht viel her. Mit unserem Blog wollen wir das ändern und wir orientieren uns dabei ganz bewusst am Stil von “No Meat Athlete” - wir missionieren nicht, sondern leben einfach vor, dass ein aktives, auch kulinarisch erfülltes Leben ohne den Konsum tierischer Produkte möglich ist.

3. Du hast in deinem Blog geschrieben, dass der Schritt zum Veganismus auch eine deutliche Leistungsverbesserung mit sich brachte. Wie hat sich das genau geäußert?

Ich habe tatsächlich das Gefühl, nach harten Trainingseinheiten oder Wettkämpfen weniger Regenerationszeit zu benötigen und schneller wieder Gas geben zu können als früher. Ganz besonders habe ich das erst Anfang Juni beim Brüder-Grimm-Lauf von Hanau nach Steinau erlebt. Dieser Lauf führt in 5 Etappen über insgesamt 82 Kilometer mit teilweise sehr steilen Anstiegen und Downhill-Passagen, auf denen vor allem die Oberschenkelmuskulatur ziemlich in Mitleidenschaft gezogen wird. Sowohl Katrin als auch ich haben uns von Etappe zu Etappe im Gesamtklassement weiter nach vorne geschoben und konnten auf den späteren Etappen noch einige Läufer hinter uns lassen, die uns auf kürzeren Distanzen vermutlich geschlagen hätten.

Ich bin aber generell vorsichtig wenn es darum geht, sportliche Leistungsverbesserungen auf die vegane Ernährung zurückzuführen. Das ist im Moment so ein bisschen ein Hype in der Veggie-Szene: “Iss Pflanzen und du wirst super-leistungsfähig”. Es spielen dabei noch so viele andere Faktoren eine Rolle - Training und Schlaf, um nur zwei zu nennen - und gleichzeitig sind ja so gut wie alle Weltklasse-Athleten nicht vegan. Da könnte man genausogut andersherum argumentieren: Haile Gebrselassie und Usain Bolt essen Fleisch, also steigert Fleisch die Leistungsfähigkeit. Ich denke, dass wir da vorsichtig sein müssen. Ich bin ein ethischer Veganer: Ich konsumiere keine tierischen Produkte, weil ich nicht will, dass andere Lebewesen für die Befriedigung meiner Luxus-Bedürfnisse leiden müssen. Dass mich die vegane Ernährung nicht daran hindert, ambitioniert zu laufen, oder mir vielleicht sogar dabei hilft, ist einfach ein sehr schöner Nebeneffekt.

4. Was sind deine aktuellen Bestzeiten und was waren sie vor dem Veganismus?

Meine aktuelle Marathon-Bestzeit liegt bei 2:59:49 (früher 3:01:25), meine Halbmarathon-Bestzeit bei 1:21:53 (früher 1:24:19). Das sieht erstmal nicht nach einem großen Unterschied aus, allerdings bin ich inzwischen Vollzeit berufstätig - in meiner vor-veganen Zeit hatte ich als Student deutlich mehr Zeit um zu trainieren und einfach mal die Füße hochzulegen. Unter diesem Gesichtspunkt sind das schon ordentliche Verbesserungen und ich möchte auch ab Herbst die Umfänge nochmal steigern um noch schneller zu werden. Mittelfristig träume ich davon, einen Marathon in unter 2:50 zu laufen. Ich bin mir sicher dass ich das schaffen kann und werde vielleicht beim Boston Marathon 2013 einen ersten Versuch starten.

5. Hast du spezielle Ernährungstipps für vor, während oder nach dem Sport? Gibt es ein Lieblingsrezept?

Katrin hat vor einiger Zeit einen Beitrag über Sporternährung für beVegt geschrieben, in dem genau diese Fragen beantwortet werden: wie und was sollte man vor, während und nach dem Training bzw. Wettkampf essen. Das allerwichtigste ist meines Erachtens, dass man die erste halbe Stunde nach dem Training keinen Fehler macht, und das heißt: noch vor dem Duschen Kohlenhydrate, Eiweiß und Flüssigkeit zu sich nehmen. In diesem Zeitfenster kann der Körper diese Nährstoffe am besten aufnehmen und die entleerten Speicher wieder auffüllen. Viele Sportler vernachlässigen das, aber es ist die absolute Geheimwaffe für eine schnelle Regeneration!

Und ein Lieblingsrezept? Ich mag einfache Gerichte aus der indischen und asiatischen Küche, mit Reis oder Quinoa als Grundlage, dazu eine Menge Gemüse und Gewürze wie Curry oder Garam Masala. Ein Dauerbrenner in unserer Küche ist “A Grain, A Green and a Bean” - diese Formel vereint alle wichtigen Nährstoffe und lässt viel Raum für Kreativität. Wie der Name schon sagt besteht es aus einem Vollkorn wie z.B. Reis, Quinoa, Bulgur, einem grünen Blattgemüse wie Spinat, Grünkohl oder Brokkoli und einer Hülsenfrucht wie z.B. Bohnen oder Linsen. Komplexe Kohlenhydrate, Eiweiß, Eisen, Calzium - da ist alles drin was der Sportlerkörper braucht und man kann es nach Belieben würzen.

6. Wie sieht ein perfekter Tag für dich aus? Und was ist für dich perfekter Urlaub?

Zu einem perfekten Tag gehört für mich natürlich eine schöne Trainingseinheit, bei der ich abschalten und meinen Körper spüren kann. Ein Einkauf im Bio-Supermarkt und dann mit frischen Zutaten ein leckeres veganes Essen mit Dessert zubereiten, das wir dann im Schatten auf unserem Balkon genießen... viel mehr brauche ich eigentlich nicht.

Im Urlaub fahre ich am liebsten in die Natur - davon haben wir hier im Rhein-Main-Gebiet ja leider nicht so viel. Bald steht unser Sommerurlaub an, dann gehts in die Alpen zum Wandern und am letzten Wochenende steht dann der Swiss Alpine Marathon an. Ein ziemlich perfekter Urlaub würde ich sagen...

7. Welche Ziele verfolgst du noch im Leben, sowohl sportlich, als auch allgemein für dein Leben?

In sportlicher Hinsicht würde ich mich gerne in Straßenrennen noch verbessern und auf der anderen Seite auch ein guter Ultramarathonläufer werden. Ein großes sportliches Ziel ist der North Face Ultratrail du Montblanc - ein Nonstoplauf um das Montblancmassiv über insgesamt 168 Kilometer und fast 10.000 Höhenmeter. Ich habe den Montblanc vor 6 Jahren mit dem Mountainbike umrundet und damals hat dieser Lauf dort gerade stattgefunden - seitdem habe ich den Wunsch, dort einmal zu finishen.

Ansonsten versuche ich, mit wenig zufrieden sein und mit meiner Lebensweise einen möglichst kleinen Fußabdruck zu hinterlassen. Ich freue mich natürlich auch immer, wenn ich jemanden dazu motivieren kann, mit dem Laufen anzufangen. Und wenn es Katrin und mir auch in Zukunft mit beVegt gelingt, Berührungsängste mit der veganen Ernährung abzubauen und unsere Leser für dieses wichtige Thema zu sensibilisieren, dann wäre das eigentlich alles was ich mir wünsche.

Training June 25th- July 10th:
25th: One day rest after the triathlon
26th: 55min running, toning and stretch yoga in the evening
27th: 3.3km swimming, running in the evening
28th: 111min running, incl. 3 sprints
29th: 1.43h cycling to Herne, 3.3km swimming in the evening
30th: exercises for strength and stability, walking up the Gasometer in Oberhausen, a few exercises again in the evening
1st: almost  5.5h blocktraining: 4.40h cycling plus 45min running
2nd: 2h cycling incl. 4 times 8 min faster
3rd: 60km cycling
4th: 50km cycling, later 2.4km swimming
5th: 30km cycling
6th: a few exercises for strength and stability with a kettlebell, some lakeswimming, later 2.2km swimtraining

7th: 20 min yoga, 30 min running
8th: olympic triathlon in Storkow (1.5km swimming, 41km cycling, 10km running) in 2.17h
9th: 1.40 cycling, strength and stability exercises all at the Flugplatz Tempelhof in Berlin
10th: 2.4km swimming right next to Berlins olympic pool. Later excersises for strnegth with Thera bands
11th: 1.45h running
12th: 65 min running incl. 3 sprints
13th: 3.9km swimming
14th: 3 min running incl. stairs, 3 sprints and more weight, then moving and therefore lifting stuff
15th: 64 min running incl. 3 sprints
16th: 3.9km swimming
17th: 1.40 min cycling on fitnessbike
18th: 4.1km swimming    couldn't do more than one training a day due to moving into a new apartment