And the marathon training continues ...

Our marathon participants who train with Vitalmonitor are still ambitious and goal-oriented. Here are new reports on how the training for the Linz Marathon is going.

Matthias Leitner

Things are looking up! Hopefully, anyway. Last week, unfortunately, I was pretty banged up health-wise. The good thing about it: It coincided exactly with my relief week. So Berny Schimpl didn't mess up my training schedule too much. At least I was able to check what the vital monitor said about my state of health. Very astonishing: Despite less stress, my values were in the basement. Also the resting pulse - which I had never measured regularly before - was clearly elevated. But now it's back to "normal". For me, that means: pace, pace, pace. I am too slow for my marathon PB of 02:42 in the subdistances. Therefore, the focus of my training plan is strongly on increasing my speed. Boah - 12x 500m in 01:40 is really hell for me! But if you only train what you already know, you won't get better. At least I was able to do the planned tempo run over 8km in 03:45 min/km this SA as part of a race. It's more entertaining than running alone. In this respect, the 3rd station of the Tyrolean Winter Cross Country Cup was just right for me. It was 8.3km with 03:47 min/km, which is certainly "valid", because after all we were a good part in the snow and mud on the way ;-) Overall 8th and 2nd M40/M45 has also fit. Last week there were 108 running kilometers, 2h ergometer training, 2h cross-country skiing and 1x strength training in the gym. In addition diligently units on the Blackroll at home. I'm already curious how this week will feel, which will be a bit harder. But: "All green!" (one of my mantras during the marathon) 9 weeks to go! If you want to know more about my training, feel free to stop by my blog "http://laufen.antville.org". I actually report there daily about the completed units.

Stefan Rauchenzauner

In the meantime, 6 weeks have passed since the first measurement with the Vitalmonitor. You don't even notice when you take the measurement anymore, because it's already so integrated into everyday life. I have been training for my first marathon in Linz for 6 weeks now and the joy of running is still there. Even if the weather is still not a good companion, my thoughts are positive: " Because what is not can still become!". The last two weeks I had my first sense of success in running, I could notice for the first time that my running performance has already improved noticeably. At the beginning of the year, I was running out of breath, alternating between one km in 5:30min and one in 4:30min for an hour. During the last change training I noticed that my pulse no longer reached the "peak values" that I had 5 weeks ago. Through Vitalmonitor I can even read that this training session doesn't make me as exhausted as it did at the beginning of the training. Really great thing! The highlight of the last week was of course the Marathon Opening Event in Linz, which I did not miss. Joey Kelly came with a presentation with the topic "No Limits - How do I reach my goal". He told his story from childhood to the present day. Through his stories, one realized that physical strengths were/are very rarely in the foreground, but that mental strength was/is always the key to success. Afterwards I could get a book signed by him and there was even time for a snapshot together. My conclusion from this, he is a very likeable guy! After the lecture, I discovered among all the hustle and bustle that a small booth of Vitalmonitor was built. Of course, I stopped by right away and, lo and behold, my trainer was also there. I was able to talk to Bernhard Schimpl briefly about training and was immediately asked what was wrong with me last Monday. I had a small slump which could be seen very well by means of a vital monitor. We clarified this briefly and I was able to continue training and running with peace of mind. During this conversation I was of course surprised that he had my data in his head and immediately spoke to me about it, he then explained to me that he closely monitors and controls the vital monitor evaluations of his protégés almost every day, in order to immediately take countermeasures if necessary. That's what I call good care for Pulse 7.

Frank Ortler

So.....since the beginning of the year, I have been allowed to train with a training plan from Bernhard Schimpl and the Vitalmonitor from Pulse7. A completely new way of running. In the last few years I always ran the same rounds at the same pace, but now the Vitalmonitor shows me how I should organize my training. Due to an Achilles tendon injury at the beginning of the year, it was sometimes very difficult to fulfill my training plan. My Vitalmonitor confirmed this in facts and figures during the measurement after the training. Also, I could see very well in the evaluation of the Vitalmonitor, how well my body has recovered in the regeneration week (I did not know so far :) ). On Sunday morning I woke up very, very tired. Slept badly. Weather: snow flurries, strong wind, black ice ... Bähh And now the 2.5 h Longjog ?? The Saturday run still in the legs.....that can be today nix...The Vitalmonitor taught me better. I did my morning measurement (in the meantime this already belongs to the morning ritual) and this spit out not so bad data. And lo and behold, despite the bad weather, I felt great while running and successfully brought the long jog home. The vital monitor works perfectly and helps me a lot in training for the Linz Marathon in April. My regular start number for the marathon is secured, now I have to train hard and supported by the Vitalmonitor I hope to cross the finish line in April with a grin on my face.

Christian Mayr

Basically my training went quite well the last two weeks. The only thing is that my bruised left little toe caused problems in the metatarsophalangeal joint on the left and the right thigh muscle. So last week I couldn't do the fast running sessions (8km TDL and 10x500m intervals). However, I want to touch on an often underestimated aspect here - and that is the effect of mental state on physical resilience. I experienced something on Jan. 19 that was extremely stressful and preoccupying me (see red mark in the diagram). The subsequent drop and the fact that my performance was in the basement until 25.1. can only have been caused by the mental stress - the training load was even lower due to the omission of the fast running sessions and the work was as usual. This shows that for accurate training control a vital monitor is very helpful. On 18.1. I had a competition which did not go very well.

Tobias Hinterdorfer

Now I have the Vitalmonitor already 4 weeks and would not want to give him away. In the beginning, you are of course always a little skeptical about new things, whether it really does what it is supposed to do. Now that routine has set in training and daily measurement of my ECG, I am always surprised how exactly the ECG evaluations with my training load and my daily condition fits together. I have now already had my first 3 weeks of stress and my first week of relief behind me. Whereby one can tell by Vitalmonitor exactly how strenuous it was for me and see it exactly where e.g. my load weeks are.
About the running itself: The desire is far from gone, but the weather doesn't make it easy, especially since I haven't yet been able to complete a long endurance run without blowing snow or rain. Even on my first 2 ½ hour endurance run (23.65km) was in addition to icy cold, driving snow a faithful companion. Thank God I don't always have to run outdoors. A swimming unit and an additional cycling unit are included in the training plan and provide a certain variety that I am always very happy about. Finally, it should be mentioned that I have registered for the "Linz Marathon" this weekend and at the moment there is still a certain "anticipation". I can only hope that the anticipation will stay with me and that my first marathon will be an experience and not a nightmare.