Weekly News Number 14

From a beautiful Easter Monday bike ride to exploring new roads that led to a pop-up coffee stop, all the way to buying a new grill – those were three highlights of this week. Still, as so often, I have to check my calendar to really know everything I’ve done.

After saying goodbye to my mum, things have become quieter again here in Noosa. Before that, there was always something going on for over five weeks, with Holly being here or other people I knew visiting. Now there are still Easter tourists around, and then we’ll see how autumn develops. Luckily, the weather is very stable. The sun shines almost every day, the temperatures are pleasantly warm, and the humidity is slowly decreasing, making it even more enjoyable.

Back to Routine

Monday started with a Pilates class. At the beginning, I felt a bit rusty, but I quickly got back into the flow. I really like this day because after Pilates I notice a big difference when I get into the water and start my training. On other days, I’m often glad to have a longer warm-up just to get going.

What we always do as a group, though, is an easy swim to start usually about 1 km with fins. For many, that feels like a luxury, as they want to jump straight into the main set. But if you look at swimmers, runners, or cyclists, they all warm up before they really begin. Often just a few minutes are enough to then train with quality. Especially in the water, everything feels much better afterwards.

New Routes and Small Adventures

On Wednesday, I decided to do my long ride out to Wolvi, the place where my gravel adventure started a few weeks ago. I wanted to explore new roads and knew that some sections would be gravel. Still, I spent more time on the road than on dirt.

As I already noticed last week, it’s really nice not always sitting in the same position on the time trial bike. Even without a power meter, I ride by heart rate and try to keep it low throughout the session. In the end, neither speed nor distance really matters, because the body works based on the time spent in the saddle. And the mental variety is just as important.

After nearly three hours, I arrived in a small town and wanted to refill my bottles at a public toilet, only to realize it wasn’t drinking water. So I continued to a restaurant I knew, but that was closed as well.

That left one last option. And as the saying goes: third time’s the charm. On my way back, I saw people packing things up. I asked them for water, and they said, “Come with us, we’re just packing up our pop-up coffee.” It takes place there every Wednesday. So I got lucky again and was able to refill my bottles. Next time, I’ll definitely try a piece of cake too – they make everything themselves.

With that, the final 40 km home were secured.

The following days were fairly quiet apart from training and some organization. I took care of putting up my coaching poster and talking to people. At the same time, I’m starting to feel the fatigue from training. The volume is adding up, and I’m glad to have some rest in between.

What I really appreciate, though, is the time to think about my coaching new ideas, new sessions for my athletes, especially as their first races are coming up soon.

A Perfect End to the Week

Sunday was a really cool way to wrap up the week. Since our trip to New Zealand, I’ve been looking for a grill – preferably a good used one – but nothing ever quite worked out.

I’ve missed grilling. Putting a piece of meat on the grill, taking time to prepare it, trying new marinades I just really enjoy it. So on Sunday, we went to a grill shop and bought a Baby Weber, the smallest model, perfect for the balcony.

Of course, we weren’t quite ready yet. So we went to Bunnings to get a gas bottle, then bought some meat. The last step was assembling the grill, which I also managed to finish before the evening.

So on Sunday night, we had our first homemade steaks – everything done ourselves, from marinade to plate. With salad and sweet potatoes, it was the perfect end to a training week.

Until the next visit, I’ll keep practicing so I can serve the perfect piece of meat on the grill and host guests.

So to everyone in the Northern Hemisphere, enjoy the start of grilling season – and for us here, a great finish.

See you soon,

Cyrill