Weekly News Number 20

Coffee, waffles and a weekly recap

Another Tuesday over here. For me, that usually means making a coffee, putting three Manner waffles into a small bowl and sitting down on the couch. After that, I normally open my training app so I can reconstruct how I actually got through the week once again.

But before I even start talking about training, I first need to talk a little bit about coffee. Even though I basically live in café heaven here, I actually don’t go out for coffee every day. Usually only when I meet people or know someone at the café.

The bigger question is: how do I make a good coffee at home? Because yes, in my dreams there will eventually be a La Marzocco sitting in my kitchen. But right now, every coffee I make comes from an AeroPress. Some of you probably know it already a very simple way to make really good coffee. Somewhere between filter coffee and its own little thing.

The best part is actually the beans. We buy them from a local roastery and grind them fresh with a hand grinder. That way you can perfectly adjust the grind size and every coffee tastes slightly different. Right now, I really enjoy those small rituals.

Doctors, blood tests and patience

I know last week I teased a little bit about doctors and blood tests here in Australia. And as so often, things in your head usually sound much worse than they actually turn out to be.

For locals, the process here is actually very simple. They log into an app, pay around 24 dollars and can get blood work done pretty easily. Don’t ask me exactly which markers they test, but apparently everything you really need to see if something isn’t right.

For me, of course, the process became a little more complicated. First I needed a doctor’s appointment for 107 dollars just so someone could give me the paperwork for the blood test. Fair enough the doctor needs to get paid as well.

But even after that, the process wasn’t finished because doctors here don’t actually take the blood themselves. For that, you need to go to a pathology clinic. So on Wednesday morning I found myself there once again spelling my name out loud. And even though I’ve probably done that a thousand times already, spelling your name in English still somehow feels like an adventure when your brain suddenly stops working.

After all of that came the bill for the actual blood test itself: another 400 dollars. At that point I thought to myself: I’ve already gone through all this effort, so I may as well finish the process and at least know for sure what’s going on.

Now, one week later, I can say everything looks good. And honestly, that made me really happy. Just like the fact that I’m feeling a little better every single day. I still don’t know exactly what kind of flu or virus that was, but it was definitely a stubborn one.

Moving easy instead of forcing it

Training this week was almost entirely easy movement. And in my opinion, there’s not much benefit in forcing high intensity or high volume training while you’re sick or even directly afterwards.

Most of the time, you’re only creating more stress for the body while not even being able to properly absorb the training anyway.

As a coach, I see this all the time. Very few people truly trust the process of letting go and giving the body time. If you listen to enough top athletes, you often hear the same stories afterwards: continuing to train hard despite illness, injuries or stress and in the end, it usually only created even bigger problems.

A perfect birthday

Friday honestly deserved its own blog post. Because who doesn’t enjoy birthdays?

A full day of simply doing the things you enjoy. And that’s exactly what I did.

Already in the morning, when I drove to the pool after breakfast and the sun was shining, I really enjoyed swimming outside. Afterwards, I went straight to a café with friends. And when I then also received a voucher from my favourite butcher, I knew the day would be hard to top.

But it kept getting better. Emma baked me an amazing marble cake, which of course we had to try immediately. Not all at once even though honestly, I probably could have.

Since the Noosa Marathon was happening on Saturday, there was also a small expo in town. So we spontaneously went there and met a few people we knew. Because Wyn Republic had just released a new running shirt, I decided to buy myself a little birthday present and picked one up.

Naturally, the shirt had to be tested straight away. So later that afternoon I wore it for a run. Super lightweight and really comfortable to run in.

And of course, as you know me, the grill had to make an appearance in the evening as well. Another nice piece of meat ended up on the barbecue. Until my family comes back in December, I’ll keep practicing so we can have a proper big barbecue on our little grill once they’re here again.

As always, the birthday passed way too quickly. But I enjoyed every single minute of it. And every message I received throughout the day as well. Thank you to everyone who thought of me I genuinely appreciated every single message.

Back into rhythm

The weekend then became fairly quiet again. After watching people race the marathon on Saturday, I went for an easy ride. On Sunday, I ran my favourite loop again through the national park.

And immediately I noticed how quickly you lose the feeling for hilly running. So I guess it’s time to start running that route more regularly again and slowly get used to the hills around Noosa once more.

Lastly, there’s something I’m genuinely very excited about: from now on, you can also find my flyer and coaching at Velo Plus in town.

I’m incredibly grateful for the collaboration and for them giving me a platform to present my coaching. Step by step, things continue to grow and hopefully I’ll be able to work with more and more athletes along the way.

A huge thank you for that.

And with that, I’ll say goodbye for another week.

I’ll continue working on growing my coaching while also doing what I love most in between: swimming, cycling and running so that by the Australian spring, I’ll be ready to race again.

Friends in the north: enjoy your summer. You’ve earned it.

Cyrill