Challenge Accepted!

2024 has arrived. 2023 was a tough year for me for many reasons, which I don’t want to elaborate on here, but it also led to many New Year’s resolutions, to take care of myself more this year. This mainly includes living healthier and getting fitter. Not too bad for the goal of finishing the SWISSMAN, huh?

So, the new year starts, with it the question of how to fit it all: work, family life, training… And, as a number and data nerd, I also care a little bit, about how to track it all. But again, time constraints and life, in general, do keep me away from planning a rigorous training schedule and equally from spending too much time analyzing my training data.

With all the smartwatches out there and the myriad of sports coaches and programmers behind those players, I happily rely on the numbers, my watch spits out. As I have been a Suunto user for many years, these are the numbers I get.

Actually, I only started paying attention to it in 2021. I entered serious training to be able to finish the Transalpine run (TAR) with my partner and was in quite okay shape. As I went all out at the TAR, my recovery was not really fast. Until the SaintéLyon, a night race of 78 km at the beginning of December, I was not really able to train. Hence, my Fitness level – also labeled CTL (Chronic Training Load) – dropped to around 15 before the race. I was only able to run about 50 km and needed to withdraw from the race.

Last year, I aimed to complete a 100K-rated race in the UTMB series. Hence, I was enrolled for the Ultra-Trail des Païens 118 km in May and in July for the X-Traversée 78 km. Again, my CTL was roughly 15 before the race in Elsace, which again allowed me to race for 60 km. My wife correctly pointed out, that a completion of the race is highly unlikely, but any further trial would hamper the chances of finishing the X-Traversée. I withdrew from the race at 60 km, still able to walk okay. I continued training and entered X-Traversée with a CTL of 37. And I finished. Slow, with a tough battle through the night, but I got to the finish line in roughly 18 hours.

Therefore: I believe, that with a CTL of around 40, I am probably able to complete the SWISSMAN. Not at a blazing pace and not with ease, but it should be possible.

As the current progress dashboard shows, still some way to go. But I am happy to be on the road, the trails, and the tracks again.

CTL 40. Minimal goal.

The next step, La Diagonela and Marcialonga as stepping stones to further increase my fitness level.