Life vs. Tri

15 more days until race day. I can not wait. My traing is coming to an end, WOW. I can believe that I am almost there. I cant wait to turn down the training volume, and I mean way down. I dont even remember what it is like to ride my bike just for fun, or just to go on a run not knowing the distance or time.
I miss calling up my friends and saying "hey lets ride saturday, and then have some beers". I miss sunday breakfast with my family. But soon all will be back to normal, or will it. I hope I can remember what normal live is like. One thing I can definatly remember is "sleeping in", man thats a big one. No more alarms on the weekends. No more 9:30PM bed times. I cant wait to spend time with Susan, sure we spend time now but its fast time.
I cant wait to take the kids to school and to do the kids marathon with Daisy.

Three months does not sound that long but training everyday or atleast in 10 to 12 day blocks then taking one day of, its a lot, a shit load.
I could not have done this without team Krauss. I am sure it has been as hard on them as it has been on me.

Not swimming tomorrow in the AM because of work but then hard bike in the PM. I will make the swim up on saturday.

TNK OUT

More Updates

So I finallybought some new running shoes. Man it was about time. I had my old Nikes fro about 6 months. I might as well have run with just socks. My new shoe is pretty sick, I like it a lot and the kiddos gave me the thumbs up so thats important.

This thing is pretty mean, a lot of support in the front which is key for me. I have put about 40 miles in this shoe and so far no complaints.

The next new thing I got was a new seat for my bike. Actually my little bro hooked it up for my b day. So this thing is suuuuper sick. I have not gone num in my feet and other parts since i have been using it. I cant believe hoe much of a difference the seat can make. It feels like I have more power too.

And the last update I have is the most important one. This one means more to me then anything else. SUSAN got one in the oven. YEAH I am so stocked, a baby is on the way. i can not wait. Only 8 months until the baby come. Hopefully it will be a boy. If it s boy his name will be "Lars Gunner Guenter Krauss" and if its a girl his name will be " Lani ..... ..... Krauss" Have not figured out the middle names for a girl. Daisy and Lily are stoked as well. New memenber for "Tem Krauss".

22 days until race day. I can not wait. I feel great, I am ready. I hope I can put it all together. training has been going SO well. I have been putting in a lot of time on the bike. I really want to have a strong bike. Here is proof that I have been riding hard the last 4 months.

Just over 1400 miles in the last 2.5 months. As you can see I started using the "Salt Stick" and this things really works, at least for me because I am a super heavy sweater.


TNK OUT

LONGHORN 70.3

One of my favorite athletes in the world is coming to Austin to race the Longhorn 70.3. It Bree Wee. I have never met her, I have only read her blog and people told me stories. So is BAD ASS.

More later


TNK


OUT

32 Days left

Only 32 days until the big race. I can believe that it is so close, and I cant wait to see if all the HARD training is going to pay out. I bet it will. I feel great, I am in the best shape of my life. I can swim, bike and run faster then I ever have.
I am pretty sure that by now I have put 100's of hours into the saddle and 100's of hours into my running shoes. My body is responding very well to the training. I can not believe that I can train my body to accomplish what it has accomplished in the last few months. I have learned more about my body in the last three months then I ever have before.

I cant wait to race and give it 100%. Team Krauss rules



TNK out

Once again

Once again all I can say is I am sorry for not posting anything in sooo long. but I have not had any time for anything. So here is a quick update.

Training is going really well. Only one month away from the big race. I cant wait.

I finally bought new running shoes, still getting used to them, but so far they seem to be OK.

About two weeks ago I finally broke the 1,000 mile mark on my bike, YAY.

I have been riding and running A LOT. I just started serious swim training back up. It will take a few days until I am back into it.

Ill make sure to post everyday or at least every other day from now on.


TNK

Update

Sorry that I have been tardy on posting. The last 10 days have been pretty crazy, not really because of training but because of Swaps birthday part last sunday and then my birthday on thursday. And on top of all that I got a new job with requires much more then I thought it would.

Training has been lacking a little. I know, it sucks and I really hate myself for it, but what can you do. Had two pretty solid days yesterday and today. SO hopefully I can focus more now and be back in the swing of things starting tomorrow.

Sorry this is short, but I am beat.


TNK out

Man, what a day

Rain all day long. SO lame, couldnt ride my bike like I wanted to, could not even go run. Maybe this is a good thing so my leg gets a little more rest. But WTF. Now I can only get 3 bikes in this week and I dont even know how I can get another run besides the brick on sunday. GD.

Went to the gym for about an hour. Did some leg workouts and some core (i guess). I am bummed I hate days like this. Hopefully tomorrow the weather will be better and I can ride, man I have to ride and more then that I WANT to ride. October is coming up fast (or maybe not), I hate when thigs dont go like I planned. Maybe I just need to chill, what are a few not so good days. I guess I still have a lot of time.

Whatever



TNK out

Good day

So i need to get this of my mind. I wanted to run 9 miles in the hills today and after about 5 miles my lower leg hurt so bad I had to call it quits. I really hate when stuf f like this happens. i know it is the right thing to do so I dont hurt it more. BUT I HATE IT. Oh well, tomorrow is another day.

Weather was pretty crazy today, huricane Dolly made landfall in south Texas this morning and some of it made it up here late in the afternoon. So part of my run was in pouring rain, which is really nice after running in 100 degree weather for the last 4 weeks.

Swim this morning went well. I swan the 1500 meters 4 minutes faster then I ever have. Maybe taking 2 weeks of swimming was a good idea.


Thats all



TNK out

What a day

Today was a great day. As I had mentioned in yesterdays post Swaps turned 4 today. We had such a fun day. It started with me getting of work early and coming to unwrap PRESENTS. She was so stoked, and so was Sus and I. The we went to Barton Springs Pool. We had a blast playing in the water and getting cotten candy and ice cream.
Then we went home for just about an hour and then went to CHUCK E. CHEESE's. It was off the chain. At first I went in there telling myself that I was going to stick to my diet and not eat Pizza. But about 5 min into playing games and having the best time with my girls that was over. I eat Pizza like I have never had it before and drank cherry coke like there is no tomorrow, and it was so worth it.

So no training today and pizza and soda = great day.
Back on schedule tomorrow. Swimming in the AM and then hopefully riding my bike. News is saying that a hurricane is coming so that might 86 the bike, my Plan B is a 9 mile run (rain or shine).


I dont know if Susa (my gf) reads this but if you do, thank you for supporting my training and always pushing me to tain harder and longer. YOU ARE THE BEST

Once again happy birthday Swaps.


TNK out

Update

Sorry that it is has been a few days since my last post. I dont really have an excuse besides that I have been to tiered and lazy.





I want to start this post with announcing that we have a new member here at "Team Krauss". His name is Fritz.

He is super cool. He might be a little dog but he has a very big attitude. He will be sporting some sweet "Team Krauss" wear at the next race.

My half ironman training has been going really well. It has been hard, really hard, but I can feel a difference. I can fell my legs getting stronger as well as the rest of my body including my mind. After a long training day I am mentally just as tiered as I am physically. I never noticed how much training can affect your mind, some is good, but most of it is physical stress turns into mental stress.

The best example is, I was doing a pretty hard brick yesterday (40 mile bike HARD, 10 mile run right of the bike HARD). I was feeling good after the bike but 7 miles into the run I was done. It was hot and humid all I wanted to do was quit. Once you are that stage it is really hard to keep going. Your body is screaming at you to stop, but my mind fights back and tells me not to quit, "You have come this far, you can finish, only 3 more miles, dont be a pussy you already ran 7, keep going, this is suppose to hurt, train like you race HARD, how bad do you want this, this is what is going to make the difference when everybody is hurting at the end of the race,quitters never win and winners never quit, GO GO GO".

My girlfriend asks me why I do this to myself, why do I train until I can go anymore. I didnt have a good answer to this until actually right no.

I saw this guy speak one day when I was living in Hwai'i. His name was Rick Rigsby and he said: "Good is not good enough when it can be better, better is not good enough when it can be best". When you think about it he is so right. Why settle with something good when you can make it better.

HAHA sorry that section is a little deep, but to everyone that has raced and knows what it feels like to hurt so bad that you want to stop, will understand.

BTW SWAPS is turning the big 4 tomorrow. YEAH PARTY TIME

TNK out

Meet Fritz

So today Susan decided to bring home a new member for team Krauss. He weighs in at 1.5 lbs and is just a little bigger then my hand, and his name is "Fritz".

This is all I am saying, the picture can speak for itself.





TNK out

What a weekend

Man what a weekend. I am beat, physically and mentally.
Friday my buddy Kevin and I did some speed work at the track. it went really well. Kevin is a great runner, he has no problem running 5:30 miles , so he really pushed me and I was able to put down some PR's.

Saturday morning i went on a 40 mile ride, rode pretty hard felt really. I think I am getting stronger on the bike (at least I hope so).

Sunday went and rode again, 40 miles, then straight of the bike I ran 6 miles. I really wanted to run at least 8, but I was dead, and it was getting super hot.

Cant wait for tomorrow, I am going swimming in the AM and hard hill ride in the PM.

So far training is going well. I hope it will all be worth it in the end.


TNK out

Update

First of all I hope everybody had a great 4th of July. Since I am not American it doesnt really mean anything to me but it is always nice to have a day to relax.

Team Krauss took it pretty easy on the 4th. We had some BBQ, Beers and some pretty good fireworks.

The next day my training for the 70.3 race here in Austin started. My friend Brent and i went for a nice 45 mile bike around. It was super hot, but it was a good ride. Climbed some pretty good hills, they were short but steep.
The next day was a 5 mile tempo run with hills.
Monday hit the gym for hour tempo bike and then some mile repeats all at 6:30 per mile. This is good news I am getting faster.
Tuesday was my OFF day, all I did was chill and then we got lucky and my mother took us out to a SUPER dinner.

Today 8 mile run with hills, went pretty good, I really feel like I am getting fitter and stronger.

My calfs have been pretty sore after my runs, I guess it is time for some new trainers, as well i really need to get some shoes that I can run 10 plus miles with out my calfs hurting.

That is all for now. I will post more regularly again SORRY


TNK out

Quickie

Will post an update tomorrow. Just really quick, 1/2 ironman training started.

Good weekend, hard bike, easy run........
More tmorrow



TNK out

Team Krauss

Something I have not talked about is the team I race for. It is called " Team Krauss". Team Krauss consists of the members of my family that come and support me at most if not all of my races. I am very lucky to have these people that are willing to stand around for hours, while I race around and they get to see me for a total of about 3 minutes in 2 hours.



The man in the back is my dad "Guen", he usually only attends the big races due to his very busy work schedule which has him on airplanes going from east to west and west to south all the time.

The lady in the back my mother aka "DSD, Dag, Dagemeister, Dag mother fuin Mar, der fuhrer......" She comes to all my races. And no matter how loud it is, i can always hear her screaming something at me that gets me to keep going when it hurts.

The young lady in the middle is Susan aka "Sue, Sus, Chula, Bears, Barchen, Nani, my ball and chain....". Sue has been at all but one (a duathlon) races. She always pushes me and always gets me motivated to train, even when I am sleepy and all I want to do is sleep.

The dude in the green is Phil aka "kleine schwanzchen, kleine.........." my bro. He is just like my mother when it comes to racing. The two people that I can for sure hear no matter how loud it is, are Phil and Dag. Phil usually screams german motivational quotes at me (laughing so hard right now).

The two girl are Daisy and Lily (my kiddos). Daisy aka "D, Dizzel, Dis Das Razmataz, Dais.............." is 7 years old and gets more stoked then me on race day. Once those little eyes are open it is 100 % energy until the race is over. No body can ring a cow bell like she can.

Lily aka " Cutson, McGilly cutties, cutties, B, SWAPS......" is 3 about to turn 4. To be honest i dont think she really cares to much. She always cheers me on and is stoked but I think she would be just as stoked at home chilling. But thats ok, because it must hard being 3 and having to wake up at 4 am so dad can do his shinanigans.

So thats Team Krauss



TNK out


P.S. Lady in front is Romy

Race report/ training

I am going to make this a short race report because it really isnt worth talking about.
I raced a sprint triathlon on Saturday. The race went well, I guess. I gave it about 3 %. I just didnt have the motivation that I usually have. Oh well




Believe or not but somehow I won my AG. Yeah I couldnt believe it.


Now to training today.

Started off with swim practice from 6 AM to 730AM. It was pretty good. Coach didnt cut us to much slack today (none).
The I went to work (sucks). After I work I hit then gym for a 60 min spin class which was pretty good. We did lots of tempo intervals.

After that I ran 3 miles with my buddy Kevin. We broke the three miles into three one mile intervals.

1 mile~ 6:45
2 mile~ 6:44
3 mile ~ 6:53

To most this is not that great, but to me, man this is really good. I cant believe I was able to do it. I bet I can run a lot faster for a lot longer. I cant believe that I never even tried this.

What a great day.


TNK out

Race report

Coming Soon..........

Sometimes I wonder

I do this wierd thing where sometimes i just can sleep. It has been three days where I have gotten about 3 or 4 hours of sleep. I just lay in bed and have all kinds of things running through my head.
I think a lot about my next races and my training, but also just a lot about life. How can I make more money while working less (hahaha) or how can I be a better dad, stuff like that.

Today I went on a 9.5 mile run, and I am feeling pretty beat. I hope this will do the trick to get some good rest. Even though I have been training hard this ween it seems my body gets tiered but my mind just does not want to rest.

Got swim practice at 6 AM coming up, I am looking forward to that, then I got to go to work and then hopefully I'll have to for a short and easy bike ride.


Train hard



TNK out

Run fun into the Sun

Went on a six mile hill run tonight. I left the house at about 7:30 PM, usually I never leave this late but today I did. And it was so nice, its cool and breezy, man I might just turn into a early evening runner.

Actually it really was not that cool still 95 but as long as you dont have to run in the direct sun it really is not that bad.

So I have a super sprint triathlon coming up. It is this Saturday (teamats.com). Its a 300 meter swim 9 mile bike and 2 mile run. The swim is in a pool. I have never done that so i am looking forward to that.

On a different note, Germany advanced into the final of the European Cup today. The final game is on Sunday. I got my money on Germany!!!!

Hills, hills, and some more hills

Yesterday my buddy K Fed and I went on a bike ride with the intention to get a good hill work out.

We rode from Anderson Mill & 183 to Lost Creek Blvd & 360. I knew there where some pretty good hills there but had no idea that they were going to be this gnarly.

There were three pretty good hills at the beginning, they were not very long but pretty steep. After that we got to Barton Creek Blvd.

At the end of this road, right before it meets Bee Caves you got this hill I like to call the "monster", because it does not look that crazy but IT IS. It is a lot longer then it looks and it is a lot steeper then it looks. Once I struggled up it we rode back home.

I had lost track of time and before you know it, it was dark. We managed to get back to the house safely but by the time we pulled into the driveway it was pitch black.

Got to make sure that this does not happen again.


TNK

First one

So this is going to be the first of many blogs to come.