How much energy do you spend on a multi-day foot race? I tried to estimate the expenditure first, using a back-of-the-envelope calculation before stumbling over a study researching exactly that. Fun with bananas.

The Swiss Peaks 360 foot race is done. Finished after 5.5 days of madness, covering a distance of over 360 km, 25900 m elevation gain, 26900 m elevation loss. Deprived of sleep, but enriched with an intense experience; body fatigued, but mind inspired. Time to look back on this unique adventure in the spectacular scenery of Valais in Switzerland.

The specific period of training for this year’s edition of the Swiss Peaks 360 foot race is complete. Time to look back, taper, and fine-tune the preparation for the big adventure in the gorgeous mountains of Valais in Switzerland: over valleys and passes from Oberwald to Fiesch, Eisten, Grimentz, Grande Dixence, Finhaut, Morgins to Le Bouveret.

How to find out whether my training is effective? A casual investigation into whether I can use frequent Strava segment efforts in order to see whether the ratio of heart rate versus speed shifted between two training seasons. The results look promising.

What I called the support period in my preparation for this year’s edition of the Swiss Peaks 360 foot race is complete. Time to look back, assess progress, shape the last training period before the big adventure, which will bring me to the vast mountaineous landscape of Valais in Switzerland.

How to plan the training sessions for the weeks ahead? I hacked together a web app which allows me to do just that. The app helps me to plan the training progression according to established training principles, supporting modes such as running, hiking, cycling. Apps for the purpose exist commercially, but it was fun and instructional to roll out my own.

How to find out whether the effort put into training actually increased performance? I asked myself whether there is a shortcut to testing benchmark protocols, whether in the lab or in the outdoors. As you may already have guessed, shortcuts are rare in training. But sometimes, it’s fun looking for one.

Two weeks left in what I called the base period in my preparation for this year’s edition of the Swiss Peaks 360 foot race. Time to look back, subjectively and objectively, assess progress (or the lack thereof), and thus set the foundation for creating a more detailed plan for the upcoming training period.

In 2023, I intend to contribute more to the running community, again. The opportunity to do so presents itself through leading one of the crews in the trail running club I joined last year, the trail-maniacs, ever so aptly named.

Poised to experience the Swiss Peaks 360 foot race again in 2023! An epic journey through Valais, covering 360 km and an excess of 26,000 m of vert in less than a week. One thing is certain: preparation is necessary. As a self-coached hobby-athlete, sketching the training remains up to me.

The “pomodoro technique” is a simple time management method, which requires a robust, simple-to-use timer, which doesn’t distract from the task at hand. For the third version, I constructed a plywood case to house the microcontroller, the 4-digit display, and the two buttons to control the timer.

Learning is often a process of rediscovering things. I enjoyed this process recently when trying to solve a combinatorial puzzle, in the pub, in the bus, and at home. A tale of allowing myself to explore, to tinker, and to be awed by the great thinkers of long gone times.

UK keyboards, for good reasons, do not come with keys for ÄÖÜ. Here is a quick-and-dirty fix to customize the xkb symbols map, tested on on Arch Linux.

The “pomodoro technique” is a simple time management method, which requires a robust, simple-to-use timer, which doesn’t distract from the task at hand. After the first prototype with the ATmega32-based RN-Control v1.4 experimental board, I built another prototype: this time with a 4-digit display.

SUVs with four wheels? Zero sport utility, questionable utility for the climate, questionable use of limited space in cities, and on top of that a danger to pedestrians. An opinion in favour of making Switzerland friendlier for the bike, your one true sport utility vehicle.

The “pomodoro technique” is a simple time management method, however in my opinion completely lacks support from something essential: a robust, simple-to-use timer, which doesn’t distract from the task at hand. Thus, I built a prototype with the ATmega32-based RN-Control v1.4 experimental board.

After completing the Swiss Peaks 360 foot race, it’s time to contemplate what I learnt from moving through the mountains of Valais over a distance of 360 km and a vertical gain in excess of 26,000 m, in less than 6.5 days.

This year’s challenge is approaching: Swiss Peaks 360. After recovering well from “the plague” in early July, and coming to terms with the turmoil it caused to my training, I decided already a few weeks ago: It’s a Go.

Hit a roadblock 194 days into the training cycle, and 160 days after my previous post. Turns out the COVID-19 pandemic wants me, too. I am grateful, that so far, the pandemic does not seem to make me give as much as it makes others do. Nevertheless, time to reflect on the training so far. Time to poke a bit into available research on how to safely return to what all athletes want: get back out, and continue.

How to bring some hills into your home? Such to train for hiking using box step-ups when stuck at home? After surprisingly long Internet research, I finally found a compact, wooden, pretty-enough “plyo box” . Even though plyometrics wasn’t what I had in mind.

If you ever wanted to use the right Ctrl button in Ubuntu 20.04 as an i3 modifier, and struggled with xmodmap, try editing the modifier mappings directly in /usr/share/X11/xkb/symbols/pc. It’s dirty, and may fail during software update─but meh until then it appears to work.

Punishment. Today’s theme is voluntary punishment. The last stage of this footrace is framed by rain and snow. After two days of sunshine tralala, the adventure gets a new facet. Impressions from Day 3 of the Swiss Trail Tour.

The longest stage of the Swiss Trail Tour is awaiting me. Spirits are still running high, although my legs remember the effort from the previous day. How is it going to turn out today? Impressions from Day 2.

Nine months after signing up, after nine months of training, race day has finally come. Spirits are running high. I can’t wait for the start of this footrace. What does the first day have in store? Only time will tell. Impressions from Day 1 of the Swiss Trail Tour.

Mid 2021. Almost 1.5 years have passed since we moved to Switzerland. Connie has seized the chance to create a new venture during challenging times, turning what could turned crisis into opportunity by starting her very own cake shop. I cannot help but write a few words on that journey.