Summer recap: Germany, Colorado, and back to work
Six weeks in Germany, two months in Colorado – what my training summer looked like, and why I won't forget it anytime soon.
My summer started in Germany – six weeks at home to recharge. Family, friends, being out and about without any pressure, plus a few good hikes in the Alps. After nine months in the US, it was also nice to see that everything back home was pretty much exactly as I’d left it. No high-stakes weeks, just building a solid base and having a good time.
From Germany to Colorado
After that it was back to the US – a few days exploring Colorado with my girlfriend first, then to my family’s place, where I trained for the rest of the time. For almost two months, I genuinely had nothing else to do but train and explore Colorado: Steamboat, Denver, Boulder, Bozeman, plus a trip to Moab and one to Telluride. Home base was Steamboat Springs or Denver – great weather all summer, and otherwise basically just train, sleep, eat, recover, with family and the dog in between.
I’m aware how rare a stretch like that is – no obligations, nothing to worry about, just sport and the landscape around me. “Grateful” almost undersells it.
What I did on the sporting side
- 7.5 km individual-start rollerski race – won it, though “won” needs air quotes, it was a small, local race
- Pritchard Trail Run in Bozeman, 10 miles – 2nd place
- 3000m in Bozeman/Steamboat (roughly 2,100–2,200m altitude) – 9:45, you could definitely feel the altitude there
The raw numbers are interesting too: according to Strava, I logged about 119 hours of training over roughly five weeks in Germany, and about 208 hours over almost ten weeks in the US – which works out to around 24 hours a week in Germany, with a lot of mountain touring and less intense sessions, versus around 21 hours a week in the US. It felt like Germany was the recovery stretch, but in pure volume it was barely less – just more relaxed and less specific.
Overall, training went really well: consistent, but not excessive – I deliberately tried to hold back a bit. Also experimented a little with double-threshold sessions. No base crisis, no overtraining – just a good, calm stretch of solid work.
Takeaway
A summer like that probably won’t come around again anytime soon – which is exactly why I wanted to write it down before daily life in Vermont writes over it. And who knows if I’ll ever get to experience that kind of ease and freedom to travel again.
