Life Is Unpredictable

An emotional rollercoaster of a day

I’m currently in Mallorca. I joined two friends of mine for a training week.

On Thursday I had one of the emotionally most intense days in my life. My life will change in the coming months – in a good way – but the next few weeks will be challenging.

Here is what went down and how it will impact my goal of running Innsbruck 110k and my life in general.

Change Of Plans

It fits perfectly into our training plan. The goal is to stand together at the start line at Innsbruck. We as in a good friend of mine and me. The beginning of February is exactly 12 weeks out from the race.

Perfect time to escape the cold winter weather in the German Alps and have a two-week vacation somewhere warm. Run a lot. Rest a lot. Enjoying the time.

In the morning we learned that it would not happen. It was not just us escaping the cold winter, our wives would join us, too. Unfortunately because of unexpected personal reasons not everyone would be able to join, so we collectively decided to move our time together. After all, we wanted to do it together because we all enjoy spending time with each other. It wouldn’t be the same to leave someone behind.

Things like that happen. We haven’t booked anything yet so it was easy to call it off. Still, we were all looking forward to it. That being said when you deeply care about the people around you it’s easy to be okay with it. Your energy is redirected to supporting the ones you love!

The three of us in the midst of typical mallorca’n terrain (me behind the camera)

The Day Before Leaving To Mallorca

Last week Sunday I flew out to Mallorca to meet said friend. He was on vacation with his wife and decided to spend an additional week there and invited me to come over for basically the same as our plans for February. Run. Eat. With the small nuance that we would work in the mornings and spend the afternoons off.

I was looking forward to it a lot!

Then the weekend suddenly became a bit hectic. I have to provide some background on what is to come. Me and my wife live south of Munich at Lake Tegernsee. We love it there. At the same time, it’s not necessarily a place where a lot of young outdoor-loving people live. Because of that, we have been looking to move to a bigger city in the Alps for quite some time (1.5 years actually).

We wanted to move to Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Situated at the bottom of Germany’s highest mountain it has everything we would need. The only problem: it’s not easy to find a place within our budget that also allows dogs.

Not one flat in the one and a half years was ticking our boxes. Until the week before leaving for Mallorca. The perfect flat popped up.

We got an appointment to look at it on Saturday, with 20 other interested parties. Talk about pressure.

We loved it. We loved the area. We loved driving into the valley and seeing those huge mountains around us. It reminded us of the feeling we had when driving into the Chamonix Valley last year. There was a certain feeling that this is the place we want to live.

We submitted our application. Now we had to wait (and would most likely get the news while my wife was at home and I was on Mallorca).

Click on the pictures for full size

The Discomfort Of Silence

Back to Thursday morning. We did not hear anything from the realtor besides a mail on Monday that they would relay our application to the landlord. We are also approaching the end of the month, which means there is some time pressure to terminate our current contract in case we get the flat. If not, we would need to pay double the rent for an additional month.

Your natural thought process during the week works something like this:

• Monday: We will probably get feedback tomorrow.

• Tuesday: Mh, maybe the landlord didn’t have time to look at all applications, yet.

• Wednesday: Probably someone else got it and they are only waiting for them to sign and then let everyone else know.

And then on that Thursday morning you are a bit sad that you most likely did not get it. At the same time, you hope that maybe the landlord had no time to look at the applications yet. You remind yourself that you know nothing and control what you can control.

We decided to call the realtor and ask for an update.

The landlord was out on a business trip. We will get feedback in the coming hours. They hinted that we can most likely expect good news.

The emotional rollercoaster was starting to move.

Mallorca is just pretty. Can recommend it to everyone.

The Excitement Of A New Chapter

We got the flat. We will move to Garmisch early next year. We are excited. It was the first flat that hit our requirements. Super lucky. We can’t wait to be around those mountains, be involved in the local community and explore the area.

That being said we will be further away from our best friends. The emotional rollercoaster continues to move.

Having the outlook to move to a place you wanted to live at for a long time is nervously exciting. That is the best way I can describe it. I’m looking forward to it, but at the same time, you leave your comfort zone.

It feels good to leave it. I’m sure we will find our routines in the new place. I’m 100% certain I will enjoy the local mountains. I’m nervous about diving into the local trail running culture. Before I met the friend I’m currently visiting I was running 99% alone. Rarely do I have company besides my wife.

I want to connect a bit more and feel like there is no other community more welcoming than the one of trail runners. I’m looking forward to meeting familiar faces.

What Goes Up Must Also Go Down

After finishing work, we went out for a run. The weather was perfect over here. Not hot, but sunny. We ran up beautiful trails until arriving at a ridge. We continued and were running through, what feels like typical Mallorca’n terrain, rough boulders, lots of loose rocks, small scrubby bushes and mellow fields.

I took some photos like I always do on those beautiful mountain days. We were running on a flat plateau at roughly 1000m. To the left, the sea stretched to infinity. I took a look. I hit a stone. I found myself lying in a sea of fist-sized sharp rocks.

For those who don’t know: I broke my wrist 8 weeks ago.

I sensed a similar feeling. Same wrist. Pulsating. Slowly growing in size. Fuck.

Emotional rollercoaster.

Right - The stones I will be hitting in a few seconds.

A Complicated Trip To The Doc

We walked back down. The wrist continued to grow in size. I was certain. I broke my wrist again.

I was contemplating taking the next flight home. Going to my doctor, getting everything checked out the next day. After all, they just put it in a cast or splint and wait for a few weeks. It didn’t feel as bad as the first time... yet.

Back at the car I checked flights. No flights. A quick Google search recommended a doctor in Palma. I called to check if I could come. The whole praxis was German. I realised again that I was on Mallorca… THE vacation destination for Germans.

I was told I could come in within the next 15 minutes. We packed everything in the car turned the key and the car didn’t start. What are the odds?

We tried for 15 minutes. It didn’t start. I called letting them know I couldn’t make it. Asking if they had an appointment the next morning. I was let known that I can also come a bit later should it start again but obviously the next morning would also work.

My friend was calling the rental car service, trying to figure out how we could get back home. He was told to call some people who would pick us up and bring us to the rental company to get a replacement. He turned the key one more time.

The car started.

The emotional rollercoaster continued. Off to the doctor's office.

An X-Ray And A Known Feeling

I sat in the doctor's office. He asked if he understood correctly that our car wouldn’t start. “What a day”, he said. He asked where I was from. He asked how it happened. He told me that trail running on Menorca is nicer. He also runs. He has a buddy from Saarbrücken who moved to the Alps a year ago. To Garmisch. He is part of a nice run club. If I know them.

I know them. I will join them on a few runs next year for sure.

The world is small. The trail running bubble is even smaller. He told me I should greet everyone when I’m there.

My wrist meanwhile was quite swollen. We did an X-ray. I waited in the waiting room.

He called me in a few minutes later.

He sees the previous injury. He does not see that something else is fractured. He recommends to get an MRT once I’m back in Germany to be sure my ligaments are okay.

I get a splint. Known feeling. I’m relieved that it’s not fractured again.

Life Can’t Be Predicted

What a day. We will move to Garmisch. It will be perfect to train specifically for Innsbruck. It will be great to meet new people. I’m already looking forward to spending the whole summer exploring the mountains, the local culture and meeting new people.

At the same time, the next few weeks will be complicated. Sure the wrist isn’t fractured but it’s sprained. It is swollen. Sometimes that can take as long as a fracture. I hope my ligaments are okay.

In general, it’s funny how such extreme events in one day level each other out. In some way, I’m so excited to move but on the other side, the present limitations take a toll on that excitement.

The day just showed me that life is never simple. It’s utterly complex. An unimaginable number of circumstances come together every day. I will have a fun story to tell the local run club when I join them for the first time. I will always remember getting positive feedback for a flat while being away from my wife. Celebrating from a distance. Feeling connected but at the same time not. I’m really looking forward to seeing her on Sunday.

The impact this all has on my race in May is unclear to me. I will run less now, but I will have one of the best training environments next year.

And one thing my friend did already let me know: They were thinking about moving for quite some time and now that we are gone they might join us, too.

That would make Garmisch even more perfect.