After my operation: with the Vitalmonitor to success!

The Vitalmonitor helped me get back on my feet in terms of sports after my surgery!

How it all began

My name is Andreas and I am 35 years old. In 2011 I ran my first marathon in Linz with a time of 3h19min. Unfortunately, I had to take walking breaks again and again for the last 5km. I didn't have a training plan at that time. So I looked for one on the internet and trained according to it. Long runs and interval training I felt less important at that time. Later it would turn out that these two components would also play an important role.

My marathon fire was lit

One year later I was again at the starting line. This time I could achieve a result of 3h7min. Compared to the first time I could still improve very much in time. Unfortunately, I also had endurance problems this time and was completely done in the second half of the race. This in turn forced me to take breaks from walking. My thought was: if I train even more disciplined in the future, I will definitely manage my next marathon under 3 hours. I actually managed to do that in Linz in 2013. I was able to run a time of 2h57min and thus my fire for the marathon was now finally kindled.

From Internet Training Plan to Berny Schimpl

I had never done a lactate test before and had often considered doing one. A friend of mine knew Berny Schimpl and so we arranged to do a lactate test together. My values were not that bad. The basic endurance, however, was, as with many runners, difficult to develop. Berny said that there was still a lot of room for improvement. So I finally let Berny put together a monthly training plan for me.

The result of this training plan was that my basic endurance improved and also had a positive effect on my motivation and enjoyment in training. In 2014 I ran the Linz Marathon in 2h 54min and the following year I managed an even better time of 2h52min. So my performance went steadily uphill. Immediately I set myself higher and higher goals: my next goal was the sound barrier of 2h50min. This in turn meant training, training, training. Circumferences of 120km per week were therefore not uncommon.

My health setback

Then in 2016 disaster struck. After a hard workout, I suddenly had vision problems. My vision became blurry and it was difficult to read. At first I thought that a possible hypoglycemia could be responsible for these vision problems. Unfortunately, there was no improvement the following day. Therefore, I quickly went to see a doctor. He diagnosed a thrombosis in my eye. Afterwards I had to be hospitalized immediately to clarify the cause.

After a few tests, it turned out that the cause was a 3cm hole between the two chambers of my heart. The doctors advised me to have the hole closed immediately. I finally underwent this operation in November 2016. I had to take pills for half a year and was only allowed to do very light basic endurance training for the time being. In May 2017, I finally got the green light from the doctors: I could train fully again and also participate in competitions again.

From zero to one hundred: Thanks to the Vitalmonitor

Of course, starting again from almost "zero" was hard at first. I really wanted to listen to my body and only train when it was ready. I had already heard a few times about the Vitalmonitor and thought that would be ideal for me. Again I contacted Berny and after a lactate test we started with the Vitalmonitor method. My basic endurance was not bad, but I had some catching up to do in the speed endurance area. I had also already set myself a new goal: the Frankfurt Marathon on 29.10.2017.

Of course, it took some getting used to at first, measuring every morning and after every workout, but it quickly became a habit. With the Vitalmonitor, the first successes came quickly. My Bio-Age is now about 21 and my HRV values of over 200 are also no longer a rarity.

The training according to the daily recommendation of the Vitalmonitor is also going great and my subjective feeling mostly agreed with the training recommendations. After 12 weeks of training with about 100 weekly kilometers, the big day finally arrived. Unfortunately, the weather was rather suboptimal on this day, with wind gusts of up to 100 km/h. In the end, I still managed to run. In the end I still managed a great time with 2h 53min. Due to my history and these difficult conditions, I was more than satisfied although I missed my best time by just under a minute!

Conclusion

I can recommend the Vitalmonitor to everyone. Especially athletes who pursue high goals, want to achieve best times, but at the same time run the risk of training too much and thus allow the body too little recovery periods!