Kazu, a famous Japanese blogger, who visited runtastic´s Headquarters in July, has just completed his new mission: running 100 km for the first time in his life! He was motivated to run such a long distance because a well-known Japanese TV program 24HOUR TELEVISION “LOVE SAVES THE EARTH” was being broadcasted across Japan on the same day of his challenge. Team runtastic was honored to support him with the use of runtastic PRO app and our Live Tracking system. During Kazu’s 15 hour run, the runtastic app recorded every detail of his performance and shared it in real-time with his fans and supporters from all over the world. His fans provided a constant stream of live comments and 2,991 cheers. Kazu told us that he received all those cheers directly on his smartphone. As soon as he would start-up after every small break for drinking or eating, he received more cheers and he knew that people were “following him”. He appreciated the cheering, especially at 4am (after 9 hours of running) when he started to hit the wall, even though he is a well-trained athlete. There were also people coming to help him on the way: a boy on a bicycle lighting his way at night, a man offering a Red bull, a woman waiting for him with a cold towel…

Kazu during the challenge

His brother also showed up to run with him in the last 7 km, when Kazu barely had enough energy to continue. Finally the end was in sight at; the gate of Fukui Broadcasting Corporation (FBC) building. Kazu saw many people waiting for him and he found added motivation to finish. Cameras were focused on him and he could even see his parents rooting him on, even though he had not informed them of the challenge so they would not worry. Later FBC broadcasted his emotional finish as ‘News of the Day’! Through this challenge Kazu wanted to show teenagers that “if you try hard, you can do anything”. When he was their age, he was the second to last runner in his class, and now he just completed 100 km!

Have a look at the amazing video at Kazu’s blog: http://kazuch.com/463.html

100 km run

Kazu thank you very much for sharing such a motivational experience with us!

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Recently I asked myself the question whether fitness is important for a professional poker player. The answer is clearly 100% YES!

In a poker tournament, fitness and stamina are in high demand. The bigger poker tournaments with main events can last up to one week. One day in a tournament can go on for up to 14 hours, and at the end of such a long haul, it is very important to be fit and able to concentrate. Otherwise hair-raising mistakes can be made which are punished mercilessly by your opponent. To maintain full concentration over such a long time requires very good physical fitness and focus which can certainly not be gained just at the poker table.

Erich Kollmann & poker table

I have found that endurance sports such as running, cycling and mountain biking help me with my focus and stamina. runtastic is an excellent tool where you can create your individual training, monitor and evaluate it.

I have been a bit sluggish lately, you may call it lazy, and that actually makes the point better. runtastic has helped me gain back the motivation and re-inspired me to be more ambitious with my fitness training.

My activities on runtastic show me that I am still not at the fitness level of where I would like to be, but step-by-step I’m improving. My times are constantly getting better and my weight is dropping, slowly but surely.

Erich Kollmann

Due to many international tournaments, I travel a lot and runtastic is a very convenient way for me to track and monitor my fitness. I have told other poker players t about the advantages of using the runtastic apps. Hopefully I can convince them of my bluffs too.

You can follow my training on http://www.runtastic.com/en/users/Erich-Kollmann, I would be happy to welcome you as a friend. See what tournament I’ll be at next on my homepage www.coolmanfans.com as well as on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/erich.kollmann  and Twitter: http://twitter.com/kollmannerich

Erich “Coolman” Kollmann

With the Olympics here and the Men’s Marathon on August 12 only 8 days away, we interviewed marathoner Günther Weidlinger, who has been training in St. Moritz, Switzerland before arriving in London to run the Olympic marathon.

Günther Weidlinger

Here are some highlights of our interview with Günther:

Günther, how are you feeling now that Olympics are here and your race is in 8 days?

Thanks for asking, I am feeling great at the moment. The training is going quite well, and I am excited about every session and of course the race.

Why did you choose to train in St.Moritz, what is so special about this location?

St. Moritz has the perfect conditions for endurance athletes. The plateau is perfect for long endurance runs and the surroundings make every training an amazing experience. Running tracks, paved streets and gravel roads in combination with the mountains and a swimming pool with sauna… what else does an athlete need!?   

How many training sessions have you been doing a week?

I have been training about 12 times per week; that is around 800 km. In the morning I do mostly longer or faster trainings; then in the afternoon I do easier runs.   

What is the moment when a person can say that they are in good condition?

You recognize it during the training. When the legs are fine during the hardest training sessions and the heart rate is moving in the correct way, then I know that I am going to reach my goals in London. Of course there are good and bad days. Good days don’t go unnoticed, bad days will be quickly forgotten.

Günther, thanks a lot for your time and all the best for your big race!  We look forward to following you during the marathon and watching you achieve your best marathon time yet!

 runtastics, Günther will be running LIVE with runtastic thanks to the LIVE tracking function, stay tuned to our Facebook fan page and cheer him on! He will be excited to receive all your encouragement!

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Also this week you again have been able to send Dieter Baumann your questions. We picked the questions wisely and Dieter answered them. We would like to present the answeres to your questions right here.

Question 1: I’m doing the training plan „Weight loss“ with friends since 2 weeks, but my body fat part – measured with Body Scale by Withings- unfortunately increased. I do exactly the specifications oft he training plan but with the addition of an extra longer run. But this can’t harm – on the contrary. Is it possible that i’m doing something wrong? It’s demotiviating, although I have lost 1 kg, my body fat part increased.

 Dear Stefan,

i would say: Chuck the scale away. Everything goes very well. With an extra longer run, you increase your sport excercises. You have already lost weight and in addition you look after healthy nutrition. But why are you affected by the technical aspects oft he body scale. Body scales have a computer program, that doesn’t x-ray your body, which means, that the results are only approaches, that must not be true.

Exempt your mind of the results of the body scale and give your body time to accomodate to new conditions.

Question 2: I would like to try a lactate measurement to check my personal fitness conditions. Is it better to do a spiroergometry on the treadmill or just a normal lactate test? Is it necessary to do a replicate test? If yes, after how many weeks should I do the lactat replicate test. At the moment I run about 3 times a week.

 Dear Detlef,

for a simple fitness check a normal lactate test is adequate. Although the spiroergometry shows you you results more detailed, that are very interesting for a more professional training.  I would advise you to do the lactate test two times a jear. By way of conversation you can follow and optimate your trainings results perfectly.

Best regards

Dieter

Of course you can go on sending Dieter questions. We are looking foward to your next questions… also next week there will be answers of the expert. By then “keep on moving”.

Your team runtastic & Dieter Baumann

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During the last two weeks in Spain I did great training runs of about 400 kilometers under perfect conditions. Thank you very much to all of my fans, who watched my Live Tracking sessions on the runtastic fitness site.

For all of you, who observed my training range, just an indication: The average pace includes running activities to come in, sprints, running downs as well as breaks.

The time off, when I was not running I used to do some sportmanagement studies, which I find very interesting.

The necessary preperations for the spring season are according to my personal training plan. It’s already my 15th start as a professional runner into the new season. I‘ m looking forward to the Olympic Games in London on August 12.

Best regards

Günther

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