Lennart Höveler 
New car, pushing boundaries – blog post by Lennart; development recap, Lennart, 31, active triathlete since < 2years
Hi, I’m Lennart, 31 years old and I’m from Stuttgart. In this article I will take you through my (still short) time as a triathlete and give you an insight into this very instructive time. I will talk about my athletic development with Kickass, as well as the key factors that have led to this performance development. I hope that I can motivate many people to try something new and push their own limits. The journey is the goal and the competition is “just” the show to show (especially to yourself) what you have achieved.
From soccer and weight training to Ironman – Daring to try something new
I am a very ambitious athlete, spurred on by my stepfather, who has been doing triathlons for >35 years. I’ve always been taken with the spirit and the community and my dream since 2018, when I was able to watch Hawaii for the first time, has been to compete there one day. However, I opted for competitive soccer in my youth. After moving to Stuttgart in 2017, I had already flirted with triathlon, but still played soccer as a hobby and did weight training. In spring 2023, I took part in both Kickass Educations Run I and Athletics I . From the very first second, I was impressed by the values that Philipp and Lisa taught us. I immediately decided to embark on a new sporting path. In May, I started the basic training plan at Kickass. In January 2024, I was given the opportunity to switch to individual coaching and take part in Kickass Challenge Roth 2024.
Development 2023 vs. 2024 | Scope & Pace – Shifting boundaries
I set myself the goal of competing in 2 middle distances in my first year and chose a training plan of around 8-10 hours. As I wasn’t familiar with the subject, I was a regular at the Kickass Weekly Check-ins every Monday evening. Every question from other athletes always helped me progress.
Looking back on 2023, the volume in the first year was 9.5 hours per week with 31 training weeks. In order to be in top form at the start line for the long distance in Roth in my second triathlon year, we increased the amount to a planned ~13h/week. On average, however, I “only” trained for 12 hours over 35 training weeks. You can see that the volume has increased in cycling, running and, above all, in the stability training. An increase of around 1 hour per week was also planned for swimming, but it was difficult for me to get back into the swing of things after Challenge Roth. I didn’t complete some training sessions to the full extent or even skipped them. After many motivating conversations with Lisa, I got through the low and completed the two subsequent middle distances with some of my best performances.
The effect of structured training can be seen in the performance development and the resulting pacing. I am proud of my performance development in such a short time and am really looking forward to the next few years – together with the entire Kickass coaching team. However, the path was not always easy. It took a lot of discipline, sweat and willpower to achieve this development. But before I go into the key factors that lead to the continuous improvement in performance and get me through the highs and lows in training, I will briefly discuss the progress and results of my biggest competitions to date.
Race Results, Season 2023/2024 – Race Recaps
To illustrate the development, I have listed my values for each competition. The 100m swim time, the normalized power for the bike, the average pace and the total time for the run. But now to the emotions and race progression.
I completed my first middle distance in Duisburg, as I grew up in the neighboring city. So I know the whole area very well. I learned a lot during the race. Personally, I don’t like slipstreaming and was constantly at the front of the group. As a result, I pushed too hard and got cramps in my thighs 2-3 km before the transition to running. During the run, I was constantly passed to the back, which was very frustrating. However, the finish in the stadium was an explosion of emotions! I had done it! The first Ironman 70.3 and in a total time of 4:41:46! I was more than happy!
In November 2023, the IM70.3 Philippines was still on the agenda. The enormous humidity was simply different. I got into the swim (the only competition without a wetsuit) well and quickly found my rhythm, making up a lot of places here. On the bike, I rode the entire 90 km alone, but I also worked my way forward here. On the run, the weather pulled the plug on me after kilometer 10. I stopped at every aid station and tried to cool my body down. Unfortunately, I missed out on qualifying for the World Championships in Taupo by one place at the finish. I then went straight into the off-season.
2024 I started the season with the IM70.3 Kraichgau. The race was to determine my position for the LD at Challenge Roth. In preparation, I looked a lot to the right and left and didn’t feel well prepared and was honestly afraid of “failing” with everything I had invested so far. I felt better in the swim than the time reflected. I pushed hard again on the bike so that I was able to break 2-3 groups. I got off the bike with 2 professional women and let them pull me along for the first 5km. When I looked at my watch, I was amazed: 3:56/km, the target was 4:25, so I slowed down a bit and ran solidly for the first time. I was lucky enough to be able to run with Laura for 300 meters and soak up the atmosphere from the side of the course. At the finish I was incredibly happy with my performance and all my fears were forgotten.
In preparation for Roth, I was able to put in optimal training blocks and was at my absolute peak at the start line. I felt very comfortable swimming in the canal on race day and quickly found a great rhythm. Accordingly, I was able to achieve my best swim time (even over the 3.8 km). The bike ride was unforgettable. I got goose bumps for the first time when I crossed the bridge over the canal. The first time I had tears in my eyes was when I passed through the Kickass CheeringZone
and then of course on the Solarer Berg. When I turned into the transition zone, it was time to put on my running shoes and run 42.195 km for the first time. I felt really good for the first few kilometers and ran at a 4:20 min/km pace (unfortunately a little too fast). From the 24th kilometer onwards (with a target time of under 9 hours), I unfortunately developed knee and back problems and had to take short walking breaks every kilometer. Nevertheless, I crossed the finish line after 9:12:40. An indescribable feeling and simply unbelievable that I finished in this time after just over a year of structured training.
We then traveled to the Allgäu with the tailwind of the long distance. As already mentioned, my swim performance was unfortunately no longer on point, but my bike performance was all the better. In uncomfortable conditions and on a very challenging bike course, I was able to find a great rhythm after an average swim. I was able to produce my best bike performance to date: 251 watts NP over just under 3 hours. I was well on track when I changed over to the run and after a quick transition, I made even more progress over the almost 20 km. After I had mastered the Kuhsteig, I was able to step it up again and deliver my best running performance to date. A great bike-run combination that I wanted to build on in the last race.
In October, I finished the season at the IM70.3 in Greece. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t play ball here either. It was very windy and correspondingly cold. I didn’t get into the swim at all, got blurred twice and the current and waves didn’t make it easy for me. It was a struggle to get into the race. On the bike, I pushed straight away to get away from the 2 groups I caught up with. However, I got severe back pain on the 14km headwind section. So I had to take it easy here. On the second lap, I often switched to the base bar so that the pain didn’t get worse. You can also see this clearly in the NP, which was far below expectations. After riding the second lap completely on my own, I went on the run. I followed Lisa’s game plan of holding back until KM 16 and then really opening up the pace and ran my fastest half marathon overall. I was more than happy at the finish! Sub 4:30h, after only 18 months of triathlon training and despite a less than perfect day. Unfortunately, I just missed out on qualifying for the World Championships, but it’s motivating to see how the training is working. It won’t be my last attempt to fulfill my dream of taking part in the World Championships!
My 5 key factors
I am often asked how I was able to achieve such a development in such a short time. So I thought about the key factors that have helped me achieve this. Of course, the most important points are health and fun. However, my personal 5 key factors help to influence these two points in a very positive way.
- Structured training plan: This meant that I not only trained the sessions I felt like doing, but also the uncomfortable, important sessions. These are usually not just the “hard” workouts, but above all the “slow” ones. By constantly setting the right stimuli, I have developed so quickly. The personal exchange also helped me a lot. I used the weekly check-in sessions every Monday evening to learn more about the sport and myself. I then applied these suggestions to my training and increased my motivation even more.
- Technical training: I particularly liked the educations at Kickass helped me to activate big levers through small adjustments, to use my body more efficiently and, above all, to improve my health. I can only recommend this to anyone who cares about their health when doing sport!
- Catering: An absolute factor for consistent performance, good recovery and a high training workload is nutrition during exercise. Above all, learning how and when to eat. In my opinion, people often underestimate how important good nutrition is, especially the quality. One key for me was to eat during training so that the body learns to absorb carbohydrates under stress. In addition, good nutrition shortened my recovery time because the energy stores in my body were not too “empty”.
- Performance diagnostics/energy consumption: The performance diagnostics (Kickass Metabolics) and the resulting thresholds for training and competitions are also very important to me. This has enabled me to optimize my training plans in terms of scope and intensity. In addition, I can always derive the energy consumption from this and plan my units accordingly so that I don’t overload my body during intensive training weeks and can therefore train consistently.
- Set goals: One of the most important factors for my personal development is to set goals. For me, goals must always involve a certain degree of risk of failure. Because these ambitious goals make me work harder and I am happy when they are successfully completed.
What’s next – Preview 2025
I have already put together my competition calendar for 2025 and set myself goals: IM70.3 Kraichgau SUB 4:30; IM70.3 Luxembourg SUB4:20; IM Tallinn SUB9. I started preparing again with Kickass at the end of November and am training with Kickass Tri Training. The first step for me now is to set new stimuli to develop my body and then work on my race form again towards Kraichgau. If you are interested in how my journey and development are progressing, please follow me on Instagram: Lennart_17. 😊 Also happy to answer any questions or share experiences.
I hope that the insights into my sporting journey and personal development with Kickass are motivating and show that continuity and discipline in training pays off for everyone. And one last tip: don’t always compare yourself to others, because you should set yourself goals and prove to yourself at the end that you have achieved them, not to others!
Maybe we’ll see you at one or two competitions and now off to training 😊 Kind regards
Your Lennart
