A day with Sebastian Kienle
We spent a day with German rising talent Sebastian Kienle while he was in the Freiburg area for a training block with his coach Lubos Bilek. Kienle actually lives in Karlsruhe, Germany, about 2.5 hours away from this scenic University town, but he spends quite a bit of time in Kirchzarten, just a few miles outside of Freiburg.
Kienle has caught the attention of industry insiders with some of his strong performances. In 2009 he won the Ironman 70.3 Wiesbaden race and held off 70.3 World Champion Michael Raelert to get that done, and like a few other Germans he is well known for his cycling prowess. Most recently he cranked out a 4:14:42 bike split and a second place behind Rasmus Henning at the 2010 Challenge Roth triathlon. Next for the German will be the XTERRA World Championships in Maui, Hawaii, but prior to that race expect to see him in Kona for some scouting, training and cheering.
Slowtwitch followed the lanky German a whole day in Freiburg, and also added a couple pictures we snapped during his sighting at Eurobike.
All images are © Herbert Krabel / slowtwitch.com
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Sebastian Kienle was very popular at the Eurobike autograph session in the Powerbar booth, but he joked that most folks were mostly after the nice bottles.
Sebastian Kienle with his long time girlfriend after the autograph session
A rainy day start for the morning swim.
Awaiting instructions from his coach Lubos Bilek.
Lubos Bilek goes over the session with Swbastian Kienle and ITU pros Svenja Bazlen, Dave Matthews and Christopher Hettich. In the next lane Andi Boecherer is already warming up.
After the swim it is time to go to the circle training.
But first a small pit stop at the bakery to be ready for breakfast.
It is convenient to have an Olympic Training Center close by.
Time for some core exercises in the nice Olympic facility.
Passing the heavy medicine ball to Andi Boecherer.
Sonja Bazlen lives with several other National Team athletes from various sports in an apartment next to the Training Center. The crew got invited to have breakfast there.
It is impossible not to smile with so many goodies on the table.
After breakfast it is time to check out the important stuff on the internet.
Time for a nap before the other workouts start.
The coach lives in Kirchzarten, so it is a quick trip for Sebastian to be on a World Championship mountain bike course for a very short one hour bike work out.
A very drenched Sebastian Kienle after a 15k run with Andi Boecherer.
After a shower a bit of time to relax on the sofa.
A dinner that evening with some younger athletes under the guidance of Lubos Bilek.
A very social evening, but these types of gatherings are not really the norm.
It is time now to say good night and good bye.
