The relief knows only one way out: to lie flat on the ground and gasp for air. Moritz Milatz crouches behind the finish arch at the World Cup in Val di Sole. He turns to the side and stares at the results list: 19th place. The man from Freiburg stares up at the sky, squinting his eyes, which are burning with sweat. "Done it," he mumbles to himself. Milatz has achieved the Olympic standard - as an amateur, if you like. Alongside his family and studies, he squeezed in training to realise his dream.
Six times German champion. European champion, runner-up in the marathon world championships, multiple winner of the national league, fourth in the world championships: Moritz Milatz's career is one of the most successful in the bike circus. Whenever the man from Freiburg was at the start, he usually achieved a top ten finish - at least until 2014. Despite a fourth place at the World Championships, the sudden end came: BMC no longer gave the man from Freiburg a contract. "That was a shock at first, but I wanted to carry on and shifted my focus a bit," explains the 35-year-old. However, Milatz also saw the end of his contract as an opportunity: "I put my all into my studies and my job. And of course, I've also become a father of two in the meantime."
And Milatz is in full swing right now: his older daughter needs to get ready for nursery school. The 35-year-old is fiddling with his shoelaces while his wife puts his little son's jacket on. It is 8.15 am. Milatz has been up since seven. He has to be at his desk by nine - Milatz is a microsystems engineer. He doesn't finish until 5 pm. After that, he races through the Black Forest, still soured from his waddle, to have a few sponsor meetings after dinner. He's in bed by 9 pm - that's the plan.
Milatz has timed his day like an interval training programme. There is no idle time, and when there is, it is a rest programme. "There's no other way. The days have to be planned. In the past, when I didn't have children, I used to go to bed when I was exhausted. I can't do that any more. I have to plan my rest periods, because otherwise you can't manage such a workload of job, family and professional sport in the long term. But you grow into it."
Professional life, family man and job - that will soon come to an end for Moritz Milatz: the World Cup pro will end his career in October. "It's a good time to stop, as my team is disbanding at the end of the year. I've also been offered a good job," says Milatz, who wants to give it his all on the bike until then.
For Moritz Milatz, full throttle means 15 to 20 hours of training a week. Depending on the time of year, it can be more. "I also treat sleep as a training session and try to increase my sleep time a little when it's approaching a competition," explains Milatz, adding that he makes sure to maintain the same sleep rhythm. Ideally, he goes to bed at roughly the same time every day. "If that doesn't work, I sometimes lie down for 20 minutes during the day."
It doesn't always work with recovery, as was the case at the World Cup in Lenzerheide, when he dropped out after three rounds. "My head was a bit too full, especially when I was working on my bachelor's thesis," says Milatz. The Freiburg native normally structures his training precisely and organises fixed rest days in advance - but that wasn't possible during this time. "I never do anything on Monday and Friday. I use the weekends for long rides or races. During the week, I train for a maximum of two to three hours a day."
Moritz still has an hour to go, an hour of agonising, as he calls it. He starts and stares at the watt display: he wants to push away 680 watts, six times. The speedometer readings shoot up, Milatz races uphill. He gasps, tearing the air into his lungs. He already has 30 seconds. His heart is pounding in his throat, his legs are burning
15 seconds to go - Moritz stands up and pushes on pedalling until he collapses. He gasps for air over the handlebars. He still has five intervals to go, three weeks later:
Moritz Milatz raises his hand in the air and smiles into the grey sky. Second place in the overall standings of the Black Forest Giros. A four-day race near Freiburg. "My head was clear this time," he gasps, collecting pats on the back from his rivals. He has three races left in his career, but then it really is over.
SLEEP
Our bodies need enough sleep to recover from the stresses and strains of the day. The combination of training, work and family puts a lot of strain on the body. Sleep researchers assume that the body releases more growth hormones during the sleep phase. These stimulate muscle growth and repair minor damage to the muscles. In addition, bone formation and fat burning are stimulated. Previous research has already shown that a lack of sleep inhibits the release of growth hormones. At the same time, the body needs sleep to better internalise newly learned movements.
The daily rhythm also has an enormous effect on our performance, as Stanford University (California) found out in a corresponding study. Adapting your training to your daily rhythm improves the effect. Our diagram shows the performance of an early riser. In this case, early morning and early evening are the best times to train - this is when performance is at its highest.
THE TRAINING TIPS
How do you juggle training, job and family? Moritz Milatz reveals his most important tips for training, organisation and daily planning.
1. short and crisp
Minimum effort, maximum success? That can also work to some extent in competitive sport. "I sprinkle short, crisp workouts into my training sessions. These are usually deadweight exercises such as squats. This saves me the time I have to spend in the gym. Intervals on the bike are also part of it, but you still can't avoid the long training rides.
2. eat better
The best training in the world cannot make up for a poor diet. For this reason, Moritz Milatz makes sure he eats a healthy mixed diet "There are no bans for me, I make sure I eat lots of vegetables, little sugar and enough protein. What's more, selfish nutritional experiments are hardly compatible with children."
3. planning and communicating
Communication and concrete planning are the key to successful training. Anyone who enters their training times in a calendar early on and communicates the dates will save themselves and their family misunderstandings and stress. "I have clear times at work and I make sure that my wife is always up to date."
4th training camp combination
Training camp with family - Milatz often does this. "It's a great combination for me. The family has fun and I usually join them in the early afternoon. You can avoid a lot of conflicts that way. For the camp to work well, you should give yourself an hour or two of absolute rest after riding - then you're ready for the family.
5. power nap
The night was too short again, then take a power nap. Studies show that short sleep can make up for the missing hours. But be careful, the short nap should remain short and not get out of hand and thus affect the following night's sleep. Ideal results have been measured with sleep durations between 20 and 30 minutes.
6. use the journey to work
With children and a job, there is sometimes little time for training. Moritz uses his commute to work to keep himself in shape: "I can use the journey there and back as regenerative journeys. But you can also build on that. My team colleague Andreas Seewald rides 30 kilometres to and from work every day. If you use your commute as training, you give yourself maximum time to get fit.
7. legs up
Job, family, training - it can all be pretty exhausting. That's why Moritz Milatz just puts his feet up from time to time. "When I didn't have children and was travelling as a full-time professional, I just went to bed when I was flat. That's not so easy today. I just try to go to bed earlier and generally take it easy during the day. The worst thing you can do is not be rested enough and then train for it - that quickly takes its toll.
INFO MORITZ MILATZ
Age: 35
Size: 172 cm
has been travelling since: 2002
Successes:
- European Champion 2012
- 6-time German champion
- Silver Marathon World Championship 2012
- 3x winner of the Bundesliga overall standings
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