70.3 Rapperswil
I've been training regularly again for almost four months now! Even though I was only able to train for ten hours a week at the beginning, it helped me to let go of my thoughts and get motivated to start everyday life again, set goals and simply enjoy nature again. At the beginning everything was very difficult, I couldn't recover well on the days with a fever because my body had lost too much substance beforehand - so I gave myself more time for conscious regeneration. I still regularly had a fever of up to 39 degrees twice a week, and there was no question of increasing the amount of exercise. But after many hard weeks of well-tempered training, the fever suddenly subsided from week to week. Once I only had a temperature of 37.5 and was able to do whatever I wanted all day and didn't have to crawl into bed as I often did. Then there were days like after the training camp in Mallorca, when I had to fly home with a temperature of 38.6°, which wasn't fun. The next morning I got up, checked my temperature and did a light footing at 36.5 - and felt good. At the moment, every normal day is a day won and celebrated! And from then on the course was really positive, the length of the sick days decreased significantly and so did the temperature itself! I'm sitting on my bed here in Rapperswil, it's Saturday and it's a fever day! However, since this morning it only shows 36.8 - no sign of an impending fever! I can check in my bike without any problems, pick up my race number and ride comfortably back to the hotel over the Seedamm Bridge in the traffic jam. I'm already a bit tired in my room, but confident that tomorrow I'll finally be able to take part in my first triathlon since summer 2023!
Once I only had a temperature of 37.5 and was able to do whatever I wanted all day and didn't have to crawl into bed as I often did. Then there were days like after the training camp in Mallorca, when I had to fly home with a temperature of 38.6°, which wasn't fun. The next morning I got up, checked my temperature and did a light footing at 36.5 - and felt good. At the moment, every normal day is a day won and celebrated! And from then on the course was really positive, the length of the sick days decreased significantly and so did the temperature itself! I'm sitting on my bed here in Rapperswil, it's Saturday and it's a fever day! However, since this morning it only shows 36.8 - no sign of an impending fever! I can check in my bike without any problems, pick up my race number and ride comfortably back to the hotel over the Seedamm Bridge in the traffic jam. I'm already a bit tired in my room, but confident that tomorrow I'll finally be able to take part in my first triathlon since summer 2023!
I then made it onto the run with a slight gap to the leaders, but my engine was almost completely off. I set off at 3:30 and soon slowed down so that I could just finish that day. Friends, family and complete strangers cheered me on passionately all the way. I could feel the energy from everyone, it was something very special. When I passed my ‘Göttibueb’ Leo and saw him cheering me on with a big smile, tears of emotion came out of nowhere and I could hardly breathe. It was so nice to see how happy he was that I was healthy again and able to do my sport, a moment that touched me emotionally.
The whole thing again at the finish! My brother Lukas was standing at the entrance to the finishing straight, cheering me on and was all upset and crying. Of course I couldn't help it and had to catch my breath and hold back the tears. It was so nice to see all those people who had cheered me on before the finish in the finish area again. Finally, the speaker came and congratulated me on my comeback! A memory I will never forget. The fight back to triathlon was worth every moment. Although I relapsed twice a week, I fought my way back, got up in the morning, made my bed, put on my Descente shirt and started running at a 6:00 pace! And I did this day in, day out for so long until finally, out of nowhere, the fever receded and I slowly found my way back to my old strength! I say it again and again, don't give up, at some point it just works out!
Endlich am Aargauerstalden die letzte brutale Steigung, bevor es ins Ziel gieng! Ich holte noch mal alles raus und überholte in der Steigung noch ein paar der Athleten vor mir. Doch in der Fläche vor dem Ziel spürte ich dann die Schmerzen in den Oberschenkeln, ich bin etwas zu hart rein. Nun nichts anmerken lassen und schön aufrecht Richtung Ziel! Ich konnte die Athleten hinter mir in Schach halten und rannte voller Freude und Erleichterung ins Ziel! Es geht also immer noch, meinen Körper zu fordern und näher ans Limit zu bringen. Im Ziel hatte ich eine Zeit von 54:28, stolzer Schnitt von 3:22 mit 180hm! Das war ein weiterer Meilenstein auf meinem Weg zurück ins Leben!
As before every race, the alarm clock rang at 4.45am, 3 hours before the start! I was tired and I was nervous! It had been over 10 months since my last triathlon start! Am I still a ‘racer’ at all? The rain and the cold were a bit of a worry, I was still significantly underweight and didn't want to catch a cold again straight away, and on the bike I definitely had to be careful not to fall on the bends. At breakfast my stomach turned a bit and I felt like I didn't want to start. I thought to myself, why am I still doing this to myself!
So many of my supporters are on the roadside and have travelled all the way to Rapperswil in this bad weather. What if I don't even make it onto the bike? What if I'm not fit at all and drag myself to the finish in last place? I took a deep breath and said to myself: being nervous is good, it means this race means a lot to me and it's something important in my life! I turned the nervousness into motivating energy and got up energised and ready for the day that was so important to me! I didn't even have much time to think about it, because everything happened so quickly!
Check in, get my drinks ready, check my running and bike bag and squeeze into my wetsuit. And then the sweat starts to run down my skin, this stupid rain makes my wetsuit sticky and I almost can't get in, all the athletes are already swimming in! But of course there's plenty of time and I'm soon at the start, just looking forward to another triathlon adventure. The water is 14° and freezing cold, but it doesn't bother me at all as I take up my position with full focus before the swim start. It's important to have enough space and to be as close as possible to the fastest swimmer. Magnus Männer was right next to me and we had enough space, I always pushed the athlete next to me away a little because he wanted to get closer. But it's important that I can perform the first arm strokes with full power and enough space. So after 100 metres I was already in front with Magnus next to me. I soon sat at his feet and tried to keep up the fast pace. But that was easier said than done, I soon felt cramps in my arms and had to slow down. I was definitely not ready for his speed. I let the small group go and focussed on a slightly slower pace. The goal today is to finish and not to win 😉
Coming out of the water a few seconds behind, as an ITU veteran I naturally had a very fast transition and soon found myself in an optimal group with Youri Keulen. I haven't often ridden sessions on the bike with over 300 watts, but here I started with 350. I stayed hidden at the back of the group on the first flat section and prepared myself for the climb. It was clear that someone was going to attack and I prepared myself mentally and physically to ride with them. But I wasn't used to the power of the guys yet, but I couldn't just let go, so I pushed hard until we reached the top of the mountain. I was clearly over my limit and was doing some damage to my body that I couldn't ‘heal’ before the run. The lactate was running out of my ears 😉