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Home sweet home! The last three weeks have been a blast, including a lot of ups and downs. From catching Covid just 9 days before leaving to the Unites States, to a world champion Ironman in my age group. What an adventure it was. In this blog, I want to share my adventure with you. 

Race day in one week

Season 2021 was about completing my first full distance triathlon. I had to change my plan multiple times. It started off with Ironman Hamburg which got postponed to September. September wasn’t an option as this would be the same time as the Ironman 70.3 World Championships. I chose the deferral option and postponed Ironman Hamburg to 2022 and had to look for a new full distance in 2021. 

After winning Ironman 70.3 Maastricht, I knew that it would be really hard to do that again. Let's start with mentioning that I am (now) really happy with the result. Finishing second overall Women in Duisburg came unexpected. What a hard day, not because of the intensity, but due to the cold rainy conditions the whole day. And for people that know me well, they know that I perform better in hot air temperature conditions. I am the one who is always laying on the couch with a blanket when it is 25 degrees. But I also believe that racing in your least favourable conditions is absolutely valuable. I think Sunday brought me a few steps closer to becoming a better athlete. I now know that also with the worst conditions, I am able to perform good. That said, let's start with a short review about the race itself. 

Almost 2 years after Ironman 70.3 Zell Am See, I was more than ready for my next half distance triathlon. Training was going well but race after race was postponed. After the postponement of Ironman Hamburg in June this year, I was very disappointed. I wanted to race my first full distance triathlon so bad. Ironman Hamburg was postponed until 29 August. Which would be in conflict with the Ironman 70.3 World Championships in St. George which was going to take place on 17 September. Therefore, I decided to postpone Ironman Hamburg to 2022. If my first full distance triathlon will happen this year, still remains a question mark. But who knows, for now I am super happy with my result in Ironman 70.3 Maastricht. Let’s start with a special thanks to the coach (Ferrum Endurance) for bringing me to this level.

The last few months passed quickly. It was a tough start of the year for all of us with a strict lockdown. I was looking forward to my first full ironman in Hamburg, which unfortunately got postponed as well. Despite the restrictive measures, some good developments occured in my life as well. I finished an exam, started a new job at the same company and my boyfriend moved in as well. Together with building up the traininghours, these months have been quity busy and challenging at some point.