On Sunday I was cheering on my friends with Julia at the Erlanger Triathlon. While it was quite relaxed for me, it was more intense for the participants there. The event itself was well organized and was really fun to watch. On the short haul, Robert and Thorsten did well and took a top 6th and 4th place in the overall ranking! However, my old club colleagues from Bamberg and a few other Nürnbergers, who all started in the middle distance, often fared worse. First and foremost my buddy Moritz, who was plagued by severe cramps and ultimately just fell over and couldn't get up without the help of the volunteer helpers! So served, he finished with himself and the world that day and gave up the race.
Something had gone mightily wrong. He was well prepared and was doing very well until then, but somehow it shouldn't be yesterday. Doubly annoying because it was supposed to be his final highlight of the season, and he hadn't wrongly calculated a lot in advance. Something similar happened to me in the spring when I went completely exhausted from the race at IM South Africa at km 15. Nonetheless, it went on and maybe it was even good to taste the "bitter" one without knowing how to appreciate the "sweetness".
By actually having fun with the thing, training and preparing, I quickly found my way back and was able to tick off the disappointment. At that time I accepted that it didn't work out and was accordingly hot the next time I was on the starting line. Hey, we are still amateur athletes and if the whole thing is no longer in the mood, then you should really ask yourself whether you are doing the right thing? Some people see the whole sport so doggedly that one thinks they want to become world champion soon. In my experience, the competitions work better if you take it easy and don't grind your teeth the night before in your sleep. Setbacks are normal and happen to everyone, I am sure that Moritz will tick off the botched competition, although he couldn't even help it, and attack again next year. In the end, nothing is wasted, not even with a bad end to the season, because the training we have done up to then remains and brings us even further in the long term ...
Speaking of fun, today I read a study in which it says that competitive athletes have less desire for sex! Whether that's true, I'll try to find out in my next survey 😉 I mean, we're talking about a "bit of exercise" every day, that should actually start the fire!
Comments are welcome, also from those affected! 🙂
PS: Congratulations again to Markus, Sebastian, Thomas, Martin, Daniela, Christoph, Sabine, Susi, Denise and Michael!
in the sense…
skin clean
krelli