Last Sunday, I finished 48th in the WTS race in Cape Town. Finishing, it felt like a small victory. The season could not have started worse: three DNF’s (Did Not Finish) in a row. Each time (in Abu Dhabi, Mooloolaba and at the Gold Coast) the leaders of the race got too far ahead during swimming and cycling which prevented me from taking part in the final running race. After three such disappointing races, my mental resilience started to unravel. The DFN’s were at odds with the ambitions and expectations I had stated, and I think rightly so, at the beginning of this season. Furthermore, these races were also not consistent with my winter’s training results. Until the end of January, everything went quite well.
All could do was to try and find an explanation for my under-performance and fortunately, on touching-down in South-Africa, that was exactly what I got. My doctor called me and told me that I had been experiencing the symptoms of a mononucleosis infection. There was no need to look any further for the reason why I had been unable to perform at the highest level during the past two months. Racing on WTS level with the best and fittest triathletes in the world was simply not possible…
As with many acute infections, the infectious phase was probably already behind us and my doctor gave me the green light to start in South Africa. If I hadn’t already been in Cape town, I probably wouldn’t have departed, but since I was already there, I wanted to start the race just to see if and where I could finish. I knew that this race was going to be very difficult, because my body was simply not capable of such a sustained two hour effort. Assuming that a lot of rest and recharging my batteries would be the best preparation, I trained as little as possible and with much less intensity and volume compared to a normal race week.
But I reached the finish line! It was hard, I suffered, halfway through the cycling I already felt completely drained, but I made it. Nevertheless it gave me mental boost because, considering the circumstances, this was the best I could hope for.
During the next weeks I will be focusing on my recovery. By keeping up the training in these final months, I’ve probably wrecked my body and only when my doctor gives me the green light, I’ll resume my intensive training program and we’ll see which races I will/can participate in.
Of course as an athlete, it is painful to get the diagnosis of mononucleosis… At first, only the worst case scenarios passed through mind. I feared that I wouldn’t be able to participate for a whole season and that the ‘road to Rio’ would become virtually unattainable. However, I try to stay positive, knowing that setbacks and disappointments are an inherent part of top-level sports. I’ve encountered problems in the past and they’ve always made me stronger. It’s a relief now to know why the past few months were so difficult. And I believe that my competitors can’t count me out just yet! 😉
I didn’t feel like getting extra attention or causing commotion because of this right before my race (this would only have distracted me) and that’s why didn’t speak about this until now.I want to thank Defense, VTDL and the SMO -specialized triathlon team for their continued trust and for supporting me in trying to realize in my sporting ambitions.
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