4th - Monterrey World Cup

I got it right – finally! It is kind of a relief to get a good result under my belt after a lot of”not so good” results. This was a result I knew I was definitely capable of but up until now ‘I had not got it right’. The most important thing is that it has now moved me up in the Olympic rankings – so I’m now ranked 30th – out of 55 slots.

It was a very early morning in Monterrey. Due to extreme weather forecast the women’s start was moved from 8.30 am to 8.00 am as they expected temperatures to reach low 40’s later in the day. By that the men’s race could also start 30 minutes ahead of schedule. The Athlete’s lounges opened 1,5h before race start and at that point it was completely dark outside. As ITU races don’t tend to be such early starters it had been a while since I had experienced race preparation in total darkness.

As I mentioned in my race preview the swim was very narrow. After 50 metres we (75 girls) were squeezed into a 40 metre wide space and within the next 40 metre it narrowed to only 10 metres wide. It created a lot of turbulence and fighting. I didn’t have a good swim but I still managed to get out of the water towards the back end of the first group. A smaller group of 6 got away but got caught quite soon into the bike. Only Sarah Haskins (USA) was strong enough to ride solo up front. Haskins rode very hard entering T2 approximately 1 minute ahead of the main group, containing myself, of 50 athletes. This turned out to be very beneficial for her as she eventually won the race.

I had a good 10km run. I was running in the front group consisting of around 8 girls in the beginning which as the km passed the group got reduced. On the final 2,5km lap Ueda (JPN) made a move with only me and Haug (GER) able to go with her. Ueda got a little gap and secured 2^nd place. I was now running in 3^rd with with Haug just behind me. Haug kicked with 200m to go and some kick it was too, my little legs simply could not follow. I recorded the 2^nd fastest running split – only 3 seconds slower than Ueda.

I passed the finish line in 4^th only 2 seconds from podium and 14 seconds from Gold.

I am very pleased with the result. Of course I would love to Podium – but I’m racing for the Olympic points and this year that is all that counts.

With a smile on my face I have now arrived safely in Denmark. I will have 3 weeks solid training before I fly to Madrid to race the 2^nd round of Dextro Energy World Championship on the 5^th of June.