With racing on hold around the world, and no clear timeline on when triathlons will return, we checked in with some of our deboer Team athletes to see how they are staying occupied through this uncertainty.

• Multiple Ironman 70.3 Champion 

 

I've been back in Switzerland for a week. I had been in Gran Canaria, Spain for the previous 5 months, including a 2 month total quarantine lockdown where there was no outside training allowed.

In Switzerland the rules are quite easy at the moment. Pools and gyms are open again.  Group training is allowed if you keep it to the same group of athletes. For example I swim with the swim squad 4 times a week always with the same 8 athletes. The biggest problem is that all events with more than 1000 people are forbidden.  This means no big triathlons are going to be allowed anytime soon, and this could continue into March 2021.

 

I have no restrictions right now that limits my typical training. But when I was in Gran Canaria I was only allowed indoor training for a couple of months, and no swimming for more than 2.5 months.  This was the longest period without swimming since i was a 7year old kid.

  

It seems like training for enjoyment or a challenge is more popular. I did a few 200km rides for fun and one ride with over 4000meters of altitude. Also during quarantine I did a few Zwift races to have a little extra motivation.

 

It looks like Challenge Davos here in Switzerland could happen on August 29 because they have less than 1000 starters.  If it happens they will spread out all the athletes at the start.

 

It is not always easy. Some days are harder to motivate myself as I really miss racing. I try to maintain a solid base fitness so that I will be race ready as fast as possible when the races are back on the calendar.

 

Any skills/challenges, triathlon or not, that you've taken on over the past few months?

I always loved cooking which i did even more in the last few months.  I also started to learn Spanish.