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No goal is too small
I’ve spent the last couple of months observing my ‘post-Kona triathlon life’ unfolding. It was initially very confusing, mostly because there seemed to be an expectation to have some magical clarity about what I would want to do next, after such a milestone. At the same time, all that momentum and energy of the build-up came to a sudden halt. This takes time to process.
Looking back, it’s really been a while since I’ve had such a ‘blank canvas’. 2025 goals were pretty much already decided as soon as I finished Ironman Austria in June 2024: I rejected my Nice slot and I knew I was not doing another full Ironman the same year. This pushed the next one naturally into 2025 with a full commitment to go all the way to World Championship this time, if my body and circumstances allowed. Luckily this plan flowed very nicely and I’ll always be grateful thinking back to last year; I know too well how easily such an ambitious plan can collapse. 2025 has been very kind to me.
During that period, when I was ‘in the thick’ of this big commitment, when things got tedious or hard, I seemed to come up with all these ideas of ‘what I would do after’. ‘After, after, after’… when the commitment would be gone, when I’d be ‘free’ to take more risks, to have more fun, or whatever I felt I was saying ‘no’ to.
So the ‘after’ was finally here — and it felt nothing like I had expected. I don’t think I had factored the emotional aftermath I’d be faced with after all these months and their outcome, the latter of course being an unknown until the very end. Looking back, I would now ‘budget’ for a period like this - no expectations, just processing, like recovery without a watch.
The situation with races booking up so quickly across Europe doesn’t exactly help. We are now called to know a year in advance from the actual event date if we want to do it. They seem to be booking up almost immediately, and that puts a lot of pressure on us to decide too soon. I didn’t even want to think if I’d want to be racing triathlons next year, before I was actually done racing! As much as I enjoy it more than anything, I am very conscious and respectful of the commitment it takes; not just from me but from anyone close to me. And I do try to always give myself a chance to pause and really chose what I’m committing to. You could call it overthinking but it’s very easy to get excited and then end up in a hamster wheel, with motivation lost and dragging myself to sessions only because I signed up to something for fear of missing out. Basically, I am trying to do this in a sustainable way that keeps giving me the joy it has thus far, and that doesn’t exactly align with the pace we need to be booking these races. And this of course doesn’t just go for the most popular triathlons, it goes for the marathons, it goes for Mallorca 312, and so many cool events; it’s even hard to get in most of these things at all - some try for years before they get on a start list.
Back to the processing - I was caught by total surprise by how I felt after Kona: I found a thirst of getting back to a swim-bike-run routine that came too fast during the off season break. As if I was not done with the season yet… There was a thirst for more speed - the Kona bike leg left my cycling gains in fitness completely unfulfilled. A thirst to push myself in a different way… It was as if that race skewed my whole view of the full distance as being a bit slow… I know it’s not the case and I only need to look back at Les Sables to remind myself of that but the most recent memories have a way to prevail!
I knew I didn’t want another full distance Ironman for next year - as a goal on the distance I am missing a ‘fast one’ and I had already missed the opportunity to sign up to any of those (Kalmar or Copenhagen for instance). But also I wouldn’t want to attempt that so soon as I know it takes a lot.
So everything was pointing to going for a good old 70.3… On top came the fact that the World Championship is in Nice for 2026. If you’ve been following along, you may know I have unfinished business there - mainly in the full distance but that’s a detail… In the end it all came together in my head and there I was - beginning of December, panic-searching for the last open spots in a European 70.3 that would offer slots for Nice. And there it was - one of the very last ones - Warsaw 70.3 in early June. Boy have 70.3s become expensive, and that was not even the top end… In any case compared to the recent Kona project, all else feels cheap!
So that’s that - the goal is to compete at my best in all disciplines but above all, finally deliver a 70.3 bike performance I’ve been missing since I’ve changed coach and have made so many gains on this discipline. If I do qualify for Nice, I’ll consider taking it, depending on how the training will have gone and how I feel at the time looking into the summer. Loads of time for that decision at least!
It’s been over a month since I’ve booked this now - and I’ve been even more surprised since. There is a stillness in my mind in every session. And a will to be in it more than ever before. When intensity calls, I’m in; when easy is in the plan, I take it all in. I am very much enjoying every single stroke, pedal and step of swim-bike-run. How is this even possible?! Even without a ‘big goal’ in sight. A fast 70.3 is definitely challenging but it doesn’t necessarily blow your mind as a full Ironman does. I guess that’s the surprise: I don’t need my mind blown to be motivated. This is different to what I had been assuming all this time. And it’s a good thing.
During my session yesterday I was pondering on what motivates me. And in the end, it is the improvement itself; the endless pursuit of excellence, the glimpse of improvements after months and months of grind thinking you’ve stagnated. When these come, and they’re not frequent - it’s as if you’re starting all over again. Excitement pours in, and a smile of confirmation - you’re in the right place. All the questioning, gone. And ready to come again… ‘That’s why we do it’.
And that’s the spirit of starting 2026! Energetic - confident - lighthearted - mindful - still. See you out there!
