Infected with the triathlon virus

At the same time triathlon became more and more a focus topic in our family, with my cousin starting in famous Hawaii in 2007 and my brother-in-law who was also competing successfully in the German triathlon league and abroad. It was thus only a matter of time that we also got infected with the triathlon virus. In 2012, we finished our first triathlon (sprint distance), at a small place close to Bonn. And, even though the swimming part was really a fight, there it all started off! The feeling of having overcome yourself, although 2/3 of the race consist of disciplines you've never been competing in before, was so overwhelmingly that we couldn't wait until the next competition.

The triathlon community in and around Cologne is quite big, with several triathlon clubs, many competitions in the greater area, from rather small competitions until big events like the Cologne Triathlon Weekend with all distances from kid's distances until the long distance. There are several thousands of triathletes competing, mostly against themselves and not for one of the first three ranks. And that's also what I like most with this sport: It's mostly a competition against yourself and your own boundaries, not necessarily against others. 

In 2014, we finished our first Olympic distance and already had our first half distance in mind, but unfortunately the year 2015 didn't start off very well with a few injuries and setbacks, so that this year's start into the season had to be postponed. Instead of striving for new PR's, this year's motto is rather "having fun and getting back to normal"!

When we hit on the ad announcing the first Turku Triathlon Weekend city race we directly knew that we definitely had to become part of it. Especially as we planned to spend our holidays in Finland, my father's home country, anyway! It would be the perfect highlight of our visit to Turku in summer. We're very much looking forward to Suomi, Turku and especially the Turku Triathlon Weekend!