as was to be expected: the SwissUltra Deca 2020 is now officially cancelled… (or: postponed to 2021…)

With everything going on in the world right now I knew there was a 99.999% chance that, just as most athletes, I would get the email which would tell me my main race of the year would be cancelled… And yesterday that email came in, and honestly, it was a huge relief (I think… emotions are still shifting from one end of the spectrum to the other… It will take a few days for it to completely sink in and settle down…).

In these unusual times I’ve found it hard to train and stay motivated; pools are closed, and the open water isn’t warm enough for long sessions yet, and although in The Netherlands you are allowed to ride outside, I’m doing all my cycling indoors… The current advise is to ‘stay at home as much as possible’, so I don’t feel comfortable riding outdoors now (not judging those who do, as long as they’re keeping to the ‘social distancing’ rules!).

…keep your distance!…

And running… Running is going pretty well, as long as I run at times and/or places where I know it’s not too crowded, and there’s plenty room to keep distance if there is a need to overtake someone… But I think I haven’t ran more than 30km at a time, just because my mind wasn’t ready for the longer distances…

…better days; double-ultrattriathlon Emsdetten 2019…

So whilst waiting for the dreaded cancellation-email I started to get worried; what if…

What if The Deca gets cancelled, will I go through another year of hard training, or will I just give up? Or what if it doesn’t get cancelled; how do I stay motivated to train when it doesn’t feel right?

It’s strange to almost hope the race will be cancelled, since it has been such a long journey by now; the seed was planted in 2015 (thanks for that Brutal Claire), and early 2018 I decided to really commit and do a Deca, so I wanted to sign up for the 2019 Swissultra. Later I heard that they wouldn’t host a 2019 Continuous Deca, so I moved the plan to 2020, seeing it as a chance to learn more and be even better prepared. Moving it again for another year feels scary, it’s pretty difficult to keep the focus for so long…

…the email that we all knew would come one day…

But when the cancellation email came in last night everything dropped into place; at least I now know what to expect this year; no Deca, so it’s time to just keep on swimming, cycling and running, and to have fun whilst doing so, in the meantime look at my (growing) list with ‘alternative stupid ideas for this season’…

And starting the Deca in 2021? Right now it would say it’s 50/50, but luckily it’s not a decision that I have to make in the very near future…

When I now think of pushing the whole plan back another year I think of the best reply on the cancellation I read this morning on social media:

“ultratriathlon is about patience anyway, so…”

 

Thanks to all that have supported me on this journey, let’s see what’s next… and stay safe and healthy out there!

Thank you Animo sportpsychology for supporting my crazy plans!…