The final chapter

May 22, 2015:

"They will send an ambulance, when I tell them what your symptoms are... Blue lights and sirens..."
I'm at the doctor's office. It's been 45 minutes since I stepped into the office. They have taken my blood pressure, listened to my heart and lungs and taken an ECG. After each test the expression on my doctor's face become more worried. My normal doctor was out of office, so she is just a sub, she probably hoped she would not be facing any serious illnesses today. I bet she is struggling to connect my poor results with the stuff I have told her. Stuff like: "I'm an elite triathlete", "I work out daily" and "I don't even drink or smoke".

"I'm not sure if he needs an ambulance... He looks quite ok to me... yes... no... I will tell him.. goodbye". I'm listening to every word of her conversation with the people, who seem very worried about my health. My substitute doctor was able to cancel the ambulance - I was able to travel the 20 kilometers by train to get to the doctor's office, so why shouldn't I be able to travel the 20k back to get to the hospital? To be safe, she writes a direct number to the ambulance dispatch center and tells me that if I get worse, I should just call them - they are very concerned.

At this point, I'm scared to death. It is Friday. I had taken the day off at work to prepare for the second race of the Danish Short Distance Championship this Sunday. But general fatigue, chest pain and swollen legs made me call the doctor the day before. Now I was on my way to the hospital. A place I had done everything I could to stay away from my entire life. I've never even liked visiting family and friends there - the place just creeps me out.

In the train, I have time to think and call my family to tell them I'm not coming home as planned.

Though it takes less than an hour to get to Amager Hospital, it feels like forever. I'm not sure what I'm more afraid of: The fact that my heart isn't well or the risk of facing one of my deepest fears... needles. Ew!!

It feels wrong to step into the emergency room. I do not belong here. I'm fine.

A nurse looks at me like "you are not sick, what the hell is wrong with you?", but instead of saying that, she places me in a room with a bed and starts asking me why I was sent to her. A doctor comes to take a few more tests. No one seems to know what is wrong with me. It is like the results don't match the things I say.

When I say I'm in pain, the tests say the opposite. When I say I'm fine, the tests show I'm already dead...

After 6 or 7 hours in the emergency room with numerous tests and talks with different doctors and nurses, they decide to hospitalize me for the weekend to monitor me and take more tests. At this point, I'm surprised I'm even alive - feels like they have taken more than the 7 liters of blood a normal human contains....

Five days in the hospital do not make my problems any clearer. "There is something wrong with your heart. But you are not dying", this is all I get. At least they did not take all my blood or remove any organs. Not that I know of, at least.

It takes two months with regular visits to the hospital to find out what is wrong with me. My heart is fatigued. "It is like a strained muscle.. In your heart" as one of the doctors jokingly says.. Haha.. That's funny... Idiot. (My sense of humor might have been affected by all the needles he put in me moments before the joking).

How did it get so far? How did I destroy me own heart? 
The doctor was pretty serious about this one. "You work out pretty hard, don't you?".. Yes, that's obvious. "You are pretty ambitious about your studies and career, aren't you?"... Yes, right again... "Do you ever just relax and do nothing?... Silence... "You don't. I can see it in your face"... Silence... But... "You need to relax. You cannot give 100 % in everything you do. You need to relax"... Silence... But I... Silence... "No. You need to stop"... Silence...

So that's how my hobby through the past seven years ended on a hot Friday in July. Two months after my visit to the hospital. 2015 was looking to become the best season of my life, instead it became the last.

What now?
Since May, I have had a lot of time on my hands. Time to reflect and start over again. I'm not sad, disappointed or mad. I have learned a lot from this process. I'm eternally thankful for the friendships and experiences I have gained through triathlon. That is what I will remember.

Lastly, I just want to thank everyone for reading. It's been a pleasure writing for you, I have enjoyed it very much since the day I started. But now it is time to close this book and start a new one. I'm ready to start something new. My goal for 2016: Relax more, do less :)

See you on the other side - life after triathlon is not that bad.

/Simon

News

So it's been a while...

But I've got some news for you (great news) - I'm back. Let's see, the past few months have been a roller coaster ride, I left the US and got back to DK: I left fantastic friends and returned to fantastic friends, and I got injured. Let's take a quick recap of my life since Branson and the nice summer weather.

And by the way, to those of you who said I looked like a child molester: I shaved off the mustache.

Leaving the US
After 5 amazing months in Madison and area I was met by my family in the airport in Copenhagen after long and sad travels - let me be honest, I have never cried that much before (except that time i fell from the freezer and landed on a saw - auch). Well, I got to learn some truly fantastic people in Madison and I look forward to seeing them again. During Christmas I had some time to catch up with old friends from DK, and I even went ice bathing (even though the weather was quite warm in Denmark compared to the Mid West).

Internship
As of January 1st I am officially an intern with Falck TravelCare in the external communication unit. It takes a lot of my time, but there is a nice locker room so I can bike to and from work every day, that does not count as a workout but works well as a warm-up.

Injury
Sometimes bad things happen. I got injured twice this month; both my Achilles and shoulder went bad within three days. I have been struggling with the injuries for about a month now and I'm getting worried that I will miss the national team tryout because of it. Better go pay that physiotherapist some extra money to fix me soon, isn't that how it works?

On a more serious note, I have been biking and skiing the past weeks and hope that my shape didn't suffer too much from the injuries. I have 1½ month left to get in shape and I hope that a great amount of focus and training will get me ready for this season's goals.

New Club
In 2014 I will be racing for KTK86 and Tri Team Copenhagen. The elite environment in Sigma was so small that I had to find a new club to race for and the choice was fairly easy; KTK86 and TTC are great places to learn and become stronger. Though it is sad to leave I look forward to see my old friends and team mates around Birkerød and at races.

New sponsor
This is my first real sponsor, Maxim, a nutrition company from Denmark whose products I've been using for my whole career. I really like the deal and look forward to racing with Maxim in my bottles. I am still working with triatlonsport.dk and RudolphCoaching for quality coaching and tri equipment and I'm super happy with how my training and racing is looking this season.

The future
I'm a busy man. Busy sounds like important in my ears, but to be honest, I'm not that important. To save time and energy I will start posting more pictures and quotes on Instagram and Twitter so please follow the links to the right and follow me on those sites. I look forward to sharing suffer fest pictures with you soon.

This is how I packed my bike box for the journey home 

Rev3 Branson + introduction

Ok, this will be my first blog post in English. I have no idea where to put the commas, but I'll try my best to make it readable for the native English readers.

Since it's my first post in English I'll briefly introduce myself, even though this blog has had more than 1000 international readers the past 2 years (I have no idea what they got from reading my blog in Danish, but some of the pictures are defiantly worth a look):
I'm a 22 year old Danish triathlete from Birkerød who competes only in short distance races (Sprint and Olympic distance). I've been doing triathlon for 3 years and so far my best results are a gold medal at the European sprint championship, bronze at the Danish sprint championship for U23 elite and a bunch of victories and podium finishes in smaller races + a number of medals in Age group championships in Denmark in both swimming and Triathlon.

My big goal for 2014 is to qualify for the Danish national youth/development team, which requires me to run a 10k in 33 min and swim 1500 in 18 min. This is a very ambitious goal, but I have the will, power and time to reach it. I have already made some very interesting plans and agreements for 2014, so stay tuned for more info (uuh a cliffhanger in the very first post - he is really trying to catch the reader's attention, well done).

Let's get back on track. This weekend I did my last triathlon of 2013 in Branson, Missouri. It was also the last race in the collegiate division, so valuable points were on the line for the winner.

It was a 11 hour drive, and we arrived in Branson at 11 pm Friday night. We had a nice breakfast with Honey Boo-boo people (actual quote by Peter) and headed out to do a training swim and bike before checking in at the 2 transitions.

4:30 Sunday morning, and I'm not ready to leave my warm bed, but Peter and Summer were already up and going. Their start waves were 45-30 min before mine, so I had plenty of time to get my transitions set up.

Swim:
With the words of my coach printed in the back of my head I was standing in the first line at the swim start. He had told me that I belong in the first group, and if I wasn't there I was going too slowly. Bang! Run! Dive! I looked to the side, no one there, looked to the other side, no one there. I was leading the swim for about 150 meters before a torpedo passed me, and another guy was at my side. I let him by and hung on to his feet for 2/3 of the swim. When we turned the last bouy we were swimming straight into the sun. I lost track of the guy in front of me and tried to find the course. I was passed by 3 guys without noticing them and lost a lot of time to the leader + i swam 200 meters more than everybody else.

I'm the guy in the Blue Seventy Helix to the left on the top picture and I'm the one in front on the bottom one

Bike:
After the crazy bike course in Iowa I decided to have a more conservative bike and save some energy for the run. That plan didn't work, and I just rode it like a time trial. They had closed a highway for the triathlon and we had 4 lanes to bike on - nice! When I took the exit on the highway to do the last 10 km (6mi) to the transition I suddenly had a motorcycle in front of me and another athlete right behind me. I knew what that meant, I'm leading the race but there is another guy right behind me that might be a killer on the run. I stepped on the pedal and rode the old Focus a bit harder and gained about a minute on him before T2.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/380278316

Run:
I had a little electric car in front of me on the first 5 k of the run and it was a nice pacer. After 2.5 k I had a 2 minute lead and I began to believe in myself and that I could win this one. After 5 k

I couldn't even see number 2 and I had a 4 minute lead when i crossed the finish line and was announced the winner of the Olympic Rev.

It was a really nice way to end the season especially after my last two races that didn't work out as I had hoped.

My training for the national team tryouts starts now and I look forward to training with the tri-team in Madison and I think that the next couple of months in the US will be unforgettable.

PS: big thanks to MN Triathlon team for great pictures and for cheering on the course!

Hverdag i Madison

Så har hverdagen indfundet sig i Madison, og nye vaner er ved at blive dannet. Selvfølgelig får studiet meget opmærksomhed i de her uger, men der har også været plads til et stævne, masser af træning og lidt shopping.

Nej, jeg har ikke kørt Ironman, men det ser da helt vildt ud!

Nå, lad os starte med det sjove. "Iowas Best Dam Tri", som sjovt nok er i nabostaten Iowa er finalen i Midt West Colligiate Triathlon Conference, en "liga" for triatlonhold fra 10 stater i midtvest USA. Efter skuffelsen i Maple Grove, var jeg ret opsat på at gøre en god figur.

Jeg må dog indrømme, at jeg havde taget lidt let på advarslerne om de mange bakker, for man har vel trænet en del på Tyren i år. Så jeg stiller glad op med min 11-23 kassette og 54 tands kranksæt - dumt! Men mere om det senere.

Jeg kører sammen med Ian, som skal køre sit kun 2. tri-stævne og klubbens præsident, Summer. Vi hygger i bilen, og selvom vi kører forkert en gang eller to, gør det ikke så meget, for jeg sover så dejligt på bagsædet. Vi skal bo hos en studerende fra Iowa, som har lånt os hans lejlighed. De glemte desværre at fortælle mig, at jeg skulle pakke min flyverdragt, for hans A/C står på -20 grader, så jeg hopper i tidligt i seng med alt tøjet på.

Op og afsted tidligt om morgenen, jeg sover i bilen igen, selvom der kun er 15 minutters kørsel. Det var måske det bedste bagsæde, jeg nogensinde har siddet på. Jeg møder resten af klubkammeraterne og hilser på konkurrenterne, som jeg spiste med i Minneapolis. Alle forberedelserne går som smurt.

Svømningen var ok. Starten var meget kaotisk, da vi startede sammen allesammen, så der var mange mennesker i vandet på meget lidt plads. Jeg hørte ikke "startskuddet", da det bare var en mand, der råbte "go", så jeg fik en lidt dårlig position. Men efter første bøje (200 meter), var der allerede store huller, men desværre endte jeg (som altid) i gruppe 2. Der skulle svømmes 2 omgange, uden at man skulle op på land, og da jeg starter anden omgang, er jeg sluppet fri af gruppe 2 og på vej op til fronten. Desværre lå der små "bomber" i vandet, altså deltagere, der stadig var i gang med første omgang, så farten gik lidt ned, mens jeg prøvede at navigere rundt om dem. Det betød desværre, at gruppe to kom nærmere mig end jeg kom nærmere gruppe 1.

Samlet svømmetid 21:15.

I T1 får jeg sand over alt på dragten og fødderne, så resten af turen var relativt ubehagelig.

Cykelruten var brutal. Lange bakker på omkring 10-12 % og meget kraftig vind. Der går ikke lang tid, før jeg er blandt de 4 forreste. Jeg prøver at holde mig til fronten, men de var for stærke, så jeg holder min 4. plads. Jeg kører mellem 15 og 73 km/t, så det siger lidt om bakkerne på ruten. Jeg kommer igennem på 1:01 og har trådt 280 w i snit - ikke helt nok, men jeg arbejder meget på mit løb og svømning for tiden, så det er forståeligt.

T2... Sand, sand og mere sand...

Løbet var på en relativt kuperet rute med masser af vind. Jeg kunne ret hurtigt mærke, at jeg havde brugt for mange kræfter på cyklen, men jeg vidste også, at jeg havde et forspring til nr. 5 på 3-4 minutter. Jeg løber lige omkring 4 minutter pr km på den hårdeste rute jeg nogensinde har løbet, så jeg tror ikke, at jeg kan bruge resultatet til andet end at vise, at det var en sindsygt hård dag. Løber lidt over 10 km på 41:25 med 4:04 i snit.

Samlet tid: 2:05:50 og en 4. plads (øv).

En lille note: Der skulle gå en uge, før at ømheden forsvandt fra lår og især balder, som ikke er vant til sådanne bakker.
Jeg slutter som bedste atlet fra mit universitet, så det var fedt at vise, at de kan regne med mig, og at det var rigtigt, at jeg skulle have chancen for at køre for dem.

Og endnu et lille sidespring: Samme dag som stævnet i Iowa køres der Ironman i Madison. Jeg kommer hjem fra stævnet og beslutter mig for, at jeg skal ned og heppe på de deltagere, der har været igang i 12 timers tid. Jeg har stadig mit startnummer skrevet på skulderen, nr. 25, og jeg vælger selvfølgelig at tage derned i tanktop og med kompressionssleeves på benene, man er vel triatlet. Der går ikke længe, før den første deltager spørger mig, om jeg er pro pga det lave nummer. Det viser sig, at mange opdager nummeret, og mens jeg hepper på dem, begynder de at takke mig, for de synes det er fedt, at jeg som pro-finisher tager mig tid til at heppe på de langsommeste i feltet. Ups, den ryger lige i huskebogen - men jeg tror, at jeg gav et moralsk boost til nogle af deltagerne og måske går de hjem og tjekker resultatlisten, for at se, hvor godt ham nr. 25 klarede sig. Jeg blev nr. 3 i tiden 8:50:45.

Deltagerne løb forbi de store football stadion, Camp Randall, der kan huse 80.000 hoppende studerende

Ugen efter stævnet fortsætter den hårde træning til onsdag, med masser af løb og svømning. Torsdag er hviledag, og fredag tager jeg en stor chance:

Jeg havde besluttet mig for at anskaffe en cykel til hverdagsbrug, så jeg kontaktede en fyr på Craiglist, der havde en cykel til salg for 35$, og vi aftaler et møde fredag eftermiddag. Efter at have lavet aftalen, tjekker jeg lige hans adresse. Ups, han bor 12 km fra mig. Jeg beslutter mig for, at min træning fredag, som er 1 time roligt løb skal være ud til ham, og hvis ikke jeg køber cyklen, bliver det til 24 km roligt løb/overlevelse. Heldigvis er cyklen ok, og jeg køber den for den nette sum af 165 kr.

Jeg får endnu et møde med de mange bakker i området i dag. 2½ times intervaltræning på cyklen bliver til 3 timer og 15 min, hvor jeg på vej hjem ikke har meget tilbage i benene, og alle mine tanker er rettet mod den bøtte med rester fra fredagens aftensmad, som står i mit køleskab.. mmmh, katofler har aldrig smagt så godt.

En lidt for lang cykeltur, men med ok splits. Den første blå er 8 min, den næste 4 min. Nr. 3 blå er 30 min og 4 er 15 min.