Sara received a late roll-down July slot on August 10th when Lisa Roberts declined her slot. We’ve had an email discussion but not quite in time for my “Kona 2018 Rating Report”, but here are some of her thoughts before her first Kona race.
Thorsten: How do you view your season so far? You were working hard for a Kona slot and raced a lot?
Sara: It has been a lot of ups and downs during the season but it has also being a learning experience for me. I’m new in the sport and right now I’m just trying to get as much experience as I can and try to develop as much as possible. This journey is special and I am enjoying the process. Of course it really hard sometimes but you always learn something from your setbacks or from a competition that didn’t go as you planned.
T: How will you prepare for Kona? Are there specific “areas” that you’ll be focusing on?
S: I will probably be a lot fresher, my body is responding to all the hard training and I recover fast. I really need to focus on heat adaption. Coming from a cold country like Sweden it could be a struggle if you don’t get it right. I love the heath though.
T: There are a lot of Scandinavian ladies on the Kona startlist. Why do you think are they so successful these days?
S: I believe that men and women in the Scandinavian countries are given almost the same opportunities to do sport on a professional level. Triathlon is a small sport in Sweden and the other Nordic countries and you need someone to make the first step and set the first mark. Seeing Michelle Vesterby, Camilla Pedersen, Helle Frederiksen, Maja Stage and Asa Lundstroem really inspires me and probably other women in Denmark and Sweden. They showed that it is possible to come from a small cold country and still to be able to compete on the highest level. We are getting there with Patrik Nilsson setting the first Swedish mark and I think will see a lot of Swedish guys in the future.
T: What’s the plan for your first race in Kona?
S: I just want to do a good race. I will mostly focus on my race and try to stick to my plan.
T: Are there any specific plans for racing after Kona?
S: We’ll see how Kona goes and take it from there. But probably a little break 😊
Photo: Sara training for the run. Credit: Romulo Cruz