In endurance sports, we work with high-performance engines in a figurative sense. From our own experience, however, we do not always use fuel that is suitable for a high-performance engine. In preparation for various competitions in recent years, we often found ourselves going on a long ride with intervals at racing speed with a banana and a chocolate bar and then wondering why we were no longer able to perform after 1.5 hours or more. The solution was perhaps the nearest gas station and ice cream and sugary drinks. In the competition, we then tried to be serious and stick to a certain regime that we had never really trained for beforehand. Nothing really good can come of that.
In many races, both short, medium and long distance, there were setbacks again and again. Stomach cramps at km 20 at the legendary Ironman World Championship in Kailua-Kona in 2019 because I simply didn't stick to the plan. Performance slumps on the bike at the Ironman Switzerland in Zurich in 2018 because I wanted too much. These are just a few examples of hick-ups in the course of my sporting career.
