Here's what DeepL spit out:
On Friday, Daniela Ryf will embark on a journey into the unknown - that's always the case when she sets off for Hawaii. The 36-year-old is doing it with the certainty that she has done everything to be able to start at the Ironman World Championships in top form. But the preparation did not go according to plan. At the beginning of August, Ryf had a severe cold, probably a corona infection. The result was an inflamed lung. Breathing caused pain.
Ryf reduced the intensity of her training and was even more meticulous about allowing her body to recover. She slept up to 14 hours a day, she said shortly before leaving for Los Angeles, where she will make a stopover on the way to Kona. Her form had suffered, she was out of breath faster and her pulse was higher than before the cold. Patience is needed.
Being able to start in good shape is perhaps almost the bigger challenge this year than being able to swim, bike and run for victory. Nevertheless, the Solothurn native exudes confidence. Last year, she was in top form. Then she fell ill with Covid-19 two weeks before the race and finished in a respectable eighth place.
Ryf says: "Who knows, maybe this time it's the other way around and I can deliver a perfect race after a less than perfect preparation."
In her four victories from 2015 to 2018, Ryf regularly managed to do that in Hawaii. In her last victory, she needed 8:26:16 hours for the 3.6 kilometers in the water, 180 kilometers on the bike and the marathon (42.195 kilometers). The record mark that is still valid today. Not even a jellyfish sting at the beginning of the race could stop Daniela Ryf.
Adjustments to training
But times have changed, Ryf says. "My body has become more sensitive, and I get tired more quickly," she says. In training, she says, the same intensities and volumes are no longer possible as in previous years. A look at the recent past also shows that the impression is not deceiving. In 2020, Ryf suffered a torn ligament in her foot. In 2021 she had shingles, suffered from dizzy spells, breathing problems and a pronounced permanent fatigue. Her immune system was going crazy.
The cause could never be clearly determined. A fungal infection in the stomach was suspected as a possible source of the evil. Ryf made a virtue of necessity, took a longer break, began a correspondence course in business psychology, built her own home and, after eight successful years, separated from her coach Brett Sutton in the meantime.
A fulfilled dream of the world record
Ryf has been working with the Australian again since the beginning of the year, although he now lives in China for most of the year. Ryf says: "Having certain freedoms in addition to training is a model that suits me. At the same time, I enjoy the routines I have again." The most valuable fruit of the reunion is the world record at Challenge Roth in June, when she completed the Ironman in 8:08:21 hours. "That was a huge dream of mine come true. I also have Brett to thank for that. It was one of the last big goals," Ryf says.
Last big goals? That sounds like a farewell. Next year, the World Championships will be held in Nice; she could imagine competing there. "But I expect that it will be the last time in Hawaii. At some point, it will be time to go in new directions," Daniela Ryf tells CH Media.
Hawaii is the island that has shaped and molded her career, indeed her life, since she first competed there in 2014. "Hawaii has given me a lot. The fact that it could be the last time makes it even more special," Ryf says. Unlike before, this time she's also traveling directly to Kona, where the race will take place. She says, "I want to let the island affect me, engage with it more and rekindle positive feelings."
Training, recovery, food, sleep
Ryf lives and trains much of the year at the high altitude of
St.Moritz, the early arrival three weeks before the race is primarily for acclimatization. In Hawaii, she has rented an apartment. Ryf describes life there as unspectacular and monotonous. She says, "It consists of training, rest, food and sleep." Most of the time she cooks herself. Shortly before the race, a colleague joins her as a caregiver. After the race, Ryf will spend a few days in Hawaii with friends and family.
Ryf is not talking about winning. Her motto has always been to influence what is in her power and to bring out the best possible on the day of the competition. With a sixth triumph, the fifth in Hawaii (2022 World Championships were held in St. George), she would equal Natascha Badmann, who won six times between 1998 and 2005.
Asked who she considers to be her strongest opponents, Daniela Ryf almost goes into raptures. At the top, she says, it is as exciting as it has ever been, "it will be an incredibly exciting race." Ryf names the Germans Anne Haug, winner in 2019, and Laura Philipp. Three Americans are also to be reckoned with, last year's winner Chelsea Sodaro, Kat Matthews and Lucy Charles-Barclay, who has finished second four times.
And then there is another athlete who is said to be a real miracle worker, who could cause a surprise and who she considers to be her strongest competitor. She does not want to reveal the name, Ryf said. But it is likely to be the 25-year-old American Taylor Knibb, who became half-distance world champion in Lahti in the summer.
The fact that Daniela Ryf also has her name in mind proves who she is also looking to for what will probably be her last start in Hawaii: the world's best.