Ironman Switzerland also means very unpredictable weather. In 2008 this resulted in a DNF for me because of hypothermia. But as bad it feels at that moment, you learn from such moments and you are more prepared next time. This weekend looks like a wet and cold race again. So for the ones racing this weekend in Zürich, be prepared. Take the extra time in the transition after the swim. you wont regret it. you have to remember, there is quite a long and very fast downhill each lap (on the way down to Küsnacht). This makes a big difference to a race where you would ride all flat. in this long downhill you want have a chance to pedal and keep warm. it will be cold and windy going down there. the body temperature will drop quickly. so make sure you think about your clothes before it is too late. make a smart decision and it will make your ride def more “enjoyable”.

see you out there

Mathias

so I am back home for a few days and then up to Leysin again for another push towards my next big goal, Ironman Switzerland. I tried to win this race for a few years now. A few times I went into that race with injuries and once I had to pull out because of hypothermia. So I hope this year I have one of those perfect days. I will need that to beat guys like Ronnie, he won the race 5times and he always is at his best racing in Zürich. But I like a good challenge and he knows I wont make his life easy there.

at the end I have to keep the big picture in mind. it is just another race. I joined Team TBB and Brett for one reason. To learn to run fast marathons in Ironman. So this takes time and I work hard on this every single day. It is great to see my team mates doing so well in their races. I think Team TBB has a super strong team together this year. not only women, but also men. the girls set the standard high over the last years. so it is about time the boys step their game up too. And I think so far we are not doing too bad this year. But I am sure there is much more to come. So watch out for Team TBB … you wont get around us that easy.

The 3 week Gran Canaria camp soon comes to an end. It has been a very successful camp and I am very happy with the work we have done here. It was good not to come here earlier. It was smart to do my first 3 weeks of training this year by myself in Andalucia and get at least a few kilometers in before coming over here. Or I would have suffered even more. As Dan and Stephen are in really good shape already. They are ready to race (and already did so in Abu Dhabi). So it has been a bit of a challenge to get going around those to fit blokes. But it helped me to get fit much quicker then expected. As I had to push a bit harder in every session then I probably would have done by myself. So I will get off this island with a great feeling. Brett and I are happy that we are a few weeks ahead of what we are originally planed on “the way back”. The weather did me a great favour too in this preperation. I didnt feel a drop of rain since nearly two months now. the last few days here in Gran Canaria were the warmest so far (up to 30°C). Dan and myself found a great friend in the local gym. As every time we showed up there he gave us this “not so happy look”. well, not our fault that his gym is not climatized. He was controlling us over video camera and as soon as we have finished our sessions he showed up and checked if we are cleaning the treadmills right. Yesterday when we arrived at the gym first thing he did was handing us over some wimps … ah yeah, and he explained us every time that we are not allowed to sprint on the treadmills and that we have to read the gym rules. Which is easy if the rules are hanging right in front of your face while running and take away the ocean view…

I think Stephen made a friend at the pool as well. We have to buy those yellow entry fee tickets here. You get them at the pool “kiosk”. Even Stephen who is here for several months has to do that. So not his fault that he has to ask for A LOT of tickets every now and then. So this guy there gives him this “not you again” look every time Stephen shows up to buy ALL the tickets available.

link:

http://blogs.teamtbb.com/mathiashecht/

Mathias Hecht will be starting in new colors in 2012. The very friendly and fast Swiss Pro had been on Team Commerzbank until it ended in 2011, and will now be racing for Team TBB moving forward. Slowtwitch had a few words with the man known as Pikey.

ST: Gruezi Mathias, we are glad you are with us.

Mathias: Thank you, always a pleasure!

ST: With the New Year came a new team and we are indeed happy for you. How long has that been in the works?

Mathias: I’ve been looking for new sponsors since July. I had a few good offers on the table and I have to admit, the one or other decision I had to make was not easy for me. Over the years you build up kind of a relationship with sponsors and you get to know the people very well. But at the end, I have to make a living out of my sport. Which is not always easy. And Brett (Sutton) and myself already had a few good conversations last year and thanks to him I already made a few smart changes, which lead to my first Ironman against strong competition in Utah. Now I get the chance to work closer with a legend in our sport. Which is very exciting.

ST: Does that mean you will be coached by Brett Sutton?

Mathias: Yes.

ST: Word has it that Caroline Steffen was instrumental in getting this going.

Mathias: Mostly it was Nicola Spirig and Reto Hug who influenced me on this decision. And for sure the talks I had with Brett and Alex. Being with Caroline in the same team is great. I get along very well with her and her boyfriend Dave Dellow, who is also on the team and a great training partner for sure. I think its great that with the two of us we have some Swiss power in Team TBB now.

ST: There is often the assumption that ITU Pros and long course athletes run in separate circles. That doesn’t seem to be the case for you.

Mathias: I have an ITU background and I have been racing World Cups for 4 years. So, I still have a lot of friends in that circle. Also, I follow ITU racing very closely. I have a lot of respect for those guys. It is like a different sport to Ironman, but it is still triathlon and I love to watch at what speed they go, it is super exciting to watch. Also, my former coach Greg Bennett and his wife Laura belong to my best friends. And for sure I follow all the Swiss ITU athletes very closely too.

ST: Had you considered striking out on your own and collecting all individual sponsors?

Mathias: Yes. Like I said. This option was there. And I had good offers from companies I already worked with in the past years and also two new ones. But with Team TBB I can have the whole package. It’s the longest existing team in our sport. With Cervelo, 2XU, 3T and Campagnolo they have great partners and I can count on World Class equipment. But most important, I can finally work with Brett and I have a great bunch of athletes to train with. I like the philosophy of the team. There is nothing comparing to that out there.

ST: Why could you not work with him before?

Mathias: I was racing for Team Commerzbank and Brett is Team TBB. It would have been a conflict for both of us.

ST: Will we see you possibly at the Cervelo launch in the Canary Islands in about 10 days?

Mathias: I think Caroline will be there to represent Team TBB.

ST: Do you know TBB athletes other than Caroline?

Mathias: I think I know all of them. Triathlon is a small world and Team TBB athletes are racing a lot. So the chance that you see and meet them at the races is quite high.

ST: Any word on which Cervelo you will be riding in 2012? And does it end with a 5?

Mathias: I will indeed be riding one of the first P5’s in the world in Q1 2012 and I am looking forward to do so. I have heard from teamTBB management Cervelo is using teamTBB in their global P5 launch.

ST: Have you ever swung your leg over any of their bikes?

Mathias: It will be a first for me. But I know that Cancellara still says, that Cervelo was the best bike he has ever been riding. So, I think I will be fine haha.

ST: Do you ride with Fabian every now and then when he is back in Switzerland?

Mathias: I haven’t met him yet.

ST: Well, then how do you know what he says?

Mathias: Haha, yes he said that in an interview once. Which was not very smart when you are riding for another bike brand.

ST: Are there any other Swiss road pros who you might train with?

ST: I know Mathias Frank from Team BMC. He is from around here. Also Michael Schär (BMC Team) lives only about 10km away. But I have never been riding with them.

ST: Is that mostly because of timing, or otherwise not possible or desired?

Mathias: Just did not happen yet. Maybe this is the goal for this year. I think it would be fun with Mathias Frank. He is an amazing climber, still a young athlete, but already finished 6th in the Tour de Suisse, which is not a small tour. I think he will be the next Swiss guy who can go for tour wins.

ST: As far as you know, are the other Commerzbank Pros in good new hands?

Mathias: I think most of them are. I mean, Marino wont have trouble to find sponsors. He is a 7h45min guy. Quite a good argument I guess. I know he is in very good hands. Maiki will be fine for sure. Who doesn’t want to have the GCM on a team.

ST: Where will your 2012 season start?

Mathias: Hopefully in Melbourne at Ironman Melbourne. But at the moment I am resting. I injured my knee going up a very steep climb, actually the driveway of my home stay in Hawaii. It was the week before the race. Doctors told me it is just an inflammation. So I kept training on it and even went to Cozumel for the Ironman where I was still in pain and couldn’t keep running after 15km. After that they finally sent me for an MRI scan, and they found out that there is a fissure in my patella. It is very upsetting, as this could have been solved right after Hawaii. My start there and in Cozumel were a complete waste of time, which def didn’t help the healing process. But you know, I get a good rest now and maybe this is not bad for a great race in Hawaii. I don’t worry about qualifying really. Once I am in one piece, I will get the points in time.

ST: Anything else we should know?

Mathias: A big thank you to Normann Stadler who started the Dresdner Kleinwort Triathlon Team in 2007. Thanks a lot for bringing me on the team. Also I want to thank Commerzbank, all the team sponsors and MMH (the team management).

ST: Do you work with Normann in his new role as a manager?

Mathias: No, but who knows, we will keep in contact for sure.

ST: Thanks Mathias.

Mathias: I thank you!

The new year has arrived. After 4 years racing for the Commerzbank Triathlon Team, the main sponsor withdraw from the sport of triathlon and the team came to an end. Being a professional triathlete means (at least for the most of us) making a living out of your sport is not easy and looking for new sponsors every year is not a thing you want to be concerned about while racing and training. Just imagine, you work in an office but you never know if the company still exists next year. Looking at Team TBB I see the team that has been out there in our sport for the longest. Continuity in anything means hard work but it defenetely means somebody does something right. And I think this doesnt mean only bringing out the results. Which is only one part of the business we are in. Triathlon still has not the media appearance it may deserve. This means the people behind a Triathlon Team always have to make an extra effort to make it happen.The team I have been racing for in the past 4 years had a fulltime management (fulltime jobs for 3 people) behind it. Knowing about what it takes to run a professional triathlon team, I have the greatest respect for Team TBB and the people behind it (Alex and Brett). I will be a very proud new member of the longest existing team in our sport.

Team TBB for me is also Brett Sutton. I am racing triathlons since I am 12years old. I had a lot of coaches over the last years and I trained with the best triathletes in the world. I learned a lot from all those people (especially from Greg Bennett and Craig Alexander). But I always thought there is something more out there, something I have to do different to exploit my full potential (because thats what it is about for me). So at the beginning of last year I had a long talk with Brett (maybe the longest talk I ever had with just one person). And after that, I was 200% sure this is it. This is the road I want to take. Maybe it is the road less traveled, but I was (and still I am) sure it could be the difference between ordinary and extraordinary. So Brett had already a lot of influence on my 2011 season. A season I finished twice on an Ironman podium and most important a season where I won my first Ironman against strong competition (not a so called „cherry-pick“ race). Brett told me at the beginning of 2011 that I should go and race Ironman St.George as the course there suits me to the ground. And this was what I did. I went there and broke Michael Weiss’s course record by 8minutes. And most important, I had the fastest run split of the day. Which was a first in my triathlon career. I had finished 8 Ironman races in the top 3 before. I finished 8th in Hawaii in 2008 and had a 8h10min best. But this win in St.George was a very important step for me. It was my best Ironman race so far. Mostly because I didnt make any mistakes. I won it because I raced for the win and was 100% prepared to do so. It is Brett who made this possible. His ideas about how to change my training made the difference. A first step not to be only a multiple podium Ironman racer, but to be a multiple Ironman winner. Brett is the man who can bring the best out of you. Exactly what can make the difference at the end between being 2nd/3rd again or win the thing. And this was just the beginning of my learning curve. I am still an apprentice of our sport. Brett is the master mind of it.

I am a realist. I know there is athletes out there with more so called „talent“ then I have. But I have one talent a few of them dont have. And that is my love for hard work. In Ironman this is part of the talent too and at the end, I believe it is the will to prepare to win that makes the difference. Hard work always pays out.

Thanks Team TBB for taking me aboard!

Trotz der grossen Enttäuschung, konnte ich mich relativ schnell wieder fassen. Diese Saison war schlussendlich eine äusserst erfolgreiche für mich. Mit meinem ersten Ironman Sieg und Streckenrekord in Utah, zwei weiteren Podestplätzen an Ironman Wettkämpfen in Neuseeland und in der Schweiz, ein 3.Rang am 70.3 Schweiz und am International Triathlon Gerardmer und ein 4.Rang an der 70.3 Ironman Europameisterschaft in Wiesbaden.

Inzwischen habe ich meinem Knie etwas Ruhe gegönnt und wenn ich in dieser Woche wieder ein normales Lauftraining aufnehmen kann, dann werde ich einen eventuellen Start am Ironman Arizona ODER Ironman Cozumel im November nicht ausschliessen.

Euer Mathias