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Here's a little write about my pregnancy. Being pregnant has been a wild experience. From seeing two lines on a test, to see a mini human on a screen, who supposably is inside of me, to then feel this little human moving and kicking around. What the h(b)elly, it’s crazy that the female body can do this (with a bit of help from a man yea). 
The first 3 month I felt quite normal, I saw myself as an incredible lucky individual, knowing how ill some women get. Training wise I could keep an average of 14hours of training per week, with intensities, I couldn’t handle more though, because I had to nap a lot, and my recovery time went up. Around two months pregnant I won the national title on the marathon distance. I felt great on the day, and I was so proud of my body. Should I have won the tandem category instead?
Heading into the 2rd trimester I felt a shift. I went out to do an interval session, 4x10 minutes sweet-spot/low threshold, a training zone I had felt quite good about for the past weeks, but that day was different. I had for weeks not looked at power output, only heart rate, but that day my heart rate went up to 180bpm within the first minute without I felt it in my legs really. Normally I need to puuuush to reach 180bpm, but that day it felt different. I tried to slow down the pace, but I was still determined to finish the training. When I got home, I felt a bit nauseas and I saw the power to HR on my Garmin had been very different to normal. That day I realized it was time for a new normal. 
People asked me how it felt to step away from the World Cup circuit in the beginning of the year, was it difficult? Yea it was strange. But it felt like the best thing I could have done for myself. I must say, getting pregnant as an athlete has for me been a mentally much harder challenge. That really puts your athletic identity under pressure. Who is this version of Malene? Who suddenly can’t just ride here, there, go racing anywhere. She needs extra snacks on demand, nap constantly and needs to sit down whenever it’s possible. Which now when I read it sounds a lot like an athlete, haha, but trust me it’s not the same. 
There is a Malene 2.0 version coming next year, mum and athlete, and I have come to the conclusion that I’m so excited to meet her. Hope she will be cool. Lots of love Malene  Still able to ride the Bike Park at 3,5 months!
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So here’s a list of what tools you really do need. Like not the nice to have the actual need to have. First things first, as a general concept, the longer the tool is, the better – as they say… – no but for real, the bigger the tool is, the easier it will be to use (more power!). Okay, I don’t know if that sounded better, but you get the point… 
Next up: A multi-tool. A multi-tool is a tool which has multiple functions, as the name kind of reveals. This is a must, because it’s something you will also bring with you when you ride. It could be stored in a saddlebag together with a spare tube and tire levers. I like this one: www.topeak.com/global/en/product/1627-BURRITO-PACK-slim. It’s kind of cute in the burrito style. For a mulit-tool the Tubi 18 is a good option. www.topeak.com/global/en/product/1343-TUBI-18 , quite doable. But there is so many good choices, just make sure that one of the tools can take off your wheel! Uh, reminds me you also need pumps. 
Now, when we are in the tire area, two bigger tire levers are nice to have, if you don’t have so much finger strength and you like your nails, two big ones can be quite powerful to have at home, for tire changes and so on (https://www.topeak.com/global/en/product/1620-SHUTTLE-LEVER-PRO)
These are the tools I use the most. You can always get more, of course, but these I feel are essential. You can make your own little toolbox or get a premade one.
Hope this was helpful! All the best Malene It’s been a bucket-list type of race. The kind I had to try at one point. The biggest Gravel event in Europe - TRAKA. With 4 different races and distances over the course of 4 days, it seemed more like a little bike festival than anything else. I decided to do the 200km race on Saturday, which seemed to be the most competitive in the not-ultra-long gravel scene. I mean, the longest distance you could sign up for was 560?! Mama Mia. And also the 200 was a distance that for me would be challenging, but achievable, while still feeling kind of ultra… 
 Almost caught them again, and then the biggest climb of the day came as a wall in front of me. The temperature was rising up to 30 degrees, we were almost 5 hours into the race at this point, and I was having my first proper crisis. Time to find the famous 'panic'-gear (the smallest I had). After the downhill, there was a longer flat section again, where a group from behind caught me. I did my best to stay with this group, but I really felt how the pain and efforts were creeping up on me. And there were still 60km and 2 climbs left. My mind was questioning everything at this point. I had no more left in me, I felt how my brain started to work more slowly and how the effort made me dizzy. How much longer?
One of the best parts of the day was my equipment to be honest, the bike was so comfortable to ride. Okay, well, on the rocky sections I definitely missed some suspension (but which mountain biker wouldn’t want that??). But the way the Scott Addict gravel is handling the corners, climbs and downhills is so cool. And the gears and brakes, just wow, was an absolute pleasure. For mechanical emergencies, I had a saddlebag with a tube, tools and CO2. Besides this, I also carried a pump and a plug ready to go. I had all my fixing stuff with me from Topeak, which I fortunately didn’t have to use. I was terrified to flat on those little tires tbh. An overall great experience with a fun group of friends and a challenging yet spectacular race to finish it off! What now? Maybe it’s time to shift to another bike for the next month? A little change never hurt nobody ;-)  |
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May 2025
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