Danish National Championship 2019

 Do something today that your future self will thank you for. 

That was my mindset for the Danish National Championship 2019. 

A strong mantra to your mind doesn't come out of nothing so let me take you three weeks back. 
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​To be honest with you guys. Coming home from two so successful World Cup weeks wasn’t as glorious as it may sound. The three past weeks leading up to our nationals was actually far from what I excepted it would be. 
The evening after my first world cup podium was spent with a good Danish crew on a small restaurant in Prag, followed by a single room airport hotel where I would be waiting for my flight to Copenhagen the next morning. The hotel room was cold and quiet. It was exactly the celebration I needed, as stupid as it sounds. But after 2 intense weeks with world cup racing and people around me all the time, it felt so good to sneak under the sheets, close my eyes and just go through the day in my own little bubble before I drift off to sleep. 
The problem came when reality hit me Monday morning ​

​and I hadn’t left the sleepy bubble yet. 
Actually, it took me a whole week before I really left this strange state of mind. I told my coach that I didn’t want a strict plan for the week or any plan, just hours on the bike with my friends. So that was what I did. Anyway, it was actually with the local mtb club, my love for the sport started in the first place - so why don’t come back here from time to time? 
I got kicked out (literally) of my bubble when I got my butt kicked in a c1 race in Denmark, the following Sunday. On Monday (now 2 weeks before nationals) I woke up with new motivation and I felt the fire to perform again. Sometimes failure is just what you need. The drive was back - so I gave ‘green light’ to the coach and he built up a two-week block of training. It looked hard, and it made me a little scared, but I ret somewhere that if it makes you feel a little uncomfortable you are in the right place. 

 I called it 'loosing focus', he said it was a sign of a healthy human.

​And oh yes it made me feel uncomfortable. I went into every training with this drive, but I struggled. The intention was there, but I couldn’t really put it together. So I just went with the flow and let my ‘what  I want’ rank higher than ‘what I should’. 

​So when the weekend of nationals was upon us, I wasn’t the most confident Malene around. I knew the past 3 weeks hadn’t been optimal performance-wise for this race, but on the other hand, I wouldn’t change it. I talked quite a bit about it with my boyfriend. He said it was a good thing that I was able to 'pull the plug' sometimes. I called it 'loosing focus', he said it was a sign of a healthy human. And that the ability to listen to the body and not push anything through just because you feel a ‘I have to’, is a good thing. We went on the track for practice, found the lines and tried to make me the fastest Malene possible. 

​When Sunday came I had my crew around me. Loic on track to encourage me and give me splits, mum in feed zone 1 and Theo (mechanic) in feed zone 2. I knew this was a big opportunity for me to win that red and white jersey. 2019 had so far been my strongest year, the track suited me well and the bike was working perfectly. Annika Langvad was unfortunately out with injury, so it was the battle of the young guns - Caroline Bohe and myself.  

But that Sunday I could handle the pain, because I wanted to do something today that my future self would thank me for. ​

​We started and I actually didn’t feel amazing. The past three weeks were stocked in my mind, but I wanted that win, so I knew that I would be able to suffer a lot today, I wanted that win so bad. When a gap opened up between Caroline and me, I just went as hard as I could. I attacked with 2,5 lap to go so the last half-hour was just one big suffer fest. But that Sunday I could handle the pain, because I wanted to do something today that my future self would thank me for. 

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As I’m writing this, I’m flying back to my apartment in the South and I’m looking much forward continue to build on this momentum. Focus is on building on my fitness and feel the confidence come back, towards World Cup no. 3. Let’s go! 
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I got asked quite a lot about what I’m thinking about the rest of the season, now when it all started so well. And for real... I just wanna take it one step at the time. Starting with designing a red and white kit :-) “You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step” (Martin Luther King Jr). 

/Malene 

p.s Thanks for all the support. You guys mean a lot. 

P.s.s.  Don’t take my sleepy bubble for something negative. I was (and am) really happy and proud of my results in the World Cup, but there are two things to it (I think); first of all, it feels strange when you achieve something you almost didn’t dare to dream of. Secondly, when people ask me if I aren’t just super happy now, yes I’m happy, but I’m not happier if I podium in a world cup than any other day - I want my basic happiness to be based on something else than something as unpredictable as bike-racing results :-) (Not to dismiss that success-feeling is absolutely amazing, no doubts)