Dear offseason

​you are welcomed with open arms.
the 2019 race season had some crazy highs and some deep lows.
a whirlwind of a season.
​both physical and emotional. 

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​I think I should start thanking the people in my corner. You know who you are, family, friends, boyfriend, team keo, the danish squad, Barcelona people, coach, sponsors... It takes plenty of people to help an athlete on a high level. I'm very thankful. 
If you are interested in some insight on my World Cup season recap you can read the previous story. 
If you stay here; let’s dig into the offseason thoughts 

​What now? 

I wanna breathe for a moment. You know that long exhale that empties the lungs fully from air. Air with frustration and a hint of relief. I have felt a bit captured in a strange state of my body most of the season. After exhaling I wanna inhale fresh air full of freedom and hope. Full of the excitement of what’s to come. 
But before the dreams of the future sets in it’s important, for me, to take a step back and check on myself before I just jump straight into a ‘new year - new me’ mode. It can be quite easy to hide emotions behind fancy Instagram filters. But feelings are here. I have tried to be honest and share my thoughts with you guys throughout my injury. Which I have received lots of positive response too. It feels good to be a part of what can make other people feel less alone. ​But no matter how much I wanna share, I also have a certain filter on myself. Which I think is completely okay. 

As much as I like to share, as much do I like to work on things for myself with myself. ​​And now I anyway sit here and write about it? 
What I wanted to say was actually just that as much as I’m setting goals, chasing dreams and in general living a ‘fast life’, I also sometimes gotta sit down and reflect a little. What good decisions did I make this season - and which ones were bad? Can I learn from it? I’m not a machine, just a human who tends to ride a bike fast. 
​A season with struggles definitely teach you some things. Fx who’s in your corner, even in the bad times. So to you - Thanks for keep on following my life and my writes, even when it’s not all glory and happy days - I love that I have made myself a follower group that cares and are interested in me as a human, not only as someone winning the bike-life. Thanks for being here :-) 

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​What’s next? 

The plan is to get back to Denmark and reconnect with family and friends first of all. It can be hard to keep updated on my friend's lives when I’m on the road, so in the autumn I always look forward to reconnecting with them. My friends are the best tho. We can have minimum contact for months and then I see them and it feels like yesterday. 

Besides that, I will focus a bit on planing my Olympic dream. I will combine my trip to Denmark with some home races and then finish the month with a trip to Japan. Where I will go with a danish team to test out the Olympic track for 2020. 

​I think it’s the first time I write it down here. But my biggest goal of 2020 is qualifying for the Olympics. 

But as I said. It’s important for me to take one step at the time. First I reflect and then I can start chasing dreams. 

/Malene