Kona podium finisher Laura Philipp shares how the best in the world spend their off season

Laura Philipp has been one of the standout performers this past season, with the German star finishing the year on the podium alongside Lucy Charles-Barclay and Anne Haug at the IRONMAN World Championship in Kona.

Ending the year as the PTO World #5, Philipp also finished on the podium at Challenge Roth and was sixth at the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship, alongside wins at IRONMAN events in South Africa, Kraichgau and Tallinn.

Having taken some time off to reset after Kona, Philipp revealed how as one of the best athletes in the world she uses her off season to mentally recharge and refresh in a fun spirited YouTube video on her channel.

“I usually try to do as many fun things as possible”

For Philipp, who fell sick shortly after the IRONMAN World Championship, her down period didn’t quite start off as planned. However, despite the setback, the 36 year old pro shared that she had managed to get a lot of her favourite off season activities done.

“Unfortunately, I got quite sick after Hawaii and didn’t have the off season I’d dreamt of, but as soon as I got healthy again I was able to do some of the activities and appointments that were originally planned for my off season.

“I usually try to do as many fun things as possible during the off season and one of the things that I enjoy doing when I have a little more time is spending time in my own kitchen, trying out some new recipes and baking lots of yummy cakes.” 

Away from hobbies such as baking, Philipp spent some time slowly getting back into some biking and running, with the time off full training also allowing her to carry out some important run analysis sessions.

“I slowly got back into some sort of movement and autumn in Germany was super colourful and beautiful, so I went out on my cross bike and enjoyed some playful riding with no pace, no power and no heart rate, just going by feel and enjoying simply being outside and being healthy.

“Next to the cross riding, I also got back in my running shoes and whilst running I also really enjoyed the autumn vibes, even though it got quite wet and dirty on some of my favourite tracks.

“Unfortunately, I lost a lot of fitness, but now I have a lot of time to build back to be in shape for next season. I also used this time to do some analysis, which is something we do regularly and it was good to see how my movement patterns work.” 

With some time away from an intense training regime ticked off, Philipp can now look ahead to a big season of triathlon next year, with the German still yet to announce her racing plans for what looks set to be a action packed calendar.