One of the biggest surprises in the triathlon season this past year has been the return of 2016 Olympic Champion Gwen Jorgensen to the fold after leaving the sport seven years ago to pursue professional running.
The Boulder-based pro, who has endured a rollercoaster season with plenty of highs and lows in 2023, firmly placed herself in contention for a shot on Team USA at the 2024 Paris Olympics next year after a string of World Cup victories to end the year.
Reflecting on her first season back, the Wisconsinite shares the details of her off season, why she enjoys winter training in Colorado and how she is relishing the opportunity to finally be able to build a solid base this winter.
“I really enjoyed the break”
Prioritising family time during her off season, the mother of two enjoyed two weeks of nearly no training before getting back into her usual schedule, with a big ride during just her second week a welcome surprise.
“I did two weeks where I didn’t do much. I think I ran 20 minutes a total of four times in that two weeks and did no swimming or biking or anything else. I really enjoyed the break in my two weeks to just spend a lot of time with the family.
“In my first week back, I actually did quite a lot of training, then in the second week I actually did my longest ride since 2016 which I’m so proud about, I don’t know why I just found it funny that I did it in my second week back.
“This last week has been a little more chill, I’ve only done two workouts a day, I did a triple yesterday but beside that I am today only doing a swim and a bike, which feels weird on a Friday without a swim!”
“It’s nice to put in some base miles”
Having enjoyed considerable success on the World Triathlon Cup level but struggled more on the higher WTCS circuit, Jorgensen is taking the chance to build a solid base over the coming months to better prepare for the demands of top level racing next season.
She said: “Right now, it’s nice to put in some base miles, as I felt during the whole year I couldn’t just train, as the early season I was just coming back from having George and then the rest of the year was so crazy with racing. I like being home and building a base.”
On why she chooses to stay in a sometimes snowy Colorado during the winter instead of heading to warmer locations, Jorgensen said that the weather in Boulder really isn’t as bad as her native Midwest.
“I think my coach would rather I was training in some warmer weather, but Colorado is beautiful and compared to the Midwest where I grew up, there’s no ice on the ground.
“Here in Boulder you only get two days a month that it’s too icy for training so it’s pretty nice, plus there’s a lot of people here and it’s pretty easy to go out when you have company.”
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