Yvonne Van Vlerken checks in
I don't know which name I like the most, for sure the first two are easy to spell most of the people. My full name is Yvonne van Vlerken (hard for English speaking folks) but my given nickname is "The flying blonde Dutch girl." I guess that's because I'm blonde, pretty fast and of course everybody (at least the most) knows the opera about "The flying Dutchman." After I won Roth I got this name from the German and Dutch press and it stayed right on me…
Some people think I'm new in the sport, but those people didn't do their homework, I have been doing triathlons and even more duathlons for over 8 years. The sport duathlon isn't as popular as Triathlon, why is that? I would really like to know… But a fact is that we know a lot of good triathletes came from duathlon. When you look at the past you can see that for example Erica Csomor and I (both World- and European Champions in Duathlon in the past years) did a big variety of races together before we met again in Ironman. It's funny how life goes: first competing against each other for big titles in Duathlon and now both really strong in Ironman-racing. At the Quelle Challenge in Roth (Germany) in July this year we both had an excellent performance and raced like Siamese twins, we swam together, cycled together (of course legally…) and ran together until km 25 on the marathon. We both broke the World Record of Paula Newby-Fraser, bad luck for her (and also for Sandra Wallenhorst who did the same at IM Austria the same day), that I was just a couple of minutes faster….
In August I raced in my home country the Netherlands, but bad luck was on my side on that day. The swim course was at least 4.6 km and because of an injury on my shoulder I could say bye bye to my dream of becoming ITU World Champion on home ground. I lost so much time during the first discipline that many of my fellow competitors would have quit the race, but not for me. I'm like a little tiger and will fight till I fall dead (by way of speaking of course). Almost last out of the water, 8th position after a mentally tough bike ride (but I learned a lot) and a smoking fast 30 km run in 1.55 brought me on the stage for a bronze medal. It was great racing for my own country and it was because of a lot of friends, sponsors and family that I ran for my life and fought until the very end.
From races like this you learn the most. It is easy to race and be number one without making mistakes, but when you have to overcome a lot of obstacles and have to fight not only with your competitors but with yourself as well, that's what makes you a better athlete and you will take that experience with you for your further career. Triathlon is just as life, you have to overcome big obstacles and you get great rewards for trying as hard as you can and given it everything you have.
The year for my partner (Thomas J. Vonach) and I was already successful when we were on our way to Kona. We had great preparation for the World Champs in Hawaii, altitude training in Lake Tahoe was the key for another great race this season. Would it work? We would find out on October 11 and yes it worked, we both had a great race. Thomas top 100 for the 6th time (and only five months after two disc-surgeries and a numb left leg) and me…. I guess you know the story: Rookie of the year and a great 2nd place behind Chrissie Wellington, who seems to be out of the world at the moment. How did I become 2nd? I just did what Tommy (my boy friend, manager and training-partner) told me to do: I had an easy, maybe little bit to slow swim, but for that felt full of energy and rested on the bike (nevertheless I will work hard on my swim in Australia this winter). On my little tiny Cervélo P3 with 26” wheels (I ride a 48cm due to my pocket-rocket-body-size). I hunted down all the girls and ended up with the fastest bike time of the day. How did I do that? I just did what Tommy recommended and he should know because he did the race seven times. "Start slow and ride as fast as you can going back from Hawi and take care to go below the wind with your tiny bike." 😉 I have to say a big thank you to Veltec USA and Bikeworks (Kona) for making my bike that fast, it felt like they did hide a motor somewhere that was helping me along.
What went wrong on the run? I did "only" a 3.04 so that's not that bad, the problem is that I can go much faster than that, I ran a 2.54 in my last Iron distance race and know that I should have run faster. I made a mistake with starting too slow. I was told to respect this race and that you can blow up even before you realize it. They don't have to tell me that a second time. I will remember and that's why I was a little bit afraid for the marathon. Was it hot? It was really hot, complaints all around me and I had a nice proof of that as well in the form of a badly burned back part of my shoulders. But I think I did a good race for a rookie and I learned a lot from all my little mistakes (you wont see me burned next time). Maybe I should have listened more to the 'always knows better' Tommy, because the shitty thing is that he's always right. "Shouldn’t you put on some sunscreen, darling?" "Did you put the s***….(that's a secret from him who did 19 Ironmans) in your 'special need bag-run'?."
So, I will come back next year and I will know the course better, because we will train on Kona in coming January. Before my major events I always take care that I know the course by heart, know every corner and every stone of the bike course. This time was the first race that I did it without knowing all that. We will go back to Europe next week and go to Australia to spend the European winter there. We will work on my swim because I think I can gain the most from improving that discipline. When you count everything up, next year Kona will be a different race for me and I will be ready to race on my full potential. I will do some Ironman 70.3 races next season, that should take care of keeping my speed up.
I still can't believe that I took second in this big race with all those great athletes. It's an experience that I will never forget. It made it even more special because my main sponsor Veltec came to Hawaii with a group of 13 people and guess what, he took my parents with him. I will never forget that feeling to fall in my parents arms crossing the finish, he made that possible and I'm grateful for that.
The last two years with my partner Tommy and trainer Mario Huys where unbelievable, we worked so hard and we got so much rewards. My sponsors like Chi, Aquadraat, Dekker, & Veenman Drukkers, that I already have so long (it feels like a million years) finally getting the attention that they deserve for supporting me and believing in me for that long. New sponsors like Alacritech (USA) will be a part of my support team from now on as well, we already had a lot of fun with making a great commercial for them.
I'm still working on a lot of stuff to be even more professional, the first important step this year was to translate my Dutch website in to an English one as well. I have to say that it took me some hours (weeks..haha..) but it paid off because I don't get so much emails anymore about questions what the hell is written on my website. The updates are still a heavy workout kind of thing, but I'm trying to squeeze it in during my plenty hours of training, so go and find out for yourself: yvonnevanvlerken.eu. I'm thinking about a German version as well, because I'm living in the beautiful country Austria close to the border of Germany now. I like to improve not only in my sport but also in other ways like for example speaking different kind of languages. I am working on being a "whole" athlete as Tommy uses to say: "It is not enough to be fast, to become a real Champion you need much more skills, not only in sport." Have goals and dreams and you will be a happier person.
Mahalo for this chance to be on your amazing website.
Yvonne
