For a long time during Ironman Arizona, Kristian Hogenhaug was evenly matched with Joe Skipper: the two rode away from everyone on the bike, ran the first few kilometers of the marathon together as well, but then the Dane got tough and not only had to let Skipper go, but was also overtaken by Matt Hanson and Ben Kanute. “Fourth place behind a strong podium.”
Hogenhaug is now ready – and in need – for a period of rest. “My nightmare scenario was to get out of the water with Joe Skipper. My dream scenario was to get away with him on the bike. Both happened. After bridging the gap to the front we quickly got away on the downhill section and managed to swap turns at the front riding a really steady and solid bike leg. Got into T2 feeling confident. Locked the heart rate at target, but after one hour into the run, the body shut down like a switch. Same thing happened on Hawaii. Guess it’s time for a good off-season after a tough year.”
Hogenhaug also reflects on his season. “Trained better than ever towards World Championship St. George. Showcased this with my best performance to date at Challenge Salou. Thus, all looked promising towards St. George, but apparently we crossed the finish line and my body basically did not work normally the last three weeks towards the race. Took a month off to reset. Came back with a decent performance in Frankfurt and qualified for Kona. Had a good performance in PTO Dallas and a reasonable build for Hawaii, but could not pull off the race I hoped there or in Arizona. This sport offers extreme highs and lows. In for hopefully even more highs in 2023.”
