The key to Daniela Ryf’s world best time? Training less
New world-best champion named June PTO Athlete of the Month
Photo by:
Challenge Roth/ Christop Raithel
After her huge win at Challenge Roth last week, where she shattered Chrissie Wellington’s world best time by almost 10 minutes, it comes as no surprise that Daniela Ryf has been named June PTO Athlete of the Month.
The race in Roth wasn’t the only big win Ryf enjoyed in June – earlier in the month she beat PTO World Ranking #1 Ashleigh Gentle to take her eighth Ironman 70.3 Switzerland title.
Turns out one of the keys to her success has been the return to long-time coach Brett Sutton, who has been closely monitoring Ryf’s training and actually holding her back from doing as much as she did last year.
“Yeah, I definitely feel like being back with Brett helped me to get in a bit of a good routine, but mainly to not overwork,” Ryf said in an interview. “It sounds funny, but with age I do need to be careful. I get more tired, especially in altitude. And last year I had super good training. I actually trained more than I did this year, but most likely a little bit too much and too hard and being able to work with Brett, he knows me well. He sees when he needs to push me and then also holds me back. [It] definitely feels like the biggest advantage working with him because it’s a tough sport and it’s very easy to do too much. I mean, I’m very motivated and, you know, a driven person, and therefore it’s important to also have someone to hold me back. And I feel through the winter we did a good volume and it was very intense. But then, especially after Ibiza, we really … stopped doing so much and I feel like that that was also one of the reasons why I felt so powerful in Roth, because for the first time in a very long time, I felt very recovered and that gave me that extra strength and to to be able to show such a performance.”
“I definitely feel very honored. The fans are so important – they cheer you on and it’s part of why we do it and I feel very motivated by their feedback through my social media channels,” she said of the reaction to her big day in Roth. “I feel very lucky that people appreciate the work I do and the performance I showed.”
Commenting on the nine days since crossing the line at Challenge Roth, she said:
“Yeah, I tried to enjoy life a bit more than normal. The first few days after the race, obviously it’s always a lot, but I also enjoy when there’s attention. It’s nice to see that people are interested in what you do. I had a few days on Lake Como, which was very nice, and just did nothing and relax, and now I’m back home enjoying my house a bit. I’m back training, but every evening I have some social activities with friends and family, so I’m definitely enjoying it a lot.”
While Ryf would like to return to the top of the PTO rankings at some point, her main goals are the two Ironman world championships coming in August (Lahti – 70.3) and Kona.
“Right now, I have two more big goals,” she said. “There will be the 70.3 Worlds and Kona. So I think being able to show good performances there, I do believe I’ll be able to get some more [PTO] points in and then we’ll see if that’s enough to finish the year as number one.”
