A little before the Christmas break, I met with Diede Diederiks, Educationalist at the Educational Development and Policy cluster. Diede’s supervisor had told me she participates in triathlons, which I assumed she did as her hobby. Little did I know Diede is a semi-professional triathlete.
Triathlons come in many formats. Diede participates in (cross) triathlons individually, but also in team format. Diede is part of the EDOsports triathlon team in Maastricht, together with 4 other women. “I have been into athletics since I was very young. When I was 16, my mom joined a triathlon group. When I saw how much fun it was, I decided to become a triathlete as well. When I left for college, I took a break from practicing triathlons for 10 years. But at some point in my working life, I started missing it and since about 3 years now I have been picking it up again.” Diede managed to pick up the slack very quickly and she now participates in triathlons at the highest level in the Netherlands. In 2019, she won the Dutch national cross triathlon championship. This specific form of triathlon includes swimming, mountain biking and trail running. In the same year, she finished second during the Maastricht triathlon and she finished third during the same triathlon in the following year.
These wins do not come easily, as practicing for a triathlon is intense. You need to excel at running, swimming and cycling. “Every team member has different goals. Some trainings we do together, other trainings we do alone. For the swimming practice, we meet at 6.30 in the morning at the Geusseltbad. Out of season (November – March) I train for about 10 hours per week. In-season (April – October), I train 15 to 20 hours per week because I need to prepare myself for the triathlons. It sounds like a lot, but your body gets used to it.”
Diede prefers to do halve triathlons. This means that she usually swims for 1.9 kilometres, rides a bike for 90 kilometres and runs half a marathon. Her favourite part of the triathlon is running. She has been running since she was young, but somehow she still improves. With such a strict training regime also comes a diet. Diede makes sure she eats 6 times per day, with a focus on the intake of carbs and proteins. “Sometimes the misconception exists that athletes eat less than people who do not work out much. But we really need all these extra calories because we burn so many working out.” Diede explains. “It is also important to eat a lot of carbs in the week before a triathlon because your body can store those, and you can use them during the 4.5 hours of the triathlon.”
Due to the corona pandemic, Diede saw most of the triathlons being cancelled. She remains very down to earth about it though: “Of course I was disappointed, but everyone had plans for 2020 and basically none of these plans could happen. Let’s just hope 2021 will be better.” In 2021, Diede will be participating in the European championships and the world championships. Fingers crossed these events will not be cancelled and that Diede will be able to bring home some nice prizes!
