Matthias Knossalla impressed with strong pro debut season

Before this season, German Castelli triathlete Matthias Knossalla decided to buy a WTC pro license to play with the big boys. Due to injury, he had a bumpy start into the season but in the end he can look back on a season which exceeded all expectations.

Matthias is recharging his batteries now and reviews his first pro season for us.

It is a long time since you read my last “athletes diary”. My past few months have been very exciting. After a shoulder surgery in April, it was a tough and sometimes difficult road back to full health. Even though I had success in duathlons early in the season, swimming was a different story. I knew, that it will take me some time to get my shoulder to full strength again, so I couldn’t rush anything in the pool at the beginning. For nearly four months I was only able to do gentle drills.

During that time I questioned my plans and upcoming races, because I wasn’t sure if I’m ready for my first triathlon season as a professional. Should I cancel everything and try it at full strength next year? The answer was NO.
So I decided to give it a try and kicked off my season with a local half distance race in Weilburg, Germany. Without any serious competition, I was happy to take the win.

After the race I had no problems with my shoulder, so I decided to go on with my racing schedule as planned:

• August 31: Ironman 70.3 Zell am See
• September 14: Ironman 70.3 Rügen
• September 27: Ironman Mallorca

It was a cloudy morning at Zeller Lake and I found myself next to Marino Vanhoenacker and upcoming athlete Alberto Casadei at the start of the pro race, knowing that I probably lose seven to eight minutes in the water. What the hell did I think? I was a weak swimmer before my surgery and now I raced next to some of the best athletes in the world competing with them at my first race as a pro. Not the right attitude prior to a race. In the end, lost nine minutes in the swim.
After the first discipline, I started to feel more comfortable and made up some time on the bike.

In 14th place I put on my running shoes and with the 5th fastest running time of the day I finished 9th overall. Wow, that was incredible for me. 9th place at my first race as a pro with strong competition and a terrible swim sounds very good to me.

There was not much time to think about the race in Zell am See, because the first edition of the Ironman 70.3 Rügen was just around the corner. All I knew was that my bike and my run were quite good.
When we arrived at the beautiful island of Rügen, I couldn’t believe my eyes. The ocean was so rough and I had no idea how to survive the 1,9 k in the water. But nevertheless, I gave it a try a day before the race.

On race day organizers announced, that it would be a duathlon with a 5 k run at the beginning for safety reasons.
That was the chance I was waiting for! Even though my shoulder didn’t cause problems any more, I had missed five months of training in the pool. There was no way to make the top five with athletes like Michael Raelert, Andreas Dreitz, Horst Reichel, Faris al Sultan or Jan Raphael. But without the swim my chances were much better.

After the first 5 k run I was at 12th position and started the bike in heavy rain.

Castelli athlete Michael Raelert took the lead during the bike after Andreas Dreitz struggled with technical problems and I managed to reach T2 at 5th position.

At the beginning of the half marathon I felt quite good and managed to get to 3rd place within the first 10 k. Wow, that was incredible. 90% of the run was on cobblestones and it wasn’t easy for all the athletes. When I saw Michael coming out of the 3rd lap, nobody was behind him so the second place must be within reach for me. I started to push even harder and got into 2nd place. “Just hang in there for 3 k”, came to my mind. When I saw the finish line, I couldn’t believe it. With the fastest half marathon of the pro field, I achieved the 2nd place at Ironman 70.3 Rügen. Time to celebrate the Castelli double win.

After the race I felt very tired. Three half distance races within six weeks were new to me. I only had time to return home, pack my bike and my bags and journey on to Mallorca for the first edition of the Ironman only 12 days away.
I had a very good time with my girlfriend and good friends in a pretty nice house were we prepared for the race the week before.

On September 27, the race started at the bay of Alcudia.

After a slow swim, I tried everything on the bike to get into a good position for the final run. It wasn’t easy, because there were athletes everywhere on the course (I think Ironman should consider start waves for the future). With the fifth best bike split of the day, I started the marathon at position 20. For the first 25 k I was able to run 4:05 min for each kilometer. However the heat, the fast bike split and probably the past races where a little bit too much. Therefore I lost some time and finished with a 3:06 h marathon at 21th place (14th Pro).
Not exactly what I had in mind but I was happy to reach the finish line.

The off-season starts now and after two weeks I will get my preparation for the 2015 season stated with only one goal: to become a better swimmer!

2014 was an incredible year with up’s and down’s and after I almost thought that my triathlon career is over, I had the biggest success in my life as a triathlete. So, never give up!

I wish everybody a relaxed off-season and I’m looking forward to write about my preparation for next season.

All the best, Matthias

Thanks for your report Matthias and all the best for next year!