Germany’s Jan Frodeno just broke the Ironman World Championship record by turning in a ridiculous 7:51:13…
He clocked a 47:31 2.4-mile swim, a 4:16:02 112-mile bike and a 2:42:43 26.2-mile run.
Before the day began, Frodeno, who typically stays off social media during race week, decided to go for a morning scroll and came across a message from former Ironman World Champion Pete Jacobs that read:
“Be strong, be present, be grateful and be confident…”
Frodeno took those words and used them as the driving force and mantra during his record setting day.
Jan Frodeno is 38 years old and on the back end of a long career in triathlon. He has been to the mountaintop and slayed the dragon, winning the 2015 & 2016 World Championships… Yet, in 2018 Jan was injured and questioned whether or not he would ever be able to race Kona again.
A year ago, injured & despaired, Jan, his training partner and his coach all signed a 2019 letter of intent sheet to get back to the Ironman World Championships in Kona.
For years, Frodeno’s career was predicated on meeting expectations, winning races and setting records… Yet, at this point, he is starting to realize how grateful he is just to be able to still be doing what he loves. Of course, he entered this race with the idea of winning the race, and if the record came with it, great, but ultimately it was his perspective of gratitude for his health and appreciation for his opportunity to race that allowed him to dig DEEP and deliver a record setting performance.
In life, we all will find motivation from several different areas and it’s up to us to discover them…
Jan Frodeno is no different.
In his post race sit down interview with legendary triathlon Hall of Fame’r Bob Babbit, Frodeno was asked why he still does this after all these years and championships…
His response:
“Because I CAN.”
-EB