Posted: September 1, 2004

Triathlon: Kuehner takes second at Ostseeman Triathlon, Germany

“I knew it would be risky to run the marathon without the usual, solid training miles,” said Kuehner, “but I really wanted to get into the competitive mood again after six months away from racing.” Ostseeman is one of the biggest races of its distance in Germany and is located close to her hometown, Groemitz. "Being close to home gave me some comfort and confidence, and helped me to keep the pre-race stress down. It's still iron-distance and still a race, but less pressure for my first time back in action."

The attractive, tourist-town beach location is more than beautiful, said Kuehner, and the challenging course in and around Gluecksburg offers lots of motivational kicks. The swim in the Baltic Sea went absolutely well for her -- with a 59:45, she came out just 30 seconds behind the lead woman.

“The first four loops on the 30 km bike course were just great,” she said, “but then the short, steep hills felt like mountains.” Kuehner lost about six minutes when she got on the run course, as the lack of training kilometers hit her noticeably earlier than she thought it would. She tried to hang tight on the run, but after getting dizzy and dehydrated on the fourth loop, at kilometer 30, Kuehner, always "Ms. Positive," almost had to drop out due to a lack of energy. Knowing that the race end was so close, the medical doctor forced herself to fuel up with calories as well as she could.

“When the third place woman passed me, I said 'no way!' I told myself to get the legs going, and things kicked in for me,” she said, and sure enough, Kuehner ran strong for the final 10 km and was able to hold two other women off, keeping her second place all the way to the finish line. Although a little disappointed with the result (10:54:19), the full-time doctor still looked on the bright side.

“Even reminding myself that I was on crutches just three months ago and barely able to get around the hospital to see my patients who were in worse shape than me, it is still a great achievement for me to finish. I was just so hungry to test my recovery and training," said Kuehner. "And I needed to just have fun, race and get the competitive energy going. It has been too long since last season." She'll race next at the Balearman triathlon (2 km S/80 km B/21 km R), September 18th in Mallorca, Spain.

Official Ostseeman Results and information, go to www.ostseeman.de.

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From: Hammy Handwerker, slhcomm@hotmail.com.