Okay.

Good morning, Kona, and everyone listening and watching at home.

Thank you so much for joining us for episode four of our We're Back Kona special edition.

And we are here today.

Kelly is back after having a bit of a rough day yesterday.

Our team had a rough day yesterday.

We had some food poisoning.

We had some, like, heat strokey.

We had.

We had.

Three of us went down in dominoes.

But we're all standing today.

So, yeah, glap for that.

That's right.

Oh, I also want to be clear.

I feel bad for all the people I then saw yesterday.

I did not have an illness you would get, I promise.

So don't worry.

But we're back.

We have Daniela today.

Welcome.

How do you like being here?

Retired?

Are you having fun?

Yeah, definitely.

I mean, it's actually more busy than when I was racing, but no, definitely enjoying it.

A bit more relaxed, of course, and really looking forward to the race.

Actually, I'm, I'm actually, I'm excited.

I feel like a lot of joy and really looking forward to it.

Tell me a little bit about what you've been doing in retirement.

I have heard because Joanne Murphy normally hosts our podcast and she says you guys had a lovely vacation.

Yeah, I mean, we had some nice talk yesterday.

We had the film premiere from my documentary at the Hawker stand and with Ironman and it was, yeah, really special.

Tran did some.

Ask me some questions and lots of people showed up and yeah, I feel special to show little bit my journey and also what I've been up to in the last year.

Yeah.

So for those who don't know, Daniela announced her it's a film right.

Yesterday and there was a.

Did anyone see the preview that at.

At the expo?

Yeah.

Amazing.

So tell us, I'm really curious why you chose that topic, like the topic of life after sport.

Yeah, I think it's an important topic.

Not so many people talk about it.

It's, you know, we have all that focus on the career, but also life after.

Yeah, it can be a little bit challenging and also scary to do the switch.

And I.

Well, how it started, actually, it was just a friend of mine had coffee in Zurich and he did my first documentary when I was 15 years old for the national TV and we were chatting and he.

I was talking about all my projects I'm doing and he's like, yeah, we should do a documentary about you.

And I was like, I don't know.

I mean, it's not like it's that special what I do.

I just do some things and yeah, he was really keen to do it.

And then so I went to my sponsors and we brought together the, yeah, the, the financial part as well, because, yeah, it's quite a big project and.

And then, yeah, we made it happen.

And I hope I can inspire maybe some people that it's possible, you know, after the career, you can still have another career.

And I think I really enjoyed, you know, being professional athlete, but now I feel like I can put my energy in.

Yeah, the.

I do.

And I, I think you learn quite a lot through sports and I think it's, it's one of the best.

Yeah.

Teaching methods and I can.

Yeah, I feel a lot of things like pressure or, you know, keep pushing is definitely something I definitely learned through sports.

Yeah.

And we want to ask you what you're up to now, but first I need to know, what documentary did you do when you were 15, were you.

Also like, oh, my first documentary.

It was just, I think it was a documentary from the national TV about young athletes coming up.

So, yeah, I was featured as a talent.

And yeah, it's pretty funny when you see this.

That's old footage.

Yeah.

So, yeah, we became friends and it's always good to do it with someone you know quite well.

I feel it came out quite honest and yeah, it was just natural.

There was not one take we had to do again.

So it was just through conversations and following me.

He was kind of my shadow for five months or six months.

So, yeah, it's.

Yeah, has been good also, of course, he always feel a little bit watched, but yeah, it's part of it.

Right.

I love some of the behind the scenes footage.

You and your partner just having conversations in the kitchen and stuff like that.

It's very real.

For anyone who wants to go watch.

It, it's going to be on YouTube and so we will include a link in the show notes too.

And then you were also telling me she brought her.

She rode her bike down, guys, from her Airbnb.

And you're raffling this off too, as one of your projects, right?

I do, yes.

So it's my.

Actually my last Kona bike.

I raced with this bike in 2023.

So the last time the women raced here.

Very special bike to me because it's, you know, the last piece of my career pretty much.

And yeah, it feels definitely very special to me.

But I thought instead of putting it in some museum at the Felt headquarters, I wanted to share with a few so you can take part of it and you can actually win this bike.

So by going to viprise.org reef and all the money we raise is going towards my foundation.

So we're doing some, we're supporting projects in Kenya.

One is hygiene projects for young women because.

Hygiene products.

Sorry, for young women because it's something if you, if they have their period, they can't go to school.

So they miss.

Every month they miss four days of school.

And it's something small but it makes a huge impact.

Yeah.

Plus also we do, we feed thousand kids per day at lunch which yeah, they are in the slums and at the school they can get some food.

So yeah, it's, it's quite humbling to be there and also really inspiring to.

See these kids like.

So you're doing a lot post, post athletic career.

A lot more things.

Yeah, I mean the foundation I started already two, three years ago when my dad passed away.

He has, he married a Kenyan woman, my stepmom and we went to visit Kenya.

She's known this project for a long time and she grew up in Nairobi.

So it's good to have the, you know, also the connections, you know what's happening and have people on site to also check on.

Yeah, if everything works fine, that's great.

Yeah.

I was like, I'm, I, I just so impressed.

I had like nothing else to say.

It's like, wow, the documentary films.

You're raising money.

What, what do you do for exercise these days?

That's what I want to know about.

Yeah, it's, that was also quite an interesting process.

I mean first I said, oh, I just, I need actually no sport.

But then I realized very fast that I need some exercise.

So I started with half an hour a day and that was, that felt quite good.

And then I realized I might need a little bit more than that.

So I, yeah, I tried to do an hour a day and yeah, I mean I've been really busy.

So sometimes I, yeah, I can just literally just do 20 minutes.

But it's, yeah, I try to do something every day but not too much anymore.

Like it's between 20 minutes and one hour.

Oh wow.

Okay.

So when a 10 time world champion has just 20 minutes to train, what does she do?

Well also maybe it's because I still need a lot of sleep.

That's actually interesting.

So I don't know, I still struggle like sometimes to get up in the morning.

It's never been my favorite part of the day.

Even as an athlete where, yeah, there you have to kind of push yourself out quite early.

But now it feels a bit more relaxed because I don't have to go like, you know, 40 times hundred on 120, I can just sit in the office and chill a bit.

So.

Yeah, no, I do actually go to an office just also because I want to learn a little bit more about just how you actually work, like proper work.

And yeah, it's really interesting.

I, I'm working at a startup, it's called Mover.

They do, it's a loyalty program for sports.

So they reward you for being active and our goal is to motivate people to be more active.

And yeah, it's really cool.

I'm involved in the ambassador program.

Yeah.

And yeah, so I just sit there for eight and a half hours and have, have some drinks and whatever like at lunch and Is work right?

Yeah, no, it's fun.

I mean it's.

Yeah, I, I enjoy to also see the other aspects and, and I mean we felt also I do quite a lot.

Okay.

I'm involved in the new development of the, of the new time trial bikes also.

I'm actually responsible for the sales in Switzerland.

So I've been hopping through like from dealer to dealer and trying to convince them to get them back in their shops because in Switzerland we had no shops for a while.

Yeah.

So yeah, it's been really cool.

Lots of different things and learning a lot.

I feel like usually when people, we talk to a lot of athletes who are retired and they're like, oh, I'm really busy, I'm coaching.

This was a lot.

Yeah.

Yeah.

You have 12 jobs.

I have 12 jobs.

I was going to ask you.

Yeah.

If you're here because there's the whole like fear, like do you miss it?

Fear of missing out.

Are you like happy to not be racing?

It sounds like you're happy to not be racing.

Yeah, especially with my shape.

Like, you know, I mean I'm really, I mean I'm still, I would say consider myself fit if you compare to, you know, to.

Sure.

Like normal people.

I mean everyone probably sitting here is like not normal because we're all quite fit.

But yeah, I think I, Yeah, I'm, I'm happy that I had my, you know, best times and I think for me it's, I mean, of course it makes me excited to be here, but I don't feel like I'm missing out.

I feel like I also, I'm doing the best out of it and just in a different, from a different side now.

You still have the bike course record here.

Are you like eyeing it this weekend?

Are you like, oh, am I going to hold on to that or is Taylor going to take it?

I mean, if she, if Taylor would take it.

I'm so happy.

She's definitely really amazing.

I, I look, I really, I'm actually a fan of her and also solve.

I mean she, she's on the new AI 2.0 so she's.

Well, let's see.

I'm, I'm, I would be super happy if she has a great race.

So yeah, we did want to talk about the race this weekend.

I am, I am sure you like have been following it, you know, you know all of the players.

We'll start at the top.

How do you think it's going to play out?

Do you think Lucy is just going to lead from the, from the start?

She will definitely lead the swing or I mean up there.

Then she will lead on the bike as well.

And yeah, I think it's going to be maybe a little bit harder for her than it was maybe two years ago because I think the bike power we have in this field is really impressive.

We have, I mean also Lisa Perturbe, Kat Matthews, but Lisa was actually catching up time or making up time on Cat in tmc so she was really strong.

And then, I mean Laura, Phillip and then Taylor.

There's so many really strong cyclists so I think they're going to probably also work together and there will be a lot of power from behind.

But Lucy looks really fit.

She's been, seems like really focused and yeah, it's, I would not have no idea who can win.

I think there's six women who can win this race or even more, maybe eight.

I think Laura fellow said it's going to come down to a sprint and I didn't ask her who she thinks is going to be sprinting.

So yeah, it is a big, like you said, a lot, like a lot more firepower on the bike.

How does it play out differently when you don't have, you know, like men necessarily mixing in like two years ago, obviously we had an all women's race here.

Played out somewhat differently on the bike.

Right?

Yeah, I mean it's.

For the women it's great to have their own race.

I still think it's nice that we're going to have the men with us again because I'm for inclusivity.

So I still think it's actually nice to have everyone together.

But I think for.

Yeah, I definitely celebrate the women and the race of the women is going to be super, super interesting.

So it's not like we need the men that the race is more interesting.

Not at all but yeah, I think it's important that it's fair and I think having men coming into the women's field, that's a problem.

So I think or I hope that yeah, our men will make sure the gaps are big enough that the women have also their own race next year even though it's all on the same day.

But I think it's possible.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I feel like like when we had all the women and there were like penalties became a bigger impact, drafting became a bigger issue.

Right.

Like because you just, it got more.

The race just plays out slightly differently when you don't have sort of some age group men like picking up with the back of the race, you know, and pulling some women forward and stuff like that.

So I feel like a lot of the women afterwards said that exactly like it was and it gets harder.

There's just like less people.

Yeah, yeah.

I mean the age group, men should not catch the women.

So that needs that.

That means it should be the gap, should be get big enough.

Yeah.

So we're thinking Lucy comes out of swim.

Maybe there's some, maybe there's a couple women who could stay with her, Haley or Steph Clutterbuck and then.

But then we already see this big group trying to catch her.

Laura Phillips said as long as she has told us, as long as she has five minutes, she thinks she can make up five minutes.

Would you agree with that?

I mean I made up 10 minutes.

One year, like well Danielle, I made up 10 so.

And I think Laura is pretty strong on the bike too.

But yeah, I mean Lucy is as well.

So yeah, I think in the end it's not.

The race is not going to be over after the bike as well.

So I think it could be possible that we have some women running together head to head or shoulder on shoulder and that would make it quite spectacular, I think.

Yeah, I think it's hard to say.

I mean Lucy has run, has shown some really strong running as well in T100 races.

So it's hard to know if she's going to be as fast or as strong over the full distance on the run.

And I mean Laura, what she did in Ironman Hamburg also Cat, I mean the two were running incredibly strong and they also both really strong in the heat.

Do you, do you think it's going to take a run course record then?

Because the run course record is like 248 here and the solvay was like, oh, I've only ever run 246.

Maybe I'll run a 246.

And I was like, oh, to be.

Fair, you said that, not her.

I was like, wow, that's very confident.

No, we were joking.

That's the only speed she knows how to run because that's all she's ever run.

So.

Yeah, yeah, I think the, the run course record will be broken.

Maybe also the bike record.

So, yeah, the, the level this year is really, really, really high.

And I mean, Laura and Kat, but also.

So they.

I mean, their, their running is really.

Yeah, like another level higher than they were two years ago.

Sure.

And then you have, obviously, runners.

Runners like Chelsea or Tamara even could come from further back if Chelsea's within, you know, five minutes off the bike.

It's also like, watch out.

Yeah, yeah.

I think it's also with Tamara, depending on where she plays out.

I think if you come out in the swim, you want to be like, somewhere in the mix.

But it can be also an advantage if you can do your own race.

And especially if you have these groups with potential, you know, penalty, like danger.

And also, you know, if there's a group, some might really push themselves hard.

Could also imagine India Lee or like Lisa Percher really going hard on the bike.

But also Kat, I mean, she's also known for just not holding back.

And so it could mean that the bike, like some of them might explode as well.

Yeah.

What advice would you give them?

Like, if they were here right now, what advice would you give the pro women racing?

I don't think they need advice.

I mean, they have all their own strategy.

And definitely you can't give advice to all of them because they're so.

It's a monolith.

I mean.

Yeah.

Beat itself out or how do you call it?

Like, just go hard, I guess.

Yeah, it's.

I. I guess this race is.

It's.

It's about being strong and also risking something.

Because it's the World championship, you have to risk something.

But it's also about playing smart.

Smart and have some patience.

And I think we've seen it so many times in.

It's not over until it's over.

It's.

It's just.

It can still happen.

3K.

Oh, yeah.

You know, on the last 3K on.

The marathon, Laura thinks it's coming down to Le Drive, so who knows?

I mean, that's.

That's actually a good attitude.

So she's ready to battle it out and until the end.

So that's a good attitude.

And when you were out there, how did you know when to hold back and keep your own race?

And when to go.

Like, did you have an instinct about that or did you have a plan ahead of time?

Yeah, I think you can have a plan, but most of the time the plan doesn't work out like you actually think it's going to work out, so you might as well also have a plan B, C, D, and then it's going to be another something else going to happen.

So how I did it, I always imagined all the bad scenarios and if I was ready for that, they didn't, they didn't come.

So I always, I mean, it's, it's a bit, it sounds like you, you're preparing or like you thinking negative.

But I just wanted to be prepared for every bad situation.

Although I wasn't prepared for the jellyfish.

I was about to say that we went India Lee got sung by a bunch of jellyfish when we had visited her the other day and we were like, well, Daniella won when she was stung, so you'll be fine.

Yeah, but I think in the end it's, it's really also adapting to the situation so making all the time the best out of that situation.

And no matter if there's a cramp happening or, you know, some energy problem or stomach issues, you just have to deal with it and make the best of out of that situation.

And you can still win a race with stomach problems, but you just have to, I don't know.

Yeah, just dig deep, I guess.

I've actually always wanted to ask you about the jellyfish year because sometimes we were talking about this earlier.

Like sometimes when someone gets stung by a jellyfish, they drop out.

Right.

So what did you experience?

Did you like, you know, did you know you got stung and then did you feel badly during the race?

Yeah, I, I thought I was dying.

Yeah.

I think the mo.

The biggest problem was I, I wasn't sure if I was allergic, so I got stung and then I didn't really have much time to think it only it was like 30 seconds before the start.

And so as I, I think my first thought was, okay, that's not good.

And then maybe the second thought like a second later was, ah, maybe it's going to fire me up.

So I just always tried to think positive.

And as I started swimming, the more I pushed it because it was under my, under pits or my armpit, it, the more it started to burn.

And so there was a moment where I quickly checked just if there's some lifeguards because I wasn't sure really if I'm, if it's dangerous So I checked if there was someone.

I saw a lifeguard.

And from there I was like, okay, I'm not going to die.

He's going to take me out in case I pass out.

And that actually helped me a lot because I felt like, more safe.

And.

And then it was that moment of thought, like, okay, this is really not good.

I'm really struggling.

And I thought, okay, do I go.

Do I stop now and go to the hotel and try, or do I just try to keep going?

And even if I take 17 hours, I just to honor the race?

And it was that little moment where I decided, okay, no, I'm just going to try because my.

My family's here.

My coach put so much work in it.

I put so much work in it.

So I'm just going to try.

And, yeah, I'm really glad I did try because it was, I would say, the best race of my life.

And I think from the time where I just put my energy on just focusing on finishing the swim was much easier.

So once you put energy on your progress, instead of deciding, what do I do?

It's much easier.

So I think from that moment, I just tried to tick the boxes and get out of the swim.

And then, I mean, yeah, on the bike, we know the story.

I'm.

Suddenly.

It clicked and I was on fire, literally.

I love that first.

It's like, I'm not dying.

Check.

Finish the swim.

Check.

Simple.

In a way, it turns out like last year.

I mean, you were here last year.

A ton of the pro men got stung right before the start.

And it turns out that they do come in like.

Like, you can look up when there's going to be more jellyfish in Hawaii because they come in waves based on currents and temperature.

Anyway, they were here earlier in the week, so I'm kind of hoping the pro women are good and they're gone now.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I hope it's two for them.

Yes, for them.

Not a nice experience, but, yeah, if you're not allergic, I guess it's just temporary pain.

And in the end, yeah, it didn't like.

Yeah, it was just really hard not to know what's happening.

And I remember when I got out of the swim, there's even a picture.

I checked my arms because I didn't know, like, how bad it was.

I thought it was maybe like this thick, you know?

And when I saw that, it's actually my arm was still there.

And also, it was not that bad.

It gave me confidence, that confidence that it's okay.

There you go.

You did kind of ruin getting stung by jellyfish for the rest of us.

Cause I was talking to Lauren Brandon once and we both dropped out of races and we were like, well, Daniella did it.

Why couldn't we?

Yeah, I mean, it's, there's different situations.

If you're allergic.

Yeah, maybe see a doctor.

It's more healthy.

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All right, so assuming they don't get sung by jellyfish, they all get through the swim, they get out on the bike, we maybe come down to the run.

We've already talked.

We've talked about, like, all the big names.

Right.

I'm trying to think who we.

Oh, there's so many debuts this year.

We've mentioned Solvay, but there's also like a third of the women's field is first time in Kona.

We have, like, Holly Lawrence, we have Tamara.

We've mentioned Marshalling Marshall.

Well, she.

Yeah, I guess she has this, her Kona debut, even though she was fourth last year.

And I feel like we don't even know what's going to happen because there's just so many new names, unknowns.

Yeah, it's.

It's widely open.

I agree.

And that makes it interesting, right?

It's.

I.

In the end, this race here is always open.

So many things can happen and even the best and can just have a bad day or just.

Yeah, the.

The wind, the heat can really get you, so you just.

They have to really focus on ticking the boxes and get everything right.

But we might definitely see some surprises.

And I mean, also Holly Lawrence, I mean, she's.

She was in altitude very long, came in late.

There's different approaches how to do it and so you just don't know how it's going to play out.

Yeah, she did the, like, come out to Kona for training camp and then go home for, like, two weeks and then just got here yesterday.

I. Yeah, I mean, with the altitude, you either want to be early, like three weeks, or then it's like three, four days.

So that's definitely one way of doing it.

Yeah.

Um, where will you be on race day?

What are you.

Are you going to be out there on the Queen K yelling at them.

Or what do you.

What's your plan?

Um, yeah, I'll be a little bit all over the place.

Um, I'm doing some commentary for Ironman, so I'll be in the boat in the morning.

I think I have my first injury at 5:25, so I might have to get up earlier than on race day, like when I was racing myself.

Yeah.

And then a bit of commentary for the German tv.

And of course, I'll be cheering also.

Yeah.

Might be on the hill.

It's always a good spot.

And then on the bike.

I need to see if I actually make it on the, on the course.

Probably not because I have slots every hour or two.

Oh, to talk.

Yeah.

Yeah.

You don't have to tell us that.

But do you have like people that are your secret favorites that you like cheer harder for?

You don't have to tell us their names.

Yeah, I mean they all work so hard.

So I think whoever wins deserves it because you can't cheat this race.

You know, you have to do it yourself and it takes so much effort and it's so much like you put so much work into the preparation.

So yeah, I mean whoever wins will deserve it.

And yeah, I'm, it's really hard for me because there's really nice women like out there.

So I mean I'm friends with most of them so I think we have some really great champions who can, could do the double.

So that would be really cool.

But also it's kind of nice also if there's a new one.

So it's, I mean if Taylor could win.

But also Solvik.

But I mean all of them, they're, they're, they're really amazing women and they all deserve it if they're putting it together and whoever is first.

Yeah, I do feel like all the women are friends.

Right?

Is that just in my head?

I feel like everyone's friends.

Yeah.

No, not, I mean not everyone, just friendly.

Well said.

I won't ask a follow up question.

It's fine.

What we have been asking all the pro women, what they want us to yell at them when they, we see them on their state.

What did you used to want people to like?

Do you want positive encouragement?

A lot of them have said, tell me everyone else looks terrible.

Did you want negative?

Like what do you want people that.

Shows how much, how friendly we are.

Yeah, I mean if you tell me you look, I look good and I feel like really bad, that's always is something.

I mean, you know, they mean it well so it's, it's also okay.

But I always like splits.

I like facts, you know, give me like positive facts.

You know, you're catching up.

You're two seconds faster than this person per km.

But that's really hard splits to give because you have to actually do the math.

So yeah, if you don't know what to say, I would definitely just say yeah, I mean you're doing great.

Yeah, it's a bit, that's a bit average.

Just say, I mean also remind them what, like what they did.

You worked hard for this.

So now go for it, you know, so remind them on their why and also that it's their time.

Because if you get it like it's life changing if you win this race, it's life changing.

So it's definitely something on the line.

Yeah.

But yeah, that's what I used to tell when I was coaching.

That's what I used to tell everyone.

Like you only get one race day.

Today is the day.

So don't tell that to them before the race because it's going to be really nerve wracking.

So just during the race because then you don't really have the nerves anymore.

Exactly.

Exactly.

Does anyone have questions for Daniela?

This is your chance.

Come on over.

Why don't you come on up and you can take one of the mics and people who want to ask questions.

Yeah, why don't you come up and you take my mic and ask your.

Question and then she'll answer the most tangled mic possible.

There we go.

Okay.

First, hi.

Hello.

Nice to meet you.

I want to know, post racing, what's.

Your new bucket list?

Yeah, that's actually a difficult question.

I mean I've, I have been or I lived all my life with goals.

So it's, I don't know, I, I, I really enjoy not to communicate them anymore because that means I don't have the pressure of actually fulfilling them.

So that's why I keep them to myself now.

But yeah, I think in the end it's, it's really our bucket list.

I, there's nothing I could, it's actually interesting.

Like often people ask me what do, what can you do now, which you couldn't do before.

And I think you can do most things also during the career.

Just you have to watch the timing.

So maybe not race week.

You can do different things to when you're on holiday.

So there's not really one bucket list I need to tick.

Although next week I'm going to Oahu and I'm going to try to do surfing.

So maybe I can, I can.

Oh, no pressure.

Yeah, no pressure there.

I don't feel pressure.

I don't.

Well, good luck.

Thank you.

Did you go to the parade?

I remember your last year.

You were like, I want to go to the Parade of Nations when I'm not race week.

Have you been to the Parade of Nations now?

No, I, I actually couldn't make it.

I, I think I was it yesterday, right?

Yeah, I was having yesterday.

I, I didn't have one second so I, I think I was at the interview or somewhere.

Yeah.

All right.

I Have one last question about being a Swiss athlete, because you have come on over if you have a question.

Yeah.

Because in Switzerland, you have such an amazing tradition of champions.

Right.

Like, do people recognize you in the grocery store and stuff like that?

In Switzerland or in Kona?

In Switzerland.

Okay.

Yeah, in Kona they do.

But no, it depends.

I mean, yeah, sometimes, yeah, of course, you get recognized in the restaurants or wherever, but the Swiss are quite, you know, careful.

They just like.

So you do get recognized.

They do, but they don't come over yet.

Or sometimes they do, but no, they're.

Yeah, it's.

It's nice.

And, you know, there's.

There's both sides, you know, in one way.

Sometimes it's really nice.

You make some really nice conversations.

And yeah, they're.

I mean, if you can change someone's life and they're, like, looking up to you, it's definitely special.

Of course, there's also.

If you're on a date and, you know, with.

With your girlfriend, and then they come up and like, can we take a picture?

And then it's maybe not the best timing, but yeah, that's.

It doesn't happen much.

Right.

Are you a question?

Okay.

Hi, Post.

Like, being a retired.

Like, how has things changed with.

For you and your partner, like, in terms of, like, what you're enjoying doing.

Together or how you're spending your time differently?

Yeah, it's.

It's actually, I thought I would have more time, to be honest, so it's not like I have so much more time, but definitely we have more flexibility.

So, you know, it doesn't matter if it's.

Yeah.

Like on a Friday or Saturday or Sunday, I can.

I'm more spontaneous.

I can do also maybe once a more late night dinner because I don't have to get up really early in the morning.

And so I definitely feel it's.

That makes it a bit more relaxed.

Or like, we went on holidays during summer, which I never could do ever, because normally from pretty much December till Kona, for me, it's just training.

So that's.

Yeah.

That I really appreciate.

We had some holidays in Burgundy, so.

Which was really nice.

Hi.

Hello.

You are my inspiration, by the way.

I just want to say that.

Thank you.

Do you have any advice for age groupers, first timers in Kona?

Yeah.

I mean, I would definitely say be proud that you made it here because it's already really a big achievement.

And yeah, if you're out there, just really also appreciate the moment to be here.

It's really a privilege.

It's such a special race, so even it might get hard sometimes.

It's definitely warm and windy.

Just make sure to also soak it in.

I think it's really important.

And if you want more technique or more, how do you say tactical approaches or concrete tips, just yeah, make sure to cool yourself on the run especially, but also on the bike.

And how do you say like work again?

Like don't fight the wind, just accept that it's there, accept that it's hot and everyone is going to be suffering at one point.

But just yeah, try your best and always think positive.

So the next aid station always is coming.

So just think about the next aid station.

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Hi Daniela.

Hello.

I know I always follow you.

I'm a big fan.

Now on this side of your career, looking back on your racing, is there.

Anything that you would have done differently.

Now, knowing what you know?

Yeah, good question.

Actually, no, I would not have because I think all the mistakes I did were for a reason.

So I think I definitely.

Yeah, you can learn a lot from bad days, from mistakes and bad decisions.

I think I was quite lucky that I often had an opportunity and I took it.

And then maybe for a while I maybe might have been in the wrong direction but then you change it again and I think there's no wrong decisions.

It's as long as you learn from your decisions and from your experience.

So yeah, I think all bad moments or maybe yeah, like a race where didn't play out or like for example 2014 I did, I had sparkling water at one of the ed station because I thought it was going to be refreshing and about 4k later I bonked because obviously I didn't have any energy.

So yeah, maybe I could have done that different.

But I think that race taught me okay, you need energy, you need to really get your nutrition fixed.

And then the year later I won.

So I think it helped me to really know what I need to do in the as a nutrition side.

It seems like now we have a bunch of questions.

All right.

Hello.

Hello.

I was wondering if there's any triathletes, professionals that you wish you had had the opportunity to race with that came.

Before you and retired before you started.

I mean, I'm not sure they were all really good.

So I don't know.

I mean of course Paula, but also not.

I mean I had the pleasure to or the privilege to raise Natasha, which I'm really glad she was also a little bit my inspiration and she sets also a little bit the church or how do you say, the standard.

The standard.

Yeah.

In also in, in Switzerland she, she was very famous and then Christy, I never raced against, but I. I don't know.

I would have been scared from her, I think.

So.

She was very strong.

So, yeah, I think I had.

I was lucky to have a few different.

How do you say, phases like Natasha, then I could race Rinny.

But I mean, yeah, I'm not, I'm not a fan of what if and could I have or whatever.

So, yeah, I'm glad who I could race.

But definitely look up to all the legends before me.

So is there anybody now that you like, wish you.

You know, any of the new people that we've been talking about?

No.

No.

I mean they're.

No, because they're so strong.

So I'm really glad I don't have to anymore.

I'm wondering, as you retired and stepped away from professional racing, like, has that been any kind of like identity struggle for you or anything?

Like, how have you coped and managed with that, just with moving away from competition?

Yeah, it's.

It's actually the first sentence of my documentary.

It's.

It's interesting.

I didn't feel or I don't feel my identity changed at all because I never only identified as a triathlete.

I always identified as myself and as.

Yeah.

Daniela or Donna, like in Swiss German, they call me Dana.

And so for me, I had my friends.

They're not all in triathlon and I think that really helped me a lot too have also a circle outside of just triathlon.

And yeah, I think, I mean triathlon was a huge part of me and still is.

But yeah, never identified myself only as I'm an athlete.

I. I felt I was doing sport but I didn't identify as.

Just as I do.

Only this.

Which is helpful now.

Yeah, definitely.

And also I think the surrounding like having friends.

I mean I have a lot.

I made.

My best friends are from triathlon, so the two best friends.

But then I also made really good friends in school and which was not a sports school, which helps because now, I mean every time when I raced I came home, I could.

They.

I didn't have to talk about my races and I always really appreciated that.

So I could just talk about my life or whatever.

I.

They just asked how was Hawaii?

And I said, yeah, it was nice, good weather.

And they didn't ask me about the race.

So I think that's really helpful to have that surrounding and friends who kind of keep you grounded but also keep your life.

Yeah.

Next to the sport also as you have.

You have a life next to the sport as well.

How was Hawaii?

Oh, it was all right.

Got stung by a jellyfish.

Yeah.

Any other questions?

All right, here I have a selfish.

Question, if you can indulge me for two seconds.

This is my wife's first Kona, and you are her favorite athlete, especially coming out and being proud.

Just really an idol she looks up to.

Her dad is also a Kona athlete, and he was unfortunately training here yesterday and got in a really bad bike crash.

He had to get airlifted to Honolulu, and he's in surgery right now.

Would you be able to take a video if she just chooses to race to say good luck?

Yes, of course.

Hey, Megan.

And Hi, John.

John, I hope you're well.

All the best.

And good recovery.

And Megan, you have the best support here, so he's going to cheer for you and good luck for the race.

Thank you so much.

I hope.

I hope everyone's okay.

Thank you very much for doing that and for coming.

And thank you, everybody, for coming.

Thank you, everybody, for listening.

Hopefully, please stay safe out there, and hopefully everybody has a little inspiration now for Saturday.

Yeah.

And quick thank you to our sponsors.

We have Wahoo, who is offering a free $300 fan if you purchase their kicker run treadmill.

Their treadmill.

Everybody loves their treadmill.

Sure.

And then we have Head as the women's specific shoes that are also offering 20% off.

And we have lever movement that a lot of the pros are using to kind of offload a little bit in their run training.

And they also are offering 25% off just until Sunday, just for us here in Kona.

And on Sunday, we will be with Danielle again at a post race Reflections brunch.

Taylor, Daniela, Gwen, um, join with HOKA at Papa Codas RSVP for that.

Come and celebrate your race.

Uh, well, so what will you tell.

What would you tell everybody?

I know someone asked for advice, but to close this out, what would you tell everybody racing on Saturday?

They have one more day to go.

Yeah.

Put your feet up from now.

Um, and then, yeah, enjoy the race.

I mean, what a beautiful island.

What a beautiful race.

So much history happened here.

And you're part of this, so be proud that you're here and, yeah, embrace it and just support each other.

Cheer each other on in bad moments, because there might be one or two bad moments in there.

It's a long race, but you can do this.

Thank you so much, everybody.