Michele Padovan - Ambassadors during Lockdown

Receiving the news about Ironman South Africa being cancelled whilst training in Lanzarote with only 4 weeks to go wasn’t easy to swallow. It’d be my attempt to fulfil the KONA dream and with my fitness at its highest ever, since I started triathlon several years ago, my chances were looking good. I was at a low but I picked myself up, and retargeted the new date rescheduled for November. I’m certified at high risk by the NHS from Covid so I had to bring all my training indoors, it’s been a struggle and for the last 6 months I’ve been smashing out some 2 hour sessions on the treadmill and 4 hour Zwift sessions - I even won a couple of virtual races. My fitness is reaching new levels and I’m just about to start my final build for IMSA. Despite a very crazy year I am still very positive, fingers crossed we’ll be able to see races again soon on the horizon.

What are your personal bests?

5km 22:22

10km 46:17

21km 1:47:18

42km 3:49:00

What have you been doing during lockdown?

Since I am considered a very high risk vulnerable due to my severe asthma and controlling medications, I’ve been really sensible during lockdown. I was shielding until the end of June and basically all my training is based indoors and only recently I’ve been going for some open water swimming. I’ve been keeping myself motivated with some virtual races on Zwift and Ironman Virtual races, surprisingly smashing some cheeky PB’s there, and even got some podiums which was a great motivation during this time

Did COVID-19 affect many events / training?

This year I had 2 long distance triathlons planned on my calendar and when lockdown started, I was in Lanzarote finishing my training preparation for Ironman South Africa. I flew back to the UK the evening before the airport closures and then lockdown was placed here a couple of days after. Since then I’ve been working with my coach to keep the fitness in a sustainable level until we’ll be able to race safely again. More recently Challenge Roth triathlon also got cancelled, beginning of July.

How did you cope with training during Lockdown?

I always considered myself a driven person but the fact I have a coach - whom I also consider my mentor - helped me a lot to keep the motivation going as well as a healthy training routine. Virtual races also helped a lot during lockdown in order to have some sort of interaction with other athletes.

How have you found being an ambassador for XMiles?

Due covid-19 we didn't have a chance to do much together yet, but so far, it’s been a pleasure to represent XMiles as they've been my go-to nutrition supply long time ago. 

What do you have planned for the future?

I’ve been >2 years working with Mark and we are starting to reap the fruits now, so I’m very excited to see what the future will bring when the races start again and hopefully be able to achieve my PB on the long distance course.