Danish ITU athlete Rasmus Henning had a great season in 2007 and earned a nice $200,000 paycheck when he won the Hy-Vee race in Des Moines, IA. Rasmus already earned his ticket to Beijing and has his eyes now set completely on the Olympic prize.
ST: Rasmus, the World Championships in Vancouver are barely a month away. Are you ready?
Rasmus: In my pursuit of the ultimate performance in Beijing I have chosen only to participate in very few races this year. This is why I won’t be in Vancouver, just like I wasn’t in Lisbon for the European Champs mid May. I needed a few points in order to secure my Olympic spot, which is why I took part in the World Cup in Japan and Korea, but with a 2nd and a 5th place, I don’t need any more points. I just need to stay at home and train and spend time with my family.
ST: What else is on schedule for you in 2008?
Rasmus: Between now and the Games I will only be in Des Moines to defend my title from last year plus race Danish Champs the week after. Des Moines is a great race in a climate and on a course that suit me. I don’t plan to be 100% race fit, but will have to do with perhaps 95%. The rest will wait for Beijing. After the Games I’ll do 3 races for my French team Poissy, and perhaps more if I still feel like it.
ST: What is your athletic background and who or what inspired you to race triathlons?
Rasmus: I was a competitive swimmer for 10 years before switching to triathlon in 1998. I knew Torbjorn Sindballe back from his early days as a swimmer in my hometown, and I asked him about triathlon. He told me that I could do well with my swimming skills plus a good running potential.
ST: Please describe a typical hard training week for us.
Rasmus: Not including training camps, which can obviously be much harder, a typical training week at home at the moment, can look like this:
Monday: Hard swim, run with short speed work, rest, hard bike, easy run
Tuesday: Easy swim, gym
Wednesday: Hard swim, easy bike, moderate run
Thursday: Easy run, rest, hard bike
Friday: Hard swim, easy run, gym, rest, hard roller ski session
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: Easy run, easy bike, easy roller ski session
Total of 20-25hrs
ST: What do you do to stay motivated to train?
Rasmus: I basically enjoy what I'm doing and I continuously visualize my goals. They need to be ready on your inner eye to pull forward when you need them. I also try to stay balanced as a person. Many years ago I realized that only focusing on triathlon wouldn’t work out long term. I finished an education as a teacher in 2003, and since then I have done a lot of public speaking and some consulting work. Obviously my wife Anita and our two little daughters Caroline and Emilie aged 2½ and 1 respectively mean a great deal to my motivation as well.
ST: Rasmus, now that you won the Hy-Vee race in 2007 and the big paycheck of $200,000, does every other race purse/earnings seem lame in comparison?
Rasmus: It's true that other earnings seem small in comparison, but I'm
still grateful for everything I earn. In any case I'm not in it for the money, but because I love the sport. Nonetheless it does make life a lot easier when you get the occasional pay check.
ST: Along those lines, do you feel that the prize money in the sport of
triathlon is fair compared to other sports?
Rasmus: It's hard to say what's fair when it comes to money. You can't say that because we train more hours or have longer competitions we should make more money. Obviously we put a lot more effort into every
dollar earned than the ball players do, but the earnings reflect the
amount of public interest of each sport, and in that perspective I think we do ok financially. The most important thing is that at least the best of us triathletes can make a living, allowing us to focus 100% on the sport. I have huge respect in athletes in other sports that have
absolutely no price money nor sponsorships. They still manage to train
almost as much as me, in spite of having to work or study more or less full time on the side.
ST: How you typically spend the off-season?
Rasmus: I usually take 2-4 weeks off with only 3-4 runs a week, but no bike or run. Some years we have gone away for a week or two, but with two small kids it’s not always that relaxing… I generally enjoy being at home and just have more time to myself and with the family. I also don't mind taking a couple of big nights out.
ST: Do you have any gripes about triathlon?
Rasmus: One big one is that the WTC and the ITU continue to battle instead of working together. Another one is that the ITU only wish to brand short distance triathlon as the draft legal Olympic Distance. I would love the formats to alter in some way. Especially with regards to the Olympic Games where I think it would be of great benefit to the sport if we could have a competition that stretched over more than just one day. One way would be to throw all athletes out in a preliminary race, then let the top 20 go on to a semi final two days later and then the top 10 on to the final another two days later. This would be genius to the media as we would get a build up and not just make news once the race is over. Another format that I would like to try out was to let everybody start out with an individual time trial on Saturday over a half sprint distance or so and then let the top 20 or 30 do a draft legal pursuit on Sunday over a sprint distance, with the fastest athlete from the time trial starting first. The time trial is the fairest way to race, and I think it would make the competition very interesting to follow on TV.
ST: Have you had help with your bike fit?
Rasmus: I ride MBK which is very good material. My coach Michael Krüger is always trying to stay on top of the latest research in order to get me the best components and fit for my bike. I'm well sorted out.
ST: How are things going for you in terms of sponsorship?
Rasmus: I have a good deal with sports nutrition company Maxim for almost 10 years. They have now put my picture on all their products. This year I also have a great contract with Icelandic bank Landsbanki who are opening on a broader European market there years. MBK are important as are Adidas who help me out with clothes, shoes etc. For the occasional wetsuit swim I wear Aquaman.
ST: Do you follow any other sports?
Rasmus: I love winter sport, especially cross country skiing and biathlon. During the summer I rarely have time to watch anything apart from the sports news in the evening. I’d rather play with my kids than watch TV. When I do watch TV, it has to be something that Anita likes to watch with me – and that’s not sports…
ST: Can you share with us some of your food likes and dislikes?
Rasmus: I generally eat very healthy foods. I try to avoid too much added sugar, white bread, milk, and I focus on eating frequently during the day. I love vegetables and fruits, as well as fish, beef and poultry. I rarely cook myself, but my wife is an excellent cook. I don't think I have too many dislikes.
ST: What about music? What do you listen to?
Rasmus: My all time favourite band is Pink Floyd. I was lucky enough to be at a Roger Waters concert at the Roskilde festival, which is only 50kms from my house, a couple of years ago. They played all the legendary Pink Floyd songs as well as some of Waters’ own material. This was the best concert of my life. In a slightly different genre I am very fond of Roxette and especially the Swedish material by guitarist Per Gessle and his home soil group Gyllene Tider.
ST: What was the last book you read?
Rasmus: I love reading, but I usually don't have too much time for it except when I'm away on my trips abroad. Then I can read one book after the other. My mother is from Sweden and I have a strong liking for their literature as well as their music. The latest books I read were by young author Camilla Lackberg, but my favourite writers are Jan Guillou and Henning Mankell who have been translated into many languages. More internationally I love reading the books by Frederick Forsyth.
ST: Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Rasmus: I see myself doing long distance triathlon for a year or two after this season. During those years I will expand my public speaking and consulting business, and in five years I will be better known in the Danish business world as "Rasmus Henning the Speaker and Consultant" than as "Rasmus Henning the Triathlete." This is my goal, but it will only be possible because of my success in triathlon and my focus on improving and training other competences throughout my career. I also hope to be able to keep on working with triathlon in some way or another in the future. I am very keen on helping develop new talent in Danish triathlon. Not as a coach, but as some kind of a facilitator between the clubs and the federation. I have so many ideas from my years in the sport, and so much to give.
ST: I there anything else we should know about you?
Rasmus: Nope ☺
Rasmus Henning's website is: rasmushenning.com
