Jun 15, 2021

Anna Friborg Breaks 5 Cycling World Records in a Single Day!

You already know who this inspirational woman is if you have read our previous blog post about her preparation for the world record attempt. If not you can read about Anna's world record attempt here.

Well she made it! In fact she did even better than we all thought she could. She explains in her own words:

" And so it came...... world record attempt day!!!!

Two days prior to the attempt I was off work, sleeping, eating, and preparing everything ........ I felt calm, focused and full of energy to start....

The weather forecast was perfect. Almost no wind during at last 12 hours. I told myself; You might be inexperienced... But Now or never. You can do it Anna!!!!

My world record attempt started at 6pm the 5th of June. 300 miles, 500 km and 24 hours, outdoor track, age group 18-49 years old.

Legs and lungs felt super and I could feel the confidence from my team assisting me. With the experienced crew chief Christian Behre I felt I could go through fire if necessary.

I followed my energy plan exactly. Thanks to the very light wind conditions, my speed was much higher than estimated. My six minutes every three hours was not necessary. Two and a half was good enough.

The team was cheering me up every lap and the car behind made me feel even more focused and motivated. The darkness came around 11pm, and suddenly I felt a bit mentally tired. Struggled for a while, trying to follow the marked lines.
It was hard. Crew chief noticed it and ordered me to take a break.

That was the wake up call I needed! Awake and alert again and still going...... No more mental tiredness during the darkness.... I made a stop early to put on some clothes. Tick tock tick tock..... clock was ticking on and I was still in a good shape when the sun was rising. Took off some clothes and went on the bike again. My nutrition plan was working so well. The team was working like they had never done anything else in life.... How could they possibly interact so professionally?

Lap after lap I came closer to my first record attempt; 300 miles. I told myself I could make the record not only for my own age group record but the "overall" female record!!! That information hit me and gave me so much extra fuel!!!
I was thinking a while but made up my mind quickly. I decided to go as hard as possible for both 300 miles and 500 km female "overall" records. That was so much more than I ever expected I could deliver. But I also knew that by making that decision my goal of 600 km could be threatened.

The day was getting warmer and warmer. 2021 has been so cold, windy and rough so the heat was a new condition for me this year. I started to drink even more. I gave everything I had and managed to set new potential record times for both 300 miles and 500 kms!! What an outburst!!

The heat became even stronger, and my headache was coming up. The last 100 kms to reach 600 kms was a struggle. Many breaks, cooling down treatments. Crew chief and the team members tried to talk me through but I was still sure I wanted to end when I reached 600 km. Then the dizziness came. I took even more breaks.

Suddenly it was hard to continue to drink. I reach 600 km after 22hs and 10 minutes. Crew chief did his best to make me continue but I couldn’t motivate myself. two potential records far beyond the limits I thought I had and 600 km that was my final goal. I declared I wanted to finish and so I did.
So happy and overwhelmed by the service from WUCA, Volvo cars, my Team and Officials.

Thank you all for making this WR attempt so special in many ways. A memory for life! "