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New ambassador – Ann-sofie Smedlund

We are so happy to present Ann-Sofie as a new ambassador for Cellexir! Ann-sofie is an active person who for the past 5 years has dabbled in triathlons and has completed both the half and full Iron Man. The picture below is the finish line from Iron Man Copenhagen 2019, the facial expression is just too lovely:D

Name: Ann-Sofie Smedlund

Age: 43

Family: Cohabiting

Lives: In the archipelago of Larsmo municipality on the Finnish west coast

Works at: Legal

Interests: Exercise in all its forms, travel and adventure

Favorite food: Moose stew with a good red wine

Favorite snack: Chocolate

Instagram: @starkfriskglad

What does your training background look like?

I have always liked training, have been physically active since childhood and have tried most things between ballet and football. Exercise in various forms has always been an obvious part of my life and I have worked for 20 years as an instructor at a gym. Running is what is closest to my heart, the simplest and most easily accessible form of exercise. 5 years ago I bought a road bike and slipped into triathlon. I participated in a few sprint distances and totally fell in love with the sport! Tested the half distance and has since run the Ironman in Kalmar 2018 and Copenhagen 2019. Tell us a little more about Iron Man and what your first race was like I participated in my first half distance triathlon in 2017 and thought it was insanely long and a full distance triathlon was not on the map. But I love to challenge myself, develop and push boundaries, thought ‘how hard can it really be’ and signed up for IM kalmar 2018. We built a house in the same year, which in retrospect was not the best combo as the house building took both power and time Did not follow a specific training plan that year, but ran on feeling. In May, I had a little panic before the awe-inspiring stretches. Therefore contacted Petter Mattsson at Pettsson Coaching who made the training plan for the last 3 months. Not a dream situation for a coach to move into that situation, I can imagine, but having someone else think about my training calmed me down mentally. The biggest challenge has been swimming and in Kalmar I panicked and had difficulty breathing in the water. After bobbing on my back and talking to myself for a while, I was able to swim on. Stepping out of the water in Kalmar felt like a small finish line in itself, if I managed the swimming, I would be able to finish the rest as well. My mental strength is probably my strongest card. The goal was the goal in Kalmar and I made sure to enjoy every second during the race (after the swim). The run is my strongest of the three disciplines and it felt like a 42.2km long party. I talked to everyone who wanted to talk to me, cheered on my fellow competitors, high-fived the crowd and sang along to the music along the track. So crazy fun! Few things make it to the finish line in Kalmar, it still gives me goosebumps.