My first world cup victory!

They say the darkest moments are followed by the brightest breakthroughs.

I am not trying to become a poet. Don't worry. But that’s exactly how these past months have felt for me.

After my injury, I knew the road back would be brutal. I was defeated. There were days I couldn’t believe I’d ever toe a start line again. But this year my body keeps proving me, it's stronger than my mind. Even when my mind is telling me I can't anymore, my body keeps going. I am in awe.

Coming home to Prachatice is always special. It’s more than a race. It's where it all started 5 years ago! The stakes are always higher and it's never just about the results. XTERRA Czech has been my first XTERRA race, it's been my first race after pregnancy and it's been a race where I won my first European champs medal and I got the chance to hold the Czech flag while finishing.

Not racing XTERRA Czech was not an option.

So when the mind was telling me this season is over and I am not capable of yet another comeback, I did not listen. I kept showing up and did the work. And I lined up ready.

I did not have the race I dreamed of. It was hot, my legs were burning way earlier than they should have and I was fading. I suffered on the run and finished disappointingly 3rd overall, 2nd within the European champs. I think for a moment there I forgot that only 2 months prior I still had stiches in my knee and it's a miracle I am racing at all.

Reseting after a disappointing race is not my strength. But it was a short track time and when you are racing on home soil and half of the city comes out to support you, you do what you gotta do. Immediately after the start I realized I feel way better than the day before. Despite some mistakes, I stayed focused and thanks to my sister's significant loud support, I have never given up and finally won my first world cup race.

Retrospectively, I realized that winning the short track the way I did with a live coverage on the national T V was way better than winning the European champs the day before. (Winning both would be obviously even better but I can't have it all, can I?) So disappointing Saturday forgiven, onto the next one!

Only 6 days later, we lined up again for yet another European champs - this time XTERRA. No big difference, just bigger prize money and more competitive field. To my delight, I finished second again but this time I felt good about it. I left everything I had out there.

Comeback score: gold, silver and bronze from world cup races and the most epic women's XTERRA finish. Not too bad!