I am Richelle Kuijper, 29 years old and living in Amsterdam. I come from Landsmeer, a village above Amsterdam.
During my student days I lived in Amsterdam. Four years ago I made a trip to Heemskerk (wonderfully close to the beach!), but for a year and a half I have been living in Amsterdam again. My whole life I have been active in all sorts of things. From basketball to bootcamp, from crossfit to kickboxing.
Sitting still has never been in my vocabulary. Since the corona period I have discovered the love of being outdoors. I combined this outdoors with running and cycling.
Triathlon
One thing led to another: I rolled into the triathlon world. In the meantime, I have completely found my passion for this and my focus lies on this diverse and intensive sport. In order to maintain my strength and also not to miss the team spirit, I supplement my passion for triathlon with crossfit and basketball. Nice and diverse and all-round! I have noticed that in the triathlon season (the summer period) the other sports are more difficult to combine with triathlon, so then my full focus lies on increasing my endurance and optimal performance during races.
2022 was my first year of triathlon, during which I completed two Sprints, two Olympic Distances, one Ironman 70.3 and several running races.
This of course tasted like more. My goals, so far, for 2023 are: An IronmanIronman 70.3 Barcelona under 5 hoursVarious OD's & Sprints.
Happiness
I am happiest on a cycling holiday in a beautiful, hilly area. Last year I cycled through Gran Canaria and this year I took the opportunity to cycle through Switzerland and the beautiful Rwanda. Fantastic trips!
The reason I am an ambassador for Kalkman is because I find healthy nutrition incredibly important. Supplementing the right nutrients during endurance sports is a neglected child. Good nutrition is your building blocks for optimal performance during an intensive training or race. When I came into contact with Kalkman nutrition, I was incredibly happy with the 100% natural ingredients that Kalkman uses. I also noticed that the nutrition was very tasty, so I was convinced! :) I now supplement my energy level on the bike with Kalkman bars. I am incredibly happy that I can be part of the Kalkman Club.
Of course there is the focus during the competition, you have worked hard for that and then you go for it 100%. To achieve this everything has to come together on the day itself.
The vision and mission of Kalkman appeals to me very much, the combination of performance and enjoyment, this is exactly what I try to do every day, with my work, as a family man and as an athlete. Nowadays there are many 'unnatural' products in our food, I do not think this is a good development. That is why I am happy that I also get healthy and natural food during healthy sports, and this is precisely possible with Kalkman products.
In the coming years I want to continue to get the best out of myself, continue to run PRs, also run a marathon abroad every year... but above all enjoy all the kilometers on the way to the finish line!