Between running track and career path

It is a mild winter day. Bianca, 31 years old, walks along a forest path in Freiburg. It has rained, the ground is soggy and smacks with every step. Bianca looks focused, her lips slightly parted, her ponytail bobbing. Her steps are firm, determined, dynamic. It is 10 AM — until just now she was sitting in the office, working on emails, completing a few tasks and then getting changed. Black tracksuit, white baseball cap, bright pink and blue running shoes. 90 minutes of training are now on the agenda.

Bianca is a competitive athlete. She has set several records, won medals and is one of Germany's top athlete in long-distance walking. And she is an IT service manager. She works full time at Haufe Group and is responsible for technical support for various e-learning instances at the Haufe Akademie. She sits at the computer five days a week and monitors numerous applications, records error messages and works on optimizing technical processes. And she trains six days a week. At least one hour, maximum three, sometimes intense, sometimes calm, always keeping an eye on the heart rate monitor. Today it says: training readiness high.

Haufe Group supports her in balancing sport and her job. In addition to flexible working hours, Bianca gets additional vacation days for competitions and training camps so that she can recover during her actual vacation. Above all, however, it is her team that shows great understanding and deals with the situation in a flexible and positive manner. Her calendar is planned well in advance so that everyone in the team can adjust to her absences. Bianca shares her role with a colleague who takes over during periods of competition. “I'm grateful every day that we've all found a way together and that I have an employer at my side who makes it possible for me to combine both worlds,” says Bianca as she stretches on a bench.

Because that wasn't always the case. “I was always met with skepticism and a lack of understanding, and more than once I thought about simply quitting. It wasn't until I joined Haufe Group that I was able to do my competitive sport more professionally alongside my job.”

The art of race walking

It all started on a sofa more than 20 years ago: in 2003, Bianca is sitting with her mother on the green corner sofa in their home in the Thuringian district town of Apolda. The World Athletics Championships are on TV. Sport has a long tradition in the family: her uncle was a professional footballer in the GDR national team, her aunt a successful heptathlete and her mother a passionate volleyball player. Bianca joines the swimming club at the age of six and begs her mother to sign her up for athletics at the age of nine. When she's not training, she watches competitions on TV, like on this warm August morning.

Shortly before 8 AM, the finale of the niche discipline of long-distance race walk is on. Bianca stares at the screen as if spellbound, follows the short, quick steps and swinging hips of the athletes and asks her mother about this sport. “She spoke with great respect about race walking and told me that it is a demanding discipline that not everyone can do.” At that moment, Bianca thinks to herself: then I want to be able to di it. And so, at the age of ten, her career in race walk begins.

Regional, supra-regional and national title matches follow, as well as several successes. The long distances appeal to her the most and since they are not officially permitted for women, Bianca simply signs up for the men's competitions. During this time, Bianca is 20 years old, she also starts her studies in foreign language teaching — but quickly realizes that she can't juggle her studies and training. Bianca's health is also slowing her down: she suffers four fatigue fractures and a hereditary bone necrosis is discovered, which is accompanied by dying bone tissue.

As a walker, she is not given any opportunities for promotion in the distances she is allowed to run, so Bianca finally decides to concentrate on her studies. She only takes part in a few competitions and has serious doubts about herself. “I was actually pretty convinced that I had to give up the topic of competitive sports.”

The turning point comes when an American athlete manages to get women allowed to compete in the 50-kilometer race walk, which is her favourite distance. Bianca quickly contacts Offenburg coach and race walking specialist Robert Ihly, who changes her training plan and pushes her to new heights. In 2018, she officially walks the 50 kilometers for the first time and breaks the German women's record with a time of four hours and 43 minutes.

The search for balance

During this time, Bianca moves to South Baden for an optimal training environment, as this is where Robert Ihly lives, who had previously only trained her from afar. Freiburg becomes her adopted home and, with a Master's degree in foreign language teaching under her belt, she starts her career with a full-time job in the tourism industry. She works from 9 AM to 6 PM and trains before and after. Every day. She walks 150 kilometers a week and falls into bed exhausted in the evening. She no longer has any social contacts during this time. “The stress was enormous,” says Bianca today. But she doesn't want to put sport on the back burner again and is looking for flexible jobs. When applying, she doesn't mention her passion for sport: “I was once told that I had to make a choice — do I want to put my energy into sport or into work? But I don't want to have to choose,” says Bianca.

“I was once told that I had to make a choice — do I want to put my energy into sport or into work? But I don't want to have to choose.” Bianca

And then, in summer 2021, she sees a job at Haufe Group in IT, for career changers. Bianca, who has always been looking for challenges, applies. During the introductory meeting with the team, she doesnt' mention the hard training — until a team member gets in touch. “He googled me and asked me about this weird sport that I am doing, how this works,” says Bianca. Laughing today, she answers with a queasy feeling back then, but soon realizes that she is met with genuine interest. “Both my manager and the team obviously saw it more like this: This one is over-engaged and ambitious. And someone like that can also make a career change. ”

She gets the job. At Haufe Group, too, reconciling top-class sport and career is initially a new situation for everyone. “But, and that was the crucial difference: everyone was open and curious. I found that to be very positive,” Bianca recalls.

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A team that makes everything possible

In the following years, she becomes German champion, makes it into the top 30 in the European and World Championships and sets records in the 35-kilometre and 50-kilometre race walk distances. However, organizing her working hours to suit everyone remains a challenge for the time being. Again, she trains before and after work and juggles overtime. She uses her vacation days for training camps and competitions. And yet, after an Australian training camp in 2023, she improves her previous time by ten minutes, catapults herself to the top of the German annual best list and also qualifies for the World Championships in the 35-kilometer race walk shortly afterwards.

“That was when I realized that my body was running at full speed and that I could get a lot more out of myself,” says Bianca. Now it's time to do even more training. The vacation days have already been used up, so Bianca applies for special leave. “When I was online and wanted to work, I got messages from my colleagues: Sign off, go train. We are taking care of this, do your thing. ”

“It was my colleagues who said: Sign off, go train. We are taking care of this, do your thing.” Bianca

She goes to the competition and finishes 29th, despite the enormous heat. When she boots up her computer at the hotel in Budapest afterwards, the Teams channel is full of messages. “It was all spammed about the competition. They were doing a real live ticker about where I was, how I was doing and were totally cheering me on,” she recalls with a smile. The support and appreciation blows her away. “Back then, I understood: Reconciling sport and work is first and foremost teamwork.”

New paths, new goals

BBack on the forest path. More than a year has passed since Budapest. Bianca is currently training again for a world championship. No longer in race walking, but in duathlon, an endurance sport consisting of running and cycling. She wrestled with this decision for a long time. But race walking distances in competitions are now being shortened more and more. Her big dream of competing at 50 kilometers at the Olympics has been shattered. “Competitions are few and far between, race walking is not attractive enough in the media and the support for women in long-distance walking from the national sports association is poor. I perceived the path as a lone fighter as an enormous burden.” That took the fun out of it. “I was training with my head. But at the same time, my body was running at full speed. In the end, I asked myself whether I wanted to stop doing sport altogether or try something new.”

Together with her trainer, Bianca  opted for the latter. “I benefit from my endurance when I run, and I've been using the road bike as an alternative training tool to prevent injuries since I was young. So the prerequisites are there. I can't yet say which goals are realistic. But I would like to compete in the national jersey at least once more in my life.”

Even if she ventures down new sporting paths, she is sure to have the support of Haufe Group. Today, Bianca is more than happy to be a top athlete without having to make a living from her sport. “I am more independent and flexible and have a second, secure source of income.” Looking back, switching from foreign languages to IT was also the right decision. “Sport is always my passion. But I enjoy my job and I don't want to give it up. ”

In fact, Bianca believes that it was this balance that made her more successful in sports. “I always knew that if my competition didn't go well, a normal working week would start again on Monday. Everything's optional, nothing is a must. This attitude took the pressure off and brought me more than hard training.” In her eyes, sport and work have a positive effect on each other, because: “If I do a good job, I can do more in training. When I'm strong in training, I'm more motivated at work. ”

Bianca has found the right path for herself and can only encourage other athletes and companies to be curious and brave to try out new approaches and formats. But her greatest gratitude still goes to her colleagues. Because whether it's race walk or duathlon - they still cheer her on loudly.

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