Hi Zsombor, you have quite an inspiring and exciting background. Could you please introduce yourself to our audience?

My name is Zsombor Deak and I’m a professional triathlete. I’m 28 years old and I’m originally from Transylvania Romania. For the past five years, I’ve been living my dream as a professional triathlete.

What got you into Ironman triathlon?

I started triathlon more than 10 years ago. It has been a step by step process to get where I am today. I was introduced to triathlon in a sports school in Hungary, where I joined the triathlon club's training. I was always very active at a young age and loved every kind of sport. I especially liked running. I remember this childhood story at perhaps 10 years old. We were playing on the street with other kids. At some point we started to run a loop around two houses, it was maybe 200 meters per loop. After maybe 5 loops everyone got bored and we stopped. I wanted to run more and was a bit upset to stop. So, next day I came back and ran 100 loops around the houses for fun, that was maybe like 20K, and I was really happy.

So besides loving sports, I was a competitive kid, and liked individual sports. After some time, the triathlon club invited me to join a triathlon race, and after that I was hooked.

After that I started to really study and train the three disciplines of triathlon. I started to train running and cycling with discipline, and studied and trained swimming to develop that area. In general, I love all endurance sports. I love to push myself. My dream was to be able to pursue triathlon professionally and build a career around it.

How did you become a professional triathlete?

To become a pro I had to take another step. I decided to move to the Mecca of triathlon, Australia, where training conditions are great and there is a thriving professional triathlete community. The first couple of years in Australia were tough times. I trained triathlon full-time while I also had to study and work simultaneously. My first race was the 70.3 Ironman Taiwan 2013 where I finished 4th. That changed everything. Hard work paid off.

For the past five years I’ve lived my dream. Triathlon became my new career. I get to do what I love everyday; train, eat, and sleep. And travel the world participating in triathlon races and meeting amazing people.

What are your goals for triathlon in the next 5 years?

My primary goal and philosophy, is: Be better, day by day. I’ve been focusing more on the half-distance Ironman 70.3 for now. In the future my intention is to race longer distance, 140.6. The main goal is to win a big international race. I think I can win a race that’s more challenging, either in very hot weather or with a tough biking stage, or both. So I’m focusing on slower and tougher races which align with my strengths as a triathlete.

Besides triathlon, what other dreams or goals you have in life?

Another purpose in my life is to promote active triathlon and a healthy lifestyle. I consider that as part of my job. I’m doing presentations at schools and other organisations to educate people about health and performance. I also organize group trainings. The purpose is to show people that everything is possible, and that "Smart sporting” is important. I mean that training 10% less is most often better than training 10% extra, if you want to stay healthy and achieve long-term performance goals in triathlon or any sport.

Tell us about your nutritional philosophy and lifestyle.

I try to eat as natural as possible. I think it is not a problem to eat junk every now and then as long as your baseline diet is right. However, people often end up making very bad eating decisions on a daily basis which ruins health and performance.

I try to cook myself as much as possible, or to find the best meals while traveling. It is important to me to know what is put into the food. And what is the origin of the food; where does it come from, what’s in there. I love to eat fresh fruits and vegetables, and also eggs from the local farm. Finding good food and ingredients is easy in Australia where I live. Also back in Romania I often go to a local village market where I find good organic food.

Eating healthy in Australia is easy, but the thing is, I’m not living in one place. I travel to races around the world in Asia and in Europe. Often in races and new cities it is difficult to find proper food. To stay healthy and perform at my peak in races, I can’t sacrifice my good diet during race travels. That is why I love Ambronite. It makes eating healthy on-the-road and race travels easy. I think that is a competitive advantage.

How did you hear about Ambronite?

My pregnant friend came across Ambronite on the Internet and started to use it. She’s a very active woman and wants to eat healthy. I got Ambronite from her, and tried it, and felt it is amazing.

How do you use Ambronite?

In the mornings, I mix an Ambronite shake (2 scoops) in a blender with fruit, peanut butter and nut milk. Then between 1st and 2nd training, 30 min before 2nd training, I just mix 1-2 scoops of Ambronite with water in a shaker bottle. Sometimes I combine Ambronite with a muesli bar.

Ambronite makes my life so much easier. Especially because I’m vegetarian, and I think it is important to eat and be healthy to perform at one’s peak. I want to eat clean, and Ambronite makes that much easier. Ambronite will be of great help during race travels. It is perfect for the 1-2 days prior to the race to consume the right nutrition and energy - a balance of macronutrients and micronutrients.

Finally, what is your Ikigai (reason for being)?

Going after my dream and becoming better every day, and inspiring others to do the same. We only have one life. There will be no encore. So dream big, achieve more, be healthy, and enjoy the journey.