It has been a whirlwind year for Flora Duffy.

Almost 12 months since she won the Xterra World Championships in Hawaii, the Bermuda triathlete has claimed bronze at the Pan American Games, finished seventh in the ITU World Triathlon Series, and won her second world title at the ITU Cross Triathlon World Championships.

In a couple of weeks Duffy will return to Hawaii to defend her title, and only after that will she get to fully sit back and reflect on what has easily been her best year so far in the sport.

There have been moments of down time, including a day of pizza, wine and gelato with Dan Hugo, her boyfriend, in Italy after her ITU Cross triumph. Those moments, however, have been rare ones.

“I race so often that it is difficult to take a moment, or a few days, to celebrate and reflect on the performance,” she said. “I made the most of the free time in Italy, and once I cross the line in Maui, I will be able to relax fully, reflect on the year, and celebrate my best year as a professional triathlete.”

The success has come as something of a surprise to Duffy, even though she always knew she had the ability to finish in the top ten of a world series event. However, that success has also changed her expectations for future performances.

In the past, top-20 finishes were cause for celebration, this time anything outside the top ten is accompanied by disappointment.

The win in Maui, then, was something of a turning point for Duffy, instilling a new sense of confidence after a race that, by her own admission, she sacrificed a lot for.

“Winning a world title sort of reassured me that I can race as a professional, and I can be one of the main contenders in the sport,” she said. “A lot of hard yards, and sacrifice, went into that race so it was great to have a result to prove that.”

A typical training day highlights just how much work goes into being successful at the highest level, as does Duffy’s desire to have a holiday where “I don’t take my bike with me”.

The day starts with a 90-minute swim, which will take in roughly four kilometres in what she describes as a “hard threshold session”. Next follows a four-hour hilly bike ride in the countryside surrounding her home in Boulder, Colorado, with a 20-minute jog to finish.

Triathletes do not just have to be physically strong, mentally they have to be able to push through the pain of a marathon run coming off the back of a long bike ride. There are various techniques athletes use to overcome the voice in their heads telling them they are hurting, Duffy is no different.

“Honestly, a lot of it comes down to determination and being super competitive,” she said. “Most of the time you have to just tell yourself you are not hurting, and push it to the next level towards the end of a race, especially if it is a close finish.”

It is easier to have that determination if you are winning, and Duffy has visibly grown in confidence over the past year and a half. It has helped that her achievements, and abilities, are being recognised by her peers, and that her experience of the sport is growing with every race.

“A lot of that [increased confidence] has to do with my race results, and the reaction that has created within the triathlon community,” she said. “It is really cool that girls I used to never imagine racing with, or beating, now look at me as a threat.

“My confidence is also partly due to gaining experience as I get older, and realising that I need to race aggressively to shape the race to suit my strengths.”

It was not always that way. The confidence, and the delight Duffy takes in her sport, took time to regain after some hard years of ups and downs.

The world champion even walked away from triathlon for a time, out of love with a physically demanding discipline that took a toll on her both mentally and physically. Already an Olympian by that point, Duffy said her body rebelled after the Beijing Games in 2008, where she failed to finish and broke down in tears afterwards.

She enrolled at the University of Colorado, did some cycling, and with the support of her parents decided to “take a few years away from the sport”.

“It was a long road back,” Duffy said. “Maybe it has made me mentally stronger, but I think going through what I did changed my perspective on the sport. Most importantly that I do love the sport, I just must keep things in balance, and remember my overall wellbeing is most important.”

The next stop on that road is in Maui on November 1, and then on to Rio for next summer’s Olympic Games. The success of the past year has forced to change her expectations for 2016, although not by much.

“In Olympic years it is hard to focus on anything else,” she said. “It would be great to finish in the top ten of the WTS Triathlon again.”