Ever since the disappointment of Wimbleball there has been one date firmly set in my mind which was today, August 11th. That is because it represented the next chance I had to complete a middle distance triathlon and prove to myself that I could do it.
The day started nice and early with a 4:30 alarm to ensure I was at the lake, set up and ready for my 6:30 swim start. I had mixed emotions last night as I was trying to get some sleep. There were nerves that the same thing was going to happen again mixed with a knowledge that the course was almost completely flat, leading to the how fast can I go question. Thankfully, this morning turned out to be quite frantic for one reason and another so I didn't have too much time to dwell on anything and before I knew it, the starter had gone and we were away.
The swim went really well, even if the lake was a bit shallow in parts meaning my fingers were dragging along the bottom! A good swim is becoming a bit of a regular occurrence for me in triathlons now and I have to say a massive thanks to the coaches and my swimming buddies in the club for really helping me improve in the way I have. Hopefully I'll be able to keep it up and improve even more. It also shows that hard work and time spent training really does pay off.
Once out of the swim it was onto the bike and I decided to use my Wimbleball trick of having the lap (every 5 miles) time and distance, rather than the overall so that I wasn't trying to push too hard to beat a certain time but also to stop me getting disheartened if I'd missed a time as well. It seemed to do the trick. The route itself was in lovely surrounding but I did find it a little bit tough mentally in some parts as there wasn't much to look at apart from the straight road in front of you. The only plus side to that though is that I could see how flat the road in front of me was! There was a little hill around half way through the lap which despite being similar in profile to one that I ride up all the time, it did come as a shock to my legs, especially thon the second lap after spending so much time on the flat! Thankfully, I'd been warned about that so was prepared for it (thank you Mr Beck!). The bike was mostly uneventful which was a massive relief and my time was more or less what I was expecting so no complaints at all!
Finally, onto the run route. I knew that it was going to be a tough one for me but I certainly wasn't prepared for how mentally tough it would be. For starters, I definitely hadn't eaten enough during the bike stage which is something I need to work on. After 1 lap of the course I could feel that I had very little energy and was firstly struggling and then finding it impossible to keep even and 11 minute mile pace. I managed to grit my teeth and get through the second lap but the final one was horrendous. I had the shakes and there were definitely some dark moments where I wasn't sure if I would finish. The water station around half way was a very welcome sight and I also made a friend along the way and we dragged each other around that last lap. My overall run time was shocking, absolutely terrible but at the end of the day I finished and that was all I set out to do. My time in the end was 6hours 26 minutes and 45 seconds which is not bad if you consider I'd told my Mam and Dad I was expecting to finish in around 7 hours the night before.
Once I'd finished it was back to mixed emotions though. There was the expected exhaustion along with the pain coming from my legs and feet. There was relief and joy that I'd finished but also a little part of me that felt a bit flat. I always knew that this wouldn't make up for the Wimbleball experience (hopefully I'll be able to do that when I attempt it again next year) but I thought it would at least satisfy me in knowing I could do the distance. Maybe it'll take a couple of days to sink in and perhaps I'll feel better about it after a good nights sleep. At the end of the day, this was something that I thought was beyond me even 9 months ago, so to have finished it is an incredible achievement for me. I think though that the real satisfaction won't come until I've conquered Wimbleball.
Anyway, here is the photo from today (you might be able to see as well that the number 1 from Top Barn is still visible on my awm! and you can still sponsor me if you would like at www.justgiving.com/huw2013 After stating this current run of events on 1st June, I've got a couple of weeks off now so I'm going to enjoy them!
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