A few weeks ago Matt sent me the link for the Southwell (pronounced Suth-uhl by the locals- and they think Americans speak incorrectly!) triathlon encouraging me to enter. Despite my attempts, I couldn't think of a good reason not to do the race. With Ironman training well underway, I've found myself plodding along for long distances, yet resisting efforts that cause me to suffer. I figured a sprint triathlon in the middle of a heavy training weekend would be just what I needed. The first challenge was casting my memory back to the previous time I had done the race to determine my predicted swim time. I somewhat arbitrarily wrote down a swim time (grossly off of my actual swim time)- which proved to cause a few delays as I found myself among breast strokers during the crowded pool swim.
Admittedly, I did not prepare myself how most would prior to a triathlon. I had already scheduled a 16 mile training run with Sarah & Alison for the Saturday morning before the triathlon. I wasn't about to miss Alison's lemon cake, errr, I mean the run just because I had a tri the next morning! The second atypical move was riding my bike 15 miles to the race. After living without a car for the past 3 years, commuting, even to race, doesn't faze me. Now that I've managed to discretely mention all of my excuses, I admit with only slight disappointment that I didn't win the race (4th place female).
(Not sure why I appear to be on the verge of a major fall!)
Regardless, it was a great day. Sarah P., Alison, Kate came out to watch the race. I managed to continue moving in a forward motion despite my discomfort & elevated heart rate due to their enthusiastic cheers. It is such a motivation to have friends in the crowd reeling you into the finish. We ended the afternoon by riding to Bleasby cafe for lunch...which is always a key ingredient to a perfect day.
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