Going into it this year, I was really apprehensive. I hadn't done nearly enough training - read next to nothing. I've hit a few snags along the way since my last triathlon, which have made it really hard to stay focused and committing to training. For starters, around Christmas/New Year, my anxiety attacks came back quite violently and I wasn't really in any mood to do any training at all. Winter is always the hardest time of year for me to train anyway. Who wants to be out in the freezing cold on a bike or pounding the pavement when it's -2 degrees outside?
Then I put my back out really badly which meant that any sort of exercise that wasn't swimming was incredibly painful. I couldn't cycle or run from January to May so my time window for real training shrunk dramatically due to injury. Also, being in a new relationship very much so (no matter how wrongly) affected my training schedule. I mean, if you had the option of early Sunday morning 5km run or staying in for breakfast in bed with a movie and the boyfriend..... which would you choose?
When I started my triathlon this morning, I hadn't cycled for a month and I hadn't done any brick training.... I was definitely feeling under prepared and very nervous that I wasn't going to be able to make it round the course without bursting into tears or at all.
However, by some sort of miracle, I did it! Not quite my PB but not far off and considering my near total lack of training I am so proud of myself. I wanted under 1hour 45mins and I completed it in 1hour 41mins, only 4 minutes slower than my PB anyway. I am so impressed that I still managed to get round in a really decent time and next year, if I actually do some training, I might even get a new PB.
For me this year, I actually felt my most comfortable the whole way round the course. Even on the run, which is always my worst section out of the three, I felt really calm and in control. I hurt from the word go, straight out of transition my legs were burning and I had a killer stitch for the first km and half. But I knew that if I stopped jogging and started walking, I'd never get going again. I just kept going steadily and made myself little goals so that I was constantly thinking about my next one, not worrying about how much distance I had left to run.
For example, 'run to the next bridge', 'just get to the next meter marker', 'keep going until that bottle thrown on the floor'. So, yeah, not always the most exciting goals but enough to keep my going. I also threw myself into encouraging every person who ran past me in the other direction to keep going. It was a great way to distract myself from actually running. Basically, anything to keep myself going and not think about running was a great help.
I was so happy that I finished and proud that I made it round. I'm still not where I want to be with the way I look. I was hoping to be at my goal weight for this triathlon but life sort of happened and not all the weight came off. I was really worried about posting these photos but then I looked at some of the photos from last years triathlon, and I can see some changes in my body.
My face is so much thinner. The photo on the left (above) is me at the end of the triathlon last year, and the picture on the right, is me at the beginning of this years. My cheeks are flatter, my chin and jaw line are more defined.
I haven't made the progress that I wanted to, but I have made progress and I know that if I keep going (and get back to training a little more) I'll get there. I'm trying to learn to appreciate even the small changes that I can see..... even if they aren't what I wanted initially.
I can't wait for sign up to open for next year so that I can get ready to compete again! Definitely one of the highlights of my year.
Check back in soon!!
M xx
