I entered Windsor like most of you back in Dec, thinking that this season would be different and I would train more and improve on my Windsor PB.
A winter of skiing and then a May and June with plenty more excuses left me frankly unprepared for Sunday. Then, to top it all I went swimming on Thurs night and felt like I was getting a sore throat and cold. A meal afterwards with Tarne and Vix and a bottle of red wine did not seem to cure it either. I went home from work early on Thurs and took Friday off and spent far too much time debating whether I was well enough to race. Alan’s email from the week before “if you ain’t got the fitness now, you’re not gonna have it in the race” was top of mind too! But having missed the marathon I was damned if I was missing this too!
So why did I go to all the effort of Saturday registration, a 4am bowl of porridge and 6.24am swim in frankly what felt like an endless pool with swan shit on top?
It wasn’t for the PB but because I did not want to miss out on a good social occasion, a fun day with a great atmosphere (ok there was probably a part of me too that wanted to check I had not completely lost all fitness!) .
So there was a shared drive to the race with Vanessa, all the familiar faces in transition before the race, a very loud shout from Conan as I grappled with my wetsuit grip, the Rokers on swim exit and on every lap of the run, Tony Green, Shannon and crew on that damn hill, Shiv, Lee, Nick and Sarah and crew looking very relaxed with Capuccinos just before the bridge and then everyone racing who would either shout encouragement if capable, or give you a sweaty hug as they overtook you on the run (Gavin) or look really focused (Greg, Jon et al), reminding me to pick my feet up and look like I was actually moving with a bit of speed and focus!
So to all of you that were there on Sunday, either racing or supporting, a big thank you. Doing races as a member of Ful-on Tri is what triathlon is about to me.
I hit a time I never want to go back to (henceforth known as a PW) but the less said about that the better…