The swim was OK I came out a bit slower than I wanted but hey it was such a small part of the day that I jumped on the trusty Trekky and headed out onto the beautiful bike course. Almost immediately I felt something was up. I had very little zipp in my legs and the hills that I love so much in Canada seemed like mountains. Now I could come up with a million excuses for why this happens but I wont bother. New crank length, over training, lack of focus, blood blister forming on my foot.....it could have been any of these things.
Still I rode in in the same time as last year and thought to myself that in spite of my below par swim/bike combo I had gotten my nutrition right and felt like I was about to redeem myself with a personal best run.
About 10 kms into it the blood blister that had started on the bike was full blown and now had caused me a bit of a limpy wobble in my stride. The left knee felt the brunt of it and now both my legs were hating on me and I was ready to chuck it all in for the day.
Suddenly it occurred to me that I had to serve myself up a cup of "Harden the F*&% up" this is my job and I am not a quitter. Pain is temporary and quitting is forever.
People support me and my dreams and I owe it to them and myself to show some gumption and finish this dam thing off. Six other pro girls had dropped out and I was not going to be one of them. I struggled on and got rewarded in ways that I will be grateful for.
The best things of my day in Canada is as follows:
1. Having Tristian, Em, Kyle and Ben (even though he is no longer Timex) from Timex cheer for me.
2. Seeing Erik race and finish in his first Ironman. He was amazing and his smile as he ran down the road reminds me of all that is great in this sport..... YOU WERE AWESOME E MAN!!!!!!
3.Being in the race where Belinda Granger SERVED it up on the bike course!!!! She was the first person I ever met in this sport at my very first race in Sydney Australia and she is still the coolest chick out there!!!
Not to mention HARD CORE!!!
4. Making it home and not letting pride get in the way of a bad finish time.... I am just not a DNF girl. (Medical DNF excused... not having a crack at you Bree)
5. Having Luke and Jac at the finish line to give me cuddles and remind me that I am blessed to be able to do this for a living and that I have another race in 3 weeks in which I can redeem myself. The season is no where near over!
6. Getting back to our fantastic homestays house and enjoying a glass of wine and a slice of pizza.... Thank you so much Alan and Gwen!!!!!
A big shout out to everyone who sent emails of love and support..... stay tuned for the next one in a few weeks.
I believe!!!!!
Memphis
