In 3 weeks time I do my 1st Olympic distance
Triathlon, Cape Town ITU. I have been training for 9
weeks now which consists of 3 swims, 3 runs and 3 cycles a week with one rest
day. I am sure you can do the math which
means some days are brick days, 2 disciplines in one day. I am bloody exhausted and just trying to
consume enough food to keep up with the energy demands is tiring in itself.
With 3 weeks to go I am at that point where I lay in bed at
night and imagine the frenetic start of the swim in the frigid smelly
harbour. Fighting my way through
hundreds of athletes as I try to get to that buoy and back not panicking and
trying to keep my goggles from being kicked off my face. How will I deal with the extreme cold and how
the hell do I try and rush through transition with fingers clumsy and frozen? My biking is not up to scratch with way too
few kilometers in these skinny legs of mine.
Thank goodness the bike ride is flat but what do I wear? April 26th…could be a sunny day
and could be a butt cold stormy day?
Getting off the bike on my wobbly legs and running the 10kms in front of
thousands of spectators. This is not a
typical newbie event. Most of the
athletes are seasoned pros or at least experienced athletes. 43 year old midlife crises housewives are
few and far between. Of course part of
me is excited to be part of such an awesome event and see all the pros from
around the world. They will be finished,
showered and have had lunch by the time I finish but I too will be part of this
event.
So yes, I both dread it and look forward to it and I am
certainly looking forward to it being over and life going back to normal. When I am not running I have plans to work on
my running over the next few months to try and increase my distance. When I AM running I think bugger it, this
sucks and I am SO not going to focus on my running. When I
get closer to Clanwilliam I will start training again but that’s a fun one with
short doable distances. I want to try
take off 20 minutes off my previous 1:58 time. The big question is do I enter 70.3 next
year? Do I dare to take on this
challenge that I know will consume my time, energy, money, focus etc even more
so than this triathlon? Half
Ironman? Me? Can I even run 21km on a normal given day
never mind after a 1.9km swim and 90km bike ride? Can I ride the 90km bike ride in the
allocated time without being swept off the course? Paying all that money and all that training
and then not being allowed to finish will be devastating. I feel like it’s now or never. The following year I take on all 10 modules
to complete my last year of my Social Work degree and I will have my pracs as
well. Rebeka will start her 1st
year of high school. I don’t know, I
feel torn. Wanting to do this race yet
knowing what it will require of me.
Knowing how I would feel if I had to complete it, knowing how hard I
would need to push myself and actually finishing would just blow my mind. This
weekend the guys do FULL Ironman. Thank
goodness I really have no desire to do a full, my body cannot, I don’t want
to. Yet I do admire them so and know
what they have put in for this one day where many will continuously race for
close to 16 hours. The absolute world
bests will do it in 8. It’s almost too
much to watch, seeing how some people practically crawl over that finish
line. Others who have to hear the gun go
off at midnight knowing they have missed the cut off. Our human spirit and drive stays something I
am in awe of. I want in, I want part of
the magic but is the price too high? I
don’t know…
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