As far as my fund raising campaign goes, I have not only managed get my first donation, I have actually managed to raise ZAR1000... CHA CHING. Ok, I know it's not much in the greater scheme of things, but it is a start and it can only get better, right? Well regardless, the ball is rolling and I am very positive. Everything will work out just as it should... as always.
In the interim I have been very busy training, I followed my programme religiously, well almost. With the exception of a few too many rest days for my liking. And of course the 3 week vacation in Thailand. And the 3 weeks I was out with the flu... come to think of it, I've been very bad. Hard to believe I have been as successful as I was.
Lets see, there was a sprint triathlon... 750m swim, 20km cycle, and 5km run. Weather was shocking. It was the hardest swim I could have imagined, breathing was to say the least, an issue. It took me an eternity of 25 mins to complete the swim. Turns out, my swim was not as strong as I'd imagined. After having to wrestle with my mind about the not being able to breath, I managed to gather myself and move on. Managed to complete the cycle and run pretty comfortably feeling good, and at not too bad a time either. Total time of 1h30... about what my target time was. Was feeling really impressed after this race.
Then there was the olympic tri... 1.5km swim, 40km cycle and 10km run. I did a bit more work on my swim, having the last debacle in mind, but when the race started, conditions were ideal. Water was beautifully flat, weather was cool. having the boosted confidence of the last race, I really had a good day. I struggled a bit with the transition from swim to bike, but once the legs warmed up, there was just no holding me back. I finished in a proud 2:59... making it a sub 3. Just barely, but sub 3.
With all the confidence and pride brimming from the previous races, I was just on such a high. Loving every minute of the training as well as the races. Tried my hand at another 94.7 cycle challenge. The plan was to do it in under 3 hours. At kilometre 70, I was at just 2h12 and was just about to start my sprint to the finish when my chain comes off, bending my rear derailleur in the process. I managed to make a makeshift repair, leaving me with only 2 working gears (the 2 front chainrings). All things considered, I finished in a 3h19. Not bad at all, at least I thought so. Now I just need a proper bike. Oh damn.
That brings me to my nemesis dun dun duuuuuun. It was me vs the ultra triathlon. A half Ironman dist monster.... make that THE half Ironman distance. Yes, the same one that killed me before. The Midlands Ultra. I am so ready to face this beast. It's the one thing I've been training for all this time. My eye opening race. The only difference is, this time I am ready. This time, I'm prepared. I trained. I can absolutely, unequivocally without a doubt say, I am ready. In fact, I am even aiming for an under 6 hour time. Come race day, things don't go so well. I am at the transition on time, bike racked and ready. Waiting for race briefing...and waiting, still waiting. Weather is yet again, against us. All the training, all the expense, all the hard work, time and effort culminating in this one event, and the weather has other plans. Fog so thick, we can't even see the dam. Eventually at 9am they call it "It's not safe to continue folks, we have to cancel."
How sad, oddly enough, I really wasn't as disappointed as I'd imagined. I got to see my sister who I haven't seen all year, I got a pretty decent holiday. So worth the trip. However, there is this one slight detail I have overseen. The race. I return home, feeling a bit like something is lacking. Just feeling like I didn't really want to put all that training to waste. So what do I do? I take the plunge. Give myself another target to work towards. I register for Ironman. Yup, just like that, on a whim. Just get on with it. Looking back, I am not even the least bit unsure. No second doubts, just kicked training into overdrive, and get serious beast mode going. I am actually excited to see how I do with it. Looking forward to the race.
In the meantime, I will keep trying to raise more funds for Kids Haven, I will keep training and working and keep you informed, as I progress along my journey of getting there.
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