I went into this weekend with beating my Durban Ultra time as my only goal. I was very nervous and worried the night before that I wouldn’t be able to finish the race. On the start line I was envisioning how I wanted my race to go and thought to myself that if I don’t finish it is not the end of the world and I must just have fun.
Coming out of the swim I was feeling strong and knew if I paced myself well I could finish the event easily. I took my sweet time in transition to ensure that I had a little bit more comfort by putting plasters over my blisters and socks on feet. I jumped on the bike and resisted the urge to go flat out and try stay with the athletes on full time trial bikes. I rode within myself and managed to just miss my target goal by a couple of seconds for the bike leg of the race.
Going onto the run portion of the race I was feeling strong so I took the first lap of the run below my threshold and going into the second and last lap, I left everything out on the track. I managed to beat my last time by half an hour. I crossed the line and went straight to the recovery area for massages, food and ice cream. I had achieved my goal of beating my last time and finding out that I had won my category was just the cherry on top. I really enjoy the half iron man distance events but for me I think I will be limiting myself to three a year. Being a first year under 23 these events are very tasking on the body. I love the different aspect of racing over a longer distance and period of time.