I nearly forgot… I can’t really write any more, but I did write an email to a friend and this was more or less what I said:
Swim
The start of the race was delayed by 80 minutes due to mist and we stood around in transition awaiting the start. I kept myself loose and sipped on Gatorade endurance mix while waiting, but the nerves were definitely building during that time. When we got led down at 7am, I was okay and once I was in the water I found a nice position in the middle and to the side - unfortunately it seemed to be the place where most people wanted to be and I ended up around the middle in the middle.
When the horn blew, I got into a steady stride quite quick, despite being beaten (as you do in mass starts) and knew that if I didn't keep my arms moving I would probably drown.
I got out of the water in 38:43, having made sure to concentrate on a good stroke. I walked up transition due to a numb feeling down my whole body, but managed to get my wetsuit down.
Transition was "slow" - 9:51, but I think only about 5 minutes of that was in the tent.
Bike
Once on the bike, my legs still felt numb, and there was a bunch of people around me for the first few miles - but my cycling legs didn't want to come out. I took some salt caps & water & Gatorade and it felt okay, despite still feeling like my legs didn't want to work. I didn't know quite what to do in the no passing zone down that steep descent as one guy (3 places ahead of me), was moving along at about 12 mph down there. I guess he was just afraid or might not have seen the course before or something.
After the descent I started feeling more like myself.
Up the first of the 2 steep hills, I felt my left foot come off the pedal - I tried to clip back in, but alas, it was not happening.
I had to stop and when I checked, it turned out that the clip on my left foot had broken at the back and was going to be of no use when pulling. At least I could still push - after that I tried on just about every steep hill, but my right leg took the most effort and I ended up walking in any case.
To be honest, my legs still felt quite tired and I'm not sure whether I would've have just walked up those hills on the second lap in any case, but it almost broke my spirit. I was going to finish though and I kept going.
By the time the bike finished, I had issues with groin muscles and my lower back was seizing up.
04:18:26
T2 : 0:04:32 - A volunteer kindly volunteered to help and threw everything in my transition bag onto the ground - a little bit shocked, but I managed to get everything I didn't need/want back in the bag and was on my way.
Run
02:49:35 for a finishing time of 08:01:06
The run was painful to say the least. From the word go. I couldn't lift my legs - my groin muscles hurt really badly. My lower back hurt every step that I landed on hills and downhills and I ended up walking a lot - I ran all the downhills and flats, but hills hurt too much. Not any good when the goal is to not walk. Halfway through the second lap the urge to stop was big. I kept going and when I started on the third lap I knew that I had more than 2 hours to finish - I could easily walk 4.5 miles in that, but I kept going at the run/walk that I had going. I even tried running up some of the hills, but ended up in tears halfway up 2 of the hills.
When I got close to the finish line I started to prepare that smile for the camera and as I crossed the line I know I had a smile on my face, but it was probably more due to relief than anything else. A volunteer that I had spoken to quite a bit over the course of the weekend was there and she gave me a hug which just made me burst into tears. Andy (husband) was also there and gave me a huge hug, but I probably didn't stop crying for a good half an hour. Another volunteer was so kind as to pour a bucket of water over my head (he saw me pouring my drinking water over my head and offered....) and then a photographer took a fair few pictures before I headed to the competitor's area for a donut and sausage roll. I also got a post-race massage on my legs and lower back.
All in all I'm glad I finished, even if I was in more pain than I think I've ever been.
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