The day I entered this race is the day my journey shifted a little bit. I was reading so many reviews on the race and chatting to everyone that has done it, about this unknown mountain lying ahead. The more people painted their portraits of the race the more excited I became to be able to take part in this Buffalo of a race. I did what most competitive people would do and checked the times of the previous year’s podium finishers… and there it was – a little bit of a sparkle. A gap in the time where I knew I could possibly hop in. Immediately contacting Coach Desi that is always readily available with firstly...calming the little excited nervous athlete and then a short powerful message that reads “it’s doable”. Well it’s like getting your training peaks and looking at it with big eyes and thinking – if coach thinks I can do this then I better do this. She warned me about the run and said we will have to focus on running in particular – from, speed and endurance – and we did. Desi not only worked on the run but built some courage in me to trust, it comes easier to some than others – I’m the latter. Trust the training, trust the coach, trust the tapering, trust the nutrition, and on race day… trust yourself. It’s like a hanging bridge – once you are on it you have to keep going, looking forward and keeping focus. Too much stress to this side or to that side will make you tip over – Its focused, deliberate, planned and trained for. Race day: It came so quickly, a great sea swim(my first in a race) I thought I was much faster than my Garmin said – I wasn’t - working on that. A great bike of hills and cheering people, some fast downhills and what do you know…more hills. A stop and go penalty for cycling in my very own self-created lane faaaar to the right, Marshall was very fussy about it being his lane . Coach Desi always tries to let us just go into the hill, pace it out and have a strong finish, and when it comes to downhills we must FLY– It’s what I did, and it worked, an average bike but I have enough in me for the run.
There were so many Trifactri athletes out there were cheering each other on, either by a small nod or loud screams and clapping hands. Coach Lucie and the rest of the Trifactri team quickly checking positions and motivating you with some quick “look up” “you doing well” shouts next to the course – it means the world out there. It’s great to be part of a team that everyone knows your name, knows your dreams and are so genuinely happy or sometimes disappointed with each other when it’s race day. So many achievements are spoken of afterwards, coaches and team mates knowing exactly what it took to overcome either a sea swim, a hilly bike or a hot difficult run. The team is what molds you into being better, not just a better swimmer, biker or runner, but mostly a better person. The ropes of the hanging bridge – you are not alone!
What a great race and what a great team – I salute you!
1 Comment
Trudy
2/13/2017 09:29:33 am
You are an inspiration to many! Well done and all thr best on your forward journey
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Authors:Where Trifactri athletes get to tell their side of the Swim, Bike and Run Archives
May 2018
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