Hey everyone, my elite race experience is over and I can safely say that I won't be applying for a professional license any time soon. The sea was rough but not cold and I was delighted to experiece being introduced and taking my stand on the allocated mat. Take your marks and then the cannon blast. Most of you know that I've been working extra hard on my swim this year and the benefits have shown in previous races. Today however, this was not to be. I don't have my offical times yet but I exited the water in 35minutes. The good news is though, I wasn't last.
Onto the bike, my strong discipline. The plan was to chase down a pack and draft. The plan didn't work. I hadn't packed my cycling legs and when I did manage to hook onto a group for 1 lap, it wash disheartening to say the least that they started to unclip their shoes and I still had another 2 laps to go.
I still had the run to do and I was hoping for a good one. After all, at this stage I'd nothing to lose. I did know that I wasn't last as I had managed to lap twice a couple of girls from the Republic of South Africa. On so, it was onto my 10km run. What the hell is happening to me. My back, hips and knees all had pains going through them which I've never experienced before. When I mentally gave out to myself for focusing on this, my calf muscles started crying out for attention.
At the turn around at each lap, I could see my time and I knew that it wasn't a good time for me. I think that I ended up being 2hrs 40mins and NOT last. (44th out of 47). When I compare this to Hell of the West which is longer and not a flat course like today's, I was only 4 minutes slower in Hell of the West.
I'm still going through the post race anlysis and trying to find out what exactly went wrong but today, I just cannot pin point it.
That is the negative stuff out of the way. The fact is, I enjoyed it and soaked up the atmosphere. When I knew my race wasn't in me, I started to take stock of all around me. I cannot tell you the amount of people who were cheering us all on and from all the athletes that we have met over the past 2 weeks. CISM represents 'Friendship through sport' and this was evident from all the girls in the race today. I will never get the chance to race elite again and in such a location.
The closing ceremony happened this evening and it was a great atmosphere. We start our journey home tomorrow and although I'm looking foward to getting home, I'll certainly carry the many brilliant memories and experieces with me from Rio for the rest of my life. See you all next week. I'm looking forward to the race report from The Beast.
