And the winner is…
So the day of the all mighty David Lloyd mini triathlon (400m Swim | 10km Bike | 3 km Run).. to most it isn’t a calendar event however to me it is quite a major occasion; mainly this is because the results are put up on the gym ‘wall of shame’ until the next event takes place and also it ‘unofficially’ determines your tri club ranking.
I did my first David Lloyd triathlon in March 2013 which if you have read my last post you will know I came.. last. I was put in my place which was 13th out of 13 and that result was up on the gym wall for months.. and months. Hence me now calling it the ‘wall of shame’.
A few internal races have taken place since then and on the last occasion (March 2014) I managed to work my way up into 4th position out of 20 finishing 13:29 quicker than my first attempt one year earlier (and very happy I was too).
The fastest 2 members of the tri club were not racing today which meant a top 3 finish certainly was possible but this time the aim was to beat John another competitor in the tri club who I regularly battle against as we are both about the same level and he beat me in the Salford Olympic distance last month by less than 3 minutes.
The swim started and John was super quick and he was away, I was banking on beating him as I am usually faster over 400m and I needed as much of a head start going into the run as possible (I was hoping to go into the run a minute ahead to give me a chance). I didn’t know at the time but he was 21 secs ahead going into the bike. The bike wasn’t as fast as it should have been and whilst I pulled back the deficit coming of the bike I was just 12 seconds ahead and John is usually the faster runner.
I started the run and got cramp in my leg, I slowed down to walking pace for as long as I dare (about 20-30 seconds) then I had no choice but to leg it as fast as I could. My leg was suffering but I dare not stop. When I finished I knew I had done it, I won the battle I am told it was over a minute faster (not sure on the exact time yet) which really surprised me.
The results were announced and John finished 3rd so I did wonder if I had really beaten him as there were 2 fast people racing who I was not expecting to beat. I only went and won the whole bloody thing!! I don’t know how that happened but it did to my amazement. My time was actually a little slower than last time, but I didn’t care, I had a winners medal to carry home.
Granted the fastest 2 members of the tri club didn’t race but I was delighted, I never ever thought I could ever win it (even if it was a little by default) I was ecstatic to come from finishing last place 18 months ago to have now finished first :o) and I am keeping my winners medal. Forever.
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