My stomach was a knotted ball inside of me as I clicked the button that would enter me into my first race in May. All the familiar thoughts of self-doubt plagued me. Some big and scary, “What if you don’t finish?”, “What if you haven’t done enough training?” and some ridiculously mundane, “What if you miss your flight?”, “What if you miss your start wave?”. They all have one thing in common though ,they all have to do with failure. As I clicked the button I pushed all those thoughts aside. The fear of failure has limited me as an athlete up until this point and I won’t let it limit me anymore. I learnt a lot from my time as a professional cyclist but after a lot of reflection in the last few months, I think this has been my biggest takeaway.
It’s been about a month since you last heard from me and in that time I’ve been hard at work trying to transform this cyclists body into a triathletes. Its taken awhile but I’ve finally been able to start adding some speed to my run workouts with a track set once a week and this has really helped me feel some of the progress that I’ve made. Flying down alpine descents is fun and all but there’s a special feeling you can only get from running fast and I’m super excited to feel that again.
A new friend graciously loaned me his wetsuit so I also got to experience my first open water swim in about 10 years. It brought about a big hit of nostalgia, I was 16 and right back at the National Champs in Devenport, Tasmania. Salt water up my nose, someone kicking right in front of my face as I tried to hold their feet, trying to see the buoy over the top of everyone else’s spray. I had an absolute blast being back in the open water and the wetsuit makes it feel like you’re knifing through the water, its like riding a bike with a tailwind.
Sport is an amazing way to meet like-minded people and I’ve been fortunate enough to connect with the guys at Common Room Roasters café just down the road. Every Sunday they’ve been hosting a run club together with Lululemon and it’s such a great way to get an easy run in, in a fun atmosphere. Sometimes you need a little bit of a push to get out the door in the morning and its always easier when you’re part of a group. Plus having the best coffee in town doesn’t hurt either!
I’ll be racing my first 70.3 at Ironman Barcelona on the 19th of May and while I’m nervous, I’m also really excited to take my first step into the unknown and see where I land.
Cover image c. Tristan Cardew