Outlaw Half Ironman 2014
Right, first up let me make this clear: I love the outlaw half ironman race. I love that venue and that course and doing that triathlon. I love the swim, the cycle and the run. I love the memories it brings back of last year. Even though the finish line is a 70’s leisure centre to me it looks better than the Mall. I love meeting all the twitter folk. And watching friends be awesome. And feeling like a superstar crossing the line. Basically what I’m saying is if you like reading warts and all race reports, this isn’t going to be it! Last week I had a bit of a stressful week with work where I had too much stuff on and not enough time to do it. The end result was that I hadn’t really thought about Sunday at all. By the time I got home on Friday and went to a friends wedding I was pretty spent. I packed all my stuff on Saturday morning and was immediately reminded of one of my pet hates about triathlon – the absolute mountain of kit required! I like to think I travel pretty light but looking at the expedition sized pile in front of me changed my mind. Some of my cycling kit hadn’t seen action since last July… So my training. I think it’s fair to say earlier in the year I had done a LOT of running training but I was also on the turbo three times a week. None of these were longer than 30 minutes, but I was doing them in conjunction with a 30 minute run. I hadn’t done one for 9 weeks though, pretty much since London. I’d also pretty much stopped running mid week since Milton Keynes, partly due to time pressure but mostly due to my laziness. On top of that I’d only been swimming outside a couple of times. I knew I was pretty fit still from the running but the cycling and swimming were big unknowns… Saturday passed by in a bit of a blur. Seeing the lake again and the finish line was lovely, the race briefing was fine. I get a bit angsty about going as all the info you need is in the race pack. As I was moaning about this to Pilla on the way I quickly realised I hadn’t actually read the race pack so I guess it’s for people like me! @TheLozzatronspotted me on the way in and so did @doneanddusted. I still haven’t really met James and the angst this must have caused him clearly drove him to absolutely smash his way around Sunday. I had a mini panic when I was packing my bike in the car as the rear wheel was loose on its axle, so Pilla took it off to be serviced during the race briefing. You really shouldn’t do this the day before a race but they sorted it pretty nicely. We had a fun meal on Saturday night with some ace twitter people and chatted to @theironorange in the bar afterwards. I’m generally pretty crappy at tweet meets, but the more I do them the funner they become. Anyway I had a couple of beers which is perfect preparation for a half ironman. As is being woken up at 2:30am by some very loud hotel guests. I didn’t mind this too much as my sleep is always pretty hit and miss the night before. There’s something about setting the alarm for 4:00am that means you never really sleep well. I had breakfast in the traditional triathlon way by eating it perched on the edge of the bath busying myself on twitter. After wishing good luck to a few people I headed off to the venue and got there good and early. The weather was supposed to be pretty nice so I knew the sunrise would be something special and it was. Because the sun rises almost exactly over the far end of the the lake the transition area is bathed in a lovely dawn glow. Anyway enough of that, I took a nice picture but it still doesn’t really do it justice.
The Swim
After piling all my kit up and eating a banana I was all set. My strategy for the swim was exactly the same as last year. Pen 2 has the over 40 minute swimmers and I thought I would be faster than that, so I plonked myself right at the front so I’d have tons of room and did a few test swims. Bblllllluuuerrrrgghhh!!! The water at HPP was absolutely rank this year. Weedy, mucky and horrible smelling. A guy next to me came up after his test swim absolutely covered in weeds. Lovely! After wishing good luck to everyone around it was time to go. After about 50 metres I was absolutely dying. My arms were sore, I couldn’t get comfortable and this continued for the entire outward leg. It felt like it took forever. Much like last year there was zero bumping around but I just couldnt get comfy. I figured this was because of my lack of training but shortly after starting the swim home I started passing people from the first wave and then I started feeling really good. It was odd – I went from feeling like I’d never swum before to feeling like I was Michael Phelps. That return leg felt like it was over in the blink of an eye and I loved it. Considering I don’t like the swim training that much, I absolutely love the swim part of the race. Anyway I was quietly looking forward to seeing what my time was but I think they had forgotten to put the clock up at the swim exit (or I missed it in my swim daze). Right then onto the bike…
The Bike
I was expecting it to be pretty long somewhere in the the region of 3.5 hours. My cycling was never that great last year and being ‘ok’ at swimming means that I spend three hours of getting overtaken. The ride is super flat around and very fast. Before I knew it an hour had gone and I was at about the same speed as last year. I was struggling to stay on the bars due to lack of practice and I was generally fairly uncomfortable the whole way round. A quick blast up oxten bank is the only steep bit on the course and even that is pretty tame. You also get rewarded for it by a lovely three mile gentle downhill which is some cracking riding. The northern loop felt like it went really quickly and before I knew it I was on my favourite bit of the outlaw course – the ride through Car Colston. Much quieter today but still fun. I was still on for about three hours which was a bit of a surprise. Before I knew it I was on the horrible bumpy bit back to HPP. I came in just a shade under 3:01.
The Run
Onto the run and I felt fairly good. I might spend three hours getting overtaken on the bike but the run is where I get my own back a little and I was jogging along nicely straight away. It was ace seeing Anne and Pilla making some massive noise on the side of the lake but it was getting pretty warm already. This was no surprise as almost every event I do is characterised by it being unexpectedly warm! The first lap out was very fun, all those memories of the trog round here on the ironman flooding back only this time I was actually running a pretty decent pace. I heard a couple of people shout my name, but didn’t really see who they were until round near the boathouse when the legend that is @sidowski spotted me and gave me some decent volume. I think he left me with a ‘give it some!!’. Brilliant. I was still making decent progress around the lake on the he first loop but was getting some stomach issues. Bloody annoying because as soon as I walked at the food stations they went, as soon as I started running they came back. I was busy scouting out decent size looking bushes at one point but thankfully didn’t need them! Back on the out loop I got some massive further support from Sid who told me I had to pick up the pace. I was in a tough spot at this point as not only was my stomach making some funny noises but my knees I were hurting too. I guess this is through lack of training as I haven’t had it before but it was enough to make me keep talking quick walk breaks. I was still pretty happy even if it was hurting and tried to dish out some positivity to people on the the run. I spotted a guy with Neil on his top and gave him a big cheer and it turned out to be @Neil373. He sounded way too happy to be on the run and we wished each other look. At some point I think I bumped into theironorange, but it was all a bit of a blur! When I turned at the far turning point I resolved to try and get in under 1:50. With the walking breaks I knew I’d be close, but also figured once I got round to the lake I wouldn’t be slowing down. I spotted Sid again who ran with me whilst giving me encouragement/abuse and the kind offer of his morph suit. Obviously it was a bit cold for him this year! Anyway I loved that 50m it was probably the highlight of my run! Once I got back to the lake I leasuirely strolled through the penultimate feed station grabbing crisps and coke and high fived the Pilla-Anna support crew combo. How they could still make any noise is beyond me. The loop around the lake is a bit of a battle as it seems to go on for miles but I saw Rach at the far end which was nice and having overtook her realised I couldn’t slack off back down the lake on the other side. I took a walk break through the last station and set off to finish this thing but not before seeing @aboutwild. Would have been nice to go in for the awkward man hug but I wasn’t for stopping! It’s a funny feeling because simultaneously you want it to be over but you don’t often get the feeling of finishing a half ironman so I always want that last bit to go on and on. Down the lake, counting off the metre markers on the the lake and with 500 to go figured I was on for under 1:50. I didn’t have that goal when I started but as soon as I made myself that deal I had to do it.
The finish line at Outlaw is great. There was a good crowd and I was the only one on the red carpet. Brilliant. I got the full tape across the line treatment which I was a little embarrassed at last time but flipping loved it on Sunday. My time was 5:30:52. Three minutes slower than last year when I was pretty much at the peak of IM training. I’ll settle for that!
I bumped into Gareth and @TheBaldyGit in the food tent and had a bit of a chat as I settled in for my now traditional post outlaw event chilli and rice. The alcohol free beer was an excellent touch and one that should be immediately instated at all races in future. Along with chilli. And cake. Anyway the best bit of the day was still to come. After trotting miles back to the car with my stuff I settled in with a beer or two to cheer on the other athletes. I love this bit and it was loads of fun with Anne and Pilla making some serious noise for everyone finishing. We knew a few folks still to come in but were especially excited when Lozza came past looking really strong and looking, in the hottest part of the day, like she was enjoying it. As she went past the other side of the the lake Pilla suggested shouting and her and Anne made probably the most noise I have ever heard. It was ace! It wasn’t long before before we spotted Lozza storming down to the finish and as she passed us on the red carpet the crowd went crazy. I had a great time during the race but the absolute highlight for me was watching someone else be awesome.
A sort of homecoming
Just a few days ago I wrote that I pretty much couldn’t be bothered at the moment which very accurately summed up my level of motivation for training right now. I left it with a pretty open ended ‘what’s next…’.
The answer very obviously was the Manchester 10km last Sunday. This is Europe’s largest 10km which temporarily turns my local neighbourhood into a festival of running for a morning once a year. The city centre on race day is awash with slightly nervous looking people decked out in their finest Lycra. A start range of 09:55 to 12:30 gives some indication of the size of it and you really can’t walk around town without bumping into runners or their supporters. It also feels like Europe’s most expensive 10km (seriously for £38 I could get a taxi round the course and have change for a couple of beers and a bit of food at the finish), it’s too busy, the course isn’t that exciting and it’s one of my favourite events (I’ve only done the hellrunner events more). It’s the event that started me off running, my first real race and it started when I walked Pilla to the start of her first 10km here and thought ‘baaaahhhhhh I want a go!!!’. I have some great memories – from standing at the start line a couple of weeks after my first marathon to running round it twice with Nic last year just before the ironman.
Before I lined up on the Sunday I thought I should fit in another bike ride, and had a lovely 66 mile trundle through south manchester and Cheshire. It wasn’t very fast (it wasn’t fast at all) but I enjoyed it, the scenery was lovely and I got to nosey in quite a lot of fancy houses. The rolling countryside between manchester and Macclesfield is some of my favourite cycling ground. It’s somewhat undulating but not hilly, it’s quiet and rural and just very pleasant. Post ride we rushed off to the allotment to spend a few hours catching up before the holiday. After getting back and packing we were pretty beat, so given the lack of training and the tiredness I wasn’t expecting much the next day.
Here’s the thing though – I have done a crap-load of training. Yeah in the last 3 or 4 weeks it’s been pretty hard going/non-existent but that doesn’t take away from the 6 days a week none-stop effort since mid December. My head was doing it’s best to forget the training and just remember lazing so at about 10:40 on Sunday I really wasn’t sure what to expect.
42 minutes and 11 seconds later I had my answer, a PB by over two minutes. I didn’t really set out for a time just to run at a decent-ish pace. After a km at about 4:05 I figured I would try and keep that up which worked pretty well. I was a little in shock with the time as I crossed the line but it did make me wonder how fast I could go with a consistent block of speed training – I think sub 40 from here seems within reach.
This is another reason why I love running (number one obviously being all the food it lets me eat) when you train hard you get better and there are always new goals to set, whether it be longer races, faster races or just to do a race. The training can also mentally challenge you – and sometimes it’s that mental strength that gets you through races. And sometimes, like on Sunday, you and your legs just remember they really like running.
So….
It happened. I’m now nearly 2 weeks post Milton Keynes and my total running amounts to a whopping 14 minutes. I just can’t be bothered at the moment. Now normally that would be fine post marathon, you are totally allowed to take time off to recover and you can’t be on it all the time. It’s lovely taking a break to remember why you love it.
However, it’s not so lovely having your ‘can’t-be-arsed-right-now’ break when you have 2 weeks to go before a half ironman. Not only is my running bothersome and generally crappy, I have hardly been out on my bike – I’ve been outside on it twice in the last 6 months. On top of that my swimming hours have been almost nothing.
Brilliant!
Looking at the positives I get to go back to where the magic happened last summer which I’m dead excited about. I’m not excited about the actual race, but it should be a pretty good atmosphere. Last year this race was my absolute perfect race, lovely sunny day and each of the three events I smashed my expectations. After 25 weeks of solid training that I guess was to be expected. After some generally crappy training lately I know I wont be close to that.
After this I think I need some downtime to dream it all back up again…. What’s next….
Milton Keynes Marathon
So I talked about it a little in this post but until about two days ago I wasn’t really looking forward to the Milton Keynes Marathon. I was unprepared, I hadn’t taken it very seriously and if I hadn’t paid for the hotel in advance I probably would have called it off. I don’t know if it was the blog (it helped), the race mode you go into when you have an event coming up or the excellent support I got off Twitter but by Saturday I was looking forward to it and by Sunday night I was pretty excited.
And so it turned out that today was just about the most I’ve enjoyed an event since the outlaw half which was just about as prefect a race for me as you get. As I sit here stuffing my face with ice-cream after drinking beer I have a big smile and am currently on a massive race day high. Why?
It was just a lovely day. We stayed in a nice hotel at the start/finish which made race morning pretty much zero effort and no stress. Then we met up with the best people on twitter before the race. We tried at Silverstone and failed, but I think today was the the perfect day for it (well it wasn’t freezing for a start, and the atmosphere was lovely) and it all worked really well. Hugs a plenty, lots of smiles and a nice reminder that twitter is amazing for meeting like minded people.
The hour before the race went super quickly and before I could say ‘I’ve not run properly for weeks’ we were lining up at the start line. I haven’t run an actual race with headphones for years and it was kind of fun and kind of odd at the same time to do it today, but the Smiths coming on just before the start was ace. I’ll take your carnival race start atmosphere and raise it with a bit of Morrissey moaning. Perfect!
The first few miles you run into MK central and its basically running on a dual carriageway. I’m ok with this, it’s never going to set the soul into overdrive but it’s nice enough running along tree lined roads. There were a few up and down loops on side roads which were fine, but it seemed like every road had a good downhill slope then up hill slope. Nothing major but I should have taken note because later in the race those things would look like nothing!
Anyway I was pootling along at just under 8 minute miles, and although my legs felt a little tight, it was much better than on the last few runs and I figured I’d just go with the flow until it started hurting. The worlds best support crew popped up with some serious volume at about 1.5 miles then at about 7 miles on the run back from MK. I probably should have some sort of mental strategy for marathons by now, but I basically just run until it hurts. Today I was thinking that if I was still running at 20 I would be in good shape for a PB.
Somewhere at about mile 12 I caught up with the 3:30 pace group, this was fun as I’ve never really run with one and for a while I was really thinking I could keep with them till the end. I was feeling pretty good at this point even if the endless ups and downs of underpasses were a bit grinding me down. It was pretty much exactly what I was looking for in a race: small field, pretty friendly local support and a nice day. It was just a run and I was definitely enjoying it.
The bit around a lake (Willan Lake) was pretty sweet as there was quite a bit of support and as I got through 16, 17, 18 miles I genuinely thought under 3:30 was possible. I shouldn’t have counted on this though because very quickly at about mile 20 I started struggling. I really wanted to stop and walk but every time I tried my flipping legs just kept moving. I kept moving to one side of the path and slowing right down but for a good 2 miles or so my legs just refused to stop moving. Weird? Yes. Responsible for my time today? Almost certainly.
There’s some really nice bits round here, along off road bits, along the canal, I just thought it was a really pleasant route. Anyway…
So I tried for as long as I could but somewhere at about mile 22, when rounding a corner and seeing a steep uphill after an underpass I had to. At about this time we got to a downhill section and just as I did the flipping london marathon theme came on. I forgot I bought this and put it on my running playlist but it brought a huge grin to my face. Downhill section? Check. Running a marathon? Check. 22 miles in and still enjoying it? Abso-flipping-lutley-check.
On one of the many (many) downhill, into underpass, up again, I spotted (heard) Pilla, Lozza and Rae and as they spotted me at a good time I was running well and it gave me a massive boost. I knew 3:30 had gone at this point but I was not going to let 3:40 leave me again….
… well that lasted for about another half mile or so before more run-walking. I was only walking in really short sections, pretty much just the uphill bits but it did mean my time was clicking away. The last mile after 25 was a pretty desperate ‘arrrgh I need to speed the f*@!-up!!!’. The finish at MK is a pretty cool stadium finish. You go down the tunnel, loop around the pitch and cross the finish line with quite a decent crowd. I loved this bit too, and definitely enjoyed crossing the line!
After the race we all met up and went for chips and bad food and sat in the sun cheering the rest of the runners whilst eating it. It’s not often I’ll say that one of my best meals is from the golden arches but those chips were some of the best tasting things I’ve ever tasted.
Well until I got home and had that beer.
So in summary. Met lovely people. Had some amazing support. Did a nice run. Got a pretty medal. All good. And to Pilla, Loz, Rae thank you. You were ace. Would I do the Milton Keynes Marathon again? Well, I think it might have been my favourite marathon to date..
Milton Keynes
After I got back from London three weeks ago it didn’t take me long to start thinking about entering another marathon. In fact it took me about as long as uploading the run onto garmin connect. The thing that really got me thinking was looking at my 20 mile time, which on the day in London was nearly 10 minutes slower than pretty much all my training 20 mile runs. That isn’t how it should be. I can get struggling in the last few miles but really I should have been good up to at least 20. I thought about all the training I’d done, all the early starts and long runs and the literally hundreds of miles I’ve run and thought that my time did not represent the work that I had put in.
I also got to thinking that the London marathon is just a total sensory overload. I didn’t feel like there was time or mental space to think, to zone out, to go to that funny sort of run thinking mode I go into. It’s so, well, intense that you just don’t have the ability to take it all in and in the attempt to do so I think I missed the whole enjoyment I get from running. It’s not that I have great big earth shattering thoughts but the feel is very different when the crowd is so loud you can’t hear yourself think for 20 miles. I sort of pined for a little race, like the ironman run in Nottingham where for long periods it’s just you, the geese and the padding footsteps of other worn out people around you (and pilla’s cowbell). I wanted a little race. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy London, it is an amazing experience, it’s just I don’t think I enjoyed it in the same way I normally enjoy my runs.
I thought I’d made some silly mistakes too. Things I should know by now but either forgot or thought I would get away with. Given it was warm and I’ve suffered before, I should have taken salt tablets. I should have run with my gels in a waist band rather than carry them and get annoyed with holding them. I should have worn sunglasses – on sunny warm days I find they give the illusion of it being cooler. I shouldn’t have had a non-carb dinner the night before. I should have sipped my gels and water over a long period rather than gulp them down. They are not major things, just silly little things that all add up. Little things I’d like to correct then have another go.
So I did the silly thing on the day after a marathon of signing up for the next one! And pretty much since then, as anyone that follows me on Twitter will already know, I have had a cold. My running has gone to crap, I feel unprepared, not ready and not very much looking forward to it.
This is crazy because really I have so much to be grateful for:
- I’m fit, injury free and am about to spend a weekend doing something I love
- The weather will be lovely
- I’m going to meet some friends
- I’m going to be paced for the first part of the run by the most handsome man on Twitter
I think in some way I’m trying to re-create what we did in Nottingham last year. A nice hotel, an italian meal the night before and quietly kicking the ass of a nice little run in the morning. When I asked for some positivity off Twitter on Friday I got some lovely responses plus proper actual running legend @sidowski just replied with ‘#outlaw’. This isn’t the first time something he’s said has made me want to do something stupid. I vividly remember reading his blog of the first outlaw he did and thinking ‘I want to do this’. Anyway back to my rambling story, not only have I been through more before but I love doing it. I want to do this and, as I have already paid for the hotel, am flipping well going to do this!
Obviously I couldn’t do it without @pilla_uk who is indulging my fascination with spending large parts of weekends trying to inflict as much pain as possible on my legs again and who I’m rewarding by treating her to a night away in Milton Keynes’ finest hotel (the fact that it’s exactly where the start of the race is has nothing to do with why I booked it of course!). It might not have the crowds of London but it’ll definitely have the noisiest and best spectator.
I’m pretty sure I’m going to have the best support crew on the day as I think she’ll be joined by Loz and Rae. Loz wrote a pretty brutal account of running last weekend (https://ironlozza.wordpress.com/2014/04/27/shoes-will-burn-and-blood-will-bubble/) and if it gets hard on Monday I’ll use some of that to get through it. Running isn’t always easy and it isn’t always fun but it almost always ends of being a positive experience whatever happens. If the worst thing that happens is that I plod through a marathon but have a lovely weekend, well that’s a big win in my book.
I’m pretty sure there will be chocolate milk and beer at the end. Both of which I love. Both of which taste at their absolute best after 26.2 miles. So throw your best at me Milton Keynes, I’m coming for you!
#VLM2014 – London Marathon
Oh London. London, London, London. It’s not really hard to say that the London Marathon is one of the best races in the world, it’s really quite an incredible experience. The noise, the crowd, the scale of it all. It’s almost a little, well, overwhelming if I’m honest. On Sunday I suffered a lot and I came out of it with a PB, a big smile and an even bigger medal. Before I go on to much to describe the day please sign up to do this event. Just once. It might not be the event for you, but seriously do it. You’ll never forget running this marathon.
It’s fair to say I was a little excited about this race. I was trying to keep it under control but the thing you forget is just how visible this race is. It’s on the radio, the TV, everyone knows it’s happening. This means you get a TON of support during the weekend from friends and family and twitter people and facebook people. It’s quite amazing. I love it.
I got to Blackheath good and early. I love pre-race build ups, so I just sat about and soaked up the atmosphere. I chatted to a few folk and spent a long time just lying about in the sun. I took a few pictures and generally had a fine time of it. After about an hour I strolled over to the pen and got chatting to a few folk in there. I knew it was going to be pretty warm, but looking around there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. I’m ginger, the sun is not my friend. After a few minutes the pen moved forward, the gun went off and we were over the line. I remembered getting annoyed at this stage in 2012 due to falling behind my time, this time I was loving it because it means you don’t go off too fast. The first few miles flew by and the 3 – 5 mile zone from the blue start where you go downhill and the crowd builds up is so much fun. I felt good and fast and was really holding back. I was ticking along quite nicely here at just about 7:20 pace – pretty much exactly what I was aiming for.
Just after the two starts combined I said hello and good luck to Michael Owen – it’s that kind of race. About 500m further on I spotted a running outfit I remembered from Twitter. I think it was the zig zag socks but I instantly knew somehow it was @mia79gbr. So I ran up, said hello (although I’m never very comfortable meeting people by saying “oh hello is it ‘x’ from twitter? I’m Neil… Neily Wilko…“). Bumping into a running legend was lovely and as Sarah had a garmin malfunction I handed over my spare 3:30 pace band. I wished her luck carried on and got chatting to another bloke about times and targets – we were both going for 3:15 ish. I was loving life at this point! Lots of people have mental strategies, mine was just to enjoy it for as long as I could. It was working. Greenwich is something else on the route with the noise and I saw my awesome support crew at about 10 miles. It’s always special seeing your family and friends on route and this was no exception.
Tower bridge rolled around and I loved it! It just looked so beautiful in the sun and as I ran over it I was just looking around, trying to take it all in. I hated this point last time. I loved it on Sunday. Absolutely loved it. Onto the dual carriageway and the halfway point. My time was 1:37:36. My target was 1:37:30. Absolutely nailing it. Onto narrow street where I stopped last time and down through the Isle of Dogs. I was starting to hurt a little here, and the 3:15 guy I was talking to early caught me up and gave me a good talking to which I really needed.
My legs were starting to hurt quite a bit here and I was starting to feel pretty sick. If it wasn’t for the crowds I’m fairly sure I would have vom’d. I was going into a dark place here because this is exactly like previous years. It was pretty hot and I’m not sure if I drank too much or not enough, or overdid it with the gels (although I only had three by this point). Whatever it was I was feeling rough. By the time I started getting close to Canary Wharf I knew I’d have to walk. My legs were killing and every time I ran a bit I felt like throwing up. This marathon running is pretty glamorous! So 8 miles out and I resigned myself to running/walking/running/walking. It hurt.
I knew it would hurt at some point but I wasn’t expecting it so early. I kept trying, kept running, kept feeling sick and then walking. Then kept trying running. If you are going for a goal time that matches a pace group there is nothing sadder than seeing that pace runner disappear gradually into the distance. I saw my excellent support team at mile 22 which was a huge lift as I thought I’d missed them. I kept plodding on taking in the crowd, saying thank you to everyone who cheered and generally trying to do it with a smile. I ran/hobbled most of the last two miles. The crowd here is just so loud you really can’t stop and when I saw the 800 meter sign I knew I wouldn’t. I crossed the line in 3:45:44.
To be honest, it’s not the time I wanted but I’m very happy with it, it’s the first time since 2009 I’ve been able to claim a marathon PB. After I crossed the line I could hardly stand up. It took me an hour and a half to be able to stand up and walk, during which time I fell asleep/zonked out flat out on my back the mall. Fun times! My vision was a bit on the wonk when I figured it was probably a lack of salt that was getting to me, one huge bag of crisps later and I was feeling much better! Note to self here, not meeting with your support crew feels like a good idea when you are feeling fine, when you can hardly move it’s a pretty lonely experience!
I honestly couldn’t have pushed myself harder. Sometimes you can fail in your goals and still feel like you won. On Sunday I won.