Position 40th.
Swim 1500m- 23:03
Bike 40km- 1:08 (with a puncture)
Run 10km- 35:59
This race will probably haunt my dreams for many years to come and has took me quite a while to get over but I feel I should still write a summary of how it went!
Despite having a hard race two days before i was actually feeling really good. I had completely recovered from the Sprint and was looking forward to the longer distance and a tough day out. Once again i knew the course well and knew it suited me. Another chance to represent my country two days after i had done the same thing was extremely exciting!
The swim start was a lot more chaotic than the Sprint, in all honesty it was a total mess. There were bodies, arms and legs everywhere at the start but i just really tried hard to stay calm and push on. Things settled a bit after the first lap and i was beginning to feel good and almost enjoy the swim. One thing i has realised this year is I love racing, I love being part of it, pushing myself to the limit and racing other around me. After a decent swim i came out the water with the crowds shouting us on and again into transition.
It was really cold on race day, i believe it was below 10 degrees and despite the water being warm the air temperature really hit me in transition and i struggled a bit to get my things together! However soon enough i was out onto the bike ready to get to work.
The bike course was rapid, the first uphill and downhill i was taking seriously quick trying to warm myself up and get the legs going. Up the second hill and i catching some guys and then...shit. When you cycle a lot you can immediately feel when something is wrong. You just know it, the bike performs completely differently. And that's when i knew, at 4km into the bike course i had a puncture. My rear back tyre was gone completely.
I'm not exactly sure of my first thoughts, a lot went on in my head, swearing, disappointment, utter panic everything. But never did it cross my mind to stop or give up. I was here racing the World Championships, i had worked so hard to be here invested so much physically and mentally i would keep going, i would try so bloody hard and see what i could do.
It was horrible, it was utterly horrible. I could only ride around 30km/h when the course is so much faster than that and i had so many people flying past me on the bike. I felt extremely low and just tried to watch the km's go past on my garmin. A couple of team mates flew past me shouting encouragement thinking i was having a bad day (but soon realised the actual situation!). After about 3/4 of the bike course my legs were really beginning to hurt, dragging a flat tyre up hills and along flats is pretty hard going and i was close to tears but i knew i didn't have long left and soon i could finish this bloody bike.
I didn't even bother to eat or drink on the bike like i normally do, i just kept my eyes fixed on the garmin and hoped the time would go faster, the bike was two laps and going past the crowd sitting up on my bike going pretty slow felt quite humiliating.
Anyway an hour and 8 minutes later i was into transition. I threw my helmet down after dumping my bike and began the run like a possessed man, I was angry, disappointed and frustrated. I felt cheated but i wanted a run, i wanted to finish the race with a good run if thats all i could do. I told myself to just run run as hard as i possibly could without collapsing.
There were a few guys in my age group who i set out to catch and dually did so which made me feel slightly better. But crossing the line i was gutted, i had finished 40th so still beat over 20 people but that didn't matter. I knew i was better than the results sheet and i knew i could have had such a stronger race.
For the next couple of days and certainly after the race despite some evening tequila and beer i felt crap. I was really down and struggling to get over the race. I kept thinking about it, about what could have been and i analysed the results sheet at least 10 times. My coach Graeme and my parents and friends were all messaging me but quite honestly i didn't listen to anyone.
After the race i headed to the Rockies for a couple of days to do some hiking and see some of Canada. It was only then whilst i was hiking i really thought about it all. I thought how incredible it was to race for my country, to race a World Championships and race at that level. It sunk it that no i couldn't do anything about a puncture, i didn't under perform or not have the legs it was out with my control. Yes i would have loved a better result and would have had one but that wasn't how the day went. I think i dealt with it as best as i could by keeping riding and i still gave my all on the run. It was time to start moving on, think about the next race and get my head back in the game, Shit happens but it is how we deal with it that defines us.
"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts"
Thank you for reading this, and thank you for your support!
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