DNF....what the?!

Saturday May 8th. Byron Bay Triathlon. My first DNF race....Mmmmmmm!

It was a strange feeling for me, to plan to start a race knowing that I was going to be a DNF on the listings. Was it worth starting? Should I just walk the run? Should I make my entry a team? So many things to consider, and at the heart of it, a little flat feeling that I was not going to be able to finish a race. But that's OK right? I can just swim and bike and see how I go, and then enjoy watching everyone else. Is this a new era in my racing outlook?! I can do that, be sensible, look at the bigger picture, just treat it as a training session right? Mmmm who am I kidding?!!!
On purpose I didn't even take my runners with me, no chance to put them into transition, no chance to put them on! No chance to be tempted to run.

So my race went something like this:
- Leisurely wake up, register, rack the bike, chill out for a bit.
- Line up ready to start, wetsuit on, wandering what the hell I'm doing as nerves kick in (but I'm not racing right?!).
- Swim: the rip seemed to be all over the place and as everyone agreed afterwards..'was a bit of a nightmare'. My time wasn't quick but then nobody's was and in that respect I was glad to get through it middle of the pack (16 out of 45) and not get dragged wildly off course by the currents :-)
- Out of the swim and I was pretty tired from the effort, such that the run to transition didn't really let me get my heart rate much lower!
- Bike: After settling myself down in the first 5 km I enjoyed the battle that ensued. There were 8 or so girls who made it hard to sit in and ride, it made me push myself to get away from the group and the risk of a drafting penalty! A headwind all the way to Lennox was unrelenting but the corresponding tailwind back to Byron was awesome!! Thanks to the battle of the girls, an effort to get away from them, and my favourite hills to pull further ahead, I came off the bike in 62mins 18secs (4th fastest)...flying dismount, ran into transition and......stopped!

Mmmm, at that point I was feeling really good, pumped, and if my runners had been by my transition rack, I would have pulled them on and pottered out onto the course! Probably a good thing that they were not there!!

But it was such a let down, quite comical really, I went and handed my transponder chip in, found some fellow supporters, and cheered on the runners.....

It was a lesson in doing what I should, but that didn't make it any easier. Didn't stop me from checking my times, seeing where I ranked, tried to work out what time I would have run - where I would have come overall....!

But the reality is that I was a DNF but ultimately it was great to just enjoy the weekend. A long way from Ironman, but it's all important for various reason.. :-)

Time for core training with Drill Sergeant Pip!

Faye
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