Last one about the Outlaw 2018 (but it was a big deal for me)
I tried to have a proper go at it this year and it’s the fourth time I’ve done the bike in the Outlaw as a relay and the other three times it was an afterthought compared to other things I was doing.
I tried to focus my attention on it although the big event was in September but it was far enough away from that, I thought, that I could give it a real go.
I tried from far out to get good enough to get myself into the position I thought would be the best I could to have the race I thought would ‘complete me’.
That was what Chrissie Wellington said when she last won the Ironman World Championships. She said it completed her and she retired.
I thought that might be it for me.
The world conspired against me for one reason or another.
Having searched for years for methods to shift some weight, to be a better cyclist or just to be healthier, I found the answer 6 weeks before the Outlaw and dropped 16lbs (7.5kilos) That’s too much weight loss too close to a big event but I wasn’t going to look that gift horse in the mouth!
Currently I sit at about 12st6lb which is almost 6st (yes stones) lighter than when I arrived in Nottingham.
That had a significant effect on the second half of the race and the ability to produce power.
The next thing that got in the way was the 40mph winds and the driving rain, at the end of July in the UK. Not normal and not like any other Outlaw I had ridden.
So, those two things together conspired against me and I didn’t get what I wanted (below five hours and then I could stop)
Unexpectedly I did get the lead for 90 minutes behind the lead motorbike and I’ll never see that again but, because of that, I’m not finished yet.
Funnily enough I won’t get to the Outlaw next year (probably) because we have a very special family wedding to attend which I won’t miss so it will probably be two years before I get another go at it.
Surely that’s long enough to prepare and scheme and train and then in my 49thyear have a go at sub 5 hours.
So, I suppose there is some dissatisfaction at my inability to hit the target I have focused on two or three times before but you’re never forced to get something early on, and nothing worthwhile is ever easy.
But it changes very quickly to the contentment in the fact that there is still work to be done, still a target to hit and still a goal to try and achieve (which I might never)
That’ll do, that’s good enough, I’m happy with that.
Blog Post Number: 1742
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