DNF and the aftermath
The run up to Bala was a mixture of cramming too much in, and distraction technique for me. The boys went back to school/nursery, and for some reason I got obsessed with photographing food rather than preparing for the race. I entered because I wanted to have an end of season race to aim for, and to see if I could qualify for the European championships.
We camped at Pen Y Bont campsite, which is very convenient for the race, about a 15 min walk to transition, and went to Ruthin for the day on Saturday, the weather was not great, cooler and quite wet!
Ruthin Jail
Anyway, to cut a long story short on Sunday I DNF (did not finish) for the first time. You can read the full race report here.
Getting back home this week I have been looking at the reasons why I DNF; there are many!
- I wasn’t really inspired by the race, and only entered because I had done it before.
- I set an unrealistic goal for my swim.
- I wasn’t prepared mentally.
- Even if I had qualified for the European champs I wouldn’t have been able to go, as I have entered Half Outlaw 2 weeks before.
- I sabotaged my race by panicking on the swim.
On a positive note I asked Devon what his favourite part of camping and going away was. He said it was watching me coming out of the swim. I’m sure he said it just to cheer me up, but it brought a tear to my eye! 🙂
