A few weekends ago I participated in the London Ultra Duathlon. I have to admit, I was pretty nervous. It was the longest distance I’d gone and the first time “transition” was a thing.
My husband had said he’d drop by with our daughter on her way to spend the day with a friend so it was cool to run then cycle past them. Luckily, he’d gone with high viz options – I could spot the rainbow knee high socks (on my daughter) from a mile off.
After waving them off, I put my head down to focus on cycling for a few hours. It was somewhat disconcerting that although there were thousands of people participating, there was hardly any noise (and definitely no chat!). Only the odd shouts of “to your right”!
Five of seven laps in, my enthusiasm was definitely starting to flag. It was about the same point, when I spotted my husband and son. It was as welcome as it was unexpected! The smile kept me going until the next hill. Which I was just cresting when I spotted some friends who’d come out to support me too. The last two laps seemed to whizz by. Getting off my bike and getting my legs to move for the last run was a struggle. By this point, I couldn’t feel my feet, but knowing I had the crew around the course kept me going. Particularly when it looked like my son planned to scoot round with me (I wasn’t sure he’d be up for the full circuit so he got sent back to dad).I can’t pretend it wasn’t hard but having friends and family scattered along the last kilometre lifted me like nothing else – even managing a ‘sprint finish’ when my son challenged me to beat him over the last 200 metres. So to my support crew – thank you. I know that was only stage one on the road to the Coast to Coast, and there’s a few more to get through, but it’s amazing having you at my back!
Tough Mother 