Enjoying the Journey

I came across this picture and it really made me stop and think.  I have been very focused through the winter with my training, getting up in the dark mornings and training late after work with the 2014 race season very much in mind.  There was a big emphasis for me on goals and outcomes and now that illness has struck it's hard to not feel like it was all a waste of time. In fact pretty much all of my races so far have been done feeling under par and I have finally been referred to a specialist to help sort out the infection on my voicebox that just won't go (this makes talking quite painful which is a bit of a problem for me!). So not knowing what the rest of the season has stored for me I've decided to embrace this part of my journey and accept it for what it is; and also reflect on my journey so far.  Once I got thinking about it I remembered some tales that have made the journey seriously good fun.

My Top 10 funny Tales

1. A few years ago I drove for an hour to my nearest lake for some open water swim training and by the time I got there realised I had forgotten my wetsuit, swam anyway and got hypothermia. So as to not make the same mistake the next time I drove to the lake in my wetsuit but completely forgot I had no petrol.  Filling up on the forecourt in full neoprene caused a few funny looks! #Brilliant!

2. At my first ever TT I wondered what these strange species of men were doing dressed head to toe in lycra with pointy helmets. I had arrived in my best red hotpants as pictured below. The race was a little painful and it was a while before I wanted to get back on a bike again! #Ouch

Time Trialling Hot Pants??

3. For some strange reason I turned up at my first half-ironman still drunk from the night before. Nothing like good preparation! My false eyelashes stuck to my goggles and I couldn't get my wetsuit off for fear of breaking a false nail! Part way into the bike course, still with a lap to go I called it a day and returned to transition, only to be announced by the commentator as the first female back with the crowds going wild and applauding! #Embarrasing!

4. At quite a low key duathlon a couple of years ago there was only the smallest amount of racking available. When I asked where the racking was for my bike I was told "there's plenty of trees to lean it against".  The mount line was a twig in the grass (that got kicked throughout the race) and the official loos were a bush in the forest! #KeepingItSimple

5.  Apparently at a TT you can only clip your feet into your pedals with 30 seconds to go.  I wish someone had told me this before I clipped in too early - with no-one holding the bike it was quite an embarrassing slow motion fall to the floor and as I was lying there trying to un-clip wriggling like some sort of fish out of water (to the amusement of those in the queue behind me) I got the countdown of 3...2....1....Go #Ooops

6.  There have been many races where Mum has said to me "I've got some great action shots of you!" only to find later on that all the shots she got were of men. "Is that not you?!" she would later question! Haha, maybe I need to apply more make up whilst racing! #manly

"I've got a good picture of you Sam!"

7.  At my second half-ironman race (this time I was sober) I leaned against the racking running out of T2 for the whole thing to collapse! Thousands of pounds worth of carbon fell like dominoes into the slush mud pit of a field.  Needless to say I have never run out of T2 quite so fast! #Sorry

8.  On a training trip to Lake Annecy I was persuaded to believe that they put dye in the lake to make it so blue.  I was really intrigued by this and wondered how people swam in the lake without coming out looking like a smurf.  #TrueBlue

9.  In my first attempt at the British Champs back in 2010 I punctured and felt like the world had ended.  Sat on the side of the road crying I was picked up by a marshal in his van.  He tried to console me as I blubbered "but you don't undeeeeeerstaaaaannnndddd!" accompanied with a whole host of tears and snot.  So after a little while he asked me where I wanted to go and when I replied "transition" he asked, "so what's that then?" Uh Oh!!!! Turns out I had got into a random red van with a random man and was enjoying a random trip around Milton Keynes! #Random

10. Finally,my friend was once telling me how for an ironman he likes to save time on going to the loo so made the customary item of clothing below to suit his needs! #Genius

Ah well. Even the elite women get it wrong sometimes.The video below never fails to make me laugh! Let's just hope like me, they are enjoying the journey!