So I know you are all dying to hear about my last phase of the triathlon right?
Well I will indeed share this with you, but first I want you to keep something in mind.
Never ever give up, even when you have lost hope and believe that the road ahead is impossible please learn from me and never give up.
I set of onto the run phase totally unprepared, my race plan had been lost I was battling against a clock I could not see and not only did each step I took cause sharp pain to travel through my spine but I needed a wee.
Now the course was set in a forest set on sand dunes.
Yes it was hilly but there was no hills to hide behind.
There was also walkers on the course, supporters and other athletes.
Not the place where you can have a wee in private.
I had no choice though I had been going for around 5-6 hours I needed to release some fluid.
So I swallowed my pride and went to the side of the path.
Gosh that was a relief.
Then I stumbled along, you could not call it a run but I was going forward.
An athlete passed me on the path, nearly there they shouted last lap…..
I could have turned round right there……I was not nearly there I had 2 laps to go and I did not even know what the lap ahead had in store for me.
As I was already on route I didn’t know how to get out of the forest or I would have stopped.
This was my rock bottom.
My bones shook, my breathing was a mess, I kept choking up and then my air pipes would close tight and it took all my energy to relax.
Without knowing what time I had left I noticed that I had completed a run jog mile in 15 mins.
So that’s what I concentrated on getting to another mile in the next 15 mins.
Yes it was unbearably slow but an hour would give me 4 miles of the journey and that’s all I had to do as surely I would be close to the end of this lap and then I could quit.
Unfortunately for me it is like my partner has telepathy and could read my mind.
As I crawled to the end of the first lap there he stood.
I did not know whether to cry, hit him or smile……..i did know though that he was not going to let me quit.
This made me choke up and I could feel the pins and needles I get right before an asthmatic black out.
My partner raced back to the car to grab my inhaler.
I have never been so scarred in all my life and this shocked me into focusing only on staying calm.
Whilst I was trying to get as much oxygen in through my airways in the calmest way I could I suddenly clocked that I was still running, and had actually made some progress.
Is it possible that after all of my certainty that I was out of time I could actually do this?
My partner arrived with my inhaler and gratefully grasped at the medicine.
A quick assessment of my body told me that my muscles where broken, my back was a mess, my internal heating system in shock as I shivered and my insides where cramping up.
But I could breathe finally through widened tubes.
The lap up to the finishing line was like running through treacle and I have never willed this body over any other finish like this.
I collapsed out of pure fatigue and joy.
Tears streamed from my eyes as they handed me the medal and shouted my name Marita you are a sandman legend………
Had I of given up I would never have known that despite everything my body was capable of this task.
5 mins in time of the end.
No this was not my best race, but it the one race that has shown me how strong my mind can actually be.
That in itself feels amazing.
Never ever ever ever give up
If you would like me to share with you ways to make your mind strong then please get in touch.
Marita ‘never give up’ Moore