After The Event

The Long Course Weekend 2016 is history. We all had a great time, even though the weather was awful, belied by the picture from Friday evening before the swim. I did not enjoy the swim one bit. There were too many people in the water crashing into me and swimming over me. In the past after the first few hundred metres you are able to find some water and get into a rhythm, but not this time with record numbers swimming. Then I got tired and finally hypothermic, and so returned to my family cold, grumpy, grey and shivering. My time was slow and I spent most of the swim wondering why I was there. I don't do triathlon anymore, often only swam in the past because I had to, and therefore my last long swim is done. My wetsuit is not hung up for ever, because I enjoy swimming in the warm waters of the Med. on holiday and I am doing the Brownlee Sprint Triathlon in September. My final such event I believe.

Saturday saw rain and wind all day. The worst cycling weather, but I enjoyed the cycle, felt strong and knew I was in a place I enjoy. I did it in under 7 hours and am slightly embarrassed to say I worked out with some difficulty from the results that no one older than me went faster! On both laps I missed seeing my supporters, because despite our rented cottage being on the route, I gave them the wrong timings for my passage by them (quicker than expected, which is good!). I felt a bit down when they were not there on the second lap. It happened to be on what I would say is mentally the hardest part of the course between Narbeth and Summerhill.

All in all a great day, despite the weather and on Sunday we relaxed and took the dogs for a walk on the beautiful beach at Freshwater West. North and South there are lovely beaches in Wales.

This brings me to perhaps the point of this blog. How I feel after a cycling event. Immediately after obviously tired but satisfied. I rarely get euphoric about success, because completing well is expected by me and not doing so would be failure. The next day I am usually a bit "manic", although "twitchy" because I am usually resting from exercise and thinking I should be doing something. This is how I felt on Sunday. The next day I tend to feel "down", "tetchy" and deflated, thinking it is over after all that training and there is no goal in sight. This only starts to diminish when I get on my bike again as I have today.

Dr Josephine Perry has written an article in this week's Cycling Weekly about addiction to cycling and exercise in general really. I have many of the signs and symptoms. What I could not quite work out was that she implied that you were only addicted if it interfered with the rest of your life. I am now retired, with an understanding wife, no job, no small children my time is very much my own so my cycling 15 hours a week does not interfere. When I had small children I am sure it did and I was selfish about exercise. When I had a job I resented it being in the way of my getting out on my bike. So was I addicted then and not now, even though I do just as much? I suppose, in truth, it does interfere with my life now in as much as I can be grumpy on a given day until I have been out on one of my bikes, and cycling 3 hours in a day and walking Charlie the Dalmatian for two as well can seem like a conflict.

So I admit it I am addicted. It is not surprising I do have an obsessive personality and an all or nothing approach. After all my motto is "if some is good, more must be better". So onward to the Barnsley Border Sportive at the end of August!