State Marathon Series - Wyong

My wonderful husband Chris sacrificed his Soccer game so I could do the State Marathon Series race at Wyong last Sunday (2nd August). I went to bed the night before soooo looking forward to it. I could talk and write about this race forever, but I'll restrain myself and just publish a copy of the email I sent to Lyle after the race...

"...With lots of peer pressure and against my better judgement I was convinced to do the 20km, not the 15km like I had planned. Should have trusted my instincts. Anyway, I basically spent the whole race practicing my balance and just dealing with everyone's wash that came past. I think there was about 5 minutes where I could relax and could actually get into some kind of rhythm, but the rest of the race was highly frustrating and to be honest I don't think I would have even considered doing Div 6 if I'd known that they were going to change it at the last minute. Anyway, I did my best under the circumstances and am really happy with how I handed the start and the wash. But at the 14km mark my poor stabilisers were so fatigued I just "lost the plot", and capsized. I called it quits after the 3rd lap as I realised I had reached my limits of balance for the day. Pretty disappointing really! It's the first DNF of my whole life and whole sporting career, so I'm pretty down on myself for it. But it was the right decision under the circumstances and it was a great learning experience. Fitness wise I could have easily handled the distance, but my balance still has a long way to go. Really, 3 weeks ago I wouldn't have handled the conditions anywhere near as well as I did, so I guess I have improved lots."

Lyle quickly replied to my email and as he has already done on several occassions had "just the right words" to say. He really has a knack for knowing what to say, and putting things in perspective. I felt so much better afterwards.