This year the IAU World 24 Hour Championships are in Torino, Italy. Italy is nice. They specialise in carbohydrates too. I like carbohydrates. And a long weekend in a new place is fun. It all sounded like a good plan at the time.
In the last few months so many wee incidents have occurred that made me wonder why I am still going. Fortunately, I am insanely stubborn and didn't listen to them. Here's a snapshot, just for some hilarity...
Within two weeks of returning from honeymoon I developed plantar fasciitis. With plantar fasciitis under control, I develop ischial bursitis. All exercise is suspended and I can barely dress myself unassisted. That's ok, we roll who these things and I manage to walk/run Transgrancanaria feeling none of the above mentioned grizzles. Just to prove that the mind is an amazing thing, they come back with a vengeance accompanied by a toe/foot injury. It must be from my epic treadmill walking (honestly, it's addictive). Then, just for a laugh, my shoes start cutting my toe which then get infected and now my whole foot keeps swelling. Who knew adults could use Savlon too? So I'm running in flip flops.
My uniform didn't arrive until the day before my departure. This was a super stress and thankfully the heartthrob of the team, Wayne Botha, brought an extra one over for me. I am very grateful.
But actually, the funniest is all the travel trauma. We booked to fly to Torino via Gatwick as my sister lives in Brighton and there was a long stop-over. I then thought it would make sense to go down at Easter, help her out during her chemo and just fly from Gatwick, skipping the Edinburgh to Gatwick leg. Unfortunately BA decided they would charge me £432 for the privilege. If I don't show up for the flight, I am counted as a no-show and the rest of my journey is cancelled. How compassionate of them. Then the train company stuffed me around and I almost remortgaged the flat to catch the train back up to Edinburgh. So the travel plans looked like this : work Saturday morning, train to York in the afternoon, spend a day with the in-laws, drive to Brighton on the Monday, spend Tuesday in hospital with my sister, train to Edinburgh on Wednesday and then fly to Torino via Gatwick on Thursday. Have you kept up? Well that Wednesday train from Brighton to London broke down and I missed my connection to Edinburgh. Cue crying helplessly on a train platform at the thought of a £156 sting for a new ticket. Somehow, by taking another two trains, I made it back. And that is why I started packing weeks ago.
But now I have arrived in Torino, having travelled with the very swish GB team, and it is all going to be ok. There is a supermarket just around the corner with more Nutella than I've seen in my life.
To run for the New Zealand team, you don't have to hit huge numbers. As a team we worry about not having enough members for a team rather than competing with each other to get on the team. They are a super lovely bunch and have all had their own adventures getting here. That doesn't mean I won't be giving 100% when I am there though. Previously my mind has lost when my body could have carried on. This weekend, I am looking forward to seeing just how far I can push that mind. I ran Transgrancanaria on nothing; there are no limits! Running in circles for 24 hours chatting to friends both old and new; what's not to love?
So from now until the race we take a positive stance. Repeat this mantra after me; I am amazing, I am amazing, I am so strong, pain is my friend, so strong, super amazing, phenomenally good looking... That should be it. It's bound to work a charm.
And the tiramisu. Ohhh how I love tiramisu.
In the last few months so many wee incidents have occurred that made me wonder why I am still going. Fortunately, I am insanely stubborn and didn't listen to them. Here's a snapshot, just for some hilarity...
Within two weeks of returning from honeymoon I developed plantar fasciitis. With plantar fasciitis under control, I develop ischial bursitis. All exercise is suspended and I can barely dress myself unassisted. That's ok, we roll who these things and I manage to walk/run Transgrancanaria feeling none of the above mentioned grizzles. Just to prove that the mind is an amazing thing, they come back with a vengeance accompanied by a toe/foot injury. It must be from my epic treadmill walking (honestly, it's addictive). Then, just for a laugh, my shoes start cutting my toe which then get infected and now my whole foot keeps swelling. Who knew adults could use Savlon too? So I'm running in flip flops.
My uniform didn't arrive until the day before my departure. This was a super stress and thankfully the heartthrob of the team, Wayne Botha, brought an extra one over for me. I am very grateful.
But actually, the funniest is all the travel trauma. We booked to fly to Torino via Gatwick as my sister lives in Brighton and there was a long stop-over. I then thought it would make sense to go down at Easter, help her out during her chemo and just fly from Gatwick, skipping the Edinburgh to Gatwick leg. Unfortunately BA decided they would charge me £432 for the privilege. If I don't show up for the flight, I am counted as a no-show and the rest of my journey is cancelled. How compassionate of them. Then the train company stuffed me around and I almost remortgaged the flat to catch the train back up to Edinburgh. So the travel plans looked like this : work Saturday morning, train to York in the afternoon, spend a day with the in-laws, drive to Brighton on the Monday, spend Tuesday in hospital with my sister, train to Edinburgh on Wednesday and then fly to Torino via Gatwick on Thursday. Have you kept up? Well that Wednesday train from Brighton to London broke down and I missed my connection to Edinburgh. Cue crying helplessly on a train platform at the thought of a £156 sting for a new ticket. Somehow, by taking another two trains, I made it back. And that is why I started packing weeks ago.
But now I have arrived in Torino, having travelled with the very swish GB team, and it is all going to be ok. There is a supermarket just around the corner with more Nutella than I've seen in my life.
To run for the New Zealand team, you don't have to hit huge numbers. As a team we worry about not having enough members for a team rather than competing with each other to get on the team. They are a super lovely bunch and have all had their own adventures getting here. That doesn't mean I won't be giving 100% when I am there though. Previously my mind has lost when my body could have carried on. This weekend, I am looking forward to seeing just how far I can push that mind. I ran Transgrancanaria on nothing; there are no limits! Running in circles for 24 hours chatting to friends both old and new; what's not to love?
So from now until the race we take a positive stance. Repeat this mantra after me; I am amazing, I am amazing, I am so strong, pain is my friend, so strong, super amazing, phenomenally good looking... That should be it. It's bound to work a charm.
And the tiramisu. Ohhh how I love tiramisu.
Have a fantastic race, hon'.
ReplyDeleteAnd if you DON'T get tiramisu at least once while you're in Italy, no amount of positive thinking will undo that pain, just sayin'.... x x
If you can survive that travel ultra, you can handle 24 hours in an Italian park. We will be watching your tracker go around in circles all day
ReplyDeleteYou ARE amazing and you'll have a blast! Create some great memories, do some great running, and rock that NZ team kit!
ReplyDelete