If You Ain't First You're Last!

I came in last in my first off-road duathlon. Really, I did. 

I was also first and second. 

Go ahead- try to figure that one out........

Ok, fine, I'll help you out. I won my age group. I was also the second woman. 

Unfortunately, there were only two of us. So I was last. 

Just in case you were wondering- coming in last is humbling even when there are only two people. 

I was going to give you my list of amazing excuses for not winning. Then I realized the things I was going to use for excuses were the reason I got my butt kicked in the first place. The fact of the matter is- I thought I was more amazing than I was. I thought I could go race my mountain bike for the first time on a trail I didn't know and actually win. I never considered that everyone else was going to ride faster. I wasn't mentally prepared to have grandpas (sorry all you fast g-pas out there) pass me. When they did- I didn't suck it up and ride faster. I slowed down and waited for the run because it's where I'm comfortable. 

Except running isn't so comfortable when you're trying to pass back the 100 people who just kicked your ass on the bike. Even if some of them are grandpas. And especially when you really have to pee.

After the race, I told my aunt this one was harder than the 50 miler. I know that's a bit of a stretch, because obviously the 50 miler was physically harder. This one was a mental battle though and those are harder to get past. If you're unhappy with how fast you run, it's pretty simple- you train harder. Unfortunately, emotions and thoughts are harder to train. Or at least I think they are, but maybe that's my problem........