Sometimes ‘No’ is the right answer
I had my first triathlon ‘DNF’ at the weekend: Did Not Finish. As is often the case, I should perhaps have seen it coming, but I didn’t. It blindsided me a little, so I wanted to take the time to reflect on it and take away some lessons from the experience. Over the last month, I’ve been working the heaviest part of my roster; and alongside that, those 12-hour shifts were over-running almost every day, with 12 hours becoming 13, 14 or even 15 hours. My last set of shifts, a Day/Day/Night cycle, ended and we packed & headed south for the 500 mile journey, split overnight. Traffic was pretty heavy and the journey took longer than expected. In spite of having done very little training in the week leading to the event, I arrived fatigued and a bit jaded. For a few days before, and whilst we were travelling down, it became clear that the weather forecast was pretty rubbish for event day. Strong winds, rain, chilly temperatures… Waking up on race day, the for...