Excuses, excuses... Get it off yer chest!

May 28, 2024

Go to the start line or registration of any sporting event, and you're guaranteed to witness two things: a line-up of the participants' gnarliest race finisher t-shirts, and a list of excuses as long as your arm, as those taking part reel off the reasons why things might not quite go to plan.

We all do it... Everyone tells you to think positive, be motivated, etc etc. But sometimes, you just need to reflect on all the crappy stuff that's happened, and have a Right Good Whinge. Get it out there, get it off your chest, vent your spleen, or whatever you want to call it. Put it out into the universe so you can get on with getting on.

At the end of the day, we're all just normal people, putting ourselves through suffering because there's something primevally satisfying about going to bed feeling like you've given everything and more, and you could sleep for a week. It's just that these days we pay a race organiser to make us do it, rather than having to do it to catch our dinner.

We really shouldn't take these events too seriously, even though it might feel like life or death at the time.

A very experienced cyclist turned track sprinter I know has a standing joke around 'Lazy's Big Book of Excuses'... and Mark & I were making a list this morning. So here's mine, for this year.

I may be the heaviest female lining up for the start of Celtman this year - or maybe any year? Try as I might, getting or staying light or lean is not something I've ever been good at.
Most of the people on the start line are about half my age... Ok, ok, I know they're not - but it probably feels that way.
Mark's mum was diagnosed with a brain tumour in November, and died just before Christmas. Cue a set of trips up & down to Edinburgh, a load of family upheaval, poor sleep, stress and upset. She was a wonderful woman and we miss her very, very much. Mark's Dad has coped admirably with an extraordinarily sad and upsetting time after being married for more years than many of us will live, and losing his lifelong companion.
And then... Covid. We both got Covid just after Christmas, and Mark struggled with a sinus infection & chest infection for a couple of months afterwards. More interrupted sleep and stress.
Spring colds in April, leading to... more poor sleep, a battered immune system from combining that with all the training, and culminating in...
That infection. A month of skin infection, antibiotics, allergic reaction to the antibiotics, GP & nurse visits, and hospital admission. Dressings, antihistamines, not sleeping, and above all... NOT TRAINING.
And in amongst that, shift work, being a 49 year-old perimenopausal woman, and living in the north of Scotland in the wettest winter on record. I'm a lifelong breaststroke swimmer, and have learned to swim front crawl specifically for Celtman.

Phew!

That's a lot of excuses.

I'm pretty sure I could think of more if I tried hard enough. Hardly an ideal training period, and it wouldn't be a surprise if I didn't achieve my goal of getting to that T2A cut-off in time to be allowed to finish and claim a Celtman White T-shirt.

BUT that's it out there now though. Done. Vented... Better get on with getting on.