Real Life Triathlon: Kim Cotton on her road to Henley (Part 4)

Created On: 12 July 2011

Kim Cotton, one of the winners of a free place at this years Challenge Henley (3.8km swim, 180km bike and a 42km run) has sent us her latest update on her road to Henley…

Life often throws unexpected things at you, it's what makes it interesting and challenging. But sometimes something is thrown at you that is beyond your wildest imagination, something that wouldn't have reached anywhere close to the furthest boundaries of your radar. Last month that something was thrown at me.

While I tried to assimilate how different the next few months (and possibly years) would be, and how all our plans had suddenly changed, 3 weeks had passed. All training had gone out of the window, along with the healthy eating (and eating full stop for a while!). Henley was getting scarily close, but how could I concentrate on training, when I had to put the family first? So I made the huge decision to pull out of the race.

As soon as I'd sent the email though, the fighting spirit started to kick in. Ok, life had changed considerably, but we were all healthy, and I had to be strong for everyone. And being strong emotionally, meant being strong physically, so that meant training. I would always regret it if I didn't even TRY to complete this possibly once in a lifetime opportunity.

But another week has gone by, I'm still trying to get my head round things, and have to face the reality that I've probably lost too much fitness to be able to get back to where I was and give Henley the dedication and respect it deserves. Not to miss out completely though, 2 friends have offered to join me for the relay. So I have a potential swimmer and cyclist, meaning I will bring the team home with the marathon. Something I know I can do having completed 4 marathosn already.

No matter how badly you might want something, sometimes priorities have to be changed. It was horrible admitting I wouldn't be able to do the full event, but nothing comes before being there for my family. There will be other Henleys, other long distance triathlons, and my dream to become IronMum is still well and truly alive. Just not for this year.

Kim

To read part 3 of Kim's road to Henley click HERE

To read part 2 of Kim's road to Henley click HERE

To read part 1 of Kim's road to Henley click HERE

Tags: news,beginners,women

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