The Whole Hog 2013

Quite possibly the best race I have ever done. The Whole hog was a 6-7 mile adventure race through the woodlands and marshes of Wandisten in Suffolk. 

 Cargo nets, Mud climbs, rode swings.....

 Smiles of joy, grimaces of pain.

Here, I'd just fallen on my arse! Took the opportunity to rest.

Not a natural winner??? (blog post)

This year I have won a Zipvit Tri suit, a £50 wiggle voucher and some Haribo goodies I even managed a first place in a marathon team relay at a recent event.

What is going on???

 On a personal level, it’s not winning but almost. I recently applied for a college course. As part of the application process I was asked to sit an online literacy and numeracy test. Anyone who reads this, or previous posts will know that my literacy skills are not the best. I mean, you should see how many red squiggles are on this page now, before I hit the spell-check button! Anyway, I spent two to three days studying/refreshing my math and English skills, and after a stressful few hours I passed the tests with higher scores than I expected. That feeling of accomplishment is awesome.

 I know life balances out. This is one of my firm beliefs. You just have to view it with perspective. To say “you win some, you lose some” may feel like a cop out, but really, that is it!

I used to wonder why I never won anything, though the reality is that I have been a winner all my life. I don’t mean for that to sound as wanky as it does. What I mean is, I have a good life, my wife is my best friend, my kids stress me out sometimes, but they are great kids. I have had employment all of my working life, my parents are enjoying their retirements. I have a roof over my head (admittedly, a massive never-ending mortgage). All these things and more add up to, in my mind, a win.

 I may bitch on Twitter and Facebook about my running/cycling/triathlon training. I’ll complain about not racing due to this hernia thing. But that is not ALL my life. I have perspective.

 I have said before, I am looking forward to 2012. I can’t wait to see what it brings personally, academically and *sportingly. 

 

....touch wood! :-)

 

*is that a word?