Never stop believing

Today, I will steal a sentence from a friend's blog: “Don’t stop believing”. I´ll explain the meaning of this sentence with a personal experience I had in a triathlon.

I traveled to Tarragona to participate in a Double Olympic Triathlon (3 km swim, 90km bike and 20 run). It was a long distance triathlon. The mind is very important to keep going hard during the entire race.

The race started. I ran to jump into the sea to start swimming. I started very fast because I had a good possibility to win the race in my category, to be the champion of Catalonia in the category under-23 in this kind of race.   

Unfortunately, I had two big problems in the water. My swimming glasses where a little broken and the saltwater was damaging my eyes. Also I forgot to put on Vaseline under my neoprene (swimming suit). The vaseline is important to prevent wounds at the armpits. Usually, with just one kilometer there is an important wound.

                                                 Arriving to the bike-boxes april-2012

 

I completed the three kilometers badly. I was the last one of my category. For me, the race was over. I had two bloody wounds on my back because of the neoprene. The salt of the sea helped the painful to be more aggressive. One of my eyes was completely closed. I couldn’t open it.  The race's assitants ask me to leave.

                                                      Getting out from the wáter. April 2012

Ok, It’s done. I can’t ride a bike with blood in my body and just one eye.

I don’t know why but two seconds I would have left the race, my brave part said to me:

“it’s not over, go and get what you deserve. Too much training for nothing? I don’t think so dude. DON’T’ STOP BELIEVING¡”

 I took my bike and ignoring the advice of the people I started cycling. It was incredibly difficult. The pain in to my body didn’t permit to go as fast as I could. The other competitors passed me without difficulty. (We are talking about the last positions).

I can’t answer why, but suddenly, at 10^th kilometer's, the pain disappeared, my eye opened, and I started to go harder on the two wheels. It was incredible. I was going so fast, my muscles where shouting in anger. A good anger, necessary. I overtook a lot of places. Each kilometer was better than the other.

At kilometer 60 I was IN the 3^th position of my category. I passed the others like a missile and           they couldn’t follow me.

On the bike. April 2012

When I arrived to the third part, I leave my bike very quickly. I started to run very fast, as fast as ever. My legs were working perfectly. I didn’t understand it.

5 kilometers before the final line I was in second position, I was tired, but I believed that I could take the first place. Gritting my teeth I started running more and more.

0.5 kilometers before the end of the race, I saw my last competitor in front of me. He was my friend.

 

Let me do a parenthesis. Before the race, we had been speaking about who was going to win and I said to him: “If we met at the last straight, you don’t have anything to do”. He was in agreement.

I stayed near to him and with breathing problems I said:

All in 100 meters. Like we said.
 

Last 100 meters. April 2012

After this I started running with everything I had. I crossed the line in the first position, and I understood better than ever one thing. NEVER STOP BELIEVING.

1st postion. April 2012