XTRI the Journey

The peak months ahead of the
event were insane. The temperature
through the month of March to June
reached almost 42 degrees. There was
no way to carry out a simulation of the
race conditions. Swim in 11 degrees –
impossible. Oh and the jellyfish will have
to wait a little longer...
Riding on a course with cold
winds or rain – of course, 42 degree gets
nowhere close to that. Running across
munros – absolutely. Wait, what? Hills in
this city? Never heard of them!
The training was mentally
exhausting and my professional work
could never take a back seat, making it
even more challenging. There was also
no one to give me company for long
workouts in this kind of weather.
I clearly remember one instance
where after a 160 km bike ride, it was just
past noon and the heat was unbearable.
The highway was like a barren land and
I had to crawl to a shanty and lie there
waiting for some kind of assistance.
No taxis to hail or immediate help was
accessible on this stretch. I eventually
managed to convince a truck driver to
take me back to the starting point of the
highway where I had parked my car.
Photo: Sampo Lenzi
Support
I will take a slight detour here – no, not
for the jellyfish. I was on the look out
for a support runner and didn’t really
know anyone in that part of the world
who would be willing to take up this
challenge. I managed to connect with
a young chap called Robin Downie
thanks to the world of Instagram. I had
posted a picture from the last edition of
Celtman and he pinged me saying “hey,
that’s me in that pic”.
Robin helped me connect with
Kenny from Loch Carron. I was in
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