O asked me where I was going when he saw me packing my bags before he was due to go to his dad’s for the week. I said I was going to Glasgow, all my own, to race on my own. O was quite distressed and said: “Oh no Mama – you’re going to be last!”

I responded: “No I’m not going to be last. I’m going to do my best. It’ll be all good anyway. – And what do you mean by I’m going to be last anyway? What’s the definition of ‘last’?”

He said: “You’ll be the slowest. You’ll have the slowest time. Last!”

And I said: “Even if I’m as slow as 1h47, my slowest time – and I won’t be that slow – I won’t be last. There will always be slower people. Some people finish after 2 hours, or 3 hours even. I’m hoping to get 1h30, but regardless, don’t worry, I won’t be last.”

It’s a good thing I’m not relying on my son(s) for affirmation and building up confidence and self-esteem, because boy… do they lack confidence in me!

In the end, I didn’t achieve 1h30 or sub-90, which was one of my primary objectives, and one of my resolutions for 2025. But I achieved two of the three objectives I had, which were:

1. Have fun (and don’t aggravate my injury)
2. Don’t cry during / after wall balls
3. Achieve a time of 90 or sub-90 minutes.

So, all in all, I count it as a win. 

And I would count this solo Hyrox trip as a new experience for me – I’ve done all my previous Hyrox trips with HV so far. Hence another tick in the box for 1 new experience per calendar quarter (albeit this is my second one this calendar quarter).

Overall, it was a good weekend. Taking a train up to Glasgow felt like a relatively novel experience in itself. Hotel was walking distance both from train station and venue – although I should probably have spent more and stayed at a better hotel. Volunteered as a wall ball judge, which was actually a pretty fun and interesting experience. It’s more fun than the other stations because there’s great music / a deejay, and an emcee, and there’s the struggle and emotion during the station, the opportunity to encourage struggling athletes, and the elation and emotion at the finish.

When I reached the wall ball stations during my race today, the emcee recognised me, and came up and commented: “It’s your turn today, eh?” I was kneeling on the wall ball, bent over, and gasping for air in between sets of 10 – just dying!

I was a bit disappointed that I was THIS close to getting 1h30… I would’ve taken 1:30:59 as a win… but instead, I posted a time of 1:31:06. But, all in all, given the challenges I faced, it was still a good time:

1. I got my period, day 2 (my worst day) no less!!,
2. I had bloating and digestion issues thanks to my period (struggled to finish breakfast Saturday and Sunday and remained full for a long time),
3. Still scabby right knee from when I took a tumble during a run,
4. Still injured and hurting left hip (Tensor Fascia Lata),
5. Much reduced training load (strength and running) over the last 2.5-3 months so fitness and prep definitely not 100%,
6. Still have a residual cough from the cold I had a few weeks ago, so I would say my health is not 100%

And additionally:

1. The carpet was a bit bumpy (my WB fellow judge, who posted 1h04, said he was struggling during the sled because of a bumpy carpet),
2. I lost time switching lanes maybe 4x during the BBJs – people were so slow I had to wait for the traffic congestion, and whenever I switched lanes, I would do an extra burpee before the jump, which would have added to more than 6 seconds,
3. I also had to switch lanes at least once during the lunges, which also cost a few seconds

In summary, sub-90 is definitely eminently achievable for this year. And I probably would have achieved it this race, if only 1-2 things had gone differently. But what is also an undeniable fact is that I am not yet good enough, and don’t have a solid enough cardio base / aerobic and anaerobic engine, such that I would be able to easily clear sub-90, even in sub-optimal conditions. So in the words of Garmin, there is “room to grow”.