Box Hill Hell
I’ve been a triathlon addict since 2011, after being talked into trying the Windsor relay, progressing up through 1/2 IM and then IM. Possibly overdoing it with four IM races in 2015 but as a terrible swimmer, winter duathlons come as a welcome change. Five times up box-hill? Why not. After having ‘fun’ at the Ballbuster last year - just turning up, winging it but still posting a decent time - the plan this year was to follow an autumn ultra-marathon with a solid block of training and nailing a PB. The reality, as ever, wasn’t even close, consisting of a failed ultra-marathon attempt and recovering from dehydration and muscle damage. Then Flu. Then a throat infection. Not ideal. The standard pre race-week weather checks hadn’t looked at all promising, but I was still hoping vainly that it wouldn’t be so bad in the morning. Driving over I optimistically pointed out it was dry, just as the heavens opened. Some races seem to be a tutorial in what not to do, this was to be one of