There and back again

Ten days later and it seems a little surreal. For all that time spent training, preparing, and getting ready for the derby, 177 seconds in the ring passed by in the blink of an eye.

For those of you who've always thought that people who do derbies are a little crazy... we probably are. Funny enough, it wasn't really the bank that I thought would be hard. The morning of the derby was when someone reminded me we had to jump the double liver pools, which was when I actually realized what I was in for. The worst moment for me was standing at the gate waiting to walk. Once you're out there in the routine of walking a course and making a plan, it gets easier to remember that it's just another day. Cantering at the first jump made everything else disappear. 

This is going to sound very odd, but my "Social Media Correspondent" Bridie insisted I had to write about it, so here it is: I have the strangest thoughts as I'm on course competing, almost as though I'm robotically going through the motions and having an out of body experience (and I don't believe in those). Allow me to try and explain it a little better. When I landed off the vertical on my way to the double liver pools, I clearly remember thinking that this is where people normally crash. That this can be a make or break moment on course. No the most ideal thought process as I'm supposed to be looking for a distance. Oddly, these thoughts never make me nervous. It's almost as though I'm narrating events that could take place from the sidelines. And then came the bank. As I cantered up the backside and transition to a walk at the top, I couldn't believe I'd made it up there. In hindsight, I probably could have been kicking harder at the bottom of the hill, instead of soaking up the view from the top. But after all of the years of training and working long hours struggling to move through the levels, I'd finally made it. I didn't have any doubts that I was crossing the finish timers that day, but at points along this crazy journey I've definitely wondered if my hard work would ever be enough. 

Having now been "there and back again", there is one thing I can tell you. Hard work pays off and the fruit of it will show up at the most unexpected moment. Okay, I guess there's a second thing: derbies are way too much fun! I guess we'll just have to wait and see what transpires July 9th :)

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