What a difference a day makes

It's some indication of my taste in music that twice in less than 24 hours I have heard the song 'What a Difference a Day Makes'. In my defense, yesterday it was the original by Dinah Washington, although today it was a cover by Jamie Callum (who is a nice guy, but can't hold a candle to Aretha Franklin's version).

And wow - what a difference a day makes. This time yesterday I was starting my first ever mountain bike race - the Swinduro.

At the same time, Karina was prepping for the biggest race of her life - representing Great Britain at the World Triathlon Championships in Rotterdam. We both learned a few things.

I learned that although I enjoy mountain biking - I'm really not good enough to compete. Although I didn't come last (the rallying cry of middle-aged amateur sportspeople), I wasn't far off. Unfortunately, living in North London doesn't quite give me many opportunities to throw myself down mountains, and my 45-year old brain simply isn't quite prepared to take risks with my 45-year old body. But I plan on practising some more and giving it another go next year.

For Karina, she learned a lot about competing at international level. The planning that goes into a successful race is significant. She proved herself to be one of the top women triathletes in her age group. And even if she didn't win a medal, it has spurred her to try again. To build on what worked (cycling and running) and try to figure out how to fix what didn't work so well (swimming). The answer? Duathlon.

What we both learned is that you can't just show up and hope to succeed. Karina had planned, trained and prepped for months and it showed in how fast she got round the course. I hadn't done much more than wash my bike and brought some water and snacks. And that showed in the bruising I've got on various bo