Thank you

The training camp in Slovenia will always be one of the highlights of my career to date. I thank everyone that has contributed in any way to this camp. I gained valuable experience from senior athletes and camp management. It was a privilege to be selected to attend this. The excursion was a success with respect to achievements and experience gained.

Thank you to TSA (Triathlon SA) for funding this training camp and race entries.

Thank you to my coach and friend, Lindsey Parry for sharing your experience and knowledge with me. Thank you for believing in me since we met 2 years ago.

Thank you to the High Performance Manager, Emma Swanwick for arranging accommodation, training and events and for sharing advice and knowledge.

Thank you to all my colleagues (athletes) for the fun we had, on and off the training field. I now consider you family.

Thank you to my sponsors, Nike, CycleOps, TSA and Tuks. I am proud using your products.

Thank you to my parents and family for always supporting and believing in me. You are always there when I need you. I promised to make to proud and not let you down.

Last but no means least, thank you to God for giving me with the talent, providing me with the mental and physical strength and will to train and race with dignity. Thank you Lord for all the blessings I receive so mildly.

Now is time to rest – 3 full and well deserved weeks. I will be catching up on my studies and try to be a “student only” for a few weeks. Thereafter I will start with base training and prepare for the South African season.

Until next time
Cheers and enjoy

World Championships

The Euro trip was excellent up to now, with some good results and a lot of fun, but the time for fun and games was over, it was time for the big one – the World Championships in Budapest within a few days.

We travelled from Slovenia to Budapest in Hungary on Wednesday, checked into the hotel and went for a quick run just to loosen the legs from the long 7 hour bus trip. We noticed lots of other athletes from different countries running and cycling…and then a realised …this is it. After the run we had a brief team meeting and then had dinner where we discussed the plans for the next day.

We got up early and went for breakfast before doing a short swim set. We then went back to the hotel and relaxed while waiting for the afternoon run session. The next day was time to do the course familiarisation on the bike and swim, but unfortunately it was raining and cold. We started with the bike session and it was a very scary few minutes of cycling. We were a big group and the roads were wet and the course was very, very technical. About 99% of the athletes managed to ride without an accident - only a few wanted to taste the Hungarian tar. We decided to skip the swim because of the cold.

Later the afternoon, it was time for our race briefing; there the feeling of being at World Champs finally sank in... Just watching all the athletes and listening to the briefing was the sign that ... this is really it. I didn’t know a lot of the athletes, chatted with some I knew, but everyone was focused and ready to race.

On Saturday, it was time for the u/23 girls and men and elite men to race; I had to wait another, long day… I watched the races and this inspired and motivated me a lot. That night at the hotel I was getting ready, packing all my stuff and checked my bike once again. I then realized that I’m only racing at 5:30 pm the next day, so I relaxed and watched some TV. I slept like a baby that night.

I woke up at 8 and went for a short cycle to loosen up the legs. We then had breakfast and relaxed till 3 pm. I went to T2, put my shoes in the box, got some last minute advice from my coach, Lindsey and went off to T1 where the swim start was.

We only received or race numbers there, because someone stole our original numbers. We were pushed for time to get everything ready and still do our warm up. Somehow (with the help of adrenaline), we managed to do all of that and still had time to “good luck” everyone. We then lined up and when they announced: “number 27 Rudolf Naude”, I knew … now is the time, I felt very good and excited.

Surprisingly I had a super good start dove and wasn’t hit once in the first 50 meters, and then everything changed. The swim turned into a boxing match, everyone was swimming over everyone and I got a few punches and kicks but also gave out quite a few. At the first buoy, it was the worst as everyone slowed down to turn and I caused a mass pile up. The only good thing about getting hit all the way is that you know you are still in the race. After the race to transition, I saw that there were still a lot of bikes left so I knew I had a good swim. We got a good rhythm on the bike and at the turn around, I saw that I was 2nd pack and we were catching the front pack. When we caught them we didn’t let up, it was a flat taps bike leg all the way. Out of very turn and corner on the very technical route, we sprinted to get back up to speed, I tried to remain in the top 5 in the pack just to be safe and have a good, clean transition.

Approaching T2, I was still in the front of the pack, which made my transition easy. My transition went very smooth and to my surprise I was 2nd out of T2. The adrenaline was pumping and I went for it, but sadly I started to die slowly. I went out to fast and blew up at the end. I finished 25th , but was hoping for a top 20 … I missed top 20 by 10 seconds – close, but missed. At the finish line, I collapsed - my legs gave in and I was dead tired but happy.
 

My famous collapse!


Click here to view the 5min of the race highlights

Cheers
Rudolf

Bled Junior European Cup

The last race on our trip before World championships, was the Bled Junior European Cup. This was a super sprint format, 400m swim 13km bike and 3.3km run, so this race was flat taps all the way.

The start numbers was dished out randomly and I was lucky number 2. In triathlon you always want your finish position to beat or equal your race number. So this would be quite a challenge this time.

The race started at 10 in the morning. We did the entire pre-race warm up like usual and then we waited in the holding pen for the announcer to call our names to the start and get ready to race. It was a pontoon start this time. The start was quite hectic as the announcer called one minute to go and then within a few seconds he called the GO. It caught a lot of the athletes, including me.

The swim was really hard because of the short distance all of the athletes were swimming together - it was more a boxing match than a swim. I luckily had a good swim, had a good position and just a few minor hits on the head. The first transition was not very successful … it took me quite a while to get out of the wetsuit. I could have almost had a cup of coffee it took so long …hahaha. Eventually I got rid of the wetsuit and went off on the bike. We were a huge front pack and everyone seemed a bit on the edge because there was a huge hill in the middle of the bike lap. When we got to the hill you could cut the tension with a knife, everyone was watching and waiting to see who will make the first move.

It was a Belgium athlete Martin de Bolster who made the first move. Myself, Wian, Henri and an Italian athlete followed him and got an away in a small break. But the break only lasted a few km’s then the group caught us again. I could see that some damage was done as the group was smaller and the athletes looked a bit drained. Then we had to hit the hill again on the last lap. Everybody now knew who the danger man was to look out for. Sure enough he attacked again trying to hurt the pack and dropped another few athletes. Yet, all in vain as he did not manage to get away.

The breakaway group that got caught.

We were a bunch of about 13 athletes that got to transition together and we now knew the race would be decided on the run. My t1 was super-slow and I went to a super-fast t2 - I manage to be first out of transition for the run.

I was feeling really good despite having to cycle a huge hill twice. The run was very fast with Wian catching me about 400m after transition, I tried to stick with him, but I could only manage it for about 1km. He then slowly started to pull away from me. He won the race and I held on to second position. The race number thing … well … it worked out this time.

This was a great day for SA triathlon and for myself. I had a good race and felt good with only one week to go before World Championships.

Rudolf Naude, Wian Sullwald, Lukas Gaggl.

Tomorrow we will leave Radovljica (home away from home) and travel to Budapest for World Championships - the biggest race of the year. The past five weeks was really hard work – in rain, wind, heat and cold … but all worth it.

Two quotes to end with:
Don’t be a spectator, don’t let life pass you by.
The greatest gift we have is the gift of life.

Chat soon
Cheers

Running with my dog

Every runner has a favourite training set. Mine isn’t a hard track set or long run, it’s simply running with my dog, Macca.

Last year for my birthday my parents surprised me with Macca, my one and a half year old Italian greyhound. What an amazing gift. I love running with her, she is the perfect running partner.

Whether it is a long run or a hard track session, she is always there, eagerly joining in. I keep her on her leash until we get to the track, where she is free to fly and have fun while I do my set. Sometimes she joins in with the set, but after I have tried many times to get her even to pant a bit harder, it seems that her energy levels are endless. I crawl home darting for the bed, there she is, ball in mouth, staring at me with sad puppy eyes, to play some more. Usually I do my long runs off road, at a nature reserve close to my house and Macca comes along without fail.

Macca is as loyal as a dog can get. She listens to my every word and call. As we are running she constantly needs to keep me in view, whether she is running behind or usually a few metres ahead of me. She would keep on checking for me, seeing if I can keep up with her. One time, we ran on a single track road and it forked out a few meters ahead of us. Suddenly she sprinted to the left and as a joke I went right, just to see her reaction. She got a huge fright! Sprinted back the way we came to see where she had lost me. I had to chase her, yelling at the top of my lungs, hoping that she would hear me and stop. Unknowingly she turned my long run into a fast interval session.

But that is why I really love running with Macca; I get training done and have fun at the same time with her.

Macca

Thank you for all the support

Until next time
Cheers