Central Gauteng Triathlon (Duathlon)

It was time for my province, Central Gauteng’s Triathlon Championship. Two days before the race, the message was conveyed that the water quality wasn’t good enough and the organisers and referees decided to change this to a standard Duathlon.

This was my worst nightmare! I don’t like duathlon, but have to do this to be selected for the SA Triathlon Championships. In all the talks before the race, most of athletes said that they prefer a triathlon. We all knew that the strong runners will have a definite advantage and the strong swimmers … well… tough luck for them.

The race started like a normal road race - 300 athletes in a Germiston street on a Sunday morning , with the bikes in transition waiting … it was quite something different. The first 400m was easy and some of the athletes started joking around, but then it got serious and off we went for a hard day’s racing. The first 10km run wasn’t too bad and I felt good.

After the run it was the bike leg, but it was non drafting, so it was every man for himself. From the moment I got onto the bike till I got off, I felt AWESOME! It was really like I was one with my bike, I rode hard, but didn’t get tired, I enjoyed the bike so much on the day. I have to say … I was kind of sad to get off the bike. I wanted to cycle a little more – just like a kid in an arcade, going just 5 more minutes, please mom and dad.

But I had to get off and do the final 5km run leg. For the first part of the run, my legs felt like jelly. But I settled into a good rhythm after a while. It was a good day at the office for me. A bit of sweet and sour but the race was still fun. My form kept improving and I’m feeling positive for this year.

Cheers
Rudolf