The first World Cup which of raced during my 2013 season, was in Ishigaki , Japan Johannesburg
I didn’t have a good start to the first lap of the
1500m swim and was almost last in the swim after 50m. I just couldn’t get out
of the blocks fast and that made for a tough swim. I kept to the back of the
swim and just hoped that the athletes in front of me don’t loose the feet in
front of them. After the first lap I decided to try and move myself up and was hoping
that I can have a good race after that. I could see that I was passing a few
athletes and gaining on the pack in front.
In the end of the swim I was 2nd pack and the leaders weren’t
too far ahead of me.
The cycle was hard from the start. As the hill was
just 50m after transition, I just knew I had to stay in the group. The complete
first lap was hard and then my legs settled in and I started to feel good on
the bike. We caught up a few athletes that were dropped from the front pack. Because
it was very wet and slippery, the main focus was to stay upright, but still go
hard. A lot of athletes crashed on the challenging route - there was a huge
crash in the front pack taking out 6 guys, so everyone was scared after that
and didn’t want to go down. I had a strong bike and I thought my legs were
feeling good after the cycle but then on run decided otherwise.
The route was hard but only 3 laps so mentally it was
better than a 4 lap run. I gave it my all and hoping to get a good result. But
in the end I was 15th and happy with the result.
There are a lot of positives to take out of this race –
which I definitely will.
I thank everyone who made it possible for me to race
in Japan
Until next time
Cheers
