Doing the Rockman Off Road Ultra Triathlon a few weekends back, was a completely new challenge for me. It would be the first time I would be racing anything longer than Olympic distance. This race consists of 2km swim, 70km mountain bike and 18km run. I had no idea what to expect or how I would manage these distances. During training I did quite a few longer runs than 20km, but I have never even run a half marathon road race. I just wanted to go out and have some fun in the mud.
 |
| Ruan and Rudolf discussing tactics before the race |
The swim was nice and easy, I swam hard to get
a little gap on my closest rivals, but only at about 75% effort. The 70km
cycle, was going to be a real challenge, as it was far and it was very muddy as
it rained continually for the previous week. The first 10km was good and I felt
fine, then the mud part started. It was a clay/mud combination, so it got stuck
to your tyres if you didn’t race with slicks. Unfortunately the mud built up
was so bad that my wheel locked and I had to stop to try and get rid of some of
the mud. Once I started cycling again I saw an athlete in front of me and when
I caught them I realized it was someone who had swam quite a bit behind me. I
was confused - either I took a wrong turn somewhere or he did. That made things
quite interesting. I cycled well until we hit the mud again. There I was stuck
again, but saw my brother in front of me. When I caught up to him he told me
that a lot of people took a wrong turn. So we stopped again, cleaned the bikes
and off we went to finish the first cycle lap. At this point I had no idea in
which position I was – I only knew I was about 10th on the road. I just put my
head down and cycled flat out. After a while my friend, Markus caught up to me
and we cycled together for a while and then he dropped me. I was starting to
think that this could end up being VERY long day and I still need to do the run.
 |
| In the hurt box |
It was 18km trail and I was feeling the effort
on the bike in my legs. I ran a decent first lap, still doing good times. But
the second lap took its toll and I started to run slower and slower. The last
5km was painful and I felt like dying, but I kept on running – I just decided
not to walk, not to walk…. I am glad I didn’t. In the end I raced just under
5hours, more than double of what I am used to. It was the hardest race I have
ever done – I felt like crying like a baby. I was happy that I finished and in
the end I was 2nd overall. This race was a huge confidence booster.
 |
| The podium |
This was the last race of the year. I am
planning on doing the 70.3 in Buffalo City in January. For now it’s a few days
off and then base training starts.
Cheers
Rudolf
