5150 BelaBela

The 5150 in BelaBela would be the first time I was racing since the African champs in May. I was very excited, but at the same time very nervous. I really wanted to have a good performance to boost my confidence before I leave for the World Champs in London a few weeks later.

The race was a normal Olympic distance race but the cycling was non drafting, so this made it fun and exciting. We started in waves and the pro’s and pro-elites were first. I started next to Wian, because he is a great swimmer. I knew if I could stick with him in the swim I will have a good swim. It turned out to happen, as I exited the 1500m swim next to him.

We had a small gap on 3rd and 4th place. After a quick transition we were out on the cycle. Wian was setting a good pace and I tried to keep up with him, but my legs weren’t there on the cycle.

After about 8km Wikus caught me and I stayed with him for a while. I thought then, this will be a long day for me after Travis came flying past me. I decided then not to panic and just focus on the here and now and trying to cycle as well as I can. During the 2nd lap I felt much better and I started to gain some ground on some of the athletes, so I was feeling more confident after the 2nd lap.

The run was going to be mentally and physically hard because I haven’t really ran as much as I wanted. I had an injury and couldn’t run for several weeks. My form on the run was going to be a surprise, but I knew I had to go out hard and hope for the best. Starting the run, I was in 4th place so the race was still on. I felt good on the run and was running a steady tempo. I stayed in 4th position until the finish, but I gained a lot of confidence from the race heading to World Champs. In the end the result might not have been the best, but mentally it was a good race for me.

World champs will be in London in 3 weeks’ time and I am hoping for another solid result there.

Until then

Cheers

World Cup, Ishigaki

The first World Cup which of raced during  my 2013 season, was in Ishigaki, Japan. It was a long, 30 hour travel from Johannesburg, but I was looking forward to the race. The weather really wasn’t playing along on race day; it was cold and rainy so that made for a scary bike on a technical course.

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 2^nd 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 15^th 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, my sponsors and especially my parents who believed in me.

Until next time

Cheers