Part 1 - Ironman Sweden
Well Ironman Sweden was unplanned, planned race. I think I had already entered the race in March this year. It was a race which was always on my bucket list and this year was PERFECT YEAR TO TICK THIS off the list. But…… I then did Ironman Brazil in the May and it didn’t go anything like how I wanted it to. I had bad day all round. Race day the weather was miserable – pouring with the rain and I just simply didn’t enjoy the race at all. The last thing on my mind was doing another Ironman soon, so Sweden was forgotten. All I wanted was bit of break, maybe late season Ironman? (I can’t finish my career on such a low) but definitely didn’t relish the thought of training through the South African winter.
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Patience ............. A word that lies in the middle of "Dreams" and "Reality" - by Garron Mosley10/18/2016 Patience A word that lies in the middle of "Dreams" and "Reality". In 2014 I left the Big Island of Hawaii with a clear thought in my mind that I would NOT be back. It was a once off, a privilege to say I raced on the same course as the best in the world. I'd done what I thought at the time was my best. In terms of where I was I'd given my best. I'd never worked so hard for anything in my life and the result was my fastest Ironman, on arguably one of the most challenging courses.
It was mid 2015, about 9 months later, that I realised that I could possibly do it again. I didn't just want to race on the same course, I wanted to compete. In doing so the gap between Dreams and Reality would need to shorten by some margin. I needed to set mini goals and hit those on time in order to ensure I would be competitive.
Urgent 6th November 2016 Trinity Event is the CGT Triathlon Team Selection for 2017 SA Tri Championships. TSA have yet to provide a date for the SA Tri Champs 2017 but TSA have now mentioned that there is a possibility that the SA Championships may take place at the beginning of February 2017. This although not confirmed by TSA puts CGT in real spot of bother as we have time constraints with regard to the selection of our teams, the time required to order and manufacture kit and finalise the payments for kit / event. As such we have no choice but to do the following in respect of our CGT Triathlon Championships and the selection of the CGT Provincial Triathlon Team,
7. Event Info and Entry - Click Here 8. RACE CATEGORIES: KIDS fun EVENT - 8 - 11 JUNIORS - 12-13 / 14-15 / 16-17 / 18-19 SENIORS - 20-24 / 25-29 / 30-34 / 35-39 / 40-44 / 45-49 … etc., (in 5 year Age Groups up to whatever Age. ARE YOU READY TO COMPETE? Regards Central Gauteng Triathlon Committee I’m on a plane somewhere above the Rockies at the moment, and I’m slowly trying to pull the pieces of my race together. For now, I’d like to let you know what the experience is like before and after the race. I’ll get to the experience of the race in the next post The World Championships have been coming to Kona since 1980 (the first two were held on the more populous and smaller island of at O’ahu). This means that the operation is slick. The impressive transition area is housed on a very small pier – less than half a rugby field in size, and the finish line is on the main beachfront road – Ali’i Drive. The whole setup is undertaken on Thursday, and by Friday morning, the bike check-in opens.
The last few days have been very busy with activities and getting ready for the race. Then the exhibitors have taken over large parts of the town with some of the kit in the triathlon world. And we’ve had our first few official athletes event.
Race week: Training wise, I’ve managed to tick on okay. There are some slight niggles that always seem to work their way into your system come race week. Some are genuine and will probably pass in a few days, but often they are manifestations of nerves, stress, intimidation or just demons in your head. Sitting on the beach, or overlooking the lava fields (whatever suits) is a nice way to get you focused. Talking expo and gear, I thought I’d include a little bit about what I’m taking into the race and why. This may be a bit boring for those wanting to hear about palm trees and turtles, but it may be of relevance for those wanting to race in or get to Kona. I’ve included this section down at the bottom. The flights were officially paid for, wow, it was getting real!
The lists were getting made as to what I need to stock up on, pictures of Cozumel were getting posted onto Facebook, especially about the temperature of the water. Questions such as; ‘How are you feeling?’ ‘Are you ready?’ ‘How’s the training going?’ were starting to get thrown around and I had the same answer every time someone asked me. My dad was getting worried that I wasn’t focused enough, 2 months, a month, 3 weeks, 2 weeks before the race because I wasn’t talking about it, at all!! Everyone has their own way of dealing with nerves for a race, in my case, I don’t talk about it. This is strange for me, because I’m not often quiet, hence why he was worried. I think my dad was more nervous than me anyway. Don’t worry dad I was focused. I’ve been on the big island for a week, and its quite clear that there is something brewing. We’re pretty fortunate to be staying on Ali’I Drive about 2 miles from the start. In our complex, we have three world champs and about 15 other professionals just hanging around, going for rides and runs like we all do.
Yup, for the first time in yonks, the race felt way bigger than me. I've been happy with a lot of results in the past but on this day I was completely overwhelmed and incapable of keeping It together. Thankfully I was in good company and we yelled and screamed and acted completely crazy in a momentary relapse of pure excitement and joy.
A win at the world championships was incomprehensible. It has been a long time of wishing, hoping, training, fatigue, disappointment and patience to reach this moment in my triathlon journey. I knew that taking a gap last year, under the advisement of coach, was the right thing to do. The focus was to do a few longer races and stepping away from the standard distance. I'm not a fan of anything longer than a 2:30hr race. I think everyone I train with knows this. The long stuff chokes me and bored me. But, none the less I followed the plan. When SA Short course champs arrived I was excited to race and soon enough the passport and air tickets to the magical Island of Cozumel, Mexico were ready. Bela Bela 5150 was supposed to be my return to triathlon after recovering from a major op in Jan. The limited local racing calendar ruled out anything before June/July and I was in no shape to be considering Durban 70.3. Unfortunately, the Bela Bela date then clashed with a family commitment and race 1 now became The Cape Ultra. With flights, accommodation, bike transport and the likes all organised, I was going.
The trip was planned with the regular military precision that comes with Ty (brother-in-law and fellow Trifactri athlete) and I going away. The flights and car hire sorted months in advance, house booked in Theewaterskloof Golf Estate 10kms from the venue, we had it all covered. Travelling down on the Friday gave us plenty of time to travel through the Cape winelands into Franschoek and over the pass where you then see the vast Theewaterskloof dam for the first time, all the while being distracted by the postcard views left, right, behind and in front of us. It was a tough drive to the house, Africa tough, the tough where you feel the need to stop every 5mins to appreciate the beauty Africa has to offer but we resisted and soldiered on. |
Authors:Where Trifactri athletes get to tell their side of the Swim, Bike and Run Archives
May 2018
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