When I woke up on Sunday morning, the first thing I thought was why? Why have I done this to myself….
Got ready, wetsuit on and down to the beach… Standing in the pen waiting to run into the sea with my training partner Castelli, we held hands, the volunteers in front of us allowing us into the water dropped their arms and off we went sprinting to the cold sea. The icy water hit our feet and we galloped over the waves till we were knee deep. I then stopped, cleaned my goggles, walked in slowly thinking, breathe, just breathe. Castelli turned and screamed to me, YEAH LETS DO THIS FRIEND!! Goggles on, a butterfly dive into the shallow water and I though, YEAH LETS DO THIS!
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I had been training under another tri club for about 6 months and making good progress, and was pretty happy, when I saw an advert for a tri camp from Trifactri.
I knew one or two things about the club, but most importantly, I had once mailed Lucie and she gave me advice and nutrition tips just before my first triathlon. I always thought that was just awesome… I stepped outside into what looked like a dark and stormy day, kind of how most nightmares start. My mood and thoughts on the other hand were the complete opposite.
I felt so calm and confident for this race, I had improved so much over the last year, and this was going to be awesome! I walked from the hotel to the swim start, jamming to some tunes. Checked my stuff in transition as I sang along to Flo Rida, got my morning pep talk from Eminem and had Mick Jagger cheering me on for my warm up, I was Ready to Rock n roll!! This race seemed to pop up so quickly after the festive season. After being way too indulgent into the Christmas feasts and the inconsistency of training, I felt as if those few short weeks in the New Year were the first time I had started training for East London. Albeit I have only been a member of Trifactri for a few months I still feel that I only had those two weeks of training for this race.
Being in east London and being surrounded by the Trifactri group really seemed to settle the nerves. I had a good chat with some people at the Friday dinner as well as the guidance from our incredible coach, Lucie Zelenkova. This was all I really needed to get myself into the right mind space for the race. My last year’s season ended up only in December and I needed long break after that. I did almost nothing for four weeks, except occasional runs now and then. We went to Czech Republic to enjoy European Christmas with my parents and my sister. And I had awesome time there. Nothing can beat proper Czech Christmas with all those homemade cookies and Gluhwine at Christmas Market. Just all this eating and drinking meant that I was carrying bit of extra weight and missing some fitness.
But still, I couldn’t miss 70,3 East London. It was my 9th time racing there and I always enjoy whole weekend and experience with my athletes and friends. It wasn’t just a race for me; it was road trip to East London from Joburg, team dinner, team warm up, race and after race activities – yes, famous after party at Buccaneers My first race of the season is done. Not a result I wanted but still glad I went. It itself wasn’t great. As pro ladies we had separate start – 5minutes behind pro men and 10minutes ahead of all age groupers. I started training 5 months before my first race day, 24th Jan 2016 IM70.3 Buffalo City, statistically the second hardest IM70.3 in the world they say. Had I known the latter before I raced I probably would have made sure I trained consistently for the entire 5months. In fact, the intensive training I did in the last 2months leading up to the race left me with shoulder, knee and ankle over-training ailments so I knew it was a stretch to begin with that I was going to make cut-off. I had never run more than 10km’s and my cycle per/hour averages were cutting it fine. Rule 1: Train consistently.
When Luc asked me to write a race report on my experience of the IM70.3 East London 2016, I had to laugh. Not only was it my first ever DNF, but also such a disappointing day! So in a hope to give some advice, here’s my report:
Everything went smoothly leading up to race day. I was feeling confident and prepared for this race. I was completing all my training sets as provided by coach and I was generally feeling fit. Thursday before the race, I had my bike serviced, charged my battery (as I have electronic shifters) and gave the baby a wash. We drove down early Friday morning…it rained heavily for most of the way. This is my second East London 70.3 and so far I haven’t been disappointed by the organisation of the event. The volunteers are amazing and they keep the energy levels high from the word go. I really take my hat off to all the volunteers and to all the organisers for pulling off an amazing weekend.
Our weekend always starts off with a fantastic dinner with our club. Some good carbo-loading is implemented, but everyone stays away from the dessert because you know we’re like pro and stuff. I’m just kidding, it’s actually because coach is sitting right there, so we wait till after the race, because then we can eat whatever we want (in front of coach, because she’s eating the same thing). In my case, it’s tons of ice-cream. Not since my debut to the triathlon scene at East London in 2015 had I been so nervous before a race. A full year later and I was again on the beach looking out over the swim course. This year being ready to settle the score with one of the toughest and most rewarding of the three 70.3 distance races I’ve previously competed in. I had been training through the year but only started joining TriFacTri track sessions and Saturday rides just after Ironman 70.3 Durban in August.
I officially joined TrifacTri and received my first program from head coach Lucie on 19 October 2015. Since then it’s been dedicated hard work and lots of training. I was confident I was going to get under my 2015 time of 6hrs 9 minutes and 55 seconds. I had to! A big CONGRATULATIONS to all our Trifactri athletes the qualified for the Central Gauteng Team to race in the SA Triathlon Championships - we are so very proud of you
20-24 Age Group James Curtin Jessica Dignon 25-29 Age Group Bhavik Ganda Keren Robertson 30-34 Age Group Darian Wait 40-44 Age Group Laura-Beth Eicker-Harris Rob Heath Lelani Joubert Diane Kelway 45-49 Age Group Desiree Dickinson Kim Dovey Andre Piehl
As per the ABP regulations, the athlete was afforded an opportunity to provide documented medical evidence that could explain the irregularities in his blood profile.
If triathlons were space missions, then Langkawi was my Apollo 13.
Other than two jellyfish stings, the swim was long, uneventful and went according to plan. It is a beautifully marked course, which made it quite easy not to get lost. No hassles in T1. I got onto the bike ready to go chase my Kona slot. The only benefit of being a weak swimmer is that you are always passing people on the bike, a huge mental benefit. That quickly turned into a draft fest though. At some stage I counted 14 people that passed me peloton style, every one of them an idiot that I passed earlier . It was also the first time I ever saw age groupers get carded for drafting. That made me feel much better about my individual effort. But I was stuck with this group, yo-yoing between leading the pack and falling back to avoid a penalty. At around 70km I took the decision to stop at an aid station and do a proper hydration refill, putting some distance between us. As it turned out I caught up with them at 100km. Fortunately the 2nd lap’s climbing was about to start. Relative to the field I am a strong climber, so I passed the group and managed to drop them in the 10km Redbull-Zone leading to the golf-course, without much additional power output. I saw Coach on this stretch (although she was heading back out again), realized that I was catching her , and I must admit that I was looking forward to finally passing her on the bike in a race. But oh what a cruel sport this is. Laguna Triathlon (Phuket) – 1.8km Swim, 55 km bike, 12km run
If beach sand, clear ocean water, beautiful tropical scenery and friendly locals is your thing then this is the race for you. The swim is unique (at least in my experience) in that you swim in salt and fresh water. The race kicks off with an out and back 1.2km swim in the clearest water I have ever raced in. Not that there is much to see down there, but it does help with swimming straight(ish). On exiting the swim you run over the beach and dive into the lagoon where the last 600m awaits you in the murkiest, darkest, triathlete infested water you have ever seen. The race director did assure us the water was tested and declared safe for recreational use… whatever that means. The one-lap bike course is nothing short of spectacular, although race day is no time to be sightseeing. Two days earlier we were taken on a police-escorted ride of the bike course (like pro’s ), something I would highly recommend. The course is quite technical. There are maybe 4km worth of hills, but at gradients of up to 22% their presence are felt early on in the race. The downhills are equally steep, which combined with a couple of switchbacks leaves a lingering scent of burnt out brakes in the air. There is also no road closure; traffic is a real concern on the blind corners… of which there were plenty. But it is stunningly beautiful, and there are more than enough straight flat sections to keep the TT bikes happy. It was with a sense of sadness that I racked my bike in T2 and headed out on the run. The two-lap run is mostly flat, hot and humid. Towards the turnaround you are taken onto a detour heading out and back on the golf-course… very Sun City-esque, just a lot greener. You are never bored, constantly keeping your body in the red zone. And why not… 12kms is just around the corner… not. Somehow they keep the coke and sponges ice cold… a great effort from the local and international volunteers. Definitely a race I will do again. Eugene Buffelspoort, the heart of the borewors curtain. The TTA Champs kicked off with an amazing goodie bag containing a sachet of burger mayonnaise, a small packet of instant coffee and a pamphlet. I knew it was going to be a fun race.
Up went the blowup arch, along with gusty winds and the race was on. The crushing 😂 field of about 100 athletes all hit the water. I kept my eye out for barbel and fishermans pap lines. As I slipped out of my wetsuit in T1, I also tossed off some water weed from my hair to glam up for the bike. Hills, glorious hills strummed in my head as the two lap bike course required some thigh power. The run start was no different and for once I was grateful for that little hill out of Valverde on the Saturday brick runs. The finish line arrived and with the double thumbs up salute I thought "mooi man" ( Afrikaans accent required). And that was that. Wet & muddy start to da race , we went off ata mellow pace for da first 65kms , we only had 3 ladies so we hada make sure we didnt wear em out too much coz we needed all of em to finish wit at least 3 guys for time.
After da 2nd big climb Qhubeka came hauling passed us & it wasa bit ofa bun fight till da 1st stop as we caught otha teams left in der wake, oh dat is also wer we lost Master P for about 60kms 😎 The special thing about DC is that it's a team event. It is so awesome to bond and ride for your team as apposed to our usual races that are individual and pretty selfish. I would have pulled out 5 times if I wasn't part of a team that I didn't want to let down.
In 2014 I rode for team UFO and we came 3rd mixed in a time of 5:54 in great conditions. This year I rode for the same team.... The 'team' had their mind set on a time 25min faster than last year chasing another particular mixed team !!!! Ironman Malaysia done. One of the hardest races I ever done. Very hot and humid without any cloud cover and challenging bike course.
Swim in almost 30degrees water, I was first out of the water by almost three minutes. Hold the lead till 30km of the bike but then really struggled. Throwing up everything I drunk or ate and just pedaling to finish. got off the bike 13th and last two places immediately in transition. So I thought I will just enjoy the run here. Turned out that I felt good on the run and started picking up some girls who were ahead of me. And then cherry on the top was sprint finish at the end of the race with Katharina Grohmann. Didn't think I still have some sprint speed in me:). Happy I didn't give up on the bike and run my way to 7th place Rode to da start so I could warm da diesel engine nicely
Stuck wit da bunch Avoided 2 terrible crashes 15kms to go i got bored so sat infront, only 4 guys came with me then crossed da line in 1st :) I joined Trifactri in September, with a goal to start doing triathlons, and I completed my first olympic distance triathlon last weekend - the Germiston 5150.
I won't lie, I was a little blasé leading up to the race. After all, when you look at each discipline on it's own, it doesn't look that daunting. Swimming has never been a concern for me, I cycle more than 40ks at least twice a week, and I have run marathons before! BUT....add them all together, stir in 35 degree temperatures and some serious wind, and voilà, not so simple after all! Firstly, standing at the the swim start is nerve wracking, no matter how strong a swimmer you are. Suddenly, telling yourself that you swim double this distance twice a week isn't so comforting, and those buoys look faaaaar away. It doesn't help when the commentator keeps announcing how bad the conditions are. Thank you very much, but we can SEE the waves! At least I came out the water WELL hydrated.... Secondly, nothing can truly prepare you for transitions. Sprinting out the water and getting on a bike without really getting your breath back is pretty crazy, and I can't even begin to describe the feeling in my legs the first few hundred metres of the run. So my first triathlon humbled me, but it only took half an hour (to get the feeling back in my legs and to demolish a Spur burger) before I was thinking about the next one. They are addictive like that. Thank you so much to the Trifactri team and my coaches Jess and Lucie. It was tough, but would have been so much tougher without you guys!
To say that I was surprised to crack a slot for Kona this year would be an understatement so it was quite a surreal experience looking out the window after 36hrs of travelling and watching the island come into view. I had a smile on my face like no other, and I hadn’t even hit the island yet.
A lot of this is going to sound a bit clichéd, because I guess most people experience some of the same things, but Kona is Kona, so here goes… My Kona 2015
It’s now almost 2 weeks since I raced at Kona World Champs and to be honest, I’m still a little shell shocked or is that deep fried…? I have read quite a few blogs and race reports over the last 10 days and the one thing that has struck me is that most of us had similar fears, doubts and insecurities; both before and during the race. You imagine that you’re the only person at the start thinking “What the hell am I doing here, why am I doing this to myself?” I will never forget that feeling when I was standing on the beach ready to enter the water. As it turns out, most of us are thinking the same thing. The other similarity is that during the race, we all think we are having the worst race and that everyone else is cruising. I’ll just start by saying racing overseas is awesome and I would highly recommend Mallorca as a place to visit and to do an Ironman!
Ironman Mallorca was going to be my first Ironman. I have only finished five 70.3’s (three this year) and was keen to step it up to the full Ironman distance. Humbling weekend. 23rd in my age group.
Two weeks out from Kona when the best in the world are meant to be in Hawaii? 6 age group slots rolling down to 17th position? Kona losing its appeal? 3 minutes faster than my qualifying time at IMSA last year on a course that I would say was at least as difficult, if not more so. Have lots to add over the next few days but I've said this before and I'll say it again, except for two or three South African age groupers we have a lot of catching up to do. It's at a whole different level in Europe. Small rest now then back to the drawing board with Lucie Zelenkova to figure out how we get down into competitive territory in an even more competitive age group next year. - Garron |
Authors:Where Trifactri athletes get to tell their side of the Swim, Bike and Run Archives
May 2018
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