Durbanville Triathlon, Western Cape, 4 May
I
am a triathlon addict and off-road convert who has recently been trying to
improve my technical skills on the mountain bike, as this is where I struggle. So,
at the last minute, I decided to enter the off-road Durbanville Triathlon, as
the triathlon season was coming to a close and this would be the last tri
before winter really set in.
READY TO GO
I
arrived at Phisantekraal in Durbanville, collected my race number, said hi to
some friends and then took my bike out for a little spin before heading to the
transition. I shimmied into my wetsuit and was pleasantly surprised to find the
water quite a nice temperature. Now, my training hadn’t been going as well as I
would have liked, as I started a Masters at Stellenbosch University this year and
had been quite unaware of the workload involved, so I went into the race with
the mindset of a participant rather than that of a competitor. However, I
quickly changed my mind when I found myself in fourth place overall after one
lap of the swim. I decided to turn on the pace and exited the water in second,
with only the leading male athlete ahead of me!
The
bike route suited me in that it wasn’t too technical and I could focus on
pushing hard. I knew that the bike leg was most likely my weakest of the three,
and so I was keen to focus as much as possible and not let the other girls
catch me. As one of the top male competitors passed me, he felt the need to
say, “Jy’s nogals sterk vir ‘n meisie!” (You’re quite strong for a girl.) Laughing
to myself, I kept the pressure on and was surprised to finish the bike without
being caught by the other girls.
RUNNING AWAY
I
really gunned it from the start on the 8km run course and felt really good. This
was the first race that I have ever led from start to finish and it was quite a
cool experience. I absolutely loved the event! Iqela Events did a great job of
organising the race and the route was well marked. There were two different
distances to cater for different abilities and all the athletes appeared to
really enjoy their day out. I can’t wait to do the race again next year! But,
for now it’s time to knuckle down, get some studying done, put in the base
training and wait for winter to pass.