What a perfect day for the second of the Cape Winter Trail Series, held at Tygerberg. Clear blue skies, just the right temperature and spectacular views. Fortunately the registration and toilet queues were much shorter this week so I had plenty of time to get ready for the race. Having had a chinese meal the night before (not the best pre-race meal!!) I had already been to the toilet 3 times before I left home anyway!
This was a relatively short tail run, about 11km but some tough climbs! The race started with a very steep climb up to the top of the hill. I’ve run this race twice before so knew how tough the start would be. And right enough by the top my body was shaking with the lactic acid that had quickly accumulated. But what goes up comes down, so following this short intense climb is a lovely long downhill so I got my breath back and found my legs which I thought I had left on the other side of the hill!! At this stage I was lying in second place and I began to get into a rhythm. But not far ahead lay the next steep climb so I began to mentally prepare for what was ahead. It is often easy to start walking on steep climbs when the person in front starts walking but I knew I couldnt. If I could just keep jogging, albeit a very slow jog, I would keep momentum and not loose too much ground (I still need to do more hill training but its hard to fit it in just now when I’m racing every weekend) One lady passed me on the hill and there was another breathing down my neck. I maintained my 3rd position down the hill on the other side but she passed me at the start of the next slight incline but I made sure she didnt get too far ahead of me. It was quite slippery in places as we looped round the pond at the bottom before we started the final steep climb. My legs were feeling pretty tired by now so I just kept my arms moving to try and help me up the hill. I was relieved to reach the top and sprinted down to the finish line to finish in just over 58 minutes. I was pleased to finish 3rd in the Open (4th overall).
It was great to have almost the whole Cape Auto Centre Tri team running today. We definitely made an impact!