The short 1.5km swim in the morning was a good warm up and chance for an open water splash. I kept out of the way of any chaos and tried to find open space so I could get into a comfortable rhythm. Exiting the water I was full of energy and no fatigue – mission completed.
The duathlon, starting in the midday heat, was going to be interesting! Being more of a long course endurance athlete this was going to be a tough sprint! Plus my fitness level is still way below what I want it to be! Excuses aside, I was ready to see what I could do.
My legs were pretty dead after the first kilometer!! Not a good start! But the first kay is up a sandy hill so legs were guarenteed to go up here! As we returned into the campsite with 500m to go, I began to feel the diesel engine was warming up.I was currently lying in 3rd place so now was time to use my strength on the bike and reel them in.
I managed to save some grace, and not make Chris Hitchcock’s day, by not falling off my bike as I jumped on out of T1 up the steep climb – definitely a close call when the elastic balancing my shoe snapped and shoe flipped upside down scraping on the ground as I tried to pedal!
I passed the second placed lady at about 5kms and tried to gain as much as I could on the leading lady. With no one to draft it was an individual time trial for me.
I wasnt looking forward to the second run – up that horrible sandy hill again! I saw the leading lady coming back after the turn but she was too far ahead for me to catch. I just needed to make sure I kept my second place. I always enjoy downhills so I happily cruised back down to the campsite before the final spurt to the finish line.
After a quick re-bike-racking and rehydrating myself I was ready for the triathlon.
I had thought I would just take this race easy….but I knew that my competitiveness probably wouldnt allow this!! I did however take it easy on the swim for fear of cramping; I’m happy to say I didnt! 🙂
Onto the bike and my race could begin 🙂 Another individual tt and I slowly picked off ladies infront. Quite amazingly both my bike splits were indentical!
The run was pretty painful. I’m just glad it was only 5km! The third placed lady/girl came out of T2 just in front of me, but being half my age and half my weight she flew off up the hill! I slowly gained on her and by the time we returned to the campsite I was hot on her heels. Unfortunately I had no legs on the final sprint but was happy to take 4th overall (3rd open).
The Freshpak Fitness Festival is always a great event to start the season. Lots of fun racing and socialising.
Well done to all the Wingman athletes!! Fantastic effort by everyone!
Thanks to Gundle, 32Gi, New Balance SA, Zoggs SA, Cyclefunatic and Wingman Multisport Coaching!
1.5km swim (wetsuit): 7th (0:28:13)
Duathlon: 2nd (1:15:40)
Triathlon: 4th (3rd open) (1:21:46)
Sunday’s cycle up Pakhuis Pass topped off an awesome weekend! 🙂