I’ve contemplated doing The 36ONE for a couple of years and this year seemed the perfect year as it is almost 3 weeks after IMSA. Enough time to recover/prepare/taper and peak again!
Last year I started to squeeze in mountain biking into my busy ironman and 70.3 training program. Sometimes ok-ed by my coach and sometimes not! But I loved the change of scenery and began to notice I was gaining strength with my climbing.
After using Hoewhoek 2 day tour to gain confidence and a little bit of skill – debatable! – I planned some races amongst my triathlons; Nissan trailseekers at Grabouw, Knysna (Big 5 challenge), Trans Baviaans, Fedhealth 60km mtb, Wines to Whales Adventure, Sanlam 2 day and Origin of Trails. I LOVED them all!!! And apart from various grazes, bruises and a cracked bike frame I had a fairly successful year mountain biking. All limbs still intact so I reckon that’s actually more than successful! My stabilizers/knee guards are no longer seen at races and are only worn when I’m riding tricky trails in training.
My main goal has always been IMSA but the training for this would enable me to go on and race The 36ONE 3 weeks later. I must admit that I have only ridden my mtb once this year and that was last Sunday when I needed a post IM recovery ride. I am very happy to say that my legs felt great and it was awesome to be back on the trails.
The build up to IM included some big 20+ hour training weeks of swimming, cycling, running and gym work. Post IM I have been doing very little exercise; eating lots, sleeping and letting my body recover. A few easy swim and bike sessions, along with plenty of sleep is planned for now until race day.
I’m super excited about this race and I’m sure I’ll have a couple of dark patches during the 361km but my body and mind has been well trained to tackle this challenge!