Momentum health Iflex Duathlon event #5

RESULT: 1st OVERALL

To say I was excited for this race would be a massive understatement. After being quite disappointed with my performance at the Xterra in Knysna I was very keen to put a better result in especially in my home town.

It was set to be a very tough race with the likes of Brand Du Plessis, Lieuwe Boonstra, Theo Blignaut, Jock Green and Daniel Carleton all hoping to get onto the podium.

The race format is a 5km Trail run, 30km MTB and finished with a 2.5km Trail run. The bike course was going to be the decisive discipline as it was a tough course with some big climbs and enjoyable single track.




The run started and we were quickly into a section of single track. I managed to stay in the front pack until we exited onto the fast roads. I didn't want to over do it on the first run and knew I couldn't match the pace of the top 3 guys on the run so I tried to limit my losses and save my legs for the bike. I entered transition 1m30s down on Brand and 1min behind Lieuwe.

I got onto the bike feeling good and was closer to the leaders then I had hoped. Knowing the bike course was so tough I wanted to hold back slightly on the 1st lap and attack the 2nd lap with everything I had left. With this in mind I caught and past Theo Blignaut about 2kms into the ride. He had unfortunately had bike issues and was on a borrowed bike which he didn't seem to comfortable on. After cresting the first small climb I could see both Lieuwe and Brand ahead. I caught Lieuwe at the bottom of the "mother in law" climb and sat with him till the top choosing not attack at this early stage and rather stay together till we caught Brand, which happened at the end of the next single track. I chose the final single track of the first lap to put in a small attack and managed to exit with a 15sec lead over the 2 chasers. I kept this gap into the turn around point for the second lap and then started to push the pace as much as I could, attacking the single track and climbs. The gap was steadily growing and by the top of the "mother in law" neither of the chasers was in sight.




Coming into transition I had built up a 2min cushion over Lieuwe and 6min over Brand who had experienced a technical difficulty out on the course. It was now down to the final run, I knew everyones legs would be hurting by this stage and just tried to keep a good strong pace. Entering the last quarter of the run I knew I had the race won and couldn't help but smile all the way to the line. I had given my all out on the course and had so badly wanted this win. There is no better feeling then achieving a goal you have set yourself.




It's sad to hear that Lieuwe will now be retiring from multi-sport as I have thoroughly enjoyed racing against him. He is a true competitor and always fun to chat to after the race is done. He will be missed at the races in the future.




Have to say a huge well done to my dad Russell White who managed to set a brilliant course and had the trails perfectly prepped for the athletes and over and above this still managed to win his age group. Also thanks to Thule South Africa as always for all their support and to the event organizers and sponsors, Momentum Health, I-Flex and Pepto Sport. Without these companies support, multi-sport wouldn't be growing as fast as it is.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

XTERRA KNYSNA

RESULT: 5th Overall

My build up to XTERRA Knysna was far from what I had planned due to injuries but I was still looking forward to testing myself against a fully stacked world class field.

I was very pleased the race had a mid day start as the weather had been extremely cold and wet in the days leading up to the race, but we were greeted by perfect weather on race day, although the course would still be extremely muddy.

It was very intimidating lining up at the start next to the likes of Conrad Stoltz, Dan Hugo, Kevin Evans, Lieuwe Boonstra, Raoul De Jongh, Daniel Carleton and Gareth Harrington to name just a few of the top athletes.

The 1st run consisted of a 3km loop with one very big climb and a very steep fast descent. My aim was to set a comfortable tempo ensuring I still had legs going onto the bike, which would be my stronger leg. Even with this in mind I covered the 1st km in 3min and could see Lieuwe and Conrad pulling away. After reaching the top of the climb Raoul had come past setting a great pace and had caught Dan up ahead.

I had a good transition and came out a few meters behind Dan. I quickly realized he wasn’t his normal self and made my move to chase after the guys ahead. Soon after Kevin came past me. I tried briefly to get on his wheel but there was no way I could climb at the speed he was maintaining. I was now lying 4th and kept my head down hoping to catch Lieuwe. About 4km from the finish I managed to bridge the gap and came into transition with a slight lead over him.

The 2nd run was a distance of 7.5km and I quickly felt my lack of preparation as the run went immediately up a very large climb. My legs weren’t responding and Lieuwe came back past dropping me to 4th. I tried hard to find a rhythm once we reached the top but it wasn’t happening. I was now into damage limitation mode trying hard to hold onto my position. But unfortunately with about 2km of the run left Raoul caught me and attacked hard dropping me down to 5th. I was very disappointed crossing the line in 5th just ahead of Dan. Looking at the positives I did have a good bike leg and I know I have a lot of room for improvement on my run.

It was a great few days away in Knysna and also really nice to catch up with everyone at the event. I left the venue with renewed energy and know I can produce better results in the future.

Thanks again to THULE South Africa for believing in me this year and allowing me to chase my dreams.

Bikes on the Thule rack and ready to head down to the start