MUDMAN HERMANSBURG

Result: 1st Overall

After my poor performance at XTERRA Buffelspoort the weekend before I was looking forward to turning things around at the first MudMan of 2013. I have been unbeaten in the MudMan series for the last 2 years and this was also a streak I didnt want to end.

The first MudMan of the year is always slightly different with its afternoon start but it was warm and a perfect day for racing. The swim got off to its usual frantic start and I pushed hard to get away from the flying fists early. I quickly got onto the feet of the swimmer out front which was a team swimmer and found my rhythm. We rounded the first can and I could see we were opening up a gap over the chasers. I stuck to his feet saving as much energy for the bike and run as possible.

We exited the water with around 25 seconds on the chasers. I was now on my own on the bike and set about creating a good buffer for the run. I knew Daniel and Mitch are strong bikers and could be working together to reel me in so I couldnt afford to let up. I thoroughly enjoyed the bike course with my new Specialized S-Works Epic soaking up the bumps and making riding such a pleasure. I also found the SRAM XX1 with a 36 tooth front chainring perfect for this kind of racing.

Going onto the run I had now built up the lead to 2m40s and just had 5km of running to get through. My footwear of choice for this race was the Saucony Kinvara 3's. It was a toss up between these and my old Type A3's but decided to go with the Kinvaras as those will be my choice for the longer XTERRA coming up in Feb. I had an interesting run having to dodge the athletes racing the half event who were still on their bikes and even watching as one of the ladies rode off the floating bridge and into the dam. Couldnt help but have a giggle before helping her out. I crossed the line to take the win just under 3mins ahead of my training partner Mitchell Ginsberg who had a epic dice with Daniel Carleton to complete the podium.

It was really great to see so many athletes from the Russell White Academy out at the race, having a blast and doing exceptionally well at the same. Good to see the sport growing and the younger generation getting involved and loving it.

XTERRA BUFFELSPOORT 2013

Result: 7th Overall

XTERRA Buffelspoort had finally arrived. Seemed like forever that I have been training for the 2013 XTERRA season and was great that the first event was now here. I had decided to slightly train through the first XTERRA in the hope that my XTERRA Grabouw would be my focus race. In hindsight I needed all the tapering and energy possible for the course that lay ahead.

It was a confusing morning with South African Cross Triathlon Champs being incorporated into the XTERRA event, this meant good old TSA rules, I was stumped most of the morning trying to figure out what I was and was not allowed to do. The first unfortunate thing for me was that the water was to warm for wetsuits to be allowed and the apparent TSA rule when I asked was the kit you start in you have to finish in which meant no swim skins either. I ended up going "old" school and tucking my race shirt into my cycling pants and swimming like that, FAR from hydrodynamic. Once in the water I looked around and realised a few of the top guys had taken a stand against the rule and wore swim skins anyway allowing themselves to wear their usual XTERRA kit and maximize sponsors exposure. By this time it was to late for me to grab mine and I was left wishing as my swim time was quite off the pace.

I exited the water and set about making up some of the time lost. I tried to hold back slightly as I had heard the run course was fairly tough and wanted to try have something left for the run. I felt comfortable and was slowly but surely reeling in the guys ahead. About three quarters of the way through the bike course Stuart Marais caught me and I jumped on his wheel for the remainder of the bike, he had a strong pace going and we got into 3rd and 4th position respectively by the end of the bike.

We were now into the run and I was keen to see what this new route had to offer. I got through the old dam wall climb without any issues and was feeling good but unfortunately by about km 4 we started the new section of what felt like "mountaineering" I certainly hadnt trained for hills that steep and my slightly fatigued legs were not coping well. It was torture watching guys come past in what seemed like slow motion up the climbs and not being able to do anything about it. I managed to drag my body across the finish line in 7th Overall and winning my Age Category in the South African Cross Triathlon event which was a very small consolation for my dismal run.

I look forward to XTERRA Grabouw which will be back to the usual XTERRA rules and a run route the legs will enjoy a lot more