From IT Geek to Triathlete

The perfect first half-marathon

Well perhaps, not perfect. It’s not like I won or anything, but the race was exactly as I imagined it would be. Here’s a brief race report:

The race is called the Tuks Alumini Legends 2008, which is held organized by my university - The University of Pretoria. The race started from the Waterkloof Airforce Base. I was about 15mins early and when I came around one of the final corners… surprise! Huge pile-up! Ended up being 15mins late and had to start with the 10km walkers… the shame!! No only joking. I struggled to keep up with those frontrunners… or walkers rather. Amazing how fast those buggers actually are.

I hoped that we would run on the airfields, but instead we just ran down to a nearby dual carriage road and just ran up and down the damn thing. Boooorrrrring!! Sheesh, I can do that any day of the week. Why don’t the spice things up a bit? Anyhow, moving on.

So I decided to keep my HR in zone 3 during the whole race and perhaps gun it towards the end. I warmed up for the first 2kms. I made up good time during the first 5km. It was all downhill, so I was able to stay below 6:00/km. After a turn at 5, we ran uphill for 4km. It was hard to not run faster, but at least I didn’t have to walk.

Things flatten out over the next 8-9km. I found the running to be quite easy up to the 15-16km mark. The left knee started to feel a bit swollen and sore, but luckily it didn’t get any worse. In spite of my legs being a bit tired, I took the pace up a bit for the final 2km. It was mostly uphill, so my average speed stayed more or less the same.

In conclusion, the race was just as I expected (apart from the route). Not easy, but far from tough. I expected the first 10 to be easy, the next 7-8km to be slow but steady, and final parts to hurt a bit more. I don’t think road running is my thing though. Can’t see myself doing many more of these. Perhaps it’ll become a bit more fun if I’m able to increase my tempo a bit.

Logbook Activity

• Type: Run
• Date: 05/31/2008
• Time: 07:00:00
• Total Time: 2:13:52.00
• Average Heart rate: 162
• Max Heart rate: 179
• Calories: 838
• Distance: 21.18 km
• Average Pace: 6:19.35/km
• Ascent: 117 m

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Adventure race at Konka Camps, Magaliesburg

I did an adventure race this weekend with team mates Cobus and Gert. It was held at a pretty cool location. Most of the area was bushveld with beautiful mountains as a backdrop. The transition area was next to a river, so it was really quite idyllic.

We started off with a 3km running section and obstacle course. The run was a bit short, but quite fast, so I was happy with it not being that long.

The second leg was a 13km mountain bike section. Again, a much shorter section than I was expecting, but I wasn’t too distraught about it. The first 4-5km had a total ascent of around 300m and the most part of it was rocks. Absolutely terrible mtbing. I hated the organizers for a while there. After that I started liking them a bit more when they gave us some sweet twisty downhills with a few jumps along the way.

Finally, we did a short running and archery section. The run wasn’t anything worth writing home, but I loved the idea of combining it with the archery. The shooting was quite easy in the end and we cruised home.

Final thoughts. A pretty cool race. We finished the 17.6km race in 2:01, or something like that. We lost 30mins on cycle repairs, so I don’t really care about the finishing time. The venue was brilliant. The race too short and the first part of the mtbing very VERY frustrating. Would I do it again? Only if they get rid of some of the rocky sections and increase the distance.

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AR: Trail run and target shooting

The third and final leg was a short running and archery section. You ran half a kilometre and had to take a shot at a target. If you miss, you had to run a penalty lap around a rugby/football field. How cool is that!? I took a shot and luckily got the arrow quite close to the bull. So no penalty lap!! Whoop whoop. We ran back down to the finish, doing the final kilometre and archery in 6mins. Not bad.

Logbook Activity

• Type: Run
• Date: 05/17/2008
• Time: 10:53:00
• Total Time: 00:06:06.00
• Average Heart rate: 168
• Max Heart rate: 177
• Calories: 46
• Distance: 1.02 km
• Average Pace: 5:58.92/km
• Ascent: 11 m

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AR: MTB leg

Our MTB leg was a bit disappointing… well disappointing at first. The terrain was rubbish for the first 4-5km. We had to go up very ‘technical’ hills (aka crappy terrain with WAY too many rocks) were the inclines were between 20-25%. That’s insane if you ask me. I managed to ride 2 of the 8 odd hills, but had to push my bike up the others. Really did not enjoy that at all. Didn’t see anyone else (other than Gert) who was able to ride those.

Then just as we reached the end of the ‘technical’ section, Cobus’ derailer broke off. Clean break. We spent around 30mins trying to turn his bike into a fixie. We couldn’t get him going an unfortunately he had to walk back to the start. Gert and I decided to press on though.
The rest of the MTB section was brilliant. Some twisty downhills with a bit of gravel. I managed to get the end out a couple of times. The flat sections was also great and at times we averaged around 35km/h.

We made up a lot of places but lost so much time that our total ride time was around 1:34:00. (I logged 1:01:30, purely because I want to keep track of how much time I actually spent exercising).

Logbook Activity

• Type: Cycle
• Date: 05/17/2008
• Time: 09:30:00
• Total Time: 1:01:30.00
• Average Heart rate: 158
• Max Heart rate: 190
• Calories: 602
• Distance: 12.7 km
• Average Speed: 12.39 kmph
• Max Speed: 43.6 kmph
• Ascent: 329 m

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AR: Trail run and obstacle course

The first leg of our adventure race was a short trail run and an obstacle course. The run was quite cool. We crossed a river at the beginning and it was quite fun thundering through the shallow water. Our feet were a bit wet for the first kilometre, but it was well worth it.

We gunned it after the river crossing, trying to make up a few places as not to get in stuck in queues at the obstacle course. It worked quite well and we missed most of the rush. The teams were split up, with one half climbing over a high wooden structure and the other balancing over a few logs and crawling through a tunnel. I was feeling very weak in the run and we took the pace down a bit on our way back to the transition.

Logbook Activity

• Type: Run
• Date: 05/16/2008
• Time: 09:00:00
• Total Time: 00:19:32.00
• Average Heart rate: 178
• Max Heart rate: 192
• Calories: 182
• Distance: 3.2 km
• Average Pace: 6:06.23/km

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Trail run race

I did the Salomon Introductory Trail Run at Derdepoort, Pretoria this morning. It is only an introduction to a more formal Trail Running series. The race was set in a recreational area and a section went through some agricultural fields. A pretty cool race. We got to run up some rocky hills and crossed a stream or two. I think the series would be even better!

I burned it a bit and set a personal best over 10km (well almost 10k) and it was a bit of an off-road run too. I think my average heart rate shows that I ran slightly above my comfortable pace.

Logbook Activity

• Type: Run
• Date: 05/10/2008
• Time: 08:30:00
• Total Time: 00:55:01.00
• Average Heart rate: 177
• Max Heart rate: 193
• Calories: 503
• Distance: 9.8 km
• Average Pace: 5:36.76/km
• Ascent: 109 m

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Forest2Falls MTB race

So I did the Forest2Falls 70km on Saturday (results can be found over at Spectrum Sport Timing). What a tough race that is! 70km off road with a total ascent of around 1450m. Crazy.

It’s the second time I’ve done this race, but it wasn’t any easier than the first time round. Well, actually it was a bit easier. My HR averaged around 165 last year and it was only around 156 for this race. So my fitness level is definitely up. But since I’m training for multiple disciplines, my legs weren’t that accustomed to peddling as I would’ve liked. Anyway, here is a brief report.

It rained the day before, so we were expecting a pretty muddy event. We had the race briefing 10mins before the race and set off on time at 8am. It was quite chilly at first, but after a few km’s I acclimatized and was thankful of the colder weather.

The first 10km or so was a bit dull. It was mostly dirt roads through chopped down plantations. Then we reached some narly single track through the pine trees. Unfortunately some of the noobs couldn’t stay on their bikes and we had to walk bits.

After that we reached the picturesque Berlin cascades. I kept pushing so did not really have much time to appreciate it though. A bit unfortunate. We then hit a 16-18% climb for about 200-300m. Literally crawled up that hill. We then passed over the top of the river and rode down some more plantation roads. Crossed a railway twice and managed to get some air in the process. Great fun!

After 35km we passed the start again to do a different 35km loop. The 35km race stopped here.

The second 35km sucked big time! A 900m ascent for the second loop. Blegh! Just as we left the start we were smacked right in the face with a 250m climb called Heartbreak Hill. That hill did indeed break me. Sort off.

The terrain was crazy. If you weren’t crawling up a hill you were flying down a bumpy dirt/grass road. The roads were overgrown with “savannah type” grass, which was only cut short for the race. Or so it seemed. It was like a million little speed bumps. You could never quite settle into a rhythm.

I made up some serious time on the downhills and reached a maximum speed of 66km! WHHOAHAAA!! No one ever passed me on the downhills… save a 50-60 year old guy down one of the final hills. Can you believe it!? He came flying passed me saying something childish like “WHHOAHAAA!! That was fun” Hehe. Awesome. I want to be that guy when I’m older. Anyway, back to race.

The final 15km had less grass, but my legs were dead by then and there were still plenty of hill climbs left. I considered walking up the hills a number of times, but my legs were dead. It would’ve been a waste of time. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to push the bike up the hills.

I must say, one cool thing about the final 35km was the patches of mud along the course. It wasn’t nearly as muddy I thought it would be. There was only a few puddles/ponds in the dips. I blasted through those and was dirty as hell by the end of it all!! Brilliant! As Murphy would have it, I fell 4km before the end in the last bit of mud of the race. I tried to overtake someone and my bike lost grip at around 25km/h. I slid down the road on my shoulder. It was spectacular!! Wish I had that on film.

In the end, I finished with an official time of 4:13:12, finishing 116th out of 240 competitors. Not too bad. Quite pleased with that. I say this after every event, but I wish I was a bit fitter. Just enough to get through that final 10-15km with greater ease.

All in all, a good race. I’ll recommend it. Especially the 35km race.

Logbook Activity

• Type: Cycle
• Date: 05/03/2008
• Time: 08:00:00
• Total Time: 4:13:12.00
• Average Heart rate: 156
• Max Heart rate: 178
• Calories: 2916
• Distance: 70 km
• Average Speed: 16.59 kmph
• Max Speed: 66.96 kmph
• Ascent: 1445 m

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Playing in the mud. Grown-ups only!

Man what a weekend!! Whoooha!! I did an adventure race in the Freestate (South Africa) this weekend and had the time of my life!!!

The event started at 9am. It was overcast and the weather was mild. Absolutely perfect conditions for racing. The first section was a short 1.5km trail run next to Vaal river embankment. We returned to the starting position and jumped on our bikes. We cycled into a nature reserve and had the most awesome single tracks that featured a good combination of hill climbs and downhills.

Halfway through the cycling leg, two black wildebeest came thundering over the trail at full speed. They passed right behind us and disappeared into the growth. Unfortunately I didn’t see them, but apparently it was quite a close call.

Right after this we went down a very steep and rocky slope. I took a bad line and ended up in a very rocky technical section. I went flying of my bike and basically jumped right over my handlebars. My bike popped up behind me and ended up upside down. Luckily I managed to stay on my feet. Falling there would’ve hurt like crazy.

Jacques (one of my team mates) got a snakebite (mtb lingo for a puncture on a rocky section) on the downhill and we struggled a bit with dodgy spare tubes and pumps. After a second tube, we set off again and the heavens opened up. It was poring down on us for another 3-4km. It was a pretty flat section so we gunned it all the way! We had mud up to our ears. You struggle to see with all the dirt and rain in your eyes, but I didn’t care. I tore up those tracks!

We reached another trail running section where we ran/hiked up a hill with an ascent of around 100m. From the top, we had a spectacular view of the entire nature reserve. Unfortunately one can’t really stop too long to appreciate the view. This trail running section was quite tricky since it was went and there was a lot of rocks and loose mud around. The downhill section was a much easier run and we averaged around 13-14km/h. Great fun! The total distance was roughly 3km.

When we got back to our bikes it turned out that Jacques had another puncture. His tire went completely flat during our run. We borrowed some patches from another team, patched the tube and was on our way again. The last 5km mtb section was very flat and again we burned through the mud. Man I love that!! It looked like I had a mud bath!

We got back into our running gear and ran up the embankment again. The last leg was a water surprise, and it turned out to be ride down the river on a tube. We jumped into the Vaal and drifted down the river. We went over a few rocks and some of my friends went home with a few cuts and bruises. After 300m or so, we got out and ran a half km through slippery mud up to the finish.

What a race! The atmosphere was great and not serious at all. Everyone was just out there having fun. You would hear someone screaming and shouting for joy every now and again. Quite weird to see grown-ups turn into kids again.

Our time was 2:29, but we must have lost at least 25-30mins on the punctures. The winning team did the course in 1:30, so I’m quite pleased with our time. Time aside, I can’t remember having this much fun since being a kid. It appears that adults can still have fun playing the mud after all!

A shot of our team after the race. Wet, dirty, happy.
From left to right: Me, my friend Jacques and my AR buddy Cobus.

Some random people at the tubing section. Smiles all round.

A view of the river we tubed down.

My bike!

Logbook Activity

• Type: Other
• Date: 03/15/2008
• Time: 09:00:00
• Total Time: 2:29:10.00
• Calories: 1700

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My second sprint triathlon

I did another triathlon on Sunday. I desperately wanted to beat my previous time of 1:34:47. For some strange reason, I only managed to shave-off around 30 seconds. I’m still waiting for the official times, but according to my watch I finished in 1:34:20. I’m a bit disappointed, but relieved that I wasn’t slower.

Guess it was just one of those days… We all know those days where you’re not quite on your peak.

I think my biggest mistake was not sleeping enough and eating a bit too much before the race. I’ll experiment with these next time and try to determine if this was in fact the problem.

As for the race itself: It was again a perfect day. Couldn’t ask for better weather. I enjoyed the swimming a lot more than the previous time. The water was quite flat and I was able to gun it for most of the swim. I shaved a massive 2 minutes off my previous time.

T1 was a bit of a disaster. I was easily 30seconds slower than the previous time. I approached it all wrong and took ages to get all my cycling gear on.

I also felt a lot better on the bike than I did the previous time. I spared my legs a bit, but still managed to average a bit higher at 28.2kmph… I’m not too sure if my Garmin’s measurements were as accurate as the previous time. It measured the first lap at around 9.9km, which is a bit off.

T2 was much better than the previous time round. Brad’s hints really helped a lot for those wobbly legs.

I struggled through the running section. I think I suffered from dehydration. My legs felt ok, but I ran out of breath quite quickly. I tried to drink more water, but felt like I wouldn’t be able to keep it down. Again, it took me around 2-3km to shake off the wobbliness. By the end I settled into a more respectable pace… even though my heart rate was again way too high.

All in all, I enjoyed this triathlon a lot more than my first… even though it felt much harder.

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Lantern 10km night race

I did a pretty cool race tonight. It is a 10km lantern running race. We set off at 6:30pm, just as it was getting dark. The entire route was marked by lanterns. The first 2-3km was frustrating as I battled to get through the crowd. I managed to get into a comfortable rhythm, but again my heart wasn’t too happy with my definition of comfortable. It shot up into the 170’s. I held myself back until the 7km mark where I decided to stuff it. I ran flat out until the end of the race and it felt awesome! My body just kept going. I didn’t feel tired at all and I was absolutely flying. I could get used to that pace.

I’m not really sure what to do about this heart rate issue. When I cycle, I really need to kill myself to keep it in the 170’s. But with running it easily goes into the 180’s.

Jeez, and I haven’t trained at all since Saturday morning. Would rather forget about the past 4 days. Work is a pain sometimes. Luckily its over now. Finished the project I was busy with. I’ll be able to end the week better than I started it.

Logbook Activity

• Type: Run
• Date: 02/13/2008
• Time: 18:30:00
• Total Time: 00:56:23.00
• Average Heart rate: 176
• Max Heart rate: 189
• Calories: 457
• Distance: 10 km
• Average Pace: 5:38.35/km
• Ascent: 76 m

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