70.3 SA, another long day at the office

I was very happy to pick up my Bar-One manhunt Nissan X-Trail and pack my bags and head off to East London for the weekend to race the 70.3, which is a Half Ironman, a 1.9km swim, a 90km bike ride and a 21.1km run after that.

We got a bit lost going there and drove about 2hrs extras, if you ever doing the trip remember to take the split just after bloem and don’t keep driving towards cape town as its the wrong way.

Leading up to the race i felt ok, but not great, i have done quite a bit of biking and so knew i was strong but hadn’t done much swimming or running due to the show and then being on holiday so i knew i was going to be in for a long day. I was very excited though to race my new bike for the first time in  the race. A Argon 18 E-114

The swim was a huge field of around 1400 men and i did well to exit rather unharmed and without spending too many calories. I was quickly on the bike and felt strong and so started to race my game plan. But soon disaster struck as i vomited up my first gel…i turned the half way point in around 97th place overall and was looking forward at riding hard back to town.

At 70km my race day ended as my body gave up, i hadn’t been able to get calories in and then the rest of the day became survival…the only thing that stayed down all day was a bit of coke on the run. So ended up with a 5hrs 36min race which isn’t too bad considering i only took in about 500 calories all day.

Well done to all of you who were out there surviving the day as the weather and course were all hard.

Thanks again to the wonderful guys who sponsor the cool gear i use, Orca Wetsuits and Apparel, Puma Racing and Training Gear, Argon 18 Bikes, Suunto Heart Rate Monitors, Troi Sport and Under Armour Compression Gear

You guys rock

My new Suit Coming…

New Orca Alpha wetsuit for 2009

The Alpha is an all new wetsuit for 2009. Essentially it replaces the Apex 2 as our top of the range wetsuit, for good swimmers who want the highest levels of flexibility.

We are pretty excited about the suit as the feedback we have had from our sponsored athletes has been fantastic. Some key facts/features:

• It’s the first Orca wetsuit to use Yamamoto #40 cell neoprene (over every part of the suit apart from the Aerodome panels).
• It uses 1.5mm panels of neoprene across the arms, shoulders, chest, and these panels are cut into unique shapes to provide fantastic flexibility, the horseshoe shaped panel that runs from the underarm across the chest in particular really helps with extra flexibility). There’s also a high stretch nylon lining for increased flexibility.
• Orca have reverted to the Yamamoto name “Aerodome” for the neoprene they’ve previously called AirLite – they developed this neoprene with Yamamoto a few years ago, and it’s proved popular because it provides about 30% more buoyancy than normal 5mm neoprene.
• The Alpha (and the 3.8) also get a new forearm catch panel called AquaTread. Rather than printing silicon onto jersey they’ve used a moulded and pressed piece of neoprene to create more drag with each stroke.

HOT new online store

Exciting news

We have launched a new online store www.fluidlines.co.za the purpose of this new store to clear past season’s stock to make way for new stock that will be arriving shortly. There are some great bargains to be found on the site and I urge you all to have a look and register an account. We will be giving away a prize to a luck account holder who will be randomly selected and notified by e-mail. The cutoff date for the prize will be Friday the 28^th August 2009.

The store is fully functional but we are still loading new items as we go along so please if you don’t find anything that you like or that fits you make sure to come back in a few days as we could have loaded something new that you are looking for.

We will also be selling other triathlon related products like nutrition, healthcare product and the like.

Look forward to seeing you on line.

ORCA SA site goes live

Orca South Africa have been working hard at getting its own site up and running and finally it is ready for you to look at. Its just started up so be sure to keep going back to it and seeing the new stuff that is going to be added on all the time.

www.orcasouthafrica.co.za

There will also be contact details on there for the brand and which shops stock it , but if you get stuck you can always get hold of me if your looking for something.

World Champs on Power Bar Gels

I was fortunate enough to race the 70.3 World Champs in Clearwater this weekend. Although i must say that i am left with a slightly bitter taste in my mouth. You see the race is called ” The Drafting World Champs ” and it really lived up to its name. There were bunches of 30 or 40 athletes riding together at any time on the course, i was being out biked by 8 or 9 minutes by guys who were cheating and this felt really crap when i was being honest and riding the best that i could.

I over heard a guy at dinner saying ” my bunch ” rode the first 45km in just over an hour and laughing about it. The thought that had at this point is how you can feel proud about a race or result when you rode in a bunch for the whole bike leg on a very fast bike course.

Anyway back to my race, the week leading up to the big day i was feeling good and the day before i was still feeling ready to go out there and do the business. On race morning i woke up feeling good, my right hamstring was a little sore as i had tripped 2 days before and hurt it a little, but i put it to the back of my mind.

We got to the race venue at 5.30am and my wave was the last bunch to start at 8am so i had lots of time to do whatever i wanted to, my bike was fine and ready to go, so i just cruised around staying calm and staying focused, a had a kick ass tune playing in my ipod thanks to my mainman Raoul de Jongh and i was on a good vibe.

When it came to my start i was feeling relaxed and even had a Heartrate of 105 5min before the start, i was calm and i knew what i had to do, the water was beautiful and i was super comfy in my Orca RS1, quickly becoming a favourtie weapon of mine. The gun went off and we all rushed into the water, this is where the fun began, its was a dog fight and i was so calm it was almost funny, i just eased my way through the pack, not getting caught up in any fights. My plan was to swim tempo till the turn and then take it up a notch, swimming right next to me was Rohan and we were protecting each other from bad swimmers which was very cool , to have my boy swimming next to me, like 2 warriors going into battle.

The turn came quickly and i finally had open water, this is when i dropped the gear and started to swim hard back to the beach, we were swimming into the back of other groups now and i was feeling great, i wanted to swim under 30min and i hit the beach in 29.48min which was perfect. I exited the water feeling very good and didn’t swim too hard so felt i had lots in the tank.

In transition i put on a compression long sleeve top as well as long compression socks, i had chosen to race in a one piece Killer Orca trisuit and it was perfect, it sits so nicely on my body that i don’t even think about it the whole day. i ran out onto my bike and cruised through the first few twists and turns, i could hear my new ZIPP TT wheels already singing on the road as i eased up the first bridge, i looked back and couldn’t see anybody as i started to settle into my pace.

At 20min into my bike , i looked back to see Rohan who had a great swim and was started to bike, my plan was to try and bike with him as long as i could, without drafting of course, then i went over rail track and lost all of my gels, they were in my aero bottle which bounced out, i was doing 40km/h odd and decided not to stop for it.

Then my weird day started, every time i started to push a bit harder i got dizzy and slightly blurry vision, i decided to see at what Heart Rate this happened and then to stay about 4 beats under that. I was forced to take Power Gels from the first aid station, i took one and 5min later it was repeating on me, weird, so now my stomach was playing up. Again i stayed calm, i have raced a lot of races and stayed in my zone, i had lost Rohan when i had to stop dead at water table due to a person in front of me slamming on brakes to stop.

Then every time a big bunch caught me i would sit up and let them pass and then get back into my pace. I was happy and greeted every person i passed, although not many said anything back to me. I knew i wasn’t going to beable to go balls to the wall as i hadn’t done enough training leading up to the race and so i was focused on staying on my limit. The bike was going well and i was making good time. My 2nd and 3rd Power Gels repeated on me and i felt nauseous and so stopped taking gels and just drank water until the end of the bike.

I soft pedaled the last 3km on the bike to get ready for my run and still biked a 2.24min which was a  37.5km/h average. I started my run HOT, the weather had heated up and with no clouds in the air it was going to be a very interesting run as i hadn’t run over 25km per week for the last 6 months and have hardly done any brick work.

The first aid station i took more water to take with my gels, i back onto whasp and happy to be almost done, i was 10min ahead of where i wanted to be and still happy, my stomach started to cramp a little and i had to run into bushes to take a leak, i got back and stopped at station and drenched myself in water from sponges and cups and drank some coke. Going up the bridge i could feel i was going to have to stop again for a different release.

I knew even my gels weren’t going to sit today, so i threw them over the edge of the bridge into the water and settled into a pace which i thought i could cope with and started planning on running on only coke and water. I am very grateful to have quite a bit of experience and this plan worked well, i ran equal splits on the run, even though i had 2 more toilet stops. I had to dig deep and go to a happy place as i muscled my way through the run, its wasn’t pretty but i am proud to say i didn’t walk at all except at aid stations.

I got to the line in 4.50.06hrs and was just happy to beable to sit down and stop moving forward. It was a PB by 3min although it should have been about 15min as i needed to run more leading up to event to back up the swim and bike time. This is a very fast course even if you don’t draft and defiantly a place to do your life time PB.

So that was my day, weird as there were a lot of things going on and i was able to stay calm and just keep moving forward. If i had to look back and see that i hardly averaged over 10hrs a week for the last 6 months, i moved cities and never ran over 25km per week i am happy to still go as fast as i did.

I ended up 622 out of the age groupers who raced which placed me in almost the exact half of the field on the day.

So now its time to have a easy 2 weeks until i get home and back into the swing of things and decide what i want to do next.

Orca do it again, Hottest toy i got…RS1

There she is, the New ORCA RS1 fullskin suit. Its a 1mm Neoprene with leg and arm grippers, i took it out the bag and put it on and jumped off the deck and went for a 40min swim.

I jumped off into the lagoon off my deck where i have been doing all my blogging and my first impression was WOW..it felt like i have worn this suit my whole life. It doesn’t float as much as a normal wetsuit, but there is still some float. The position in the water feels exactly like in the pool and when you kick it does lift your legs up a lot due to neoprene and leg grippers.

After 40min swim i was still super comfy and relaxed and not feeling stiff anywhere, this is definitely my new favourite toy.

So lie back and enjoy the ride.

A view to wake up to

How can you not be in a good mood when you wake up to this. This is the view from my bed this morning and i must say, I’ve got a good vibe feeling in my heart. Hope your weekend rocks.

Knysna for the weekend

I’m a truly blessed to be able to travel a lot, i know that i moan about it sometimes and yes it does get very tiring and its very disruptive on your personal life. But every now and then you get blessed with a perfect day in a perfect place.

Today is one of those days, i am writing this from here :

I am in Knysna for a friend’s wedding, a little bit of work and a little bit of play. Although it’s not HOT, its really sunny and being at the water is very peaceful. I am waiting for my new ORCA RS1 to arrive and then i am just going to jump off and go for a swim to test it out and then have a lazy sun downer on the deck.

Here is the house we are staying in and Here is to all of you out there working in a crappy office today…CHERRS….

Energade Triathlon Series is apon us

Its that time of year again where we are reminded just how fast and hard a Sprint Triathlon is.BSG Energade Triathlon Series is the biggest in SA and been running for 14 years now. I always remember how Kak it feels when you finish your first one for the year. You left thinking that surely it couldn’t have been that hard.

The big difference for me this year is living at altitude and starting at sea level which should give me a little something extra. I also have a new ORCA Apex 2, first time i use it will be tomorrow. I also have my new Specialized Tarmac Comp with my Super fast Race wheels on, Zipp 808 front and Zipp 1080 Rear. I have only been training with this bike and haven’t had race wheels on yet, i have been very impressed with how a R20 000 race bike can ride and feel like a R60 000 race bike and i would know as i have ridden about 14 brands through out my riding days. There is something special about this bike, as well as the brand

So looking forward to having some red mist at some point in the race.

Here are the dates for the series in case you need them :

Team Whasp ALIVE and kicking ass

Its the 3rd Season now that Team Whasp will be lining up against the best in the country over all distances and in all the cities of our beautiful country to compete for Pride and Glory.

There are a few new faces in the Team for this season and a few new sponsors.

We have Specialized who have come on board for some of us offering us the best product in the world and i am proud to be an ambassador for such a great company and the best products in the world. They have been super with us and the staff continue to go out of their way to do anything they can for us, we look forward to a long relationship with them.

Triathlete Magazine who are very new into the market place but will be making sure we get our athletes exposed and will be helping getting our sponsors nice coverage too.

Then we got a new exciting company called Nu Leaf Brands involved who have started a exciting range of products hitting the market very soon, so watch this space.

Lastly Orca staying with us and making sure we have the best apparel for the days battle and the fastest wetsuits to get us into striking distance.

The athletes making up the Team Are  :

David Hadenham : Older, Wiser athlete who is also a Tech Head and loves making home made pieces for his bike

Samantha Ferreira : Has cute little feet which she is trying to get to go really fast as she moves up to longer distances. Original member of the Whasp Angels

Terrance Louw : Taking his first season seriously and showing us all how to run faster splits.

Tanielle Mandy : New and Fresh into sport, looking to learn from the older guys but has a few of her own tricks up her sleeve, newest Member of Whasp Angels.

Michelle van Zyl: Looking forward to being upfront with her Whasp Angels and seeing the other girls hurting, confuses herself with a fish sometimes as loves open water swimming

Robin Frankland : Oldest and Wisest Member of the Team and looking to teach the ” Lighties ” a thing or two, a bike machine, even though he lost the sprint to the sign on Sunday’s

Collin Allin: Still a Pornstar and looking for faster equipment to make up for his lack of training time.

Wikus Weber : Noticed Girls for the first time in his life this year and looking to win Energade series for the 3rd year running and look good while doing it.

Marius van der Nist : Left the rugby fields as he got tired of hugging men and lost 20 odd kg’s and is looking to continue his love affair with his new love.

Alexa Cunningham : Blonde and Dangerous, our sea side sister, and final member of the Whasp Angels looking to continue to get faster and longer.

We also have quite a few athletes undercover in branding too, so watch out as next time you get past , you might just be stung by one of my Whasp’s and the thing about Whasp’s is that they can keep on stinging, they NEVER DIE..

The Equipment i use and WHY

I get asked all the time by people about the equipment i use and why so i thought that would make a nice few posts on the stuff i use and why.

Firstly i believe in having the best equipment you can afford, or sometimes the best your credit card can afford, i see a lot of athletes getting deals or sponsorships from companies that they don’t really like or believe in just to get a few coins. I think you should be involved with the brands and the people who you believe in and use the product you think are best even if you have to pay for them.

I am going to start off with the swim and then do bike and then do the run.

I have only ever used Orca for my apparel and wetsuits as i believe that they are the best in the world, every year i get a new suit it is faster and more comfortable than the one before.

I am currently racing in the 226 Race range and have just received my new APEX 2 wetsuit which i cant wait to try out on Sunday when we start the first Energade race in Durban.

I only swim in Speedo Speedsockets as they suit my face and are very comfortable and i dont need to worry about my goggles during racing or training.

U use the new ORANGE Team Whasp swim cap and take a Pink 50mg Caffeine, Whasp Energy Gel before the swim start.

Here is the pic of my new Suit and “Tiger” 226 race top i will be wearing.

What a huge Difference a Suit can Make

Here is a ” Blue Steel ” picture of me in my new APEX 2 from Orca. I have only ever swum in Orca wetsuits and so i don’t know how the other brands match up but i do know that they are fast. Like most of you starting up the sport out there, i was one of those people who said :   ” How much faster could a wetsuit be ? ”

Well the first time i put on the old Orca Predator i couldn’t believe how fast it was, the difference is huge and man i felt like Phelps for the first few hundred metres that i swam. Then my shoulders ached and i blew.

That’s the thing with wetsuits you got to train your shoulders to get stronger, you can do this by using paddles in the pool and doing some strength work in the gym to get them stronger.

Moving from the predator i have used Apex, 3.8 and then the Apex 2 and WOW the newest Apex 2 is the fastest suit i have ever swum in and one of my fastest pieces of equipment i own.

Its worth every cent you spend on it as you exit the water feeling fresher and with more calories left in the tank to bike and run with. So if you thinking of buying a suit, JUST BUY ONE, and if you can get the best suit you can for your money, the little small pieces of technology in suits as they go up in range make a difference and you only buy one suit every 3 years, so divide price by how many times you will use it and it will be cheap. Check out the suits at www.orca.com

Plus you get to look cool as you run in and out of the water like this guy … Ha Haa

Keep those elbows up.