It was a hectic few days. Training in Germany, flight back on friday, a quick pick-up at airport and onwards 5 hour drive to Durban for a race. Lack of sleep and fatigue definitely featured in that equation.

The plan was to do my A race for the season at Tri-rock Durban. Injury hampered the event, but I still did not give up in participating. With a little adjustment in the training regime and in the execution of the race, led to focusing on some of my weak points. Swimming and a bit of biking.

One of them is ocean swim. Not a weak point but definitely an unknown. I did not have the chance yet to do a full open water swim. A bit of body surfing and splashing around as a kid, but no long stretch swimming behind the shark invested, current prone waters behind the breakers. It sounds worse than what it is. A quick warm up swim before the race actually relaxed me and made me very confidant. I just had to focus and not get side tracked by the pretty views in the water.

The start was an easy run from the beach into the water in waves. Not the normal washing machine experience. Swim to the 1st and 2nd buoy was a breeze. But the long stretch to the 3rd buoy took forever. I made the mistake of using the one building as a landmark and it was frustrating to see it not move. Only to realize afterwards how strong the current was I was swimming against. But that meant the swim back to the beach was speedy. Out of the water in 37min. Not too great but also not too bad.

The transition went by quick and the biking was awesome. The plan was to keep the cadence high and not strain my foot. I kept the gears high and was spinning at a plus 90 rpm. Speed was acceptable at average 35km/h. The road out to Balito was clear. A few climbs and a small headwind. On the way back I opened up the taps and brought the gears down with a bit more power and speed.

I was able to maintain the aero position for a much longer time and my hamstrings felt loose. Thanks to a few weeks intense yoga. Now that I have started it and I will continue with minimum two sessions a week. The benefits in flexibility and in balance are paying off and I am interested in seeing my run.

I entered T2 with a struggle. I felt great and I know I am able to do a kick ass run. I had to hold back, hand in my bike and exit the race to avoid hurting my foot more. Decision was made up before the race, but still not an easy one to do if you feel great. I predict my time to be between 4:40 and below 5:00.

Now the focus will shift to African champs 5150 in germinston. I will give my foot one more week to recover and will start with a focused running regime.