Far and Away

Well, it's been a long time since I have been to blogger.com, and I can see that my last blog was at the start of the year. So I did Ironman - that was DUMB!!! It was sore and hard and I have not managed to get back into the triathlon thing since. Which is not to bad really, I can't say that I miss it much really.
Perhaps next year I'll get back into it - or not.
I have started canoeing or Kayaking as the rest of the world calls it- and I am enjoying that and can see that I am going to start to take it very seriously. I have bought a new paddle (SET Endorphin) and a new canoe (an Athena). It's a bit unstable at the moment, but I recon I will learn faster in this boat than a beginner boat.

I have done one time trial so far, that was fun. If you think swimming with a boat is fun!!! I'm looking forward to my next TT which is tomorrow.

SA Triathlon Champs

3rd in 25-29.

Poor swim - was about 1 minute off the pace came out in 10th. Should have really made more of an effort. The swim was in a protected bay and was warm and clear. It was a great swim venue.
(23m)
The bike was OK - had a bit of a hill every lap (4). Was a bit of a wind, but it was not too bad.
(1h08 - includes all transitions)
The run was fantastic - quite flat. I managed to hold of a lot of people that would normally have kicked my ass.
(40m)

2h11m - Was a good day out.

Halft Ironman

This weekend was the Half Ironman Triathlon, which took place in Vanderbijlpark. It was a very wet day, with some wind but nothing to bad.

The swim started very well (or bad depends how you look at it), I led to the first bouy, about 200-300m, then went a bit pair shaped, but managed to hold onto the back of the lead group. Great transition and left the park with Piers and Patrick. The pace was fast and Patrick managed to zoom off into the distance. I lost contact with Piers when Phillip and Stephen caught up with us, but started to close the gap by the 70km mark. Was in about 8, 9 or 10 place when I picked up a puncture. After going through 3 tubes to fix it - I was back on the road and chaced hard - I think that I lost about 10 minutes on the bike.
The run went damn well - I was aiming for a 5 min/km run but managed to hold 4h30/km - came in at 1h38 on the run, which I am very happy about.

Note to Future-Self - 1h38 will be the slowest you ever run a competitive 21km.

Ended up at 4h47 - 25th place. (Dam bloody punctures!!)

All looks good for Ironman - I CAN'T WAIT.

Colds and Flu

Crap!!!! It's 2 days away from the Half Ironman race, which I was hoping to race hard, and there is a cold going around. I have a sore, tight chest - I hope it goes away by Sunday. My problem is that I am going to race no matter how I feel - this could cause problems.

Perpetually Tired

If there is one thing that I have learnt in the past few months of Ironman training it is that I am perpetually tired. I think that I could fall asleep anywhere at anytime. I base all of this on the following training schedule - times are when the alarm goes off.

Sunday (Long Run or Race) @ 05h00
Monday (yahoo, rest day) @06h30
Tuesday (Cycle) @ 04h10
Wednesday (Swim) @ 04h50
Thursday (Cycle) @04h10
Friday (Swim) @04h50
Saturday (Cycle) @04h30

This all requires that I go to bed before 20h00.

Gauteng Tri-Champs

Just completed the Gauteng Triathlon Champs. The swim was a 3 lap race with us having to run around a tree every lap. This kills my momentum. The swim was short by about 200 or 300 meters. I managed to get out in 4th place - didn't manage to stay with Glen Gore. (17min)

1. Glen Gore
2. Charl Keet
3. Chris Lionette
4. Chris Baker


Started the bike with Clive Chowles, wow he can ride fast. Was caught by Patrick and Pierce and managed to stay with them - we were all caught by Steven Courteny but stayed with him for the rest of the bike. (1h05)

1. Glen Gore
2. Clive Chowles
3. Charl Keet
4. Steven Courteney
5. Pierce Pirow
6. Patrick Hoffer
7. Chris Baker

Run was nice - not too many hills should have pushed harder. I felt I could have but always stress that I go to hard and blow. (46min)

1. Glen Gore
2. Clive Chowles
3. Steven Courteney
4. Charl Keet
5. Pierce Pirow
6. Patrick Hoffer
7. Chris Lionette
8. Someone in a R.A.C top - not to sure.
9. Chris Baker

2h08 - will get the running right one day.

No Interest

I'm not getting into a long drawn out reason as to why traffic cops are clowns, so please just accept it. They are clowns.

But I will tell you why I dislike meetings - other people. Yes, other people. I believe that meetings would be a lot more productive and enjoyable if only one person was invited. There would be no questions, no debates, and no disagreements. You would be finished and checking your e-mail in no time at all. You would be able to control when the meeting is scheduled for - no more 07h00 Monday meetings.
This whole idea does rely on the fact that the person in the meeting does not have bipolar disorder.