Sasol Cross Triathlon, Vanderbijlpark

GO MULTI sports magazine has the slogan – Life is too short for one sport. This past weekend I experienced it firsthand.

I’ve always wanted to take part in an XTERRA but being a professional cyclist and racing almost every weekend I obviously have other commitments. This weekend however I got the opportunity to take part in my first off road triathlon.

As an athlete, you always look for areas to improve and prevent injury. This year January I decided to take up a bit of swimming and running to improve my overall fitness.  So with minimum running and swimming experience I participated in my first Cross Triathlon which was held at Ascot Boat Club in Vanderbijlpark this past weekend. The event consisted out of a 1km swim followed by a 24km mountain bike ride and finished with a 6km trail run.

Standing in the Vaal River amongst other competitors waiting for the gun to sound before diving into the unknown was quite daunting. I’ve heard several stories about how intimidating the swim can be as others swim into you and over you. Therefore I decided it best to start at the back. The fact that I was the “fastest” swimmer had nothing to do with this decision :). It turned out to be the right choice as I ended up having a free swim with no major bumping/drowning issues.  My swim leg was slow compared to the rest of the field but at least I managed to swim the whole way and that for me was an achievement in itself.

Coming out of the water amongst the latter half of the field gave me a nice empty transition area but a packed mountain bike course making some interesting passing manoeuvres.

Jumping onto a bike just after having waddled from left to right for the last 25min was interesting.  I felt a bit disorientated the first 2km as I zigzagged all over the place. But once I got my rhythm and blood flowed back into my legs, I set off in hot pursuit of the leaders who got out of the water a full 14min ahead of me.

The biggest challenge on the day was trying to move up the field on a route mainly laid out on single track. There wasn’t a lot of place to pass but I did manage to move myself into the front quarter of the field.  

Lastly I swapped my Rocky Mountain for a pair of New Balance trail running shoes in transition 2. Luckily I didn’t have ‘heavy legs’ as I’ve heard was quite a common sensation when one transitions from the bike to the run leg or maybe I was just enjoying the experience too much to notice. With good advice I focussed on running a high cadence by giving smaller steps and that seemed to work well for me. I managed to keep my rhythm, running the whole way which for me was again a big accomplishment in itself.

I crossed the line in 4^th place in a time of 2h06min, only 1min 42sec off of a podium spot. Sylvia van Tromp won the event with Riana Robertson in 2^nd place and Karyn South Gate in 3^rd place

I enjoyed every moment of the event and it was a refreshing challenge to have 2 extra disciplines to consider.  It is true – Life is too short for one sport!