Brad Brown

A lot can be said for varying up the races you do but I love doing races that I enjoyed over and over. It allows you to see how you are improving year after year. I am also not a big one for racing weekend after weekend so it is nice to get out amongst other athletes to see how you compare.
It has been exactly a year since my first triathlon ever. I did the 11 Global up at Sun City last November and am looking forward to going back tomorrow. Looking at my splits from last year I am actually quite impressed with my first outing for a tri. I did a 30:35 swim, a 1:25:30 bike and a 1:01:54 run for a total time of 3:01:49. I remember it being quite hot too so all in all it was a good day out.

I am definitely not as nervous for tomorrow as I was this time last year. Having a few more Olympic distance triathlons, 3 half ironman distance tri’s and an ironman under my belt has definitely given me a bit more confidence. I was hoping a pb (a 2:45 odd) would be on the cards tomorrow but the weather conditions don’t seem to be playing ball. With Gauteng in the grip of another heat wave it looks like it is going to be a scorcher tomorrow. The splits I am hoping for tomorrow are as follows: a 26 minute swim, a 1:15 bike and then a sub 57 minute run.

I tend to be really conservative in the water and I want to see what I can do if I push it in the water. I’ve been working really hard in the pool to get my times down so I’m keen to hammer it in the water and see what happens. You only use your arms for the swim right? It’s what I like to call the “Go until you blow” race strategy. Let’s see it how it goes.

It is done. I can now officially say that I am a triathlete. I can also say that it was a lot tougher than I thought it was going to be.

My day started at 3am. Even though the start was only at 7am, I had a two hour drive to get to Sun City for the 11Global Triathlon. We arrived with enough time to spare that getting racked up and body marked was not rushed at all. My pre race preparation was as good as it could’ve been but in hindsight I probably should’ve eaten breakfast later than I did. Eating breakfast at 3:15am and only starting the race at 7:15am probably wasn’t the wisest decision I made on the day. I felt hungry on the start line which is not a great way to start your first triathlon.

Racking up in transition with my brother

Final Preperations

I got into the water a few minutes before the start. I had decided that I was going to try and stay out of the mad rush of the swim as much as could. I would hang back and Read more…

Six more sleeps to go. Its hard to believe that its less than a week to go to my first triathlon. By all accounts I haven’t picked the easiest one first up either. This Sunday, 7 November 2010 I will be at the start line of the 11Global Olympic Distance Triathlon at Sun City. A 1.5km swim, 40km cycle and a 10km run.

From just over a year ago, weighing in at 165kg’s and seriously unfit to being a handful of days away from competing in an event that most people shy away from because its too hectic! Who would’ve thought that would be possible?

I wish I could tell you how excited I am to race this Sunday. Not because I want to beat anyone or that I’m after a specific time. Just to go out and prove to myself that I can do it. After the disappointment of missing the cut off at Comrades 2010 I’ve worked really hard at getting better, stronger and faster. I haven’t raced much since June this year, I ran a half marathon in Pretoria really hard in July and took 20 minutes off my 21km personal best and broke 3 hours for a 103km cycle race in August. Other than that I haven’t raced at all. What I have done is put many hours in on the bike, on the road and in the pool. Its time to show myself how far I’ve come.

For the first time since I started training I’m injury free in taper week. For the first time I’m not worried about not finishing within the allotted cut off time. To be honest I don’t even know if there is a cut off time, that is because it doesn’t matter. It won’t get down to that. For the first time I’m not worried about being able to cover the distance. I’ve done the work in training. I’ve trained longer distances than I’ll be racing.

I can’t wait for 7am on Sunday morning to get into that water and prove the past wrong. Bring it on.