RACING » WESTERN CAPE
so I had to conquer my fears and JUMP!
I enjoyed the rough (and cold!) waters
though and extended my lead in the Big 6
quite significantly.
By now I was pretty safe to take the win.
I took Saturday afternoon easy before our
STS team dinner that evening.
DAY 3: SUNDAY
On Saturday evening, I realised that my
body hadn’t fully recovered from bronchitis,
so the plan for Sunday morning’s triathlon
was simple: survive!
The swim takes place in the old harbour.
Luckily for me, I handle cold water well
as the water temperature was just 12°C.
The bike is two flat and fast 10km loops
towards Stanford and back, which means
you can see your fellow competitors all
the time. I really like that ‘social’ element
of the bike leg. The run goes out along the
cliff path, which is full of twists and turns
so you struggle to find a rhythm, but it is
sooo beautiful! It comes back along the
main road, which is a flat and fast stretch.
I had absolutely nothing to give but was
proud of myself for digging deep and
hanging in for second. The STS girls also
made me proud once again, with four
finishing in the top 10.
The final event of the weekend was a
chilly 2.5km swim from the new harbour
to the old harbour, which I did as a cool
down – quite literally. At times the water
was well under 12°C. Huge respect to the
swimmers who did it without wetsuits!
What makes this swim super cool is that
spectators can basically walk ‘alongside’
you and watch you swim the entire way!
There are not many events that allow for
this. Despite the cold water it really is
an incredible swim with the coastline to
your left and the mountains to your right.
In fact, in all six events, I kept thinking
how lucky I was to do what I love in such
incredibly beautiful surroundings!
This was my third consecutive WBX Big
6 and the toughest one yet. But I love the
warm, relaxed and fun feel to the weekend
and how it really does cater for all levels
and ages of athletes. I’ll definitely be back
next year – and I’m looking forward to it
being over a long weekend, so that the
events can be split up over four days.
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