Journey of 70.3 miles… WE DID IT!! :)

Wow, what an epic weekend we had!! It kicked off with a 2:15am start on Friday (not so epic), but we wanted to be on the road by 3am.

It happened to be Zannie’s 30^th birthday on the day of our 12hr trip to East London, so we made sure everyone knew it was her birthday – ensuring she wore her birthday badge and party hat :)  

We arrived in East London in good spirits and headed straight to registration and expo followed by the race briefing. It turned out to be a long and very exhausting day! But we got all the admin done, shew.  

The Sat before race day, we went for a swim in the sea – getting the feel for the waves, followed by a cycle along the running route. We felt a little more confident about everything, but equally terrified. I started having serious doubts as to why I was doing this… (bit late now Jen!)

 

Race day was here. Up at 4am, ready to head through from Cintsa to East London. There was such an incredible vibe and buzz around. We finalised all our stuff in the transition area, then headed down to the beach to watch the first groups head off. We said goodbye to Ty – he looked like a little boy being sent off for the first day of school – he wasn't so amped for what lay ahead haha. As much as everyone rags me for having F.O.M.O (fear of missing out), so does Ty (this explaining the ONLY reason Ty was here). And for someone who did very little running and swimming training, he showed us how its done – achieving a sub 6hrs! (not fair really!)

I loved the swim!!! I haven’t swum properly since my Midmar Mile days back at school, but its definitely proving to be my stronger point in triathlons, so I'm going to continue training in the open water.

I unfortunately exited the water with a very bad headache. I thought maybe some food and drink would sort it out, but no such luck :( I had to endure a pounding head for 90km. I didn’t push too hard on the cycle as I was worried about over doing it and not having any energy left for the 21km run.

The bike leg was done and I decided it was time to head to the medic tent to get some meds for my headache. They kicked in at about 8kms into the run. I definitely felt a whole lot happier on the 2^nd lap.

At the 3km mark into my run, I ran past Ty – he was minutes away from it all being over. I was HUGELY envious!!!!!!!!!!! I had to dig deep several times during the run. It was actually more a mental challenge than anything!

The vibe on the run route was INCREDIBLE!! And in true Team VIBE! style I was hi-5ing the crowd, singing along to songs, making loads of friends along the way and always having a smile on my face.

I did however have a tiny little 10second cry at 1km to go. (such a girl, i know…) I had been out there for just short of 8 hours so I think it was more an exhaustion cry haha.

I passed my Mom and Ty with 500m to go and the look on my face explained it all… exhausted, but IVE.DONE.IT!

What an amazing feeling running along that red carpet!!! :) :) :) I DID IT! I’m an IronLady! ( not to mention the huge relief that I could finally sit down and drink a coke). SO awesome that I got to experience this with my little brother and fellow crazy triathlete friends.

I have the raddest bunch of family and friends. Countless amounts of messages of encouragement, and most of all, having my Mom cheering me on the whole way. Mother Bird is a legend!!!

I can’t believe it’s all over. I’m feeling a bit empty this week… Think I need to set the next goal – but first some down time with my friends :)

10 days and counting…

Double Century, Jail Break, Christmas and New Year are all done and dusted. The past few weeks have flown by. It feels like months ago that DC took place - always an interesting and testing race!! One feels a lot closer to your team mates by the end of the race hehe. 

11 (out of 12) Team VIBE! Double Century members made it across the finish line. Everyone did incredibly! and as always, the boys were legends – pushing the girls up the last climbs (so incredibly grateful!!!!!!!)

    

Double Century Video recorded on Ty’s GoPro

So I got myself a super awesome 2XU wetsuit – the first time i tried it on I decided we were going to be enemies. I never knew how hard these things are to put on… and the horrible chafing they can give a person - very glad Zan and I have managed to solve that problem by wearing our “knickers” around our necks hehe. Now I'm completely in love with it!

I suspect my love for my wetsuit is due to experiencing the freezing cold water at Clifton. I thought my fingers were going to fall off!!!!! I cant begin to imagine not wearing a wetsuit in that water.

We’ve been trying to get as much practice with our open water swims. Training in the Waterfront Canals, Langebaan Lagoon, Silvermine Dam and in the sea just off Clifton 4th beach.

Despite everyone's concerns about the cleanliness of the canals they are actually loads of fun. Lots of poles and cement underneath us (which is a little off putting initially) and lots of tiny little cute looking jellyfish.

So Jail Break triathlon was super awesome!! Tough mentally, but such awesome training. It took place in Rawsonville area. I was blown away by Brandvlei Dam when we arrived – so incredibly beautiful there!

 

I felt really good in the swim and thoroughly enjoyed it. I lost a lot of time in the transition area. Forgot my food – had to go back. Then headed out with my bike only to be told I had forgotten my number. sigh… And the biggest mistake I made was forgetting my suntan cream.

I felt like a vampire who’s skin was melting for the next few days! I thought my arm was going to be branded no. 381 for life and my back be left with a hideous trisuit tan.  However, the December holidays managed to fix that :D

We had a rather nasty head wind out on the bike, but i felt good and enjoyed the cycle. Zan and I ended up meeting up on route and had a quick chat (cycling side by side). I got pulled over and was given a 2min penalty, haha. Apparently we were drafting (fair enough). The fun rider getting a penalty – what a laugh!

The run was tough!!!!! I've been struggling terribly with shin splints, so as a result I've limited my running training. Not an ideal time to do 70.3 but once I’ve made up my mind there’s no way you can convince me otherwise.

Today the countdown begins… my nerves can’t really handle this! But its also super exciting!!

Last few days of training and then tapering begins, and the road trip to East London. I think the most important thing is to keep the mental strength going…

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming :D

And of course remember why I'm doing this…

ITS.ALL.ABOUT.THE.VIBE!