Famous Last Words...

Now that I'm home and refreshed, it remains only for me to make a few more thanks and express my gratitude to almost everyone that surrounds me:

(If you've just looked up the blog and only want to read about the race, look on the right hand side of the blog, for the post: My World Champs - Race Report. You may want to read a few posts before, and one or two after, for context.)

• To all my sponsors and the companies who donated product and expertise for the auction - I could not have done it without you - THANK YOU. (Wild Thing Adventures, Andrew Johnstone & Associates, My Training Day, Bobbie Maree Therapeutic Massage, Jeanette Gibbs Body Stress Release, The Cutting Room, Monkey Valley Resort, Rockets CompresSox, Ezulwini Chocolates, Dr Rabia Goolam, Nicola Designs, Di Heesom-Green, Femina, Blue Bottle Liquors, Classic Cape Charters, as well as the companies Andre dealt with)


• Auctioneers extrodinaire: Paul Kaye and Mike Finch. You guys were (and are) the berries!


• To Granny Jill and the Weyers: Thank you for your ongoing support of my life - your unwavering belief in me has made the hugest difference!


• To all my fabulous friends who put up with triathlon, triathlon, triathlon! And supported me all the way!


• Training partners who shared long hours and cold mornings: Bobbie in the pool; Martin who let me hang on to his wheel around KZN; my KAK running friends, for early morning sessions; John, Rusty, Steve, who made me laugh so much I could barely cycle; Paula, for long cycles and quick runs
• Andy, for letting me use his awesome Zipp wheels
• Circle Cycles - my bike was spot on, and I had NO FEAR about technical problems.


• My fantastic coach, Claire. Your programs really hit the spot, and I was ready at the right time, just like you promised.


• Swim coach Maik - I feel a huge improvement, watch this space.


• Fellow SA teammates, for being part of the same excitement and for sharing one another's journey.


• My special roommate and friend, Britt. We laughed so much and so often, shared groceries, shopping and internet times and had the most amazing pre race week EVER!


• My "Adventure Partner" Andre - what can I say? There really is no one in the world I would rather have experienced Australia with.


• My family back home - my mom and twin teenage boys - who allowed me so much time and space to reach for my own dreams. I love you guys!

Now, its time to rest. Relive each experience. Count all my blessings and write copious reams in my gratitude diary. I've been to Worlds and I'm back.

Pictoral Evidence

Andre and I sat on the pavement outside our lodge in Sydney, contemplating our fantastic run, and our wonderful lives in general.

We were actually there! The Sydney Opera House with the Harbour Bridge in the background. I even went inside and used the ladies! It is every bit as beautiful as it looks.

Stretching out tight calves at the foot of the stairs to the Opera House.

Moving on to Sinagpore:

Jasmine garlands made in Little India.

A view from Level 7 of the Digital Mall, round the corner from my hotel.

The Merlion - Singapore's symbol of tourism. They really do look after their toursists very well.

Patting the elephants at the zoo.

Well, I'm home now, and have had several very good sleeps. My wonderful adventure is still fresh in my mind and I'm grateful I've had the opportunity to share it on the blog. In years to come I will look back and chuckle over some of the quirky things we did, and laugh our loud at others.

All good things must come to an end

I'm at the airport, with several hours before my flight home. Feeling pretty good actually, because I managed to get through the weigh-in, without having to unpack/repack or turf out things! I arrived early, so I could fetch my bike and togbag, that I had left in storage. Cost a bit, but no way did I want to schlepp them through Singapore for 2 days.

I have been neglectful in posting these last few days - its all gone so fast, and I have been so busy living the experience that I haven't really stopped to write about it all. I will try and cover Sydney and Singapore in this post.

Sydney is a really beautiful harbour city - Andre and I really had a fabulous time there. We were lucky enough to meet a friend of a friend, who showed us how the locals live. Very trendily, it seems; stopping for coffees, breakfasts, lunches and dinners at all the right places. The food is truly wonderful, and I completly overdid it!

We arranged to run to the Opera House at dusk, which was really the very best possible way to see it! The following afternoon we ran over the Harbour Bridge and took a multitude of photos - will post when I get home. In a suden fit of over enthusiasm, we both did several "stair repeats", up about a hundred stairs that we saw the locals running up and down - finished the run feeling fantastic, but my quads haven't been thanking me these past few days!

Andre and I flew to Singapore together on Saturday 19 Sep - having delivered Bruce and Sheila safely back to Avis. We played Slim Dusty on the way to the airport for old times sake, but it didn't really fit in with the city vibe of Sydney!

Arriving in Singapore after dark, we strained to see what it really looked like. Andre came with me to my hotel, for a shower and to grab something to eat, before his flight back to JHB. We dashed out to find Chinatown - and bought supper for less than the cost of a coffee at the airport!
Singapore is a total melting pot! It really is clean and tidy, and very hot! (Everyone did tell me!) Yes, I did end up dashing from one air conditioned building to another. With the exeption of the markets. I found those totally compelling - and wandered around for hours and hours, mostly just looking, and tasting all sorts of weird things. Luckily I am quite adventurous with food, as I had no idea what I was ordering, or eating, most of the time. I tried to sample just about everything! I tried Laksa, which is a curried noodle dish, with fresh cockles, bean sprouts and some other odd things in it. I think I am hooked on the North Indian food - the butter chicken and Naan was to die for!

I also found a yummy crispy pancake with peanut stuff on it (not quite peanut butter, but close!)
Singapore is also famous for Kaya Toast, which I had for breakfast one day - its a toast sandwhich with the crusts cut off, smeared with coconut jam and with a chunky slice of butter! NOT on the weigh less program!!

When you think about it, its quite incredible how Singapore works: I mean, the Indians generally wont eat beef; the Muslims dont do pork; the Chinease eat anything and everything; most times they are side by side, preparing food in the markets all day and night. I found my "favourite" place, and the Indian gave me a discount on my dall the second day because he recognised me from the day before. (probably because I was wearing the same clothes, as I have nothing clean left!) I felt so local!

I seem to have developed a bit of a reputation for shopping, and was really worried about having to abandon items at the airport, so I confined myself to things that would fit in my handbag! The Chinese people are currently celebrating the Moon festival, so they had fireworks and shows all over Singapore for the time I was there. The muslims were celebrating Eid, so it was a public holiday and the whole Arab quarter was closed. Little India is getting ready for the Festival of Lights, Deepavali.

All in all, a very festive time and the experience of a lifetime for me. I did a tour of the Botanic Gardens and the Orchid House, and spent a whole morning at the Singapore Zoo, which was absolutely amazing!

Now I'm on my way home - feeling excited to see my family again, but a bit sad that my huge adventure is coming to an end.

Approaching Sydney - take two

Driving from Port McQuarrie to Sydney was pretty straightforward, with the exeption of the detour around the lakes, which were quite pretty in a Port Alfred-ish way.

With the Country Way part of our trip over, we decided that we needed to refresh our Aussie country music CD. So we stopped at the first available spot and bought a double Trance special - so we could pump our way into the city!

We stopped in the Newcastle district for a walk around the gardens and a snack - both Andre and I were taking a bit of bodily strain from sitting in the car for two days. Bruce may have been a pretty comfy model, but two days is two days!

We ordered a chicken sandwhich on wholemeal bread, which sounded lovely. It arrived as a piece of chicken between 2 pieces of plain brown bread. That's it. Not a smear of butter, not a leaf of lettuce or a sniff of spice. Andre said a few sentences in juicy Afrikaans that had me almost rolling off the chair with mirth - nothing like a good skinner in a language no one else understands!

Our first night in Sydney was spent with Marion and her family, who opened their home to us, and cooked the most gorgeous thai curry. I slept like a log, probably the best sleep I've had in Australia.

I do have pictures, but can't post them from here - I'm sitting in a huge internet and gaming place in Singapore, opposite my hotel. It has about 50 computers, is open 24hrs and is quite noisy, as half the people here are playing some form of game that makes shooting and exploding noises.

The Australian Country Way

When we arrived in Sydney last night, I was too tired to really tell the full story of two days on the Aussie road, but some of it needs more detail, so here goes:

Both Andre and I were really ennamoured with Toowoomba - it is a really pretty little town with extremely well kept gardens. Our spirits were high and we were enthusiastic and eager. The little towns in Queensland on the themed hiway, "The Australian Country Way" were well kept and attractive, and the locals were really friendly. Our Slim Dusty CD crooned out Australian Country music, and the mood was very jubilient.

We had no idea where we were going to spend the night, and that was part of the romance of the trip. Both of us yearned to find a wonderful farm at nightfall, and wake up at the crack of dawn to feed the calves and muster cattle in the "Outback".

Ha! It didn't quite happen that way. We had been told that we should make our way to the lovely university town of Armidale, in New South Wales, which we would find gorgeous and attractive. We arrived in Armidale at dusk, and it was bizarrely quiet. Andre and I started humming the Twin Peaks theme song as we made our way to the pub to enquire about accomodation. The waitress was on auto pilot (Andre said Sheila the GPS sounded warmer) and couldn't help us in any way whatsoever. No to accomodation. No to horse riding. No clue to nearby farms.

We grabbed a take away from the Noodle Box (terriyake with Yudon noodles) and set off into the night, optimistic that we would find the perfect place shortly. By 23:00 we were running a little low on blind optimism, and Andre was getting dizzy from driving down the mountain towards Port Mc Quarrie. As we rounded another hairpin bend, we both said, "theres a light..." and started singing the Rocky Horror theme song. Just then the mist rolled in around us and we laughed until the tears ran - mostly from nerves, I think!

We stayed at Jasper's Creek that night - it was totally empty except for us, and marketed as a yoga retreat. Frankenstein did not put in an appearance!

In the morning, I got up early and went outside with my camera. I saw and heard lots of Kookaburras laughing, and even spotted a wild kangaroo. I was quite keen to show Andre how great it looked in the wild, as he had been a bit traumitised by the very tame roo's in the sanctuary that we visited on the Gold Coast, but it hopped away smartly. (Britt, this one had way more oooom-chi than the others!)

I drove us into Port McQuarrie for breakfast and much needed coffee.

Day 2 coming up in the next installment.

On the Road

We left Brisbane on Tuesday morning and, after a couple of fights with Sheila (our GPS), we eventually found ourselves heading up to the escarpment town of Toowoomba. Beautiful gardens, chocolate box pretty houses, very cute. We were loving the Australian countryside - I have loads of pictures of the scenery. We invented a game: Which South African town does this remind you of? We had Swellendam, Greyton, Riversdale, Potch, Boksburg, Orkney snork nie and a few others. Truly, its hard to believe just how similar so many of the places are to familiar SA towns.

To further get into Aussie mode, we "treated" ourselves to a Slim Dusty CD - and had Asutralian country music pumping though Bruce's speakers. Keep on truckin'!!!

Sheila has been a little touchy today - we have had a few tiffs with her. Andre tried to tell her to go to a town, and she insisted on a street address - here is a picture outside the house she directed us to - I insisted that we drive directly to it! Andre is re-programming her for Sydney here. We had a little moment at one point: driving off the highway to find a petrol station, Sheila got very upset with us and kept saying "RECALCULATING", through gritted teeth. Then she said, "Please stay on highlighted route," in a very strained and annoyed tone.

We started to ignore her, and she lapsed into a sulky silence.

Driving into Sydney was really magnificent. We managed to drive over the Harbour Bridge at only our second attempt. I snapped this pic of the Opera House through the back window of the car - we will do a more thorough look tomorrow.

Thanks for all your comments and messages on the blog, Facebook and email. I know some of you are battling to post on the blog. I have tried to open it up - and seem to have managed for some of you.

Good night from Sydney.

Bruce and Sheila

Its true what they say about Brisbane. It is a beautiful city, with a fantastic vibe. Andre and I have started the next leg of our journey. We said goodbye to Britt at her backpackers in the city. Shes off home later today. In a rush of excitement and nerves, we rashly hired a humungous car. Andre convinced me that it was the sensible thing to do, and would save time, money and our sense of humour in schlepping the bike boxes around. We christened him Bruce (c'mon, theres no way that car is a girl!) Our trusty Aussie GPS is Sheila, and together they make a formidable team.

This is a picture of Bruce outside Nic and Maureen's beautiful house just outside Brisbane. After a night at the local pub, we feel like we've known them for years.

Walking into this little "local" in the village of Samford Hill, we seriously looked around for the cameras. It looked as though we had arrived on a movie set and Crocodile Dundee was about to burst through the swing doors. The locals were unbelievably friendly, and the owner of the bar bought us all a drink and gave us a free bowl of fried rice and chicken wings (Monday's chow)

We were taught a couple of really cool pub games, one of which involved trying to get a ring on a string to catch on a hook at the doorway. Andre was pretty good at it.
We're off bright and early this morning to make our way vaguely towards Coffs Harbour. Hold thumbs that we find the horse riding/ farm stay / cattle muster experience that I'm after!

I have to keep pinching myself to make sure I'm really awake!

My World Champs - race report

All age group athletes had to rack bikes on Friday afternoon between 2 and 5:30pm. Britt and I chilled for most of the afternoon, and when we got to transition, most people had racked already. It makes our local races seem very tiny by comparison. About 5000 bikes here.

I had a pretty good sleep the night before the race, and woke without the alarm at 04:45. This is the view from our resort at around that time:

As usual, the vibe in transition was electric, with lots of checking and double checking of equipment.

We had quite a long walk to the swim start, as the swim was a one way swim along the waterway - salty water from the sea, but no waves. Each age group wave had a different colour swim cap. Mine was yellow; Britt's light blue. I had an easy warm up swim, and felt great. After convincing ourselves that non wetsuit would be better, at 6am the ruling came that the temperature had dropped to 20 degrees and it would therefore be wetsuit optional. Probably better actually, as most of my open water swims have been with wetsuit, and I have a brand new Orca Apex 2 that I bought specifically for Worlds.

Lining up with all the other yellow capped women, age 40 to 44, I took a moment to focus and give thanks, and ask for a safe race. We were given our 2 minute warning, then 1 minute, then all of a sudden the siren sounded and we were off!

I sprinted into the water and swam as hard as I could towards the first buoy. As I came up to breathe, it really seemed to me that I was in the front line, although, on reflection, the probability of that was quite remote.

I felt great on the swim, fast and sleek, and I knew I was having a decent swim - for me. It felt quite long, but it often does for me, so I just kept swimming, swimming, swimming until I could see the exit flags. I checked my watch as I ran up the beach, and it said 27:53. I was pleased with that, and started to focus on the transition and the bike.

Rio (my bike) felt amazing and I felt so grateful to have such a gorgeous bike. The bike course was absolutely stunning, wending its way along the Gold Coast with thousands of spectators and beautiful scenery and high rise apartment blocks. We did 2 laps of 20km, which went by in a flash. The roads are in great condition, and I only spotted one tiny bit of broken green glass on the entire route. My bike split was 1:15, which was a few minutes over what I would have liked, but it was my very best shot, and I felt happy with what I had achieved.

As I came into transition, I saw Sue from South Africa ahead of me, and set off on my run a little ahead of her. I know Sue is a fearsome runner; I have never beaten her - so I ran and ran, expecting her to overtake me at any minute. It took her a lap and a half to catch me, and she finished about a minute ahead of me. My run time was around 52 minutes, which I really would have liked to have been better, but again, that was my best on the day.

My final race time was 2:39, which is not a PB for me, but then again, the course was measured to World Championship standards, and I suspect some of my better times have been a little "short course". In terms of the competition, there were almost 80 women in my age group, and I was 52 in the swim and 66 on the bike and the run.

The most inspiring part of the race was realising that I was sharing the course with the best age group athletes from all over the world. I know some athletes go to Worlds and are disappointed not to do as well as they had thought they would, but I really feel I had the most superb experience and completely sucked the marrow out of the day.

This is Britt, Bev and I wearing our medals at the end. We stayed on the grandstand, dancing and partying and screaming whenever a South African finished. Congratulations to all my fellow South African teammates - I loved applauding your finish.

Mike Copeland was the last South African to cross the line: Mike is 67 years old, and has been doing triathlon for 21 months. Yes, months; not years. He started because his car was stolen, and he needed to get around. In the few days before the race, I chatted to Mike a few times, and realised that he was really worried about his hip, that was playing up badly. He was in a lot of pain, and going to physio every day. Britt and I watched him run through the first lap of his race, clutching his hip and wincing in pain. We looked at one another with tears in our eyes. Anxiously we waited for his return, hoping and praying that he would make it. Eventually, we spotted him, and screamed until our lungs hurt. Hip completely forgotten, Mike sprinted down the blue carpet, beating an Aussie in a younger age group to the line! He was so excited to have taken the Aussie, and on top of it all, the race was a PB for him!

That was the inspiration that really made it the best race day I have ever had. When all the chips are down, supporting someone else's efforts is truly the best way to acknowledge your own successes.

Now I've had the time of my life...

Today was the most amazing race day I have ever had. I'll post a full report tomorrow, because we are all hoarse from screaming for all the South Africans, our legs are really tired, and we want to retire to the jacuzzi with the bottle of bubbles that Britt and I have just bought.

I loved every second of my race. Had an awesome swim, a fantastic bike and hung on for as long as I could on the run. I did my best race on the day; left nothing in the tank. I spent it all out there. It felt like an unbelievable privilege to race against all those people from all over the world.

Running up the blue carpet, I felt like I was springing on a trampoline, with huge long steps. All those thousands of people were cheering for ME! It was totally awesome.

....and I owe it all to you.

Thank you all for the messages and support.

Proudly South African

Last night we all gathered at the South African banner for the Parade of Nations. I think we all felt a huge swell of patriotic pride as we marched on to the field. Thousands of athletes from all over the world congregated for the opening ceremony. Australia has 900 athletes competing. New Zealand, Great Britain and USA have quite large groups as well. South Africa looked pretty good in our green and gold, and we have a decent size team.

As we went through the arch, the excitement and adrenaline caught up with us, and we all started to run. It was lump in the throat stuff, and totally amazing to be a part of it. I was there, with 5000 of the world's best triathletes, ready to compete in RSA colours.

I thought I would feel intimidated, but I realised that I felt at peace, quietly confident that I deserved my place there as much as anyone else did.

The New Zealand men did an impromptu Haka, which caused much joviality. They stripped to the waist first, which was really exciting!! ;-)

We took a picture of the whole team this morning after our team race briefing. It took quite a while, because practically everyone wanted a photo on their own camera.

This morning, Britt and I got up at 6am (slept much better thank you) and did our last bike and run. Very short, with a few sprint spurts. I'm feeling good, my legs are awake and fresh.

Time to prep our kit. We laid everything out and put our number stickers on our helmets and bikes, got our goggles and hats ready, and fiddled with all the little things that we fiddle with. It is going to be a NON wetsuit swim, so we went off for our warm up swim this morning without our wetsuits on. The water doesn't feel that warm - its just a touch over 22 degrees, so we weren't that keen.

After the swim though, I am very excited. I feel much better without my wetsuit on, and am really "feeling" the water today. I am ready! Bring it on!!

We had a (decaf) coffee on our way to the internet cafe and were joined by Ashleigh and Wendy. Now its time to go back to the resort for a healthy lunch of baked potato and tuna, put our feet up for an hour or so, then go and rack our bikes.

This time tomorrow I will have a beer in hand! The countdown has started...

Laugh, Kookaburra, laugh

Yesterday afternoon I lay down with my feet up and my Rockets CompresSox on. I asked Britt to take a picture to show Claire that I was following instructions. She said I should send it to Jerry Springer as it was a real porn star pose! We found that unbelievably funny and haven't been able to stop laughing since. Its partly nerves, I'm sure, but also a sign that we are having the time of our lives.
Bought some Nuun electrolytes and a bottle at the expo, and am drinking plenty.

After our team dinner we hot footed it to the resort jacuzzi that, miraculously, hasn't been discovered by everyone. Its a great way to relax and chill, while still finding almost everything really amusing.

It wasn't quite so funny at 2am for me though. Wide awake, and losing my sense of humour, I eventually got up and made decaf coffee and had a banana. I lay in the lounge reading for an hour, then made my second attempt at sleep for the night. A little after four, in the middle of a complicated dream involving lawnmowers and herbaceous borders, I landed with a thump on the floor!

I had fallen out of bed, I slowly realised. My matress had slid off the base and I must have rolled over and put more weight on the precarious side, with the result that I now lay in a heap between the beds. Britt picked that moment to roll over and open her eyes. "Hello," she said. "What ARE you doing?"

We collapsed into smothered giggles and it took a while to regain enough composure for me to re make the bed!

Looking back, I think my mistake was the diet coke with dinner, as well as two cups of tea in the afternoon. I've been completely off caffeine for months now, and any little bit of it seems to cause insomnia! Plus I'm starting to get really excited about the race, and my mind is racing a bit already. So, I'm going to really concentrate on what goes in per mouth over the next two days.

The entire South African team congregated outside our resort this afternoon, and we walked to the race venue together to register. We had to cross a bridge and almost every car hooted and waved to see the South Africans in full kit with SA flags flying. We realised there are a lot of ex South Africans living on the Gold Coast, and I can't wait for the Parade of Nations which is at 6pm. Its a public spectator event, and has been advertised in the local papers. I suspect we may have quite a big cheer here. The parade will be followed by the G'day Party (Aussie Pasta Party).

Registration was a breeze, and each age group has a different colour swim cap and a wave start time. I start at 07:29 Saturday morning. We have to rack tomorrow afternoon. Our under 23's are racing tomorrow - good luck Corinne and Vicky!

Amazing Australia

Australia is totally amazing! Now that I've been here for two and a half days, I can see how easy it is to be seduced by this gorgeous place. The Gold Coast is really, really beautiful, and the weather is perfect. We have been pretty busy getting settled.

The South African team are all staying at Sunbird Beach Resorts - self catering apartments a stones throw from the waves. Each apartment has a double and two single beds. Each apartment also has a washing machine, tumble dryer and - get this: a dishwasher! We thought ours wasn't working, so went to tell reception. Turns out we didn't know how to turn it on! Service everywhere is outstanding.

I'm sharing with Britt from Cape Town, and Bev from Gauteng. Its going really well - we have bonded over late night jet lag sessions, and know much more about one another than is probably polite to say! Britt and I are having the time of our lives - we have been inseperable, and are constantly amazed at how similar we are.

Below us, on level 2, are Andre from WP, Vic from Vrystaat and Piet from Klerksdorp. We had dinner there last night, and Andre showed us all just how to emulate Jamie Oliver (whom we had watched cook up a mouthwatering steak and sauce while we waited for our connecting flight in Singapore)

Food is not as expensive as I had thought it would be; we have done a very healthy grocery shop at Woolworths (a bit like our Pick n Pay). I am amazed at how at home I feel - I can really finally understand why so many South Africans pick Australia as their country of choice to emigrate to.

We went for a 20km cycle this morning south past Mermaid Beach, and Pacific Fair Shopping centre and it is totally like KZN South Coast - with bells!

The surf is amazing - we can't wait to go bodysurfing after the event.

On to the event. Everyone has said how Australia would put on a good show for the ITU World Champs and how lucky it was that I was going to Oz. Too right! We have just come from the expo, which opened this morning and it was definitely by far the best and most exciting expo I have ever been to.

Wow - the choices and the variety of triathlon products available! Yes, I did overspend a little, but it could have been a whole lot worse!

Its 3 days to go to our race and I am starting to feel the flutterings of race excitement and nerves. I felt great on the bike this morning, and loosened up well on the quick 3km run off the bike. We swam most of the course in wetsuits yesterday, and I was slower than everyone else, but thats normal, and I tried to concentrate on just relaxing and feeling the water.

Today's aquathlon is a NON wetsuit swim, as the water is 22.1 degrees. So there is a real possibility of a non wetsuit swim for us on Saturday too. We decided not to do the aquathlon, in favour of a bit more rest. The jet lag definitely knocks you a bit, and you suddenly feel really tired, momentarily dizzy and even a bit nauseous for a moment. Its getting better though, and I am feeling much more normal today - we've been quite strict about sleeping normal hours.

This trip is already living up to my expectations of being the most fabulous opportunity ever - I cant wait for the race on Saturday!

Gotta have an early night!

TA-DAA!! from stuff all over the house to neat and packed in how many minutes? OK, well it took all night! Packing the bike was the easy part. I've done it a few times now, and it does get easier. What took the time was deciding just how many Tshirts I really needed, and what if it was cold, and what if it wasn't?

My coach will freak if she finds out that I got to bed after midnight last night! I can't do it again. So I'm doing a quick post now, before the boys come home and it gets hectic. Tonight is my last sleep in my own bed in Cape Town for 2 and a half weeks!

The butterflies are starting to fly in formation (for how long, I'm not sure!)

I will try and post as soon as I can in Australia. Happy flying to all my team mates.

Lots and lots of love to my boys and my mom - my biggest fans!

Runners High

I picked up a Triathlon book yesterday and flipped through the pages. The first sentence that I read went something like this: " It would be easy for non sporting people to see the sport of triathlon as masochistic. It can be hard for bystanders to understand that triathletes find training for their events rewarding and fulfilling."

I had to smile. I was instantly transported to a flashback moment, not too long after I had discovered the joys of the endorphin rush for myself. It was about a year after I had started running, when every time is still filled with wonder and the sheer joy of being fit enough to run for pleasure. I was spending the weekend at Mabilingwe Game Resort, near Warmbaths. It was a working weekend, and my function was to facilitate a group of corporates and ensure they challenged themselves on the obstacle course, then followed the clues and correctly read the map to discover their hidden "treasure". I ran from group to group all afternoon, and had the time of my life, encouraging, tempting, whip-cracking and just "playing" in the bushveld with my fitness. (In fact, that weekend, I nearly ran into the back of an elephant!)

What a high I was on! I bounced around like an overgrown, over eager, floppy labrador puppy! With blazing fanatic eyes, I exhorted everyone around me to start running. It transpired that one of the other facilitators was actually a top triathlete, but was no longer competing. I had no idea then what a triathlete actually was, so I wasn't that excited by her being a pro. I just couldn't believe she didn't want to run. She must have been so amused by me!

When I look back at that younger, more novice me, I am still struck by the enthusiasm and the excitement that I managed to find for every new thing that I took on. That was about six years ago, and things were pretty tough generally around that time. Running really changed my life, and it gave me something that I was able to truly focus on, be in the moment with, and it allowed me to just BE.

I still find that peace from a good run - tonight as I jogged quietly along the coast at dusk, I just sank into the moment, and found that ultra sweet spot where nothing else exists.


Earlier, I went out on Rio for a last ride with zipp wheels on and fresh tubes. There was a good fresh north wester blowing, which made the back stretch really fast, but the last 15km into a headwind. It was an easy ride, and I am starting to feel as if I may find my race legs...


Good night from Cape Town! Two more sleeps til I fly!

Movies and Masks

Massage Day today! Just when I think my hamstrings cant possibly get any tighter - Massage Day comes along and Bobbie works her magic on my poor, overused legs. Today's session was particularly great, as she eased out all the bits and pieces and helped me to relax too. Thanks Bobbie!

This evening I met some great friends and running partners for a recovery trot around Kommetjie. The sea was frothy and the swell was huge, and it made for a gorgeous sunset run. Every one of these friends has shared at least one very special running moment with me, and we laughed and remembered together over a glass of bubbles after the run. I really feel an abundance of gratitude and blessings for the wonderful people in my life.

We chatted about the forthcoming trip, and several comments were made about how fabulous the plane trip will be with Air Singapore. They have a huge variety of movies to choose from, apparently, and when you want to sleep, you ask your stewardess to please bring you a mask. Some debate ensued over the appropriate use of the mask, but the final consensus was that I will ask for one, and use it - to ensure no dry eyes, and that I get some sleep on the plane. Jet lag, I'm told, is not at all pretty!

Right, time to go and get some beauty sleep...

Child of the Universe

I ran a 5km timetrial tonight. I met my usual Ironman training buds, and joined them for the first time since Ironman! (During winter its difficult to prioritise track running at 17:30, when I have to fetch Dylan from squash and get him home to do his homework. I've been doing my hill repeats in FishHoek, alone.)

So I was interested to see how I would do, with my training partners as inspiration. Some of my Worlds team mates have been saying how fantastic they feel, they are having to hold back because they are flying... To be honest, I haven't felt that good yet! The timetrial was hard, with a stiff head wind, and I did ok - about 50sec off my PB.

Claire reminded me to go and have fun in Australia. Everyone gave me hugs and kisses and wished me luck and told me to have a ball. I gave myself a little chat on the way home. I've improved so much in the last year, and I'm so grateful for that, but I catch myself not wanting to be satisfied with anything less than breaking my Personal Best every time I go out. I have upped my level of performance so consistently, and I was fortunate enough to have so many great races last season. I train with lots of people who are stronger and faster than I am, and that really inspires and motivates me to push harder and want to do better. Its important to remember to celebrate the little successes.

I must remember that my best is good enough. No matter how the race turns out, I want to have the time of my life! Statistically, I know there will be many very strong competitors in my age group at Worlds. Lots of them can run 10km in under 40 minutes. However things unfold, I will cross that finish line smiling and proud, delighted to be there, privileged to be racing against the best 40 to 44 year old women in the world!

I want to remind myself constantly that I made the SA Team for the first time at the age of 40. Even 3 years ago, I had absolutely no idea that this would even be a possibility - now I am really living the dream. This trip to Australia and the World Triathlon Champs is the opportunity of a lifetime for me - and I am going to grab it with both hands and savour every single moment.

You are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Min Dae

The days are starting to jumble together now. Less than a week left until we fly, and my lists are getting longer, the training sessions shorter and family time more precious.

My SA kit arrived on Friday - or rather, I went to fetch it from Post Net. Their "next day" service took from Monday when it was posted, to Friday morning when I collected. Well, it actually arrived on Thursday midday, but I was at work, presenting my board report, then on to the AGM and dinner. No time for collecting parcels.

So I ripped the parcel open on my way back to my car on Friday morning. I couldn't remember what I had ordered, so it was very exciting. Here it all is:





I tried everything on and modelled for my family on Saturday night - it sent a shiver of anticipation down my spine to realise that this time next week I will be strutting my stuff around the airports of the world wearing my South African colours, clearly identifying me as a South African Triathlete!

I'm having to take big gulps of air to keep my excitement at a manageable level!

Lets see if I can post from my cell phone.

I have been having a technology free couple of days - my ADSL line is down, so no computers, no internet, no email. Well, thats not strictly true, as I do have 3G on my phone. Training going well, more later; as its pretty tiring typing all this with my thumb! Just want to check if I can post from my phone, so I dont have to lug the laptop to Aus! Hold thumbs...

Compression Socks

Saturday morning was "Long Run" day. I thought it would be a great opportunity to test run in my new "sponsored" Rockets CompresSox. Big up to Jodie of Peak Performance Fitness, who was happy to arrange a pair of sox for me, told me all the science about how they would support my muscles as I ran, reducing vibration, improving temerature control and increase oxygen to the muscles as well as offer post exercise help in removing lactic acid from the muscles. They also help to prevent pooling of blood in the legs, which speeds up the recovery of damaged muscles.

I am really enjoying them for my calves! Now my hamstrings feel like they could use some extra help and recovery too!

I've been told they are also amazing for long distance travel, so I will definitely be wearing them on the plane to Australia.

Gotta go iron some school shirts for the boys for the week!

Ice Cream and Indoor Rides

Rio came back from the bike shop today, all serviced and spruced. She has pink handlebar tape! I think it looks so cute, like a giant strawberry and vanilla ice cream! I hope it keeps me entertained at Worlds, so I can crank out my best ever 40km bike!

Ran in the rain this morning, and saw a whale in the bay. It is so amazing to live in Fish Hoek - every single ride or run is along the most stunning coastline, and for the next few months, there will be whales cavorting all over False Bay.

My ride was an indoor one again - just an easy spin while watching TV with my boys. Justin is home from hostel for the weekend, and the family feels complete again. Dylan and I have great moments together during the week, and I am starting to get used to Justin not being here, but when he comes home for the weekend, I realise how much I have missed him. Some people think its odd that one of my twins is a weekly boarder while the other one prefers to come home every day. Its not odd to us - they each got to choose what was right for them individually, and watching them grow and mature, I am proud of the young adults they are becoming. They will be 15 on 28 September, just after I get back from Australia.

Sometimes I still can't believe that I am a mother to two real, live teenagers! Whats more, I am loving every moment! They are so supportive about triathlon, they are my biggest fans. The two of them are at most races, clapping and shouting, "Go, mom!" every time I come past. I wish they could come to Australia and be there for the race, as well as the holiday part of the trip.

Bring that scale!

Emails in my in box tonight say that my South African tracksuit and triathlon suit will be posted to me tomorrow! They are also very concerned about our weight - or rather, the weight of all our kit! Apparently, one of the SA team athletes left SA for Australia today 7kg overweight and they charged him R2500 extra! Eeeekkk! I'm going to have to find a scale and weigh everything! If I have to, I'll leave the underwear behind!!

Its a bit confusing gramatically, as they keep saying, "allowance is 30kg and 7kg hand luggage". then they say "Total weight must not exceed 30kg", "Bike and luggage must not weigh more than 30kg" and weird versions of this. So, does this mean that 30kg is THE MOST we can take, including everything we carry/wear/push? Is it, in fact, 30kg minus 7kg maximum for hand luggage? Why don't they just say that???

We are going to arrive in Australia after 2 days of travelling, at about 19:30. Then we have a 90 minute bus ride to our hotel in South Port. The email says we will have NO FOOD. We have been warned agaisnt trying to take any food into Australia, and definately no dirt or soil on bike tires or running shoes. So we will have the entire SA triathlon team on a bus for an hour and a half after 2 days of flying, with NO FOOD. Does anyone see the same problem that I do? We will end up eating one another's suitcases, for heaven's sake! (I know we will have eaten on the 'plane, but I fear it may not be enough!)

Our breakfast call is 08:30 for 09:00. Let me break this to you gently....

THERE'S NO WAY I CAN GO WITHOUT FOOD FOR THAT LONG!!!

We need a plan! A special "SA Triathlete nutrition plan". I will do some further investigation...

My First Time

I've been toying with the idea of starting this blog for ages now. Should I or shouldnt I? On one hand it seems like such a self indulgent thing to do, a bit narcissistic. On the other hand, I have been having so much fun with my "new" sport of triathlon, and am so excited to have achieved SA colours for the first time as a 40 year old athlete, that I really feel the need to record some of the experiences and emotions of this journey.

In less than 3 weeeks, I will be flying to Gold Coast, Australia, to take part in the World Triathlon Championships, as a member of the South African Age Group Team. This has been my dream and goal for over a year, and I can hardly believe that its almost upon me!

Today is a pretty quiet day, training wise. Only a swim, with some fast 100's as the timetrial part. Thats quite a good thing, because its still really cold out there, even though its not actually raining at the moment. Unlike yesterday. I moved both my run and my ride indoors yesterday, because it was seriously bucketing down all day. I got soaked just running into the gym, for the treadmill run!

I dont usually wimp out of rain running, but with our trip so close, and everyone around me so full of flu, I didnt want to take the chance of letting my immune system think there were gaps in the armour! So I figured that swapping sweat with everyone indoors would be a "better" option.

Its been a while since I've been on a treadmill, and I really hate those dreadful "touch" screens. I can never get the speed button to move up fast enough, and I end up swearing at the machine, while hanging on with one hand and using my towel over my sweaty finger to try and get the speed right. So, its even funnier when coach Claire gives me a hill repeat workout with one minute hard, one minute easy. Now I have to adjust the gradient button as well as the speed one! I've seen people do this fancy trick of jumping on the sides of the treadmill between intervals, and I was feeling brave, so I thought I would give that a go. It worked quite well for the first 2 or 3 intervals, and I stood safety on the side of the machine while I adjusted the speed and gradient down after the "hill repeat". Then I jumped back on, and had my little fight with the buttons to get up to 4 gradient and 14km/hr for a minute.

After a while of me standing on the side of the treadmill playing with thte buttons, the machine flashed me with a "workout interupted, user not detected" and slowed down and stopped! Which left me frantically pushing buttons to get started again. Eventually I worked out a way of slowing down and speeding up without it being too traumatic!

Its done, but bring back my real hill, please! My sympathies to anyone who has to play "Treadmill, Treadmill" often.

The evening workout on my Indoor Trainer was a bit rushed and distracted. I was thinking about dinner, and wet dogs, and making sure Dylan had done his homework. I was also stressing about my Anual Report, which still needs quite a bit of work, and is due on Thursday. Just never really got my head into it!

Taking Rio for a service today, and to get some sexy new pink handlebar tape! (Rio is my Scott Plasma - 40th birthday present to myself about a year ago, "midlife crisis toy", and the best money I have ever spent!)

The picture at the top is of her all racked and ready to race at 70.3 in East London in January. I really, really love my bike!