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Slanghoek Triathlon: Race Report

27 October 2013

Article by: Cornel Herbst

Swim, bike and run to the top of your abilities. Maximum heart rate racing. That’s what awaited us over the weekend in Slanghoek, the heart of the Western Cape. One of the most beautiful races that you will ever do.

My second time returning to the venue to improve on last years 16th place overall.

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It was an early start to the day, waking up at 4:30 to get to the venue and get a good racking space in transition. Before the start of the race everything was relaxed and looking good. I even had time to do a backflip from the jetty for Chris Hitchcock our camera man. Once the gun went off the fun and games were over and we were pushing our bodies to the max doing everything possible to go even harder than what we are already going. The swim consisted of two laps, after the first I was still in good position and managed to keep that position in the second lap.

The bike is something different, a non-drafting race, where the guys on their time trial (TT) bikes had a big advantage on the people, like me, who where racing with a normal road bike. I sticked to what I know, going as hard as I can for as long as possible, but still lost a few places on the bike. Entering T2 in about 8th place overall.

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Running was definitely not my strongest today. With legs being a little tired from working for 43km on my own it’s a miracle that I could still run. I started the run feeling good, but as the run continued the heat and fatigue settled in making it more difficult with every step. The strangest thing happened to me on the run. My right foot went completely numb and there is no explanation to why. But even with it all I managed to secure 6th place overall.

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I did it again. I left one of my personal belongings at the race. This time something important to me, my trisuit. If anyone know of the whereabouts please let me know. It was last seen on the jetty where I had put it to dry in the sun before I was supposed to pack it in my bag.

Well done for team 3px that had very good results at slanghoek. And a big thanks to our sponsors without who we could not achieve what we do.

Puma, 2XU, Virgin Active, Cape Auto Centre and 32Gi

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