8 AM
Adventure Racing race (Trekking) 3:28:00 [4] 26.0 km (8:00 / km) +951m 6:46 / km
shoes: Salomon Sense Mantra 3 grey/or
Double Moon AR - Team Cyanosis pair with Nathan
Race started at the main gate of Giants Castle. First leg was all track, following the management jeep track up to the Injasuthi Rangers hut and then down the small trail into Injasuthi.
Got ill after a couple of hours, throwing up. I think it's an increasingly negative reaction to my energy drink, as it's now 5 races in a row. Have been using it for 10 years, but need to find something new that works.
Got into T1 behind Painted Hobbit and Jabberwock, but was running as low as 5th place at some points.
Adventure Racing race (MTB) 1:07:00 [4] 23.0 km (2:55 / km)
shoes: Specialized Epic FSR Mthn 2014
2nd leg was a quick cycle down the Injisuthi valley to a section of river on the Little Tugela. Jabberwock had mechanicals in transition, then cramps early on the ride, so we moved up to 2nd.
Adventure Racing race (Paddling) 1:48:00 [4] 11.0 km (9:49 / km)
A lowish Little Tugela river, but it was just high enough to scrape the boat over most rapids. 5cm more would have been great, but it wasn't bad at this level. Had a good, consistent paddle and I started recovering a bit from the earlier low.
Adventure Racing race (MTB) 6:16:00 [4] 84.0 km (4:29 / km)
shoes: Specialized Epic FSR Mthn 2014
We were about 8 mins behind Painted Hobbit leaving transition. Very hot conditions in the mid-30s. Felt good to start with and we closed the gap a bit, getting sight of them at the 2nd and 3rd CPs. Stopped at WP1 for a quick cold drink before heading off. Towards evening I started getting ill again. Had stopped drinking my energy juice, but was now well below the 'comfort curve' and probably hyponatremic. Stopped 4 times to empty my stomach between CP6 and the end of the leg (about 25km). Unable to keep any food or even sips of water down.
Jabberwock caught and passed us about 4km outside transition near the Driel Dam.
Adventure Racing race (Transition) 6:42:00 [0]
Spent close to 7 hours in transition trying to recover. Core body temperature was up, so decided only way to get water and food back into the body was to sleep to bring the temperature down. Woke up a few times and was slowly able to get more juice / water / food into the system. Felt good to go again at about 3am in the morning.
Adventure Racing race (Paddling) 3:12:00 [4] 20.0 km (9:36 / km)
Kayaking leg on Driel Dam. Out and back to a CP just below Woodstock dam wall. Left in 11th place and caught 2 teams on the return leg on the water. It got light at the turning point, so was quite nice to have different scenery for both the out and back legs. Paddling went really well now that I was refreshed, with only Lightee's team faster than us.
Adventure Racing race (Transition) 17:00 [0]
Quick transition onto bikes. Passed Team Warriors in transition for 8th.
Adventure Racing race (MTB) 2:30:00 [4] 45.0 km (3:20 / km)
shoes: Specialized Epic FSR Mthn 2014
Last bike leg of the race. Nathan and I pushed well on this leg, making up time on other teams, but we also had the advantage of a good rest and daylight from the start. Caught Blood, Sweat and Beers just outside the last transition for 7th.
Adventure Racing race (Trekking) 2:12:00 [4] 14.0 km (9:26 / km)
shoes: Salomon Sense Mantra 3 grey/or
Got into the last transition to see 2 teams there (Addicted 2 Adventure and the Keyhealth pair - suprise!). Left quickly to chase them down and caught A2A going up a big hill. The Keyhealth youngsters were running away from us at top speed however, so we didn't expect to catch them.
At the top of the ridge we bumped into Team Salomon (even more of a suprise) who were still looking for the CP. We pointed them in the right direction and then they returned the favour by finding it for us. :-)
Had to work hard to drop them after that to move into 5th as we went through the Drakensberg Sun resort. Picked up the final 2 CPs and then abseiled into the finish. Surprised to find out that we also passed Keyhealth in the last section somewhere to take 4th. Painted Hobbit first, with Jabberwock and then Housewives Choice (Lightee) for 3rd quite a few hours ahead of us.
So overall, a horrible 1st day, but then a nice 2nd day after a good 5 hours or so of sleep. Was a nice feeling to keep going and finish the race. Good training and experience even though we weren't in line for a podium any longer.