My experience at the event:
There used to be a time when I was genuinely afraid of the "Tough One". 32km with 500m of climbing, an uphill start, a long downhill until the 14km and then long and nasty hills until the end (with luckily some relief with a quick secion after the climbs). I used to push on that first half, and then die or struggle in the second.
Last year I decided to take it easy (super easy) until I realized that I managed to easily achieve a hard negative split. This year, I tried the same. After a very slow start and a controlled journey until the 14th km (the downhill on Witkoppen), I realized that I was going maybe a little too slow. But with a calf still sore from a football injury, and with many climbs to go, Andy (my running bro in law) and I decided to keep an easy pace under an oppressing sun.
When the hills started rolling, Andy suffered a little (we both had very little runs in our legs since Comrades...) and eventually decided to wakk a section, while I kept running. The hills (which I know so well) never surprised me and while my final time was still my 3rd best over 7 attempts, I knew I could have done a little better, but maybe I'll keep the record attempt for my 10th run, since I don't think I'll be able to train that much with life becoming so busy (and interesting!).
I got my 7th Joburg Duathlon medal, with my 2nd overall best combined time. I may be getting old and I train less, but somehow I seem to often manage to surprise myself!
|
Year |
Cycle Challenge |
Tough One |
Cumulative Time |
1 |
2013 |
03:46:26 |
02:55:28 |
06:41:54 |
2 |
2017 |
04:19:00 |
03:03:55 |
07:22:55 |
3 |
2015 |
04:14:15 |
03:10:59 |
07:25:14 |
4 |
2016 |
04:30:06 |
02:59:22 |
07:29:28 |
5 |
2011 |
04:28:36 |
03:22:49 |
07:51:25 |
6 |
2012 |
04:33:11 |
03:22:25 |
07:55:36 |
7 |
2014 |
04:39:32 |
03:19:36 |
07:59:08 |
Anyway, the usual stats are here:
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2350861743Pictures here:
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