Buffelspoort Triathlon 2013

Is this step one towards doing the the Iron Man some day? I hope so! The Buffelsport Triathlon was my first triathlon I’ve taken part in. I did the sprint which is a 600m swim, 20km cycle and 5km run so not too hectic. It was perfect weather (a little overcast) and the water was crystal clear at Buffelsport Dam.

Forgot my phone, so no pictures just one from a mate.

The swim took about 9 min, I swam freestyle most of the way which helped keep ahead of some of the others. At the change over I realized next time bring a towel to clean off the sand from my feat. The cycle for me wasn’t great; luckily it was only 20km. I got passed quite a bit so I think cycling is perhaps the strongest part for most of the other competitors. Anyway I am so lucky to have access to a road bike because this really helped me keep up and pass a couple people on mountain bikes, especially on the hills. The run turned out to be the easiest, which makes sense because running is what I like doing. It started off a little wobbly because the change over from bike to road is a little weird. As soon as I found my legs I started moving and managed to pass a couple people. I did almost 5min/km which i was quite happy with, I took some Energade saches which helped me to get to the end. I finished pretty tired, but recovered really quickly when I jumped into the dam. After waiting for the change over to be opened I got some money and we had two local beers and a wors roll. Later in the day I actually needed to take a nap, I don’t know if this was because of the early morning or me underestimating how hard mixing sports disciplines are, is it like mixing drinks? Anyway I’m sold and think I’ll definitely do another one in the future, a little longer I think.

If you thinking of doing a triathlon I would suggest the following: Towel for the change over - I was soaked before I got on the bike Second pair of socks for the run - my socks where full of sand after the ride. I did everything in a costume/sorts combination - next time I’ll bring cycling shorts and a separate costume (I’ll look at a tri-suit after I lose my little beer boep).

Don’t enter the change over area right after the race - wait for the officials to open the change over area. But make sure you bring the essentials; bike, helmet, bike drinks bottle, costume, cycling shorts, running shorts, tackies, cycling shoes, socks x2, hat, goggles, suntan lotion and towel. Results: Total: 01:25:56 Swim - 00:09:10 Cycle - 00:49:52 Run - 00:26:53