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Driving to Vanderbijl was a breeze. Luckily Energade posted markings on the road otherwise I might have missed the turn to Abrahamsrus resort.
Abrahamsrus resort is a very beautiful place on the bank of the Vaal river. Lots of green lawn. Probably the best venue of them all.
The swim was in the river, partially downstream and partially upstream. Swimming against the current was tough though, if you stop swimming you end up where you started.
All the hours spent swimming in the gym helped, I managed to finish in about 19 minutes. When I got out of the water someone with one leg also finished the leg...:) Pretty impressive! So while this guy was getting his crutches I thought to myself. More guts than common sense.
I got onto my bike and cycled as hard as possible, keeping my heat rate above 170 sometimes reaching 185. Finishing the cycle I was 57 minutes into the race. (The leaders would finish any second now). The guy with one leg finished the same time I did, I was seriously impressed.
I set out on the run, it must be close to 32 degrees, and I can feel that my body is complaining. (We had our Christmas party on Friday and I had a terrible hangover the following day...Yesterday at this time) I suffered in the run eventually managed to finish in 1:36. Official results Look at position 554 out of the 791. For now I am happy with the results! at least I am not within the last 100... :)
Here are some photos taken by Action Photo, they expect me to pay R45 per photo! I think not


Oh btw, out on the run I saw the guy again, on crutches! He finished in about 1:55 or so, he really kicked butt!!! Lots of respect!

There are so many people with 2 legs that are simply too lazy to do something like this. Just goes to show, why should something small rule your life? Problems are there to be solved! And some people just have more guts than common sense!

Potchefstroom is a beautiful place! Lots of huge oak trees. Definitely greener than Pretoria. I stayed there in a guest house called Pukulani Guest House. Friendly people ;)
Drove around a bit, looked at the varsity. They have a beautiful campus. Visited the family in Klerksdorp.

The results of the triathlon. Look at line 381. I made it! Not quite the 1:20 I was hoping for but 1:36 will have to do for now. The swim went better this time, it is still the toughest part of the race! After about 300m I was tired but managed to finish the swim in 20 minutes. I need to train more! This week I swam 40-50 lengths (about 1km) every night at the gym (after my normal training). Trying to perfect my technique and breathing.




The cycle leg went a lot better, I passed lots of people. I was cycling with a heart monitor so I kept an eye on my hard rate and kept it between 160 and 180.
When I went out on the run it was a whopping 32 degrees Celsius and they only supplied water at the halfway mark of the run. Lots of suffering involved! The run probably took 10 minutes longer than what it should so I missed my goal! Well there is always next year. Roy also decided that he is not fit enough and chickened out at the last minute for this weekend's triathlon. Get this, he convinced me to do the triathlons with him... After this weekend I would have completed 4 and Roy a grand total of 0. Most people are their own worst enemy. They keep themselves back. I know I am of those too. This time I just managed to beat myself.

This week I also decided to buy my long awaited MP3 player. A iAudio M3L... 35 hours battery life, plays OGG Mp3 etc... 20 GB storage. I also got the car charger & FM transmitter. Looked everywhere, most players lack OGG support. I shopped around and in the end there was only one place that could get me the exact player I wanted. www.techdigital.co.za I found the link while googling. One of the paid ads. I was a bit weary about buying online but this was the only local place willing to sell me the player I wanted. So in the end I decided to get out the trusty old credit card, held my breath, and ordered the player I wanted. I bought airline tickets online before. But this was from a place I did not know. I searched the web for any people that posted complaints about the place. Came up empty handed. Couple of big sites listed it as a online retailer.
2 Days later the package arrives... I am shocked! I never expected such good service. They even phoned me to enquire if I still needed a carry bag since the player contains one. They removed it off the order. Now that is what I call service!

Needless to say, I am very impressed with the player, it works in Linux it plays OGG. It just works! Excellent product, I would recommend it to anyone.