X Terra Firma, now mud!

So, there I was, swimming across Homestead Lake in Benoni, admiring how pretty the lake and surrounds were since last I’d last swum there many years ago and wondering if Charlize was around again locally since breaking up with that Townsend fellow. Apart from that I was also thinking how I could beat Nando at the Xterra Triathlon the next weekend. This training swim could just be a ruse to spy on his technique, and strategize accordingly. I wondered, just momentarily, about nudging him into the water weeds that grabbed at our ankles and legs, and seeing if he would surface again. Or maybe, with the river flooded as it was he would wash over the weir. No, unlike the Xterra that would be too extreme. Eliminating the competition is not as good as beating it. Of course Adri was swimming circles around us, at home like a duck in the dam. Maybe she would push too hard at the beginning and tire on the run. Not much chance of Nando tiring on the run though, no, his Comrades training was making him fast and lean. I had no plan, no strategy. I told everyone I was going to take on the race at a slow pace, to give them a false sense of security while I planned to beat them with underhand conniving.
On Friday, the day before the race Trish, Rich and I went and camped at Mountain Sanctuary Park, to acclimatise to the altitude, scout out the route and conditions, and also so not as to miss too much sleep on Saturday morning. That plan went awry when a huge thunderstorm caused havoc at our campsite, with rivers and dongas appearing from nowhere. The effect on the course was to make it very muddy, every bit as good as Bonamanzi. Thanks Trish for your wonderful support.
I really enjoyed the race and seeing Sue and the rest of the eager Lickety Splitters at the start. I swam well and uneventfully. The trick of keeping an aerobically sustainable rhythm while slipping through the water like a dolphin made sense, and I closed my eyes for the most part to feel and hear the water gliding over me. Aaaah – wonderful open water swimming!
My transition to the MTB leg was slow but I left just after Nando and Adri. Mountain Sanctuary Park was beautiful and interesting, with good technical sections and the challenge of mud riding and river crossings. My poor bike eventually sounded like a pepper grinder and had no brakes. Into Transition I again saw Adri, but she soon left me behind. The best part on the run was when we ran down behind the Buffelspoort dam wall and across the flooded river at the bottom and could look up to where the water cascaded down in a massive waterfall over the weir, leaving the whole area in spray mist. The climb up the other side was fun too, climbing up the huge steps of concrete blocks and a steel ladder to get back onto the path which ran back down across the river again. Not even a Lara Craft look alike who passed me on the path could inspire me to pick up my pace and run up that hill. Nor could Nando as he passed me on his second lap of the two loop run. I rather took the river crossing opportunities to lie in the river, hanging onto the flooded causeway, to let the flood waters rush over me, pulling me this way and that. I guess if I’d wanted to beat Nando badly enough I should rather have been running. That would have been a better plan.