After months of fundraising and eight weeks of blood, sweat and tears to get fit after my ankle fracture, the time had finally arrived. I am ready to depart from South Africa to participate in the Dextro Energy World Triathlon Champs in Budapest!
After months of fundraising and eight weeks of blood, sweat and tears to get fit after my ankle fracture, the time had finally arrived. I am ready to depart from South Africa to participate in the Dextro Energy World Triathlon Champs in Budapest!
I said my goodbyes to hubby at the Port Elizabeth airport on the Monday and boarded the plane to Johannesburg to meet up with my South African team-mates.
After checking in our luggage and weighing in our bags and bikes, we boarded the Air France airbus to Budapest.
As a first timer on an international flight, accommodating 680 passengers, I was amazed by the size and comfort of the plane.
After a great supper and uncomfortably upright sleep, we finally reached our quick stop-over at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, which is triple the size of OR Tambo.
We finally reached Budapest at 3pm on the Tuesday. We were taken to the four star Art’otel, checked in and began our bike set up.
After a good night’s sleep we did an early morning run along the Dunda River crossing a few bridges before returning for a hearty breakfast.
The rest of the day’s training included a cycle and swim. We had an awesome team supper that Wednesday night, making up for the weather in Budapest which was very gloomy and rainy, making training quite difficult.
On Thursday morning I woke up feeling miserable with very bad allergies and fever blisters on my lips, but I kept my head up high and kept a positive mind although I was feeling quite ill.
At registration on Thursday afternoon, which was a long walk from the hotel, a few athletes were swimming the course, and commented on the temperature of the water that was only 14 degrees and wasn’t expected to get any warmer for race day.
The weather was still cold and rainy with no sight of the sun since arriving in Budapest. That evening was the opening ceremony where the over 3 000 athletes gathered from over 60 countries.
After the flag parade and a few blows from vuvuzelas the world champs were declared open. On Friday there was time for a bit of sightseeing and I was really fascinated by the Hungarian culture, the language barrier and their foreign money.
I took the metro train to one of the shopping malls. But they sure do love their cheese, pastries, breads, coffees and salami because every second food shop sold those products, and it is so much cheaper than in South Africa.
Saturday was bike check-in and the roads were still wet and it was still drizzling with no sight of the sun. After checking in our bikes and showing the referees our uniforms, or tri-suits as they called it, we finally took a taxi back to our hotel.
After a very restless sleep, race day finally arrived and we got up early and took the shuttle to the start with our wetsuits and water bottles in one hand and breakfast in the other.
Breakfast was a raw sweet pepper, tomato, an apple and a banana, a thin sandwich and a bottle of water – a good healthy breakfast for a tough race ahead.
The water temperature was still 14 degrees which would make it a very cold swim. I started my race, in the 30 to 34 group, at 7.40am.
With two minutes to go we were ordered into the water without having warmed up! The first 300m was the toughest as I was so numb from the cold but put my head into positive gear and started to work my way through the field towards the end of the swim.
I was so numb from the cold that I lost feeling in my hands and feet, but survived the cold swim and exited the water in 52nd position.
It was then off to the transition and onto the bike for the cycle leg of the race which was 40km over a flat and fast course.
The cycle was a non-drafting race which means cyclists aren’t allowed to ride in the slipstream directly behind the cyclist in front of them.
The referees were up and down the course on their motorbikes, dishing out yellow cards to triathletes caught drafting.
They ended up in the penalty tent. After a quick but cautious ride I was in 58th position, and it was then into transition and then onto what I do best, the running leg.
The run was along the famous Duba River, and after about 3km we had crossed the bridge a couple of times and I was passing a few women in my age group.
I then headed into the final loop of the run leg and, after crossing the bridge three times, the finish was in sight.
What an awesome feeling it was to cross the finishing line in 51st position and a new personal best of 2 hours 27 minutes for the Olympic distance triathlon!
What a phenomenal feeling it was to be part of the SA team to attend such a major event, knowing all things were possible that day with faith, hope and a positive attitude.
All shapes and sizes finished the world champs with victory, wearing their medals with pride around there necks. Still very dazed about my achievement I went back to the hotel to let everyone know about my race results.
The rest of the afternoon I just gave praise in every way, knowing I achieved the difficult ask of coming back after an ankle fracture, to eight weeks of getting fit and to finally finish with my medal around my neck.
I can say with pride that anything is achievable if you put your mind to it. Monday morning arrived and we were taken to the airport for our flight back to South Africa. What a trip, what a race, what an achievement.
