Memory Lane

I'd like to talk about my history in this sport. Pedigree gives some idea of what one is capable of doing, and when you see what you have done, you begin to dream again...

It is hard to nail down my best race. There are a few races that I did really well in, and races that just felt awesome. There are 3 races that come to mind when I think of my best races. Two follow disappointments.

One of my best races was near Somerset West. I think I did a 2:07, and I remember it being incredibly windy. I was ahead of guys like John de Bruyn (although he probably passed me in the last 2 0r 3 kilometres, and not far behind the guys like Trevor 'The Beast' Seinen (running with a pacemaker inside his chest) and Glen Gore. I remember 'The Beast' was riding Mavic trispokes that day, and I was using my Zipp. I still asked him whether he thought trispokes were a good idea in the wind, and he said, "Yes, if you're strong enough, they always are." I've changed a bit, with regard to my predisposition towards Trispokes. I just feel they are too heavy, and they are wrong for most courses. The wheels I have now will whip trispokes just about anywhere. More on that later...

Although I didn't feel fresh for this Olympic Race, I had precious little sleep after having filter coffee at midnight, no matter how hard I went, I felt I still had a lot more in the tank. I quite easily pulled off a 37 minute 10km run. I remember feeling very strong in the race, even though the morning of the race I felt terrible. My friend Alex was there to see me cross the finish line. He also felt I had raced really well. The run to the finish line was a classic. "And the next guy is Nick van der Leek finishing really well..." I gave a little wave and then vomitted. That was at a stage where I was taking carbo-fuels and I went through a few races where I brought up this stuff almost every time, usually at the finish line. That race in the Western Cape followed a poor show in a half standard race only a week earlier. It is great to feel that no matter how hard you go, you can still go harder.

Another good race was in Korea, in Tongyoung this year - a race I won in 2:19. 2:19 is quite slow, even if the cycle was hilly, the swim long and the overall course very hot. Even so, my time was the fastest of all the age groupers. I think it was a good race because I had a very strong grip of the race mentally, and I ran the race totally within myself. I won the race based on the fact that the swim was really a lot longer than 1.5km (probably 1.7km), and my transitions were very very quick. The guy who came 2nd was a minute behind me, and he ran a 40 minute 10km and I ran 4 minutes slower.
Although my run time is not anything to write home about, I had my eye on the guy who eventually came second (we ran 4 circuits, so I could see how much he had to do vis a vis what I had to do), and since I had a big cushion, I let him work hard to get closer to me, and if he reached me, then I would push myself harder, or into the red if necessary and be able to hold it.

I did that in Upington years ago and held off a charge by Wiehan van der Westhuizen (although the final results say I didn't). I did pick up the pace to some extent, towards the end. It was an extremely hot day, and I ran into the shute and shook my fist in the air. My heartrate average was 160, which is perfect. It's exactly where I would want it. That's a very comfortable win. I didn't know whether I had won - the race was configured over the previous day's ITU race - so we did so many laps that everyone got mixed up and mixed together. So when I crossed the line, I felt I had done the perfect race for me, and the fact that I won, without any pressure, was awesome.
I put a lot into preparation for this race. Food, researching the course, and having a strategy all worked out brilliantly. I was the first or second person that day setting my bike up in the transition area, and I wamred up in the swim before anyone else. I was impatient to start the race. That's how ready I was. I felt like the whole race I was going hard, but within myself. The cycle was good but I felt like I could have gone a minute or 2 faster if I really wanted to, the same with the run and swim. This was a race that just stands out for excellent planning and execution.

The third race was in Plettenberg Bay. I was in awesome shape for this race, and very hardcore. I remember I was even using some kind of muscle building substance (legal) which boosts the raw energy fuel (creatine) in your muscles. I can't even remember the name. That just gives you an idea that I was really committed. I went to this race with Leslie, and we slept in a tent overlooking the Keurbooms lagoon.
The race swim and cycle felt hard, but not comfortable. In the run I just found myself catching everyone, and soon there was almost no one left to catch. That was an amazing experience - to reel in guys from the front. I crossed the finish and found Leslie there cheering, with another friend of mine, Garth. I was really happy with my race, but I didn't even know where I'd finished. They both told me I was third overall. But when they had the prize giving they gave third place to someone else. I couldn't believe it. I checked the results when they were posted to me and the numbers didn't add up. I wanted to talk to the third place guy after the race but I couldn't find him anywhere. I wanted to ask him if he was ahead or behind me, and ask him for his time. That spoilt it a bit.
I remember there was a beautiful sunset that day, and a small rainbow rising over the mountains. It was enough for me to know I'd raced well. And I was in love so this sort of thing wasn't going to bother me that much.
But I still do sometimes ask Leslie, "Are you sure I was third? Didn't you make a mistake?" And she'll always say, "No, you were definitely the third guy in."

My toughest race was probably the Durban Ultra. The swim was hard because my goggles leaked, and I had to empty them about 30 times. The cycle was hard because I went out very hard and just would not let up, for hours and hours, even though the course proved to be very hilly (I was told it was undulating), and the run - well the run was so hard I stopped every 2km and drank something. I lost about 30 minutes just in terms of standing at fuel stations. But I still finished under 7 hours, so it is one of my best races too.

My best performance ever, I feel, was in Richard's Bay, at South African Champs. This may have been in my second year in the sport - possibly 1992 or 1993. Raynard Tissink was there. I got a ride up with Tim Ziehl (through the night) and unsually, had a cup of coffee just before the race. I had a brilliant swim, and entered and transition area off the bike first - in front of Francois Vorster and his brother. 5 or 6 guys passed me on the run, but I managed a reasonable 37 minutes for the run, and did my best ever time for the Olmpuc, 2:00. I would love to go under that. I rode back with Franna and talked about my run..."Can I run faster than 37 minutes over 10km?"

I think I came 3rd or 4th in my first race ever, at Loch Logan in Bloemfontein, and I had a good race a few events later when I came 2nd to John de Bruyn, with Anton van Zyl and Tim Ziehl chewing at my heels right at the finish line. Those events were local, and lekker, but races in Bloemfontein in those days did not draw the big fish. I did enjoy them, and it gave me a sense, sometimes, of celebrity.

In the last 5 years I have done very few races, but this year I have done about 6, a few more than last year. I would like to see how far I can go, and it certainly makes the process of being in Korea more interesting. It adds another dimension to working here. It creates passion and excitement alongside ordinary working and living, and this brings balance and joy to living, which is important.

Wherever I am next year - whether it is South Africa or South Korea, I hope to improve upon the performances I've already had. I'd like to do more and more races. I have really good equipment now, and the resources to train and travel where I need to be. I'd like to have planned and prepared for races like Phuket next year. I'd like that to fit in with what I am doing, and my budget.

Ironman is an area of triathlon that I have less experience, but this year I have prepared a lot harder, and a lot better than last year. Just completing the 2005 Ironman in South Africa will be an achievement for me. But since it is a third attempt, I'd like to produce something special on March 20. I would like to go under 10 hours in the first Ironman I finish.