Cape Town Head Down

Cape Town is experiencing a beautiful summer and I am lucky enough to be right here in the midst of it. But whilst the holiday makers take to the beaches and restaurants along the strip, my days are full with session after session – but for this year at least I wouldn’t have it any other way and heh! it's sunny!

My coach did his PHD in Cape Town and knows the place well. So when I told him of my plan for an endless summer in 2010 with two months scheduled here for “training” he gave me a Matrix type dilemma. He said that I could take one pill that would give me great times and experiences or I could take another which would involve properly getting my head down and training like a wannabe pro athlete. At the time I kind of took that initial conversation lightly; I had trained hard before, I knew what it was like. So I took that second pill. I now realize that I had absolutely no idea of just what training really was.

International party boy. Peter Andre looky likey. Former has been looking forward to his whole future behind him. These are just some of the phrases used to describe my host Simon Turner. Experiencing an endless life of leisure with a realtime facebook feed this newly appointed Grolsch ambassador is based out of a beautiful Camps Bay beachfront property. To the left of the balcony one sees the “Twelve Apostles” and to the right the strip, the sandy beach and the Atlantic… it’s a dream set up and Simon is an excellent host and good friend – letting me do my own thing, promoting my training, yet always knowing when the time is right to be a little (or a lot) social.

I came to Cape Town back in 2000 and don’t remember things being quite like this. Some good news is that there is certainly increased integration between black and white but Camps Bay itself represents an uber wealth rarely seen outside of Mayfair or Beverley Hills.  Go around or outside the city and the situation changes; amidst the beauty are ramshackle settlements in inaccessible spots, black people looking for lifts and to me a sense of general poverty. Despite the training being tough, there are definitely some confused emotions with what is going on around.

Cape Town itself is a fantastically picturesque city. For those not in the know it is dominated by the 1.000m Table Mountain, a flat topped beauty that heralds the end of a continent. To its East Lions Head and North the Twelve Apostles, all majestic pieces of rock that tower over great seascapes and change colour throughout the day.

Down in the city bowl you see much newness, big tower blocks, a waterfront shopping centre and the new world cup stadium at Greenpoint dominating affairs. For me it is just outside of the centre where the interest lies. The Dutch connection results not only in eye pleasing “Cape Dutch” architecture but also manifests in a general design sense. Taking a coffee a smoothie or a beer can be achieved with a consummate style akin to being in one of Amsterdam’s more fashionable districts.

So back to that training pill I took… Neo style. I have spoken previously on this blog of this year being a kind of job albeit a bit of a dream one. What has ensued in South Africa has been a training regime which with the wrong outlook could turn that dream into a nightmare! It turned out that the level in Spain was merely an hors d’oeuvre for what now must be the main course (or at least I hope it is!). It reminds me of when I first started real work back in 1997 and found myself hitting the bar every night and the nightclubs all weekend long – it is one hell of a wake up call – though this time my inebriation level needs to be tempered. 

I am thinner yet with proper tone, I am mentally tired, I am eating toast and honey by the loafload and I have even downsized the size of my saddle to fit my even bonier behind. But the best bit is that I have found my focus and I am loving it. I never quite realized that the pros trained like this and to be honest it feels like I have never really been fit before.

The surroundings certainly help representing a “no excuses “ situation. 80 degrees day in day out, backdrops such as Cape Point, Chapman’s Peak for the cycling, table mountain for trail runs and even the swimming pool is cool, cheap outdoor, 50metres long and local.

So what’s so tough? Lets have a look at the menu for a tougher week:

Monday:

10 mile run

Tuesday:

35 Mile Bike Ride

Ride to swimming pool, 80 lengths of Olympic size pool

25 Mile bike ride with intervals*

Wednesday:

Ride to swimming Pool, 100 lengths of Olympic swimming pool (maybe do this in two visits to alleviate quitting and boredom!)

10 mile run

5 mile evening off road “fun” run on sand

Thursday:

25 Mile bike ride with intervals

Ride to swimming pool; 50-60 lengths of Olympic size swimming pool

3 Hour mountain bike ride for fun with Simon on the excellent Tokai trails.

Friday:

3 hours of Brick: a relentless interchange between bike and run

Saturday:

Easy swim before a day out horse racing and drinking (Get in!)

Sunday:

110-120 mile bike ride followed immediately by a 4 mile run.

*for non bikers intervals are a dizzying session of intensity where you want to laugh, cry, shout out for joy or stop and drink beer until closing

Get the picture! It is worth noting I keep going little short on the swims as it is tedium in the extreme!

… and so with all this preparation the racing now approaches. The first test a run; The Cape Summer Trail Championships on Wednesday 10th February and then on the 20^th February the baptism of fire: The South African XTerra Championship and first round of the 2010 World Tour. It is my first ever triathlon.. and I am in with pros and in the off season… cripes.

So What is Xterra?

Xterra is the name given to off-road triathlon. Around for about 15 years the  discipline involves a sea or lake swim of 1,500meters, followed by a mountain bike ride of  around 30km and then a 12km off road trail run, often finishing on a sandy beach.

There is a reasonably lucrative World, US and European Tour reaching destinations as far flung as Guam in Micronesia, South Africa and of course the Alps. The culmination of the season and indeed my season is the World Championships in Hawaii. I love being out there and under my own steam so I can’t wait.

The races are televised online at Xterra.tv and also live on ESPN.

 

The South African Championships is taking place at Grabouw near Cape Town. Last year it was won by the German Felix Schumann and I am sure I have seen him pounding the roads here in his German National strip. I have to be realistic though and use this very early season race as a pointer – I am new to this and the South African’s are in the middle of their summer so will be at the top of their game. 

The Big Dog of the World scene is South African Conrad Stoltz. Known as “The Caveman” Stoltz switched from road triathlon after narrowly missing out on winning the Athens Olympic Triathlon; he has been XTerra World Champion 3 Times. You can see just how buff he is in the picture below. In addition you have Dan Hugo here in South Africa. Based out of Stellenbosch and Bend, Oregon this behemoth has a heart rate range of 33-202 and is currently training with World Mountain Bike Champion, Nino Schurter… his “vices” include smoothies… oh sh*t!

For me the level of competition definitely represents a step up. So can a skinny 34 year old mix it up? Well my swimming is going to be my weak event as I have only been at it for a few months! However I hope to get the 1,500m down to about 22 minutes or maybe quicker? This will leave me a few minutes behind. Cycling over distance has always been my forte and this event is much shorter… but I have quickly realized with the advent of proper coaching that I have never sensibly trained as a cyclist before. As such I reckon I’ll almost hold my own here. And then onto the run – with a 10km time likely to get very close or perhaps as an outside chance even below the 30-minute mark this year I reckon this could be my trump card…. The question is will I be able to string it together? I’ll get an indication very soon.

Right some books, music and shouts:

Finally read the Lance Armstrong book: good! The Glass Room from Will almost an epic, just needed another 200 pages. Music has been back to beats because training is here: Crystal Method, Orbital, Acid Girls, Kosheen and other party flavours.

Shouts: Jon for putting me up in Brighton, Simon for Cape Town, Rory for being the best sponsor and also a good mate and mostly my Dad for climbing mountains.