Troutbeck Zimbabwe ITU African Cup1

It’s been a few days since the race in Zimbabwe and I have wanted to get an update posted. Not surprisingly the internet in Africa is less than reliable.  It has been tough to get more than a few tweet updates out to the world. This post will have to be without all of the pictures, and hopefully in the next day or so I can add the remaining pictures and video I have.  Troutbeck was quite beautiful and the pictures are definitely worth a look. 

Pre Race Ride

Zimbabwe exceeded every expectation I had.  The race was one of the best organized events I have ever raced in the world, and the way the Zimbabwe Triathlon federation treated the elite athletes was second to none.  A special thanks goes out to Margot Littleford who we nicknamed “Mother.”   She took such great care of us including picking us up at the Harare airport 4 hours drive from the race site.

The race was located amongst farmland in the Nyanga, Zimbabwe a few kilometers from the Mozambique border.  The landscape was made up of productive farmland, and rolling green hills.  The altitude of the race site was 6800ft, making the air thin and race extra challenging. Trying to push yourself at max effort at that altitude burns the lungs and slows everyone down a few steps.

The swim course was in a beautiful dam steps outside the door to my hotel room, making logistics for the race extraordinarily convenient.  The bike and run courses were the most difficult I have ever seen in triathlon.  As if the altitude was not difficult enough, the bike course consisted of a 6 laps of a 6.6km course where we had to climb 3km straight up at 10% grade hill on cobblestones, descend, and repeat. The run course took us four laps up and down the same steep hill. Contrary to most every other ITU course there was not a single flat section on the entire day.

The start list was a bit smaller than usual but still contained world class talent from Africa including the top athletes from South Africa and Zimbabwe Olympian from Beijing 2008. The swim started off well and I found myself leading the swim through the halfway point. I was feeling better in the water than I have all year.

Pre Race Interview...Eileen Brady for Mayor...GO MOM!

The other swimmers in the front group train near this altitude most of the year so they were a little better acclimatized. I felt the effects of less oxygen on the second 750m lap and exited the swim 30 secs down from the leaders.  I think this week at the race in Pretoria, South Africa I stand a solid chance of exiting the water in the lead.

The bike course was tough with the altitude and climbing.  Despite all of that, I was able to ride rather strong. There were two of the best South Africans pushing the pace in the lead, and I settled in chasing the front and swapping leads with another South African athlete.  There were not the traditional large packs forming on this course due to the intensity of climbing, and the bike segment resembled more of an individual time trial effort.  Fellow USA athlete Sean Jefferson was having a great ride until he had a flat tire on the last lap.  I passed him and entered transition two in 5^th place.

I did not have too much expectation for myself on the run since I have been nursing an Achilles injury for the past 6 weeks and have done little to no run training the past month.  I tried to push the run on the hills, but the altitude and lack of run fitness caught up with me a bit.  I ended up fading to 7^thplace overall.  Still good enough for my highest

The fan support was amazing...Kids wanting autographs #loveit

finish since racing the ITU professionally!

The overall experience in Zimbabwe was fantastic.  As with every race this early in my career I learned from my successes and my failures.  I am excited to be racing one last time this weekend in South Africa.  We are still at altitude, but a bit lower (5200ft). Since I have now been at this altitude for 10 days hopefully my body is more adjusted.   I am still feeling great in the water, and I’m making it my number one goal for this race to exit the water with the front group.  From there I think the bike course suits my strengths, and then push as hard as I can for the last 10km run of the season!

Thanks to everyone who is following along. I will for sure update this post with more pics and video when I can.

PS I want to give a big shout out to Omar Nour (Egypt) and Sean Jefferson (USA), who have become my travel companions on this journey.  We’ve kept each other laughing through all the ups and downs of Saga Africa.

Omar and I post race