On the ferry leaving Lahaina (Maui) for the island of Lanai

After the crazyness and a whole seasons’ build up to XTERRA Worlds on Maui, we were looking forward to a low stress travel & racing experience at TriLanai. We had such an amazing experience at the race (Liezel’s 1st triathlon!) and on the island- read the last years blog here.

TriLanai is about charity:

This year $20 000 was raised from the TriLanai off road triathlon!

10% of the island’s population voluteer at the race. A large part of them from the islands only school- Lanai High and Elementary.

All proceeds from the race goes to local charities, incl buying the sporting equipment and sending the school kids to other islands for sport meets.

Lanai PONO Softball team: “Thanks for the $1,160 to Lanai PONO Softball 12u for ferry tickets to play games on Maui thanks to TriLanai sponsors, athletes, and volunteers!”

The Kamalii softball team looking good!

Lanai High and Elementary school art.

School sport and getting kids active from an early age is close to our hearts, so Liezel and I did a motivational talk at the high school.

“Follow your passion, dream big, be active and healthy for life by enjoing sport.”

Todd Winston (in black shirt) is taking over organization from Chris Levvorn- whos done an amazing job growing the event till now.

Race morning, fresh off the ferry, I saw were my friends from XTERRA Italy- they heard about the race the day before and quickly took the ferry race morning. Forza Italia!

Familiar faces in volunteer shirts. Mahalo!

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XTERRA Worlds 2013 swim start. Nils Nilsen pic.

I came into Worlds really well prepared, hungry for my 5th XTERRA World title. I had 6 weeks’ of good training at altitude in Boulder and 4 weeks of good prep at sea level in Kona and Maui.  I poured everything I had into this race. Even lost a few kilos.

4 days before the race I turned 40 and Princess Hotstuff (and our homestay) spoiled me- as much as you can get spoilt before a big race. (ie no big party)

Hoka One One also spoilt me- they sent the new Rapa Nui trail shoe all the way from France. I was so excited when they arrived. By far he best trail shoe I’ve ever worn.

Hooking my Specialized TERRA shoes (already clipped in pedals) onto the suspension’s Brain adjuster with a piece of elastic- the elastic keeps the shoe horisontal (to get feet in easily) and once your foot is in the shoe and you start pedalling, the elastic breaks and falls off. Not very environmentally friendly, I know, but time is money…

The bike is really pretty- when you stopped and got off  for a look. The view was scenic too…

The swim went well, I lost only 30 or 40 seconds to the front group. Once on the bike you start climbing right away. With over 1000m of vertical gain over slow surfaces, uninspiring “down hills” and high heat and humidity, I had my hands full trying to stay cool, go fast and make time on athletes 20kg lighter than me. Ex pro MTB racer Ruben Ruzafa had a monster ride – sat in my draft on the long downhill before aid station 2, and took off up the following climb – building a 2 minute lead by the end of the bike.

My new 2014 Specialized Sworks Epic World Cup 29er  features in my previous blog post – check it out there.

“Wet Pedal” Sweat Rate Indicator. Over race weekend the Trade winds died down and the Kapalua coast got even hotter and more humid than usual. Even on a medium effort ride I sweated straight through my shoes and onto my pedals. The heat became a major factor on race day and quite a number of athletes stumbled and crumpled across the finish line.

I’m taking a leaf out of the Hawaiian Voyaging canoe (the Hōkūalaka’i) building crew’s fridge door notes, and wont say much about the course…

Instead a newspaper qoute by womens winner Nicky Samuels:

At least she had 2 weeks’ mountain biking more than last years winner Javier Gomez.

To me the run was not so much against my competitors (Josiah Middaugh and Asa Shaw behind) and it wasnt so much about running at anaerobic threshold, but more a battle against overheating. Out of T1 the slow 20 minute climb through tall grass (blocks any breeze) was like driving a car with no radiator. Push just a little too hard and blow a gasket.

Jesse Peters pic

Underwhelmed with 6th place. My dream is to win 5 World titles on Maui. Back in SA with my coach Ian Rodger we will analize, regroup and refocus on what it will take to win on this course next year.

A huge thanks to the most avid Sherpa/supporter/split giver on the World!

Also a big thanks to Specialized Racing mechanics Dylan and Eric for a fast, clean bike, and also videographer JB for making me look “pro”.

We didnt start thinking about our Halloween costumes till after the race- I grabbed some garden sissors and snipped like crazy in our home stays lush tropical garden. I had to chase the geckos out of our new costumes before heading down for awards dinner. We built the costume in the parking lot with boxing tape and borrowed hair, a flamingo and a parrot from out home stay. We didnt have a “theme”, but when we walked through the lobby (scraping the chandeliers) and the first person we saw said “Tropics!”