XTerra South Africa - RACEDAY

Short Racereport of one of my favourite XTerra's - XTerra South Africa (1,5km swim, 27km bike, 12,5km run).

I was really looking forward to the race. Because of the soft winter in Austria, my training went very well and I felt very strong for this time of the year. One week before at the Silvermine Trailrun, I could confirm my good shape at the moment and the win gave me a lot of self-confidence.
But on raceday, I didn't find the race mode :-(

My normal race routine before a race looks like this:

• About 3 hours before the start breakfast (normally bread with honey, prorridge  and coffee)

• About 2 hours before the start beeing at the race venue

• About 1.5 hours before the start preparing my transision are
• About 45 before the start warm up (running and if possible some strokes in the water)

 However this time my race routine was not as usual:

First of all I woke up with no electricity. It was hard to find everything and get ready with just the light from the mobile phone… also the breakfast was a bit different no coffee, no warm porridge,…
But I could manage everything and was still positive for the race....

When we arrived at the race venue we had to park far away from the start, which was a bit strange for us. After cycling to the start area we noticed that the start of the race is in 10 min. (We tought the start is at 9:00, but it was at 8:00 o’clock). So I just put my bike and running stuff into the transition area and ran to the swim start. Luckily they started 5 minutes later and I could start with the other professional women.

After the chaotic and hectic morning, unfortunately my day didn’t get better. I started a bit to fast into the race and after about 500m my arms felt like stones. After a bad swim, I really looked forward to the amazing bike and running course.

But also on my favourite disciplines I struggled on this day. On the bike it was really hard to take over the faster swimers on the trails and especially on the uphills I couldn’t push like I could :-(.

However after taking some extra meters on the run, because I missed a marker, I ended up at the 6th place. I was a bit disappointed… I felt very good and I really love the course. But this day, was simply not my day. Nevertheless it was a great weekend and I am sure the next race will be better :-).

For more impressions of the XTerra you can watch the video from XTerra South Africa.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQgBFv0m98o&feature=youtu.be

 

 

 

XTerra South Africa - Red Couch Interview

XTerra South Africa, the biggest XTerra in the world with about 3500 athletes, is my first XTerra this year. Not just the start field is massive, also the organization is very professional and the race course is one of my favourite courses with amazing trails.

Very special is also the red couch interview, where athletes talk about their expectations for the race, their shape, training, how they like the course, ...

Below you will find part one of the interviews (between 1:20 und 1:50 minutes you can listen to my interview :-)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6FLimKlB_8&feature=youtu.be

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Check out the racevideo from Silvermine Trailrun XL :-)

what a run - perfect start into my season at the silvermine Trailrun

Time flies und I am almost here in Stellenbosch for more than a week enjoying the amazing trails! Because of the very soft winter in Austria I did a lot of trailrunning at home with my Salomon college Markus and I am feeling quite fit even the season is very young.

I heard of the Silvermine Mountain XL Trailrun (32km/1500hm), which is part of the south african trailrunning series and decided to start my season with it.

Because of the heat, all the runs here in South Africa start quite early (6 o'clock).

Departure at 3:30 was quite early ;-)

I started really relaxed, calm and with a beautiful sunrise into the race.

The first 10km I ran together with Megan Mackenzie (Southafrican trailrunning Champion 2015) -  thx Meg for making a really good pace :-)! Then I took the lead and could hold it clearly until the finish line.

I enjoyed the race so much - I just love south africa and the awesometrails. It is also a great confirmation of my training and training system (www.vitalmonitor.com) !

Congrats to my lovely Salomon Running teammate Meg Mackenzie (Southafrican Trailrunning Champion 2015) for the 2nd Place and showing us some goods spots and a delicious cake shop after the race.

Results of the Race: here

Special thanks to Dominik Wychera for the pics and support during the race!

Good morning coffee ride with Hannah Barnes

Today I followed the invitation from Hannah Barnes to a early morning bike ride. At 6:00 am we startet a group ride at the Stellenbosch Specialized bike shop. Many riders were there and this colorful group rode some cool trails for round about 90 minutes.
After this was playing and coffee time- girls just wanna have fun! Thank you Hannah Barnes for this great Idea! It was a big pleasure and honor for me to spend some time with one of the coolest bike girls on trail! I wish you a successful season at the Enduro races and I hope our trails crosses each other many times again!

(C) Hannah Barnes

Surfing the trail paradise

The Trails here in Western Cape are incredible. Super flowy, super triky and really neverending. Its so much fun to ride on this dusty ground many fast lines. This good feeling is enhanced by my new Bike. Its the brand new weapon from the Austrian brand Nakita Bikes. The Nakita Stinger C is a very light 29er with a superb geometry and 100mm of suspension travel in front and rear. It climbs like a hardtail and in the downhills it is a real beast! But it is so much peacefull and stable. I had from the first meters a great confidence in this bike. Therefore i love this bike!

Check out this small video from one of my rides

click here for full size

Trailrunning tour and the neverending story

After a few really hard weeks at the university and some important exams I live here the contrast in South Africa. 

The training sessions are also really hard, but its so much fun to do this like a professional athlete. In the last days i made a swim session and some rides on the mountainbike. The trails are really neverending!  

The highlight was a Trailrunning Tour in the Jonkershoeg nature reserve. Incredible trails, stunning views and majestic Mountains made the tour to an unforgettable experience. Check it out in this video. 

Click here for full size

But now my focus is directed to my first race here in South Africa. The Silvermine Mountain XL Trailrun. More information about the race: here