So it’s been a little longer than usual. I’ve just hit the refresh button and taking a while to boot up again. I just felt it was time to clear the mind and the body of everything competitive, everything training and everything triathlon. So I’ve really been surfing and reassessing my life as an athlete. I have still not come to a conclusion just yet, but let’s not get too carried away. I know how you lot can start/spread rumours. (Laughs… laugh with me).

Now I don’t usually post much personal stuff but today I’ll mix it up a little for you.

It’s been a busy season and I have made some serious progress. My running is finally where I need it to be and although it could be better I know that I can be competitive on the run now. This did take time with a lot of focus on my running form and some help from Saucony getting me into the right shoes. Finding a mid-foot strike, increasing my strike rate, reducing contact time and lifting my knees higher were all part of how I set out to get running faster.

On a competitive note, most recently I competed in the Cape Town leg of the BSG Energade Triathlon Series held at Brandvlei in Worcester. I raced in the elite category and realised that racing elite is another ball game altogether. The gap between the slowest elite and fastest age group racer is quite significant. Having said that however, I do personally feel that that gap is 80% experience. With more racing and perhaps more opportunity, there are several age group athletes that could make the jump. Unfortunately, being a sport that does not involve a ball, there is not much support or opportunity. It would be good to see a mentorship programme established. I have no idea what that involves though so it may just be wishful thinking.

Finishing the run at BSG Energade - Image: Chris Hitchcock

As far as my race at Brandvlei went, I lost the pack from the start. My swim splits would suggest that I can exit the water with the big guns, but I guess that swimming alone or with 2 or 3 other guys at the front of an age group race is not ideal preparation for setting off at the frantic pace set by the elite athletes. Unusually for me, the run was the best part of my race and although I did have the second slowest run split, I was only a few seconds (less than 10) off the pace of a seasoned elite triathlete, which was fairly comforting.

As for now, I have only been doing pilates, surfing and some gardening. I do plan on setting things back in motion soon but there is no date or any specific intensity level set. Right now, I find it fairly comforting to know that things will happen as they need to.

See you all soon, if not before Christmas, please enjoy and be safe.

The new TYR Hurricane Freak of Nature. 100% 40 cell Yamamoto rubber.

“An incredibly innovative and forward looking design. No other wetsuit in the world has that.” – Chrissie Wellington

To read more please click here.

Limits will fall.

Sort of newlywed, Brendan Lowen is leaving this weekend for the ITU World Long Distance Champs in Henderson, Nevada in the United States of America. The event is hosted by Lowery’s Multisport. You can also keep an eye on them on Facebook.

Involving a 4km swim, 120km bike and a 30km run; Brendan talks to me about his preparation, equipment, motivation and the people involved in making all this possible.

Hey Bren, let’s start off with “How are you?”

I am in a good space, recently married as you mentioned, to a lovely girl! Looking forward to the new season as well…

Talk us through your equipment and any tweaks you have made and where to give you added comfort and more importantly, speed.

In the water, I am currently using an Orca Apex 2 wetsuit, probably due for an upgrade soon, but it keeps me honest (and hopefully like an arrow through the water).

On the bike, I ride an Argon 18 E112 TT bike, what I enjoy most is the transfer of power into the frame which is in proportion to the output of speed…In other words, I don’t lose any power that I put into the bike due to the bike being too flexible, etc. It’s very stiff which promotes added speed.

On the run, I am fortunate as you enjoy yourself, with racing in Saucony’s lightweight personified… I use the A4’s for sprint and standard distance races whilst opting for the Kinvara’s for the longer runs and training.

As far as comfort is concerned, ensure that you have had a professional bike set-up, to avoid injuries down the line. I have had niggles with calf strains in both legs so I know how frustrating these type of persistent injuries can be.

Now every season any competitive triathlete tries to improve a specific area or discipline of their race. What area or discipline have you worked on the most leading into this race?

Definitely my swim! You are quite right, the last two seasons I have concentrated on my run and bike respectively… This year I thought I would try and work a lot more on my swim so as to be a little more competitive, especially at the start of a race.

Congrats on the marriage by the way. Surely balancing the married life with triathlon isn’t easy but I know Carole is no slouch herself around a triathlon circuit. Just talk a little about the wedding, training and the “new’ life in general.

Thanks! Ja, the more I look back on things I realise how important balance becomes in your life. It’s easy to get too absorbed into something, especially a phase that works well for you, without knowing that suddenly you have blinkers on and become oblivious to things happening around you – this can lead to being self-absorbed and a bit selfish.

So I am enjoying the balance and in Carole, I have a constant reminder of that. She is really talented herself, probably more so than me with ultra distances where I tend to prefer sprint and standard distance.

The wedding was a great day – friends and family from all over! We laugh at times looking back on the day, wishing we could have spent more time in the moment, but it passes by so quickly.

Is Carole going with you?

Unfortunately not. She will be holding the fort back at home so to speak. The cost of getting to such races is probably the biggest burden we have to deal with as athletes, even over and above the training required. So after having recently bought a house and having just had a wedding, the budget did not allow for both of us to travel.

Give us a little insight into the race course. Is it your kind of course?

Honestly, it is probably not my kind of course in distance, although it is cleverly positioned between a 70,3 distance and a full ironman. If I break the course up, I reckon I will be competitive on the day, however Las Vegas is notorious for its heat and that could squash any ambitions of good positioning if the thermometer goes through the roof!

The swim is pretty straight forward (out and back), whilst the bike ends with some serious climbing over a pass called the “3 sisters” and the run is 4 laps with some rolling hills which should help break up the monotony.

Having said that, I realised that this race and the training involved for it would give me a great platform for the rest of the season and hope that results that follow this race will be indicative of that…

Are you staying on afterwards and doing a little sightseeing; perhaps a little visit to Vegas baby? You can give the world your version of “The Hangover”.

A little sight-seeing would be great, so fingers crossed time will allow for that. I think my version of The Hangover will be the condition I will be in straight after the race -  knackered, slow to react, possibly dehydrated and not making much sense… I see the similarities!

 So the USA isn’t all that close and getting there isn’t all that cheap. Who helped you out, who is looking after you?

I am very grateful to my company (Everite) who have shared in my passion and desire to be competitive not only in the workplace but also out of the office. I have also forged a great relationship with Cipla & PVM, ensuring I am fit and strong as well as healthy in mind and body. Saucony, Glider Eyewear & more recently 2XU have been fantastic from a product perspective and without their assistance, my scope to think and achieve big would be that much smaller.

You’ve also got a blog. Where can we find it online?

Yeah, I have a blog, simply called Tri-Bren. It’s essentially a link between beginners and seasoned multi-sport athletes. Of late I have been a little slack, possibly from winter hibernation, but it will be far more active as the season progresses.

http://www.tri-bren.blogspot.com

Any final comments? Words of inspiration perhaps?

I am a strong advocate for the word “performance”. Whatever you may be involved with, ensure that your performance is one you can look fondly back at!

Thanks for your time Bren. Best of luck. Fly the Saffa flag loud and proud.

The 25^th Clanwilliam Fitness Festival has come and gone and Grant (Fatty) Fillmore is now 30. It was slightly cooler than past years but the racing was as hot ever. A cool breeze kept the mornings on the chilly side, warming up slightly as the day went on, but the clouds were really making a huge effort at keeping the sunshine at bay. The water temperature was also 2 to a few degrees colder.

As always, the days racing kicked off with the long swims. I participated in the 1.5km swim finishing as the 2^nd open male. Phil Emslie claimed the 3km swim by miles, dry and dozing as second place crossed the line.

The duathlon was won by Dawid Visser and the biathlon by Rohan Kennedy.

As for the triathlon, the Horners rocked up Saturday morning, adding another 2 trophies to the Horner cabinet with a win for both Kent and Clare.

I had a good swim entering T1 behind Kent Horner and Phil Emslie. It wasn’t long before I was in second place and, like Kent, riding on my own. With 3km to go I was caught by Marsel Roos, Tristan Kelly and Gareth Harrington. Into T2 and Gareth got a slight lead. My transition was lighting and I left T2 with Gareth. A stitch for the first 600m made life very uncomfortable and both Marsel and Tristan came past. Once the stitch subsided I was running like have never run before. For the first time ever in a race I was in my happy place in running shoes. Unusual but it’s something that I have been working on. All smiles running at about 3:20/km for the last 2.5km.

I crossed line in 5^th place, one up on last year’s position and a full 5min faster.

For a full RESULTS list please click here.

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When people ask me what the name of my blog is and I tell them “Once Inspired”, they usually comment and say something along the lines of “Only once but never again?” What they clearly don’t realize is that Once Inspired is actually a “complete this sentence” phrase.

Racing at world champs was an unparalleled experience. Beijing is a beautiful (and massive) place. The race venue was the same as the 2008 Olympic Games. The privilege of running down the blue mat and finishing under the Dextro Energy Triathlon, ITU World Championship, Beijing banner was probably the pinnacle moment.

On the Finish Line

The build up was just as epic. Once I got onto the plane it started to sink in. I have always wanted to represent my country in one way or another and here I was, off to Beijing to race at the world triathlon championships representing South Africa.

We stayed at the Sinopec Conference Centre which was certainly the best and closest accommodation to the race venue. Javier Gomes, the Brownlees, Helen Jenkins and David Haus are but a few of the many professionals that were rolling around at Sinopec, as it was referred to. (Sinpoec by the way is China’s version of Sasol)

Sinopec Conference Centre

A short walk around the corner and up the hill, behold, the Ming Tomb Reservoir, race venue to the 2500 participants. The ITU’s infamous blue mat stretched along the reservoir wall, and the entire length of the swim course. Lined with grand stands, TV screens and sponsors branding, this is what a world championship event is all about.

Ming Tomb Reservoir

The opening ceremony was also a wicked affair. A long walk through the streets of Beijing, the teams looked fit and funky in their kit. People packed the streets and were going mad. The army lined the barriers, the police played escort; I was looking for Kim Kardashian, Paris Hilton or David Beckham. This fuss and attention can surely not be for us?

The crowds

Upon our arrival at the Beijing Changping Stadium we were greeted by a Chinese rock band. That may sound more like a comedy show but these guys were pretty talented and sang a few tunes in English. To be honest, I was blown away by the level of organisation of this ceremony.

Opening Ceremony

The racing took place over 3 days commencing with the Under 23 men’s race followed by the paratriathlon. The paratriathletes were amazing to watch and getting to know them was even better. It’s astonishing what you can learn from these people. It would certainly appear that adversity builds character.

Ozwald Kydd, by the way, is one of South Africa’s World Champions, winning the “above the knee” amputees category.

The following day it was the Elite men’s turn and I was rooting for fellow Saffa Richard Murray. Missing the first pack, it was very cool to see Richard working on the bike with none other than the multiple Ironman World Champ, Macca (Chris McCormack), who he then dropped in the run and finished a very respectable 30^th overall.

The best part of the race however was at the front (Sorry Rich). Those Brownlee brothers are ridiculous. Leading from the gun and driving the entire race from the front Alistair Brownlee and Jonathan Brownlee are animals. In the end Alistair ran a sub 30 minute 10km to take an emphatic victory and the overall World Championship title.

There was some great racing to watch and I thoroughly enjoyed every second of my experience leading into the age group race.

The day arrived when it was time for the age groupers to check-in and rack. It was cold and rainy but no one was complaining. The vibe was great, and I racked my Ceepo Venom for the last time having sold it to a Brazilian.

The sky was clear, the wind had died and we had perfect conditions for racing. The Ming Tomb Reservoir was glassy and beautiful. You could sense that this was sacred land. There was something unique about the energy here; something ancient.

The course was long, as the times would suggest. The swim was certainly 100 – 200 metres longer. The bike was 1.6km longer as we were told by officials, and the run involved a small matter of a couple of hundred metres down the finish chute.

If someone were to ask me what the best part of my race was, I’d certainly say the bike course. Never in my life have I had so much fun riding a bicycle. It had everything, long straights, steep hills, twisty tight turns, long sweeping bends and even a little ramp for those brave enough, going fast enough.

I ended up achieving my goal and realizing a lifelong dream. The dream however is far from over. Once Inspired…

Ready to go for world triathlon champs in Beijing my preparation has been good. There are areas where I could have worked more, but being an age group racer with a full time job, it is difficult.

As lucky as I am to be in a position to be able to afford some of the best equipment and have more time than most, there is a very good reason why there is such a huge gap between the pros and the rest. Pros get time to train, time to rest and time to eat properly.  Not to mention being sponsored the majority of equipment required.

It would be great to be able to take full advantage of the good weather days, which are usually on a Monday (which some believe to be Murphy’s day since, on the 8^th day, God said: “Alright Murphy, you’re in charge.”)

I stayed fairly committed to the cause though, waking up at 5:30 most mornings to get 1 and half or so hours of training in and then training again in the afternoon roughly for around the same time. Weekends too saw me getting involved, usually on the bike and in the running shoes.

Just to break the monotony, surfing comes into the mix fairly often, just as it is going to later this morning. There aren’t any waves in China, so I’ll have to get a surf in today.

Just a couple of thank yous before I go:

Thanks to Saucony, TYR and Glider Eyewear for all the kit and equipment.

To my bosses, and “in laws” Jack and Beryl, for the understanding and extra time off.

To my parents for all their support (and money) over the 2 and a half decades

And finally, Lauren, my beautiful girlfriend; your support and commitment has been great and certainly appreciated.

I will certainly be giving it my all and having a real go. Look China, here come the Saffas.

To find out more about the world champs and to watch all events live  click here.

I will do my best to keep you updated via Twitter. So click here to see my Twitter account.

Below is the extended weather forecast from one of the best websites around; http://www.timeanddate.com. You can also see solar and lunar height, distance and angle.

	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun	Mon
	30 Aug	31 Aug	1 Sep	2 Sep	3 Sep	4 Sep	5 Sep
Weather:
Description:	Partly cloudy. Warm.	Tstorms late. A mixture of sun and clouds. Warm.	Showers early. Decreasing cloudiness. Mild.	Morning clouds. Warm.	Showers late. Afternoon clouds. Mild.	Heavy rain. Breaks of sun late. Cool.	Scattered showers. Mostly cloudy. Cool.
High temperature:	31 °C	33 °C	24 °C	30 °C	25 °C	21 °C	22 °C
Low temperature:	18 °C	20 °C	19 °C	15 °C	16 °C	19 °C	17 °C
Comfort level:	35 °C	38 °C	25 °C	30 °C	27 °C	22 °C	23 °C
Wind Speed:	9 km/h	3 km/h	17 km/h	7 km/h	10 km/h	9 km/h	10 km/h
Wind Direction:
Humidity:	60%	79%	65%	46%	77%	84%	85%
UV Index:	5 (Moderate)	3 (Moderate)	3 (Moderate)	5 (Moderate)	0 (Low)	0 (Low)	0 (Low)
Chance of Rain:	0%	37%	26%	0%	50%	100%	66%
Amount Rain:	-	2.8 mm	1.1 mm	-	3.5 mm	16.2 mm	6.7 mm
Sunrise:	05:40	05:41	05:42	05:42	05:43	05:44	05:45
Sunset:	18:50	18:49	18:47	18:46	18:44	18:42	18:41
	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun	Mon	Tue
	6 Sep	7 Sep	8 Sep	9 Sep	10 Sep	11 Sep	12 Sep	13 Sep
Weather:
Description:	Sunny. Cool.	High level clouds. Mild.	High level clouds. Mild.	High level clouds. Mild.	More sun than clouds. Mild.	More sun than clouds. Mild.	More sun than clouds. Mild.	Showers early. Mostly cloudy. Mild.
High temperature:	21 °C	23 °C	24 °C	24 °C	24 °C	23 °C	23 °C	24 °C
Low temperature:	14 °C	13 °C	14 °C	14 °C	14 °C	15 °C	17 °C	17 °C
Comfort level:	25 °C	25 °C	25 °C	25 °C	25 °C	25 °C	25 °C	25 °C
Wind Speed:	7 km/h	6 km/h	9 km/h	10 km/h	12 km/h	11 km/h	13 km/h	7 km/h
Wind Direction:
Humidity:	35%	35%	40%	42%	49%	54%	57%	57%
UV Index:	5 (Moderate)	5 (Moderate)	5 (Moderate)	5 (Moderate)	5 (Moderate)	5 (Moderate)	5 (Moderate)	3 (Moderate)
Chance of Rain:	10%	0%	0%	0%	0%	10%	15%	37%
Amount Rain:	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2.4 mm
Sunrise:	05:46	05:47	05:48	05:49	05:50	05:51	05:52	05:53
Sunset:	18:39	18:38	18:36	18:34	18:33	18:31	18:29

Xtenex (indeXed-TENsioning-nEXus) is a worldwide patented elastic lace technology that produces adjustable tensioning between shoe eyelets. Xtenex laces have an elastic core and a series of knots along the entire length of the lace at consistent length intervals. Stretch the lace and the knots disappear, allowing you to thread the lace through the eyelets. Release the tension and the knots reappear. More knots between eyelets lessens the tension; fewer knots between eyelets increases tension.

Currently, most laces are not able to provide variable tension as laces are tied by creating a knot at the top end of a shoe. The problem with this way of lacing is that all of the tension sits around the ankle area and that results in a restriction of blood flow and circulation. The problem is compounded by people creating a double knot so as to avoid their laces coming undone.

With Xtenex laces the shoe contours to the unique form of the foot by adjusting the tension between eyelets producing a custom fit every time. Once you have your perfect fit the laces will stay in place and your shoes slip on and off with ease. Xtenex laces eliminate the tightening and restricting pressure at the top of the shoe that leads to foot fatigue, pain, numbness and restriction of natural foot swelling. The Xtenex flexible core expands and every laced shoe becomes a comfortable slip-on.

One of the major problems that I experienced with many other elastic laces was the pressure they placed on the bridge of my foot. Since using Xtenex, I am able to reduce that pressure thanks to the fact that the clever technology allows for adjustable tension at any point along the lace. If you want the most comfortable fit from any shoe, I’d suggest fitting Xtenex to them.

After a horrid run at South African National Triathlon Champs I was lucky to make it into the SA team and represent my country in Beijing, China for the World Triathlon Championships. It has been a lifelong dream of mine to represent my country at an international event and now I have the opportunity of doing just that.

I had a great swim at SA champs, leading from the start and eventually exiting the water in first place with a lead of about 100m (That’ s certainly with thanks to my TYR Hurricane Category 5 wetsuit). The bike leg was good, although I wasn’t able to get comfortable. The run however is where it all fell apart. A strange pain in my back, which felt similar to the lower back pain experienced when you awaken at 4am with a bladder ready to burst. After seeing an Osteopath the diagnosis revealed that I had an extremely tight Quadratus Lumborum muscle (or QL) as a result of a bone which had shifted deep inside my pelvis (Apparently I fell as a kid, who’d have thought?). This affected my glutes which eventually resulted in a skew pelvis. Not ideal for running, but I did it anyway.

Quadratus Lumborum or QL

So in Beijing we will be racing on the Olympic course from the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. The water temperature expected will be in the region of 25 degrees, which means that we will have a non-wetsuit swim which is great for me since the swim is my strongest discipline. Realtvie humidity will be around 67 percent with an air temperature of around 24 degrees Celsius. The likely hood of rain is minimal, with a 2mm daily average rainfall in September. Mmmm, Sounds like perfect conditions if you ask me.

Click here to view the Course Map.

For more info you can visit the International Triathlon Union (ITU) World Championship, Beijing website.

Good luck to all athletes racing. The Saffas are coming.

Kicking is quite a debatable issue and sometimes a sore point amongst coaches and swimmers alike. Some swimmers simply cannot kick and trying to get a swimmer to kick as a coach is not often as easy as one may think. There are a number of reasons why some swimmers have a strong kick and why others simply don’t move when doing kicking drills.

In triathlon there is quite a debate regarding how necessary the kick really is. Many believe that using a kick simply as a means of balance and having a short fast arm stroke is the answer. Whilst this is true in some cases, this is not applicable to every athlete.

The amount of thrust generated by swimmers depends mostly on the range of motion of the foot. The greater the plantar flexion the greater thrust produced by the kick. Thrust or propulsion is generated when the legs are drawn back together as opposed to when they are separated. From the point of separation the foot at the surface is drawn down whilst the deeper foot is drawn up. Emphasis should be placed on the down kick.

Foot range of motion can be increased through stretching. For plantar flexion, stretch the foot and toes down and back, increasing the angle between top of the foot and front of the leg.

Now that we have spoken of the importance of the feet during kicking let’s talk about the knee.

Knee bend once again depends entirely on the individual. Ideally the less knee bend the better, however runners and cyclists traditionally have very poor plantar flexion and some knee bend is required in order to achieve the correct foot angel relative to the water.

I am willing to bet that many of you that have a poor kick have tried to kick with a straight leg and it made absolutely no difference. When you bend your knees you may even tend to move slightly faster but not nearly fast enough. The reason why the bend in the knee helps is because it corrects the angle of the foot relative to the water. By bending the knee the foot is more perpendicular to water thus creating more resistance and generating thrust. Ideally you want to kick with a straight leg which means that you require greater plantar flexion and stronger hip flexors. Here are some exercises and drills to get you moving.

Vertical Kicking

Go to the deep end of the pool. It should be deep enough to allow you to kick vertically without touching the bottom. Point your toes and keep your chin above the water. You should feel your quads and hips. You can use fins but ensure that you warm up properly first and do some plantar flexion stretches beforehand.

Push offs

Go underwater and push off the bottom in a streamline position. Try and keep you body out the water for as long as possible by kicking vertically. Do not use fins for this.

Use Fins
Fins help with ankle flexibility. However make sure that you aren’t using something too long. Something around the length of Zoomers are ideal. Just please don’t use your fins for the entire session. Dedicate some sets to using fins. A nice way to incorporate using fins and better your all round performance is to introduce butterfly drills to your warm up set using fins.

Sit on Your Feet
Sitting on your feet (kneeling) can greatly improve your ankle flexibility. The “Child’s Pose” is perfect.

Just Stretch
In a seated position point one leg out infront of you. Extend your feet and push your toes toward the ground. Hold for 20 seconds.

Use a smaller kick board

By using a smaller kick board you are forced to stabilize more. When is comes to the turn try doing a tumble turn whilst keeping both hands on the board. This isn’t easy, but practice makes perfect.

Kick on your back

Kicking on your back simply helps work some other muscles aiding stability.

So as you can see the kick is quite a serious issue. Kick differs from person to person but if you can master the kick there is absolutely no reason why you shouldn’t use it.