A pure lifestyle!

It has been 3months now, 3months living at altitude - approximately 1600m above sea level over 6000ft and it has become my training MECCA, it has everything a multi-sport athlete requires to be at his best. It truly is an amazing place with lots to offer... Quality air(healthy living), breath taking views (pleasure), hills/mountains(get the heart rate up), dams(for open water swims), miles of dirt road (for mountain biking of course) which mostly lead to The Sani Pass i.e. Lesotho and other great areas like Giants Castle, and Kamberg. Some tranquil rides and scenic trail runs.

 

This amazing landscape is where I find solitude and simplicity in life. If I need to BreakAway, I simply put my kiks on and off I go, "ah today I will climb this mountain"...!

The beauty of life is all around us, we've just become so accustomed to people, cars, buildings, noise and we forget that the finer things in life are at our door step...

Random story...

For some time now Ive been dreaming of bigger things...One particular dream that comes to mind is a journey. I try to imagine what it would be like to ride my bicycle from Durban up the East coast of Africa until I can go no more, Why you ask? Well just to get lost, explore, meet new cultures and experience life from a different perspective. I would look forward to the Mozambique coast for the most part because of its tropical terrain and I have heard great stories. But Why Start in Durban? Considering where I am situated on the globe,  it is the closet city on the coast and it would seem practical for me to start there. My goals first and foremost would be getting away from everything and heading into the unknown..Just me, my bike and a back pack with the bare necessities. Who knows I might not make it far but if I dont try I will never know what is out there. Another immediate goal would be to get as far up the coast as I can before I turn and head home. It would be an epic adventure possibly over several weeks, months, however as I sit and type this two movies come to mind... "Into the Wild" and the "Legends of the Fall". Perhaps I pursue this journey in my sub conscious mind. Im sure I will return like Tristan (Brad Pitt) after his adventures in Africa. Maybe not with a rifle slung over my shoulder but the picture would tell a thousand stories...

To my sponsors, a big thank you for the support through the later part of this year.. I would not be where I am today without you. Thank you Mr H....(Wayne. H. Scrap Metal)

Thank you Kieron Phillips @ Xtreme Nutrition, branches in Pietermaritzburg and Hillcrest check the link under "MY SUPPORT". With out the supplements my performance would be lacking.

Need Motivation...?

Have you ever found yourself in this place (above video)  far to often, "a little boy lost in his own world, surrounded by the negatives" this damn place where outside influence is the cause of a psychological battle many of us face daily and a negative battle within our own minds, unnecessary bullsh#t if you ask me. Its enough, enough to set the tone for a good part of your day. For someone or anyone who is striving to achieve anything in life, if you haven't already adopted the attitude -"screw it", now is a good time! I often say to people, why focus your energy into something negative and out of your control...

for example: You in your car cruising along and you get cut off by another car, yeah for sure flip him/her the signal but move on, there is nothing more you can do to control the matter! I think the old saying goes..."Build a bridge and get over it"! Or we often hear people complaining about random things, people most of the time, I usually tell them, "stop, wait, can you control the situation"? Almost 9 times out of 10 the answer is NO. So if something negative happens in your day to day activities, ask yourself, is there anything I can do to control it??? If the answer is No then "screw it", look for motivation and move on.


There are too many critics in this world and not enough drivers... Like the coach in this clip(video above) If you set your mind to it you can achieve anything... Shoot for the moon and Even if you miss you will land among the stars. yeah!!!
Set your goals so high that even if by any unfortunate circumstances they don’t work out you will still be flying among the stars which is not bad at all. Cut the doubting and quit watching mistakes of the others and concentrate on your own existence and get the best of life.
In the video below you will see exactly what I mean about the critics...

Now even during my training sessions I reflect on these videos... My Garmin file from yesterday... Im actually starting to enjoy the hurt during hard sessions...

Hi Tec SA

 I recently joined a page on Facebook, the Hi Tec SA shoe company and a week later I was in a competition. A competition against 100 others to be in the Hi Tec SA trail running team, this would then be short listed to 30 competitors and then finally we would fight it out for top honours, 15 of us would make the V-Lite Infinity Challenge. We are going to be given Hi Tec apparel and carteblanche to put them to the test.

It has been a bundle of fun trying to recruit votes and fans. The competition ends this evening the 16th of December and if you still would like to vote for me you can on this link http://apps.facebook.com/bethejudge/
 I am currently sitting with the nelson figures 111 votes/fans but a little more never hurt. If you want to become a fan and skip the voting phase you can follow this link and "like" the page http://www.facebook.com/HiTecSa


I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who voted for me and I will do my best to keep you updated on proceedings...

These are going to be put through some intense testing on some rugger-ed terrain.

Some radical colours if I do say so myself.... 

Some results from a day or two ago

Olympic distance Triathlon - Compendium

 

On the 5th of December I made my way down from altitude,  near Sani Pass, I have been based here for several months to gain the benefits of altitude training, I made my way to Durban where I participated in a pre-season Olympic distance triathlon. It consisted of a 1.5km ocean swim(mass start), a 40km bike and 10km run. It was a chance to wake the sleeping giant and get rid of those off season cob webs, clean out the engine room so to speak.

Walking over to the 1.5km swim start race briefing.... Pointless really because I could not hear a single word uttered over the crashing waves... It was a smile and nod the head type of gesture when race organizer Damien Bradley asked if all was understood. As we lined the shore break I could not stop wondering if I were the only one thinking of the "Johnies" that might be spectating from the ocean floor. But when the gun goes all that falls away and the race face is on.

Setting up my transitions and messing about with my TT helmut, the bike was fast and furious, the only time I went under 40km/h was at turn around points and entering the transition.

I finished the day in 31st overall from a field of over 300 strong, and now as I reflect back on the day I can be satisfied with my result with a week of relaxing after a longish season I really had no leg to stand on.

Then its feet up and back to Altitude to recover...