Training Log Archive: nmulder

Woodlands Office Park
1:4'000
Urban Series Final (#9)

Final event of the 2022 sprint season, organised by Witsoc. I had a decent run, not fast, but mostly good technically.

Unusual 1st control, then made a slight error to #2 not going the straightest line but recorrecting quickly (5-10s). Got a bit more into the map after that and went for safety. Good thing as there was unmarked construction near #2 and then a few other places on the map. Best strategy was to be flexible as the map was notably out of date.

Ran 3 times over the same section between 5-6-7-8. Between 13-14 only Matthew V-C seems to have seen the near invisible black dashed footpath from the southern gate and the carport, whilst I went with the safe middle gate. Quite a few got caught on the S side of the building and then came back into the grouped car parks. Matthew was 20s faster on this leg than me, even with some hesitations, so probably 30s faster at full pace. Thereafter fairly straight forwards apart from 18-19 where I went right.

Finished in 3rd, with Garry M in 22:30ish and Matthew 23:02. Happy with the run, no major mistakes and I had a good strategy for the map and event, just need to start getting my speed back.

Men - Splits

Magalies Monster MTB race, 65km

Returned for the Magalies Monster after a 10 year hiatus. Things have changed quite a lot, it attracts quite a lot of elite and top quality talent and the course is even more tough, despite being 5km shorter. We now go up Breedts Nek pass instead of down. The concrete tracks under the power lines are out and instead we now descend on a series of technical single tracks down the w-side of the pass. This gets you to half way and there are two notable climbs onto plateaus to the west and north-west of Buffelspoort Dam, one more than in the past.

I didn't expect that my low volume of recent dirt and tar training would count for much in a MTB race, and I wasn't wrong. From the ATKV I paced myself out of the start. Technical water crossing just before 5km and then a short, fairly direct route to the base of Breedts Nek, with only a short detour past the front of Utopia Resort. I rode the whole way up, but still lost 15 positions. The top of the hill is also not just the top of the pass, but 4x4 tracks going over the summit to the west. I had a good ride back down the hill, pulling back 10 spots and making no mistakes on the lines. However it was still 30 mins of downhill and I was toast at the bottom of it, which is also only the halfway mark. From there to the finish I was peddling at survival pace, loosing about 40 places or more and about 20 mins in time. There was a nice new detour through Cherry Ridge Farm, through the cherry trees and blueberry orchards. Finally had to walk for the first time up the last hill. At one point an adductor gave a good twinge, but it faded after about a minute, never to return.

The route was stunning and the event well organized, well worth it. I need to do more MTB races, as I thoroughly enjoy them. It's been 6 years since my last MTB race (excluding Munga Grit)! Unfortunately there don't seem to be as many on the calendar as there used to be.

Run around the estate roads.

A loop of the Cradle on the Cradle MTB track, starting and finishing at Sprockets and joining it at the end of the Elandsdrift road. Probably about 1h28 to do the loop, which is okayish. Did it to refresh my single track skills before Magalies Monster MTB race on Saturday.

Been ages since I last did a Saints TT. I pushed it at about 80-90% pace. Foot/Plantar/Nerve felt very good, almost, almost gone. Right knee pain was actually a bit more of an issue but it had settled by the end.