Gritty Murray in a hurry…

He’s in a Rich vein of form as he prepares for a major challenge in his first Half Ironman competition

SOUTH Africa’s “man of steel” Richard Murray may have had a running start to his triathlon season but is set for one of his biggest challenges yet racing in his first Half Ironman in Slovakia at the beginning of June.

Murray’s opener of the season is chalk and cheese compared to last year as he still has all his bones in tact while occupying second place on the World Triathlon Series (WTS) rankings list.

Going into this year’s events, Murray decided to have a bit of fun and the lack of pressure seems to be paying off.

“I guess it is good in the sense that I am not burning myself out at training and I am saving myself for race day,” Murray told Independent Newspapers.

“I think it is the best start to the season I’ve had. Last year I had two races before I broke my collarbone.”

The Capetonian has earned podium finishes in five of the six competitions he has lined up at this season, winning the Cape Town and New Plymouth Triathlon World Cups, the inaugural Super League Triathlon as well as the South African Xterra title.

Murray finished in a creditable fifth place in the WTS Abu Dhabi while finishing second at the Gold Coast event earlier this month.

A year ago Murray was still reeling from a crash in the bicycle leg of the ITU World Triathlon Gold Coast that left his Olympic dreams in doubts.

“I only did six races in total last year. I’ve already completed the same number of races I did last year – in the middle of April,” Murray said.

“I have another 10 or 12 races left for the year, and the Super League will be raced from October through to March which is usually when we would be having a break.”

Murray will miss the next two legs on the world triathlon circuit to prepare and race in his first Half Ironman which consists of a 1.9km swim, 90km bike ride, and a 21.1km run.

While Murray will be losing some points during this time, he believes the 113km race will benefit him for the rest of the season.

“I’m training for the 70.3 which is something else.

“It is wild. I’ve never raced a fourhour triathlon where I will be on a time trial bike,” Murray said.

“After that, recovery will be hard as well, and I am racing almost all the German league races, and a couple of World Series races.”

Given Murray’s incredible recovery from last year’s fall, and his fourth-place finish at the Rio Olympic Games, it is difficult to think anything scares the gritty South African.

The Half Ironman poses somewhat of a daunting challenge as he goes up in distance despite having a propensity for the sprint events on the triathlon circuit.

“The 70.3 is a big ask, so I definitely want to see how that ends up. I think it is going to be very tough on my body but it is going to be a good one,” Murray said.

“I have about six weeks of training to do so that gives me time to try and iron out things.

“It is a different position on the bike and the body has to adapt.

“The type of training involved will probably help with my endurance. It is also probably not a bad time to do it.”