HOW WAS I T FOR YOU?

With only four years of triathlon experience under her belt, Katrin Meyer ventured to the inaugural Challenge Cape Town with an ambitious plan to qualify for the Challenge Championships. Here’s her tale of racing 113km in the Rainbow Nation…

he buoys out in the Atlantic Ocean are barely visible. I watch the male and female triathletes starting in front of me. They swim out and instantly become swallowed up by the grey fog. At this moment of the 1.9km swim, I’m not sure if I can make it around the course and back to the Big Bay Beach again.

With every metre I get closer to the start, I become more nervous. I’m a weak swimmer. Am I strong enough to do this? Can I stand the cold water? Finally, it’s me who has to toe the start line. I close my eyes, take a deep breath, and then the gun for the debut Challenge Cape Town in South Africa goes off.

It was a whole year ago that I planned my holiday to Cape Town to visit one of my best friends who’s studying here. And then, in April, the Challenge Family announced a new race in Cape Town that coincided with my holiday.

As a previous finisher at Challenge’s flagship Challenge Roth event in my native Germany, I didn’t think twice about entering. For me, this would be a once-in-alifetime experience. And it would be the grand finale of my 2019 season that included Ironman Barcelona just six weeks before. When I signed up, I knew there was a cold-water swim, a relatively-flat bike course and a hilly run. But I never imagined a start like this.

SEALS AND SHIFTERS

The holiday doesn’t begin brilliantly. When I unpack my bike after the 10,000km journey from Germany to Cape Town, I’m shocked to find the left shifter of my aerobars is completely broken. Luckily I found a local bike shop, but the mechanics can’t tell me how long it will take to fix. I have to be patient. The next few days test my nerves as I wait for the spare parts to arrive. Finally, on the Friday, they show up.

The bike mechanics do a great job and I’m so happy to have my bike back in perfect condition, and also to have the chance for a short ride on the Saturday before registration. Going 10 days without biking isn’t the best preparation!

While waiting for my bike to be fixed, I spend my time running and swimming in the beautiful

Langebaan Lagoon north of Cape Town, but I don’t get used to the Atlantic Ocean – the waves are high and an inquisitive seal scared me a little during one of my swims.

The day before the race, I miss out on the swim familiarisation event as I need to complete registration and drop my run bags at T2. So I decide to try the swim on my own. Then there’s time for one final picture in front of Table Mountain before I rack my bike in its place.

I make sure I check out the quickest way to leave transition and head down to the beach. My swim isn’t as bad as I expect it to be. Out to the first buoy and back to the beach – 700m will surely be enough. Finally, I get some last-minute advice on how to handle swimming in the waves as I enjoy sundown at this epic location on South Africa’s western coast.

RACE-DAY NERVES

The fog is touching the waves when we arrive in the suburb of Bloubergstrand on race morning, but luckily the waves aren’t as strong as the day before. It’s a cold morning and the water temperature is a bracing 15.5°C.

I walk to my bike to lay down my nutrition and pump up my tyres. My bike is ready. I’m possibly not. It’s almost time to put on my wetsuit and get in the line for the rolling start. The pro athletes are already underway.

I run into the water, watch the waves, and then count them as I run in deeper. After wave number four the set seems to be done, so I dive in and start swimming. The water doesn’t feel as cold as I’d expected, and the waves aren’t as high as they look from the beach. But the visibility is terrible so I try to keep up with the feet in front of me.

The first few metres feel good and I establish a rhythm. But then my goggles start to fog up. I try to ignore it. After a while the waves get higher. I pass buoy number one, which marks the halfway point of our distance out. But I can’t see the next buoy. After a few more