117 hours swimming, 414 hours biking, 92 hours running – 2014 a year in review

So that’s another year done and dusted. And man was it a good one – I turned a quarter century old, added some new scars, swam, cycled and ran many kilometers [117h05m42s swimming, 414h22m33s biking, 92h25m37s running], drank copious amounts of coffee, ate many pizzas and met some excellent people.

I cycled so hard I threw up.

I fell while running. Four times.

I checked that I can still swim 50m underwater.

I gained weight. I lost weight. I gained it again.

I had all my valuables stolen out of my car.

I spent many hours on the MTB and can say with a small degree of confidence that I am now semi-proficient – ie. it is now less likely that I come back with bloody knees.

I spent many hours in the library.

I made lots of banana pancakes.

I ate lots of pre-training FutureLife.

I spent many great moments with my awesome family.

I did some good training with Veteran Viv.

I coached the Rustenburg Junior School to an unprecedented 2nd place at interschools and the high school team to a win.

I did my first half-ironman distance race. And I did it off-road.

I caught the train, went to concerts and lit paper lanterns.

I dove into the harbour at the Waterfront with the top 60 female triathletes in the world.

I raced stacks and I stood on podiums.

I moved back and forth between Stellenbosch and Cape Town quite a few times.

I washed my bikes more times than I can count.

I didn’t wash my car nearly as much.

I got many blisters.

I chafed lots.

I took road trips and explored more.

I jumped over a puffadder.

I rode quad bikes.

I got sun burnt.

I took many pictures of my bikes and Instagrammed them all.

I made some rad new friends – on and off the bike. Mostly on 😉

All in all I had an absolute jol!

I can’t let this moment go by without a thank you to everyone in my hectic life – my parents, brother, grand parents, aunts, uncles, crazy cousins and awesome friends.

And also to my amazing sponsors who help me so in many ways: EnduroHub, Bicycle Power South Africa, Virgin Active, 32Gi and G-Form South Africa.

I am also thrilled to have new sponsors on board for 2015: Freewheel Cycology bike shop in Kenilworth (if you haven’t visited them yet then get your butt down there) and Specialized South Africa (and if you haven’t had the pleasure of planting your butt on a Specialized, then you should definitely do so!). I am absolutely loving my new Specialized Epic Expert WC! What a machine!

So with 2014 all wrapped up, here’s to a new year!