Pietermaritzburg – Living up to his multi-sport reputation Stuart Marais raced to an impressive second place finish at the recent Total Sports Xterra Grabouw in the Western Cape. With less than a week to go until the 2014 CompliMed Midlands Ultra Triathlon the focus from off-road to road racing has to change quickly as he prepares for the South African Long Course Championships at Midmar Dam over the upcoming weekend.
Xterra racing is a triathlon off-road which includes an open water swim, a mountain bike leg and a trail run which puts different pressures on the body as opposed to the road running and cycling that are typically associated with triathlons.
Marais is uses all events this year as a training event for the 70.3 iron man distance events that are Marais’ focus for 2014, making the transition from the road to the dirt track didn’t seem as difficult as one might have expected as he knew what he was up against in terms of conditions.
“I didn’t have a great swim to start with over the weekend,” the recent Iron Man 70.3 South Africa fourth place finisher said. “I had to do a lot of work on the bike which I did and had a really good split at the end of the bike leg but was still three minutes down on Dan (Hugo) going into the run but made up some time on him on the run so I am really chuffed with how the race went for me.
“Dan is really training hard and he has been a machine recently so I was quite happy with my result,” a satisfied Marais said.
Having finished behind four-time South African Xterra Champion Dan Hugo in the race over the weekend the multi-sport athlete understands the differences in preparation for the different events but sees these off-road events as beneficial to him once he gets back onto the road.
“Although the races are very different these Xterra events provide great training for road races because, although, it is a different type of cycling the mountain biking helps with strength training due to the changing terrain that we encounter.
“The running is also different because we are always jumping over things and running through rivers and that sort of thing so you can never get yourself into a rhythm and just clock off the kilometres like you can when you are on the road.
“The heart rate is always going up and down which helps prepare you for the challenges on the road where you feel more comfortable since you can create a consistent rhythm on the flat surface.
The major difference between the two is that you in Xterra you always have to be focused as the external factors are always changing!” Marais mentioned.
Looking forward to the Midlands Ultra Marais is excited by the prospect of returning to a venue that he has not competed at in a number of years. Having been absent Marais is also unaware of who his competition is for the event which adds a different dimension to his challenge.
“I am really amped for this weekend’s race in the Midlands, it’s been so long since I last raced there that I am excited to see what has changed and see the competition that will be racing.
“I don’t know the guys that I will be racing against which makes it interesting and but I’m really looking forward to the fast course and with a number of iron man races coming up it is great to use the Midlands Ultra as a preparation for those races,” he added.
The CompliMed Midlands Ultra Expo and Registration happens on Saturday 1 March and the racing takes place on Sunday 2 March and for all the information on the event go to www.midlandsultra.com.
Photos by: Cherie Vale/Gameplan Media