Part of TriLifeAdventure is the search for the ultimate cup of coffee and what would a cup of coffee be without some good conversation? As you can imagine many of my conversations end up being about triathlon and all its finer technical details. The one person I can always rely on for company and good challenging conversation is my friend Quentin Foster and while we don?t always agree on everything, the healthy debate that ensues is often very interesting.

It was with this in mind that I thought I should share it with the world so that all of you can comment or add your own experiences and opinions.

To start with it is probably polite and appropriate for me to introduce Quentin to you. The first thing that must be noted is that this guy can run! I don’t mean shuffle along like most of us triathletes, I mean seriously run. Our Sunday sessions at Zoo Lake are brutal and he can keep pace with world class runners like Hendrik Ramala.

Over the last 2 years he has also learned how to ride a bike and as a result is now a serious threat at any race as can be seen by his performances this year. I am sure that with a little more time he will get his swimming to the same level which will almost guarantee him a string of titles in the years to come.

Let’s start by talking about Clearwater. After all our weeks of preparation, I was given the bad news that I would not be able to go. This unfortunately left you to travel alone but carrying my hopes and dreams in your ‘seat tube tubby holder’ (more about that later). Given that the race has a reputation as a draft-fest and that many people diminish its value, often on hearsay and nothing concrete, how would you sum your overall experience?

Thanks to some readings of Eckhart Tolle, I try live off one of his sayings: “accept it, as if you have chosen it”. This is the attitude that I went to Clearwater with. That does not mean that I was just going to drafting like many others out there. After all is said and done, you are left with your own conscience. The organizers try their level best to put on a pinnacle event, in celebration with the worlds best athletes, and the qualified few from selected IM 70.3 events around the globe who want to go to the World Championships. They openly appeal to athletes on a repeated basis in the build up to the race, not to draft and they do try and curb drafting (as you saw in on of the pics with the number of athletes at a penalty tent). Will they stop it – NO, just the same as they will never stop the drug cheats and dopes. The reality is this world is full of cheats; at every level. Ultimately the choice is yours you decide what you want to do. That’s just the way it is. I will not let that distort my reality, cloud my perceptions and more-over rob me of my happiness and joy relative to the Foster Grant Ironman 70.3 World Championships.

Racing with a cause takes some of the edge off post-race blues which takes a bit of personal management especially with overseas races where crossing time zones are involved and we become hypersensitive as our ethereal beings take awhile to catch up with ourselves.
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