Ironman 70.3 South Africa

Hard at work on the Superbike

Following on a relatively disappointing 2008, I wanted to get 2009 off to a good start and what better way than Ironman 70.3 South Africa?

Having skipped the race last year to focus on the Ironman distance I had no experience of the course but according to everyone it was tough and judging by the previous year’s results it certainly looked that way.

While it is great to get a major race under the belt right at the start of the year, it comes at a price and while many were celebrating the festive season, I was out there training and putting in some the hard work in order to achieve my goal of qualifying for the World 70.3 Championship in Clearwater, Florida on the 14th of November.

Admittedly I had not built an adequate base in October and November due to a variety of personal issues but I figured that the years of training would be enough to see me through to race day. I made it but only just and if I had tried to put in one more big week I think I would have gone over my limits and blown up completely.

Arriving in East London was an eye opener. I haven’t been there since the 70′s and from what I could remember, the beachfront area hasn’t changed much. The accommodation we had booked was perfect despite looking a bit drab from the outside and my Team Whasp colleague, David Hadenham, and I were pleasantly surprised by what was we found inside.

Having sent my Superbike with The Bike Migration was another great move and it made travelling a breeze. There were a few horror stories about bikes “landing” on the runway and I was grateful to have my bike delivered on the Friday evening without any stress. Even better was the trip home because the last thing you want to do the day after a race is to lug a bike bag around an airport. I can really recommend their services to anyone travelling to a major event.

So onto race day and I woke up after a solids night’s sleep. Perhaps I am fortunate in that I am mentally able to put all that pre-race anxiety out of my mind until the last minute but it also gives the impression to those around me that I don’t really care, which is not the truth at all. David and I tucked into our “wholesome breakfast” of oat cookies and coffee, not exactly ideal but one of the challenges of being on the road and we could have done a lot worse.

Getting into the elevator we bumped into Tim Don who was his usual jovial self and the three of us walked down to the start together joking and sharing some light hearted banter which made for a nice distraction. Tim is one of those real down to earth guys and if you didn’t know how good he was, you could be excused for thinking he was just another age grouper.

Arriving in transition it was time to put on the “race face” so I wished the guys well and went to find my bike. Easy task given that I was riding the Superbike and, as there had been all weekend, there was a crowd of people around it taking photos and asking questions. After taking a few minutes to answer questions while pumping my tires I went off to the tent to get changed into my new Orca 226 race kit and RS1 fullskn. It was also time to gather my thoughts and focus on the job at hand so after a quick change it was down to the beach for my warm up.

On exiting the water the atmosphere had gripped me and for the first time in a while, I started to feel nervous. Weird because the distance didn’t frighten me, the sea was flat and there was nothing particularly daunting about the race but perhaps it was a sign of things to come. They say it is good to be a little nervous before a race, it shows that you are serious and ready for the task ahead and after a few deep breaths and a chat to my team mates I was ready to go.

Starting in the second wave meant that the Pro’s were out of the way and the group was much smaller than I had previously experienced.
There was the usual helter skelter dash to the first buoy by which time the pecking order was established and I found a comfortable set of feet to follow for the rest of the race. Exiting the water, I checked my watch and noticed that my time was a reasonable one. Good start because I had always felt that I was within myself and never once approached maximum effort.

The run up the hill to T1 is long and not a whole lot of fun. I was constantly being knocked about by people sprinting past me. Funny how I never saw any of them on the bike, my guess is they left their whole days effort on that hill and blew before even leaving T1?

Onto the bike and time to make it count. Riding the Superbike, I felt a sense of responsibility to produce a good bike split but I was also cognisant of the fact that this was a triathlon and I couldn’t afford to leave everything out on the N2 highway, I had to save some pennies for the run. The first few kilometres were fun as I rolled past the Pro ladies, with the exception of Lucie Zelenkova who I would only catch in the last 10km, and some of the stronger swimmers. By 20km I had settled into my ride and was pretty much out on my own, just me and the bike getting the job done.

With 5km’s to go before the turn around I saw the Pro men heading the other way. They didn’t appear to be flying and I wondered if this was tactical or not? Putting that out of my mind, I worked my way up to the turn right on schedule and prepared for a fast descent back to East London. Of course we all know that its anything but downhill to T2 but at least those long, hot drags were over and there was a tailwind. That was of course until the final 10km when the tailwind, which had been conspicuously absent, suddenly became a headwind and it was back to working hard again. I was really battling on the way back into town and the schedule was suddenly out of the window but I didn’t panic because I was still passing people and figured I was doing better than most out there.

I made a very amateurish mistake with 1km to go and dropped my chain but figured that it wasn’t worth stopping to put it on and just ran the bike the rest of the way to T2. With hindsight it probably cost me a minute or two but at that stage I didn’t think it would really matter.

I had put both compression socks and my normal Whasp socks in my T2 bag and figured I would chose based on how I felt. Given that I regularly use compression socks for training, coupled with the fact that I suffer from collapsed veins in my legs I chose the compression socks but I am still starting to think that perhaps they are better suited to post race recovery than actual racing.

Running out of T2 was a pleasure, the soft ride characteristics of the Superbike had left me feeling “fresh” and I took off as if I was competing in the local sprint race. By 3km’s I was looking at my watch and thinking this is good but can I maintain it? Well the answer came at 12km when I felt my legs give out and I was in trouble. There was still 9km’s to go and I had been reduced to a shuffle. Thank goodness for my Crazy Kiwi gels which kept the mind alert and I just focussed on a repetitive stride pattern and consistent pace while thinking, no walking now!

My plan to go hard from 15km’s wasn’t going to happen and I eventually found the will to kick for home at 18km. Amazingly I was back to running at the pace I started out at although this time it felt as though I was going to collapse with every step. Nonetheless I made it to the finish and about 100m past it before collapsing to the ground, completely spent and in a whole world of pain. I waved the attention of the medics and helpers away, I just needed a few minutes to gather myself and then I staggered over to the massage tent for a good rub down.

I had no idea of how I had done at this stage other than I had finished alongside Claire Kingsley, who was third women home. It was only later as I went back to transition to fetch my bike that I stopped and checked the results which showed me in third place in the 35-39 age group. I was surprised but excited at finally having achieved my goal of a podium in an Ironman race and knew that this guaranteed me that treasured slot to Clearwater.

Later that evening I got to soak it all up as I stood on the podium, M-Dot trophy in hand. What a feeling and one that I hope to repeat a few more times in my life. Now that I have a 70.3 trophy I need to match or better it with a full Ironman one but that will have to wait until next year. This year is all about 70.3 and I plan to race this distance a few more times before November in the hope of achieving a Personal Best there.