Ironman SA 2015

[davem]

Race Date:  Sunday, 10 April 2016

 

Entry Fee Age Group Athletes

 

GENERAL ENTRY: 31 March 2015 - 30 January 2016 - R 5 300.00

LATE ENTRY: 31 January 2016 - 19 February 2016 - R 6 300.00

 

[gummibear]

[gummibear]

[gummibear]

[gummibear]

[gummibear]

[gummibear]

[gummibear]

[IceCreamMan]

Shirts are top class as are medals...bags excellent too. There were around 30% foreign athletes this year I think due to kona slots an african championship status..I see this increasing...in hotel there germans english an Iities

[Bizzmark]

This was an incredible event as always.

 

The swim a little choppy, made the directionally challenged like me struggle.... Headed out to Australia on a number of occasions. Luckily I am not too fast so did not get to far before correcting. Even had a lovely young lady ask me to help her get her wetsuit zip back up at the 3km buoy .... Wow... Normally the only thing I get at buoys is a kick in the face ... That had me smiling for the last stretch.

 

The cycle is tough, you work all the way even when the weather is great, and the weather was great yesterday, the easterly seems to be a standard feature and we just have to suck it up. It is no joke, and harder than the old course, but hey this is supposed to be ironman... Train harder.

 

The run is fantastic, fast, flat and the best supporters you could ever wish for. The PE crowd are quite simply fantastic. There is a hotel on the main drag that seems to attract a younger crowd... 1st run lap they are cheering on with drinks in hand, 2nd run lap they are flirting and making every sweaty old ironman feel like a million bucks... By round three they are daring each other to flash their boobs.... Not sure if any actually do but the humor is really great, and takes your mind off the pain.

 

Love you PE.

 

All in all just an amazing event, worth every cent.

[fabes]

Well done to all

[Snytjie]

The only thing I want to do since last evening is thank everyone who contributed to my journey thus far, and those include every Hubber who unselfishly provided their advice, opinions and experience here. Thank you.

 

I cannot fully describe my experience in a forum post. So, a few main thoughts:

 

Apart from the birth of my child, this was the most exhilarating and testing thing I've ever done.

 

I am sooooooooooooo glad that I took three years to complete this journey. I think it helped me to develop enough to complete the race in a time that I could manage mentally. I do not have the Iron will which many of these athletes have: if my race went late into the night I would have quit. I have more respect for the 15hr+ finishers than the pros.

 

I probably need some time to process it all, but surprisingly the finish is not (yet) my highlight. The feeling I had standing on that beach surpassed all. See Gummibear's photo at post #312 above: right there!

 

Race:

Swim was really enjoyable, strong current towards the end which made the finish challenging.

 

I loved the bike! I have no experience of the old course, but if they change this back to just the first 'loop' I would be very disappointed. It is a fair test, it makes the race alI the more strategic, and it is beautiful. I do not share the negative perceptions about road quality, speed bumps, sharp turns etc: it is nothing worse than what we train on every day.

 

Run was my first marathon. It broke me. Was ok-ish up to 25 km and kept planned pace; from there on I knew if I stopped jogging I won't start again. Managed to run to the end which I still can't believe. After the finish line I couldn't breathe properly which I think is a function of emotional out-pour and my body just reaching its limit. My wife dragged me to the medical tent, but all was relatively ok. For record purposes I managed a 12:46 which is unreal.

 

The support is all that everyone says. I was relive at times to get to the university as things almost get to a frenzy. I have no words to describe my respect and thanks for all the volunteers. The event can not be better organised.

 

I don't know if I will do it again. If it was only me, off course, but it is an acute stress on family and work. I think it will come down to how much base fitness I could retain through the year.

 

Wow, wow and WOW!!!                   

[IceCreamMan]

My journey started in January 2013, unbeknown to me at the time. The company I work for sent out an email to get a team together for the Midmar mile event. I replied nervously that I was keen and set about swimming. I swam 5 practice miles before midmar and then swam midmar in 39:58. I enjoyed swimming so joined the local Virgin Active and swam through the winter of 2013. My sister and brother in law were keen triathletes at this stage and encouraged me to look at triathlons so in August 2013 I entered the Germiston 5150. At this point I had no kit, never rode a bicycle much less owned one and no takkies suitable for running in. I delayed these purchases until we got back from a trip to England on 1 September 2013. Bought a second hand bicycle which was the wrong size and the most expensive takkies I could at Mr Price sports. Both purchases were in fact wasteful due to my ignorance.  At this point I weighed 105 kg’s, Heart rate of 68, normal blood pressure etc. The tri was in early November so I had 2 months to train and went about training. Did a sprint tri end of September at Klein Kariba and enjoyed the experience. Completed the tri thinking I was going to now sell the bicycle and go back to open water swimming only however the bug bit and I entered the Midlands Ultra in March 2014.
March 2014 came along, started the midlands ultra but underestimated the cycle (at this point I had only cycled 800km’s in total) and this caught up with me in the run leg. I cramped severely and walked off the course with only 7 kays left to the end. That night while drinking a beer I made the rash decision to enter IronMan 2015 and committed to entering the minute the entries opened which I duly did in April 2014. Started doing research and realized that my bike was not right and bought a beautiful Cervelo (damn I love that bike) and due to pain when running realized my takkies were not right so went to Sweat shop and got kitted out right. This was an expensive exercise however had I been a little cleverer the first time around I could of saved myself loads of money. I made the decision to do this as basic as possible, no coaching just my own devised program and worked through the winter of 2014 (no easy thing for a couch potato waking up at 4AM) to get some sort of base fitness in place. I entered cycling events and half marathons with the view of running a full marathon in Jan of 2015. I also did a lot of open water swimming where my strength lies. At the Sun City cycle event in August I had a serious accident when some guy fell in the peleton taking me down to and half the peleton. The carnage on the road was like a war zone. Anyway fortunately bike was not totaled but wheels were, so more $$ needed on wheels. (expensive sport this). Still have the scars on left wrist from this and will have them forever. (chicks dig scars)
Entered and completed the TriRock Durban event in under 6 hours so my training was on song, I did the 5150 in Germiston lake nearly an hour faster than the previous year and this all spurred me on to train better, harder , faster. I persuaded my lovely wife to take our annual holiday in PE in Dec 2014 so I could scope the lie of the IronMan land. While on holiday I swam the course a number of times, ran most of the run route that I could and drove the cycle route. The cycle route has had its critics but I reckon it’s a pretty cool route. 1600 metres of elevation aint really the problem, after all, this is IronMan but the wind if blowing from the east becomes frustrating. But easterly winds are less likely than Westerly winds. West is best for IM. I spent most of my training rides in the cradle so elevation training is the norm really. (we are really blessed to have the cradle as a training ground)
My training was pretty uneventful really, I had no injuries to speak of however I must say most of my training was low intensity distance stuff. I purposefully chose this due to years of playing competitive squash in my youth which pretty much buggered up my knees and ankles so I had to take it easy. I decided to not run a marathon so as to not risk getting injured. I was already doing things I never thought possible.
Entered and completed Trirock Cradle and Midlands Ultra. Trirock I found relatively easy but battled at Midlands on the run, just could not get running. Days counted down and soon we were prepping for PE. I completed my last long run by running around the cradle and the following week a long cycle in the cradle. It was during the cycle that I picked up a knee niggle that concerned me however I treated it with anti inflammatories the week of IM. Drove down to PE , stayed over at my mates place (thanks Digby) on Thursday night. Friday morning woke up and my little lad was sick so took him to clinic and this caused a dilemma. We were scheduled to stay at hotel on Friday night but I was concerned about getting ill so my wife and kid stayed at our friends and I moved to the hotel which is just across the road from Hobie Beach. Was difficult without my family but IM was now the focus. They eventually joined me on the Saturday afternoon but by now I had a scratchy throat and was fearing the worst, however no way was I not going to take the start.
Sunday morning came and I was on the beach to greet the sunrise with thousands of fellow competitors and spectators. A magical moment just reflecting on it. What a privilege it is to be part of that and being able to do this. I am blessed to have a body that can more or less do this and the resources to do it.  I was strangely quite calm, I knew I could do this as long as I stuck to my plan which was to take an easy swim, easy cycle and push on the run. The only thing that could stop me was a serious mechanical failure on the bike or some unforeseen mishap. They played the national anthem and the moment got to me…I had to hold back the tears..ironmen don’t cry. It was an amazing experience. Pretty soon the pro’s got going then the young men wave and pretty soon us oldies and ladies were under starters orders.
The cannon went off and I made my way to the water gingerly letting the eager run and jump and waste energy. I got into a nice rhythm and by the half way mark had pretty much overtaken all the people in my wave and by 2000 metres prolly overtaken most of the wave ahead of me too. Water was choppy but having trained in the sea a lot in December this was no problem. Excited the water in under an hour and spent a bit of time in the shower. Crossed the mat in 1:01. First in age group at this point. Had I not buggered around in the shower I could of recorded a time of less than 1 hour but comfort is key in these long races so wanted to get rid of the sea water. My decision was to strip completely and put on my proper cycling kit so did this wearing my normal bib and jersey. (shorter tri’s I save time in transition by wearing tri shorts throughout.
Got on the bicycle and cycled up Walmer Boulevard, pretty uneventful really. Loved the crowds and the patience of the traffic (very unlike JHB events where ppl threaten cops and the like) . Finished the first lap comfortable in 3:20 or so. Felt strong but made a decision to stop at the 120km mark (at the water point) to stretch, regroup and sort a couple of things out, I was carrying a lot of rubbish at this point which I had not disposed of so I took a stop. Spent 5 minutes chatting , had a lot of liquids, a bit to eat and got on my way again. Around Maitland and back to the bottom of Seaview. The wind had picked up a bit but manageable. It was frustrating more than anything and it is relentless but with cycling you need patience, so long as the wheels are turning you will eventually get to where you need to be. Took another stop at 165km’s to stretch and regroup. These stops were pre planned and became an integral part of the cycle leg. A moment to reflect and stretch. Finished the cycle in 7:20 or thereabouts and 54th in category. Felt good and this was the first time I had ever cycled 180km’s, the most prior to this was 150.
At this point I was 8:45 into the race and felt pretty good, I had hooked up with a mate of mine in transition and the idea was to run together. My initial estimate of 14 hours was on with the possibility of a sub 14 on the cards. Within 2 km’s I realized I was in trouble. My knee got niggly again and I decided to slow down. I told my mate I am in for the long haul here so please carry on I will see you later. At 4 km’s another issue cropped up. I had made a real rookie mistake in transition. I had packed a pair of my normal thin running socks and a pair of thicker socks I got in my dischem 21 goodie bag. I opted for the thicker pair which was a huge error. By 5 km’s my feet were on fire and I could feel blisters were coming on. The run became hellish. I was reduced to walking with sore knee and feet but no way was I going to stop. Its soul destroying walking past a board that says 5km,19km,33km knowing you have 37 km’s to go. The crowd however were amazing and motivational. The main drag of PE accounts for a 4km stretch that you run up and down (i.e. 8 km’s) then you run up to the university turn left and join the bottom of marine parade drive taking you back to the 4km stretch. This 6 km stretch has very little crowd and it becomes a daunting place. Over and above this with my speed it was taking me an hour to get through this section. The only ray of light was the water point on this section, a beacon of light in a miserable place. Over and above this people were puking and reality sets in at this point. By now I was 10:30 into a race which I knew was going to take me a lot longer than envisaged. There was no way I was giving up though so sore feet, sore knee I don’t care…they carry me off this course or I finish…that simple.
I ate well, drank well. Body was fine, heart rate was good but seeing as I was mostly walking no reason it should not be. Was finding it difficult to swallow as I had picked up the bug from my son but absolutely no way was I going to stop. I saw the concern in my wifes eyes but sometimes a man has to do what a man has to do. My pace was declining all the time as my feet became more sore. Eventually I was on my last lap and told my wife I would finish around 11pm. By now most of the field had overtaken me so it became pretty lonely in the university section. But realizing I had 7…then 6 then 5 kays to go was a mood lifter. I stopped at the water point 2 kays from the end and had a chat to the people there. I needed to regroup and smile a bit. Carried on and was encouraged all along the route. 200 metres from the end some guy came up to me and talked to me saying how well I had done and the end was just around the corner. The tears welled up. I hobbled around the corner and onto the red carpet …saw my wife and started crying, she started crying an Paul in good humour mentioned this to the world. A real special moment as I crossed the line in tears. Jodie Swallow gave me a hug and a kiss and medal. Damn that medal meant so much to me. ( I did not know it was her until my wife told me later) 16:22 … a slog of note towards the end. The greatest physical achievement of my life by a long long way. This is not twice as hard as a ultra distance triathlon its 4 times more difficult I reckon.
I went for a massage, got my shirt and then started shivering uncontrollably so checked in the medical tent where my vital signs were checked and kept warm for 20 minutes or so. Hobbled to my hotel room.
As I write this, 48 hours after the start I am overlooking Hobie beach. The start of a new day which looks like its going to be a beauty. My feet have blisters, I am still hobbling along and will do for another day or 3. When I finished I told my wife never again…. However now it’s a maybe. I have unfinished business with Ironman…I reckon I have a sub 14 in me so possibly will enter for 2016. Also I would like to be a volunteer for IM at some point or a spectator. This is a magical event, absolutely magical. The human body is an amazing instrument we just don’t always realise this. I ended 95th in category (out of 154 – there were a number of drop outs, missed cut offs and no shows) which is around the 70th percentile and around the 75th percentile out of all entrants. Not unhappy with this and funny enough more or less where I saw myself ending but I thought 14 hours would be the 75th percentile in group.
In closing , I have to thank my lovely patient wife who has put up with the training time needed and the incessant talking about ironman all the time. My friends for still being my friends even though I was a bore and went to bed most nights at 8pm thus declining invites to parties and functions etc. Then to people that helped me along the way, fellow forumites who imparted valuable information, people at gym who began to realise I was training for this and gave me advice and my family. No one ever told me I would not make it. The volunteers and PE crowds deserve a special mention , damn you guys were superb. Ironman is special, if you thinking of doing it, enter and go for it but before you do, understand that its going to take over your life so understand the commitment. Ironman is tough, don’t underestimate it, but the training and the year leading up to it is by far tougher. Damn its an amazing event.
Thanks for taking the time to read this far, its by far the longest post I have ever written however I needed to write this as a way of expressing myself and putting my experience on paper. Its therapeutic in a weird way. 13 months of complete dedication to this leaves me feeling a little bit “post partum blues” like. So writing this has helped me. Few people understand this journey but damn it’s a good one.

 

Edit: forgot to add...I now weigh around 90kilos , heart rate of 38. The last 13 months have seen amazing changes in this old body.

[Ramrod]

My journey started in January 2013, unbeknown to me at the time. The company I work for sent out an email to get a team together for the Midmar mile event. I replied nervously that I was keen and set about swimming. I swam 5 practice miles before midmar and then swam midmar in 39:58. I enjoyed swimming so joined the local Virgin Active and swam through the winter of 2013. My sister and brother in law were keen triathletes at this stage and encouraged me to look at triathlons so in August 2013 I entered the Germiston 5150. At this point I had no kit, never rode a bicycle much less owned one and no takkies suitable for running in. I delayed these purchases until we got back from a trip to England on 1 September 2013. Bought a second hand bicycle which was the wrong size and the most expensive takkies I could at Mr Price sports. Both purchases were in fact wasteful due to my ignorance.  At this point I weighed 105 kg’s, Heart rate of 68, normal blood pressure etc. The tri was in early November so I had 2 months to train and went about training. Did a sprint tri end of September at Klein Kariba and enjoyed the experience. Completed the tri thinking I was going to now sell the bicycle and go back to open water swimming only however the bug bit and I entered the Midlands Ultra in March 2014.

March 2014 came along, started the midlands ultra but underestimated the cycle (at this point I had only cycled 800km’s in total) and this caught up with me in the run leg. I cramped severely and walked off the course with only 7 kays left to the end. That night while drinking a beer I made the rash decision to enter IronMan 2015 and committed to entering the minute the entries opened which I duly did in April 2014. Started doing research and realized that my bike was not right and bought a beautiful Cervelo (damn I love that bike) and due to pain when running realized my takkies were not right so went to Sweat shop and got kitted out right. This was an expensive exercise however had I been a little cleverer the first time around I could of saved myself loads of money. I made the decision to do this as basic as possible, no coaching just my own devised program and worked through the winter of 2014 (no easy thing for a couch potato waking up at 4AM) to get some sort of base fitness in place. I entered cycling events and half marathons with the view of running a full marathon in Jan of 2015. I also did a lot of open water swimming where my strength lies. At the Sun City cycle event in August I had a serious accident when some guy fell in the peleton taking me down to and half the peleton. The carnage on the road was like a war zone. Anyway fortunately bike was not totaled but wheels were, so more $$ needed on wheels. (expensive sport this). Still have the scars on left wrist from this and will have them forever. (chicks dig scars)

Entered and completed the TriRock Durban event in under 6 hours so my training was on song, I did the 5150 in Germiston lake nearly an hour faster than the previous year and this all spurred me on to train better, harder , faster. I persuaded my lovely wife to take our annual holiday in PE in Dec 2014 so I could scope the lie of the IronMan land. While on holiday I swam the course a number of times, ran most of the run route that I could and drove the cycle route. The cycle route has had its critics but I reckon it’s a pretty cool route. 1600 metres of elevation aint really the problem, after all, this is IronMan but the wind if blowing from the east becomes frustrating. But easterly winds are less likely than Westerly winds. West is best for IM. I spent most of my training rides in the cradle so elevation training is the norm really. (we are really blessed to have the cradle as a training ground)

My training was pretty uneventful really, I had no injuries to speak of however I must say most of my training was low intensity distance stuff. I purposefully chose this due to years of playing competitive squash in my youth which pretty much buggered up my knees and ankles so I had to take it easy. I decided to not run a marathon so as to not risk getting injured. I was already doing things I never thought possible.

Entered and completed Trirock Cradle and Midlands Ultra. Trirock I found relatively easy but battled at Midlands on the run, just could not get running. Days counted down and soon we were prepping for PE. I completed my last long run by running around the cradle and the following week a long cycle in the cradle. It was during the cycle that I picked up a knee niggle that concerned me however I treated it with anti inflammatories the week of IM. Drove down to PE , stayed over at my mates place (thanks Digby) on Thursday night. Friday morning woke up and my little lad was sick so took him to clinic and this caused a dilemma. We were scheduled to stay at hotel on Friday night but I was concerned about getting ill so my wife and kid stayed at our friends and I moved to the hotel which is just across the road from Hobie Beach. Was difficult without my family but IM was now the focus. They eventually joined me on the Saturday afternoon but by now I had a scratchy throat and was fearing the worst, however no way was I not going to take the start.

Sunday morning came and I was on the beach to greet the sunrise with thousands of fellow competitors and spectators. A magical moment just reflecting on it. What a privilege it is to be part of that and being able to do this. I am blessed to have a body that can more or less do this and the resources to do it.  I was strangely quite calm, I knew I could do this as long as I stuck to my plan which was to take an easy swim, easy cycle and push on the run. The only thing that could stop me was a serious mechanical failure on the bike or some unforeseen mishap. They played the national anthem and the moment got to me…I had to hold back the tears..ironmen don’t cry. It was an amazing experience. Pretty soon the pro’s got going then the young men wave and pretty soon us oldies and ladies were under starters orders.

The cannon went off and I made my way to the water gingerly letting the eager run and jump and waste energy. I got into a nice rhythm and by the half way mark had pretty much overtaken all the people in my wave and by 2000 metres prolly overtaken most of the wave ahead of me too. Water was choppy but having trained in the sea a lot in December this was no problem. Excited the water in under an hour and spent a bit of time in the shower. Crossed the mat in 1:01. First in age group at this point. Had I not buggered around in the shower I could of recorded a time of less than 1 hour but comfort is key in these long races so wanted to get rid of the sea water. My decision was to strip completely and put on my proper cycling kit so did this wearing my normal bib and jersey. (shorter tri’s I save time in transition by wearing tri shorts throughout.

Got on the bicycle and cycled up Walmer Boulevard, pretty uneventful really. Loved the crowds and the patience of the traffic (very unlike JHB events where ppl threaten cops and the like) . Finished the first lap comfortable in 3:20 or so. Felt strong but made a decision to stop at the 120km mark (at the water point) to stretch, regroup and sort a couple of things out, I was carrying a lot of rubbish at this point which I had not disposed of so I took a stop. Spent 5 minutes chatting , had a lot of liquids, a bit to eat and got on my way again. Around Maitland and back to the bottom of Seaview. The wind had picked up a bit but manageable. It was frustrating more than anything and it is relentless but with cycling you need patience, so long as the wheels are turning you will eventually get to where you need to be. Took another stop at 165km’s to stretch and regroup. These stops were pre planned and became an integral part of the cycle leg. A moment to reflect and stretch. Finished the cycle in 7:20 or thereabouts and 54th in category. Felt good and this was the first time I had ever cycled 180km’s, the most prior to this was 150.

At this point I was 8:45 into the race and felt pretty good, I had hooked up with a mate of mine in transition and the idea was to run together. My initial estimate of 14 hours was on with the possibility of a sub 14 on the cards. Within 2 km’s I realized I was in trouble. My knee got niggly again and I decided to slow down. I told my mate I am in for the long haul here so please carry on I will see you later. At 4 km’s another issue cropped up. I had made a real rookie mistake in transition. I had packed a pair of my normal thin running socks and a pair of thicker socks I got in my dischem 21 goodie bag. I opted for the thicker pair which was a huge error. By 5 km’s my feet were on fire and I could feel blisters were coming on. The run became hellish. I was reduced to walking with sore knee and feet but no way was I going to stop. Its soul destroying walking past a board that says 5km,19km,33km knowing you have 37 km’s to go. The crowd however were amazing and motivational. The main drag of PE accounts for a 4km stretch that you run up and down (i.e. 8 km’s) then you run up to the university turn left and join the bottom of marine parade drive taking you back to the 4km stretch. This 6 km stretch has very little crowd and it becomes a daunting place. Over and above this with my speed it was taking me an hour to get through this section. The only ray of light was the water point on this section, a beacon of light in a miserable place. Over and above this people were puking and reality sets in at this point. By now I was 10:30 into a race which I knew was going to take me a lot longer than envisaged. There was no way I was giving up though so sore feet, sore knee I don’t care…they carry me off this course or I finish…that simple.

I ate well, drank well. Body was fine, heart rate was good but seeing as I was mostly walking no reason it should not be. Was finding it difficult to swallow as I had picked up the bug from my son but absolutely no way was I going to stop. I saw the concern in my wifes eyes but sometimes a man has to do what a man has to do. My pace was declining all the time as my feet became more sore. Eventually I was on my last lap and told my wife I would finish around 11pm. By now most of the field had overtaken me so it became pretty lonely in the university section. But realizing I had 7…then 6 then 5 kays to go was a mood lifter. I stopped at the water point 2 kays from the end and had a chat to the people there. I needed to regroup and smile a bit. Carried on and was encouraged all along the route. 200 metres from the end some guy came up to me and talked to me saying how well I had done and the end was just around the corner. The tears welled up. I hobbled around the corner and onto the red carpet …saw my wife and started crying, she started crying an Paul in good humour mentioned this to the world. A real special moment as I crossed the line in tears. Jodie Swallow gave me a hug and a kiss and medal. Damn that medal meant so much to me. ( I did not know it was her until my wife told me later) 16:22 … a slog of note towards the end. The greatest physical achievement of my life by a long long way. This is not twice as hard as a ultra distance triathlon its 4 times more difficult I reckon.

I went for a massage, got my shirt and then started shivering uncontrollably so checked in the medical tent where my vital signs were checked and kept warm for 20 minutes or so. Hobbled to my hotel room.

As I write this, 48 hours after the start I am overlooking Hobie beach. The start of a new day which looks like its going to be a beauty. My feet have blisters, I am still hobbling along and will do for another day or 3. When I finished I told my wife never again…. However now it’s a maybe. I have unfinished business with Ironman…I reckon I have a sub 14 in me so possibly will enter for 2016. Also I would like to be a volunteer for IM at some point or a spectator. This is a magical event, absolutely magical. The human body is an amazing instrument we just don’t always realise this. I ended 95th in category (out of 154 – there were a number of drop outs, missed cut offs and no shows) which is around the 70th percentile and around the 75th percentile out of all entrants. Not unhappy with this and funny enough more or less where I saw myself ending but I thought 14 hours would be the 75th percentile in group.

In closing , I have to thank my lovely patient wife who has put up with the training time needed and the incessant talking about ironman all the time. My friends for still being my friends even though I was a bore and went to bed most nights at 8pm thus declining invites to parties and functions etc. Then to people that helped me along the way, fellow forumites who imparted valuable information, people at gym who began to realise I was training for this and gave me advice and my family. No one ever told me I would not make it. The volunteers and PE crowds deserve a special mention , damn you guys were superb. Ironman is special, if you thinking of doing it, enter and go for it but before you do, understand that its going to take over your life so understand the commitment. Ironman is tough, don’t underestimate it, but the training and the year leading up to it is by far tougher. Damn its an amazing event.

Thanks for taking the time to read this far, its by far the longest post I have ever written however I needed to write this as a way of expressing myself and putting my experience on paper. Its therapeutic in a weird way. 13 months of complete dedication to this leaves me feeling a little bit “post partum blues” like. So writing this has helped me. Few people understand this journey but damn it’s a good one.

 

Edit: forgot to add...I now weigh around 90kilos , heart rate of 38. The last 13 months have seen amazing changes in this old body.

I would really like to have a cup of coffee with you and talk about your whole training experience. I am so keen to do iron man but also petrified?

[word]

My journey started in January 2013, unbeknown to me at the time. The company I work for sent out an email to get a team together for the Midmar mile event. I replied nervously that I was keen and set about swimming. I swam 5 practice miles before midmar and then swam midmar in 39:58. I enjoyed swimming so joined the local Virgin Active and swam through the winter of 2013. My sister and brother in law were keen triathletes at this stage and encouraged me to look at triathlons so in August 2013 I entered the Germiston 5150. At this point I had no kit, never rode a bicycle much less owned one and no takkies suitable for running in. I delayed these purchases until we got back from a trip to England on 1 September 2013. Bought a second hand bicycle which was the wrong size and the most expensive takkies I could at Mr Price sports. Both purchases were in fact wasteful due to my ignorance.  At this point I weighed 105 kg’s, Heart rate of 68, normal blood pressure etc. The tri was in early November so I had 2 months to train and went about training. Did a sprint tri end of September at Klein Kariba and enjoyed the experience. Completed the tri thinking I was going to now sell the bicycle and go back to open water swimming only however the bug bit and I entered the Midlands Ultra in March 2014.

March 2014 came along, started the midlands ultra but underestimated the cycle (at this point I had only cycled 800km’s in total) and this caught up with me in the run leg. I cramped severely and walked off the course with only 7 kays left to the end. That night while drinking a beer I made the rash decision to enter IronMan 2015 and committed to entering the minute the entries opened which I duly did in April 2014. Started doing research and realized that my bike was not right and bought a beautiful Cervelo (damn I love that bike) and due to pain when running realized my takkies were not right so went to Sweat shop and got kitted out right. This was an expensive exercise however had I been a little cleverer the first time around I could of saved myself loads of money. I made the decision to do this as basic as possible, no coaching just my own devised program and worked through the winter of 2014 (no easy thing for a couch potato waking up at 4AM) to get some sort of base fitness in place. I entered cycling events and half marathons with the view of running a full marathon in Jan of 2015. I also did a lot of open water swimming where my strength lies. At the Sun City cycle event in August I had a serious accident when some guy fell in the peleton taking me down to and half the peleton. The carnage on the road was like a war zone. Anyway fortunately bike was not totaled but wheels were, so more $$ needed on wheels. (expensive sport this). Still have the scars on left wrist from this and will have them forever. (chicks dig scars)

Entered and completed the TriRock Durban event in under 6 hours so my training was on song, I did the 5150 in Germiston lake nearly an hour faster than the previous year and this all spurred me on to train better, harder , faster. I persuaded my lovely wife to take our annual holiday in PE in Dec 2014 so I could scope the lie of the IronMan land. While on holiday I swam the course a number of times, ran most of the run route that I could and drove the cycle route. The cycle route has had its critics but I reckon it’s a pretty cool route. 1600 metres of elevation aint really the problem, after all, this is IronMan but the wind if blowing from the east becomes frustrating. But easterly winds are less likely than Westerly winds. West is best for IM. I spent most of my training rides in the cradle so elevation training is the norm really. (we are really blessed to have the cradle as a training ground)

My training was pretty uneventful really, I had no injuries to speak of however I must say most of my training was low intensity distance stuff. I purposefully chose this due to years of playing competitive squash in my youth which pretty much buggered up my knees and ankles so I had to take it easy. I decided to not run a marathon so as to not risk getting injured. I was already doing things I never thought possible.

Entered and completed Trirock Cradle and Midlands Ultra. Trirock I found relatively easy but battled at Midlands on the run, just could not get running. Days counted down and soon we were prepping for PE. I completed my last long run by running around the cradle and the following week a long cycle in the cradle. It was during the cycle that I picked up a knee niggle that concerned me however I treated it with anti inflammatories the week of IM. Drove down to PE , stayed over at my mates place (thanks Digby) on Thursday night. Friday morning woke up and my little lad was sick so took him to clinic and this caused a dilemma. We were scheduled to stay at hotel on Friday night but I was concerned about getting ill so my wife and kid stayed at our friends and I moved to the hotel which is just across the road from Hobie Beach. Was difficult without my family but IM was now the focus. They eventually joined me on the Saturday afternoon but by now I had a scratchy throat and was fearing the worst, however no way was I not going to take the start.

Sunday morning came and I was on the beach to greet the sunrise with thousands of fellow competitors and spectators. A magical moment just reflecting on it. What a privilege it is to be part of that and being able to do this. I am blessed to have a body that can more or less do this and the resources to do it.  I was strangely quite calm, I knew I could do this as long as I stuck to my plan which was to take an easy swim, easy cycle and push on the run. The only thing that could stop me was a serious mechanical failure on the bike or some unforeseen mishap. They played the national anthem and the moment got to me…I had to hold back the tears..ironmen don’t cry. It was an amazing experience. Pretty soon the pro’s got going then the young men wave and pretty soon us oldies and ladies were under starters orders.

The cannon went off and I made my way to the water gingerly letting the eager run and jump and waste energy. I got into a nice rhythm and by the half way mark had pretty much overtaken all the people in my wave and by 2000 metres prolly overtaken most of the wave ahead of me too. Water was choppy but having trained in the sea a lot in December this was no problem. Excited the water in under an hour and spent a bit of time in the shower. Crossed the mat in 1:01. First in age group at this point. Had I not buggered around in the shower I could of recorded a time of less than 1 hour but comfort is key in these long races so wanted to get rid of the sea water. My decision was to strip completely and put on my proper cycling kit so did this wearing my normal bib and jersey. (shorter tri’s I save time in transition by wearing tri shorts throughout.

Got on the bicycle and cycled up Walmer Boulevard, pretty uneventful really. Loved the crowds and the patience of the traffic (very unlike JHB events where ppl threaten cops and the like) . Finished the first lap comfortable in 3:20 or so. Felt strong but made a decision to stop at the 120km mark (at the water point) to stretch, regroup and sort a couple of things out, I was carrying a lot of rubbish at this point which I had not disposed of so I took a stop. Spent 5 minutes chatting , had a lot of liquids, a bit to eat and got on my way again. Around Maitland and back to the bottom of Seaview. The wind had picked up a bit but manageable. It was frustrating more than anything and it is relentless but with cycling you need patience, so long as the wheels are turning you will eventually get to where you need to be. Took another stop at 165km’s to stretch and regroup. These stops were pre planned and became an integral part of the cycle leg. A moment to reflect and stretch. Finished the cycle in 7:20 or thereabouts and 54th in category. Felt good and this was the first time I had ever cycled 180km’s, the most prior to this was 150.

At this point I was 8:45 into the race and felt pretty good, I had hooked up with a mate of mine in transition and the idea was to run together. My initial estimate of 14 hours was on with the possibility of a sub 14 on the cards. Within 2 km’s I realized I was in trouble. My knee got niggly again and I decided to slow down. I told my mate I am in for the long haul here so please carry on I will see you later. At 4 km’s another issue cropped up. I had made a real rookie mistake in transition. I had packed a pair of my normal thin running socks and a pair of thicker socks I got in my dischem 21 goodie bag. I opted for the thicker pair which was a huge error. By 5 km’s my feet were on fire and I could feel blisters were coming on. The run became hellish. I was reduced to walking with sore knee and feet but no way was I going to stop. Its soul destroying walking past a board that says 5km,19km,33km knowing you have 37 km’s to go. The crowd however were amazing and motivational. The main drag of PE accounts for a 4km stretch that you run up and down (i.e. 8 km’s) then you run up to the university turn left and join the bottom of marine parade drive taking you back to the 4km stretch. This 6 km stretch has very little crowd and it becomes a daunting place. Over and above this with my speed it was taking me an hour to get through this section. The only ray of light was the water point on this section, a beacon of light in a miserable place. Over and above this people were puking and reality sets in at this point. By now I was 10:30 into a race which I knew was going to take me a lot longer than envisaged. There was no way I was giving up though so sore feet, sore knee I don’t care…they carry me off this course or I finish…that simple.

I ate well, drank well. Body was fine, heart rate was good but seeing as I was mostly walking no reason it should not be. Was finding it difficult to swallow as I had picked up the bug from my son but absolutely no way was I going to stop. I saw the concern in my wifes eyes but sometimes a man has to do what a man has to do. My pace was declining all the time as my feet became more sore. Eventually I was on my last lap and told my wife I would finish around 11pm. By now most of the field had overtaken me so it became pretty lonely in the university section. But realizing I had 7…then 6 then 5 kays to go was a mood lifter. I stopped at the water point 2 kays from the end and had a chat to the people there. I needed to regroup and smile a bit. Carried on and was encouraged all along the route. 200 metres from the end some guy came up to me and talked to me saying how well I had done and the end was just around the corner. The tears welled up. I hobbled around the corner and onto the red carpet …saw my wife and started crying, she started crying an Paul in good humour mentioned this to the world. A real special moment as I crossed the line in tears. Jodie Swallow gave me a hug and a kiss and medal. Damn that medal meant so much to me. ( I did not know it was her until my wife told me later) 16:22 … a slog of note towards the end. The greatest physical achievement of my life by a long long way. This is not twice as hard as a ultra distance triathlon its 4 times more difficult I reckon.

I went for a massage, got my shirt and then started shivering uncontrollably so checked in the medical tent where my vital signs were checked and kept warm for 20 minutes or so. Hobbled to my hotel room.

As I write this, 48 hours after the start I am overlooking Hobie beach. The start of a new day which looks like its going to be a beauty. My feet have blisters, I am still hobbling along and will do for another day or 3. When I finished I told my wife never again…. However now it’s a maybe. I have unfinished business with Ironman…I reckon I have a sub 14 in me so possibly will enter for 2016. Also I would like to be a volunteer for IM at some point or a spectator. This is a magical event, absolutely magical. The human body is an amazing instrument we just don’t always realise this. I ended 95th in category (out of 154 – there were a number of drop outs, missed cut offs and no shows) which is around the 70th percentile and around the 75th percentile out of all entrants. Not unhappy with this and funny enough more or less where I saw myself ending but I thought 14 hours would be the 75th percentile in group.

In closing , I have to thank my lovely patient wife who has put up with the training time needed and the incessant talking about ironman all the time. My friends for still being my friends even though I was a bore and went to bed most nights at 8pm thus declining invites to parties and functions etc. Then to people that helped me along the way, fellow forumites who imparted valuable information, people at gym who began to realise I was training for this and gave me advice and my family. No one ever told me I would not make it. The volunteers and PE crowds deserve a special mention , damn you guys were superb. Ironman is special, if you thinking of doing it, enter and go for it but before you do, understand that its going to take over your life so understand the commitment. Ironman is tough, don’t underestimate it, but the training and the year leading up to it is by far tougher. Damn its an amazing event.

Thanks for taking the time to read this far, its by far the longest post I have ever written however I needed to write this as a way of expressing myself and putting my experience on paper. Its therapeutic in a weird way. 13 months of complete dedication to this leaves me feeling a little bit “post partum blues” like. So writing this has helped me. Few people understand this journey but damn it’s a good one.

 

Edit: forgot to add...I now weigh around 90kilos , heart rate of 38. The last 13 months have seen amazing changes in this old body.

 

Awesome post. You left out one thing though - how old is your old body?

[JasonS]

My journey started in January 2013, unbeknown to me at the time. The company I work for sent out an email to get a team together for the Midmar mile event. I replied nervously that I was keen and set about swimming. I swam 5 practice miles before midmar and then swam midmar in 39:58. I enjoyed swimming so joined the local Virgin Active and swam through the winter of 2013. My sister and brother in law were keen triathletes at this stage and encouraged me to look at triathlons so in August 2013 I entered the Germiston 5150. At this point I had no kit, never rode a bicycle much less owned one and no takkies suitable for running in. I delayed these purchases until we got back from a trip to England on 1 September 2013. Bought a second hand bicycle which was the wrong size and the most expensive takkies I could at Mr Price sports. Both purchases were in fact wasteful due to my ” like. So writing this has helped me. Few people understand this journey but damn it’s a good one.

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Edit: forgot to add...I now weigh around 90kilos , heart rate of 38. The last 13 months have seen amazing changes in this old body.

 

Awesome writing IceCreamMan, had my eyes welling up. Congrats.