2018 Ironman 70.3 World Champs

[Wil6]

Congrats Shaper. 

 

But man what a race by the men. My jaw dropped when Jan started upping the pace to 2:50/km to leave Gomez behind,

[Chris_]

Well done Shaper! Good job vasbyt'ing, really good run time.

 

And awesome job @ndy, sub 5! that's the business 

 

nice one guys

[IceCreamMan]

Nice one gents , quality field for sure just looking at the times and positions in the field. Damn i woulda been stone last and then some.

[HDW]

Congrats Shaper. 

 

But man what a race by the men. My jaw dropped when Jan started upping the pace to 2:50/km to leave Gomez behind,

 

Goosebumps

[amr63]

Well done @ndy...

 

[shaper]

Congrats and well done @ndy!!

[Rick Sanchez]

Well done guys   
Mind sharing where you got your training programs from? 

[Foxbat]

Not so well done.... am broken after today's race which is unusual for me! But I knew today was going to be a long day and a sub 5:30 (my goal) highly unlikely.

 

Apart from the conditions which was not what was hoping for, made the race particularly tough.  The better conditions were early morning and if you had one, the wind was in your favour. Being a tailwind on both the out and back.

 

In a brief race report, my day did not start well, woke early also with a stomach bug and had been to the loo 5 times before we hit the beach.  My start time was at 9am and there was an easterly blowing which made the swim choppy, great for the pro's who had started at 7:30am.  The chop made it difficult to sight and found my swim wandering, so not a great swim I felt.

 

By the time I was on the bike that easterly wind had become a westerly, so headwind all the way to the turn around, but was struggling to put any power down on the cycle, am guessing the stomach bug played it's part.  At least I could look forward to a tailwind on the home leg, but alas the wind turned again and had another headwind all the way back and to add insult to injury the odd rain shower made sure I knew the weather was around!!

 

In April I did the first part of the bike leg in 2:50, so was looking for a better time.... was not to be and was happy to be off the bike.... but apprehensive how the legs would be on the run!!

 

In the run up to worlds I injured my soleus calf muscle and had intensive physio and laid off running until yesterday, the run went well but was concerned that my achilles were really tight and mentioned this on the cyclist with a running problem thread.

 

Anyway I set out on the run at my race pace and would monitor how it went, actually felt good until the 3km mark, when got a stomach cramp... at which point I thought the run would become a mission, the cramp passed so decided just to run, it's worlds, so go for it!!  Fortunately the cramps only happened 3 other times and each time passed quickly.... so was able to stick to race pace and was happy with my time!!

 

Was surprised that I manage to get fairly close to my 5:30 time and can't say the run was that pleasant in the rain, or trying to huddle in any shelter post race to get out of the torrential rain!!

 

All in all one of my toughest race and the body is feeling every km of the 70.3.  A lot learnt and plenty to take away..... and also to ponder!!

 

At least I can be happy to say am a Ironman 70.3 World Championship FINISHER 

Well done Shaper, I must add that I was the last wave 9h28. We definitely had the worst of the conditions but I suppose its the same for the whole age group. Being a local and have been able to ride that course a lot I found it extremely tough yesterday. Biked 5 minutes slower than I would have liked to even though I was pushing harder watts.

[shaper]

Well done Shaper, I must add that I was the last wave 9h28. We definitely had the worst of the conditions but I suppose its the same for the whole age group. Being a local and have been able to ride that course a lot I found it extremely tough yesterday. Biked 5 minutes slower than I would have liked to even though I was pushing harder watts.

Ya was a tough day in parts, definitely you had the better of it if you were off early with your wave batch.  Great race and experience though for not only the race but the whole weekend and vibe!!

 

Congrats too!!

[shaper]

Was great to see the Pro's mingling with the age group athletes and posing for pictures and chatting at the Champions banquet dinner.  

 

As the Champions, was nice to see Daniela and Jan give speeches and not only applaud their fellow pro's for pushing them but also for the age group athletes making what the Championship is all about !! 

[Chris_]

how was that 90km bike loop compared to the ironman one?

[gummibear]

Congrats to all the athletes that finished [emoji106]

[@ndy]

My race went better than I could have hoped for. My start was shortly after the pro’s at about 7:42. The water was pretty calm with not much chop the water was beautifully clear and it was easy to get into a good rhythm. Starting in the age group batch was great Even though as usual I couldn’t get forward enough to start with other swimmers of a similar pace I still had a rough idea of where I was placed.

 

Transition 1 went well and I was quickly settled into the bike course. It was a bit cold and we had some light rain along the way but no wind. I hadn’t used my visor before in rain and was relieved I could still see clearly. The drafting wasn’t as bad as I’ve experienced in other races but there were some big groups about at the beginning. For the most part I was able to work with other riders keeping the 6 bike length limit. It was amazing to see Jan, Javier, Alistair and the others riding back in the first bunch all surrounded by the official vehicles. The extra distance compared to the usual full IM course before the turn had a fair bit of climbing and the descents were pretty wild especially with very wet roads. I got back onto marine drive just in time to see Jan, Alistair and Javier with about 5 km to go.

 

As usual PE was in great form on the run course despite the weather. It was pretty good running conditions and I just soaked it all up. It’s the first time I used my new watch in a race and the first time I knew exactly what my time was so I could enjoy the last few km’s knowing I had bettered my overall PB. Iit was awesome to see the weather hold out almost perfectly as when the last guys were coming in the rain really came down hard.

[@ndy]

Well done guys   

Mind sharing where you got your training programs from?

 

Hi Rick, I Use Dinamic coaching for my programs. I started with them two years ago and together we have taken nearly 35 minutes off my 70.3 PB. They are a great bunch.

[@ndy]

how was that 90km bike loop compared to the ironman one?

It was hilly but quite smooth. Very scenic too. I drove along the route on my way out and took this photo of the beach from where we rode inland a bit before the turn

[Christian van Zyl]

My moment with the champ... What a great guy. 

#Wahooligan