Race Report Ironman 70.3 South Africa 2013

What does a DNF mean? It's the type of question that sends chills down an athletes spine. It grates rather than strokes. It's like someone slowly glides a pumice stone across a sensitive part of your skin, uncomfortable and barely tolerable - It basically sucks.. On the positive side it teaches many lessons and if handled correctly it motivates you to improve. Improve your training, your race conditioning, pre-race prep, mental approach and all the little extra things that can help make up the difference between being race cannon fodder or a podium taker.

In hindsight I had a decent if not ideal build up to +Ironman South Africa 70.3. My season, of predominantly sprint racing, high intensity yet mainly low volume training and an Olympic distance race left me fast and fit but probably missing out on that fat juicy aerobic base endurance at the bottom of the pyramid (refer to my quintessential or 'ne plus ultra' in training wisdom - Arthur Lydiard). As well as strength endurance and muscular conditioning mainly on the bike. I was disappointingly 4th place overall in the BSG Tri Series after contending for 2nd spot before the last race and was also a solid 2nd at the Jhb City Tri Series. Highlights were an improving swim over the course of the season and several fastest run splits ranging from a 14:30 5km (probably a tad short in distance) and a low 30' 10km after a solid 40km non draft bike. But in triathlon, as we know, fastest run splits or bike or swims, mean nothing if you're not on the top step of the podium after the race...

My training, although inconsistent, was particularly focused on a few key training session and 'go to' workouts. I will take this approach into 2013, together with more consistency, and build on this by increasing the regularity of my key training sessions 'book ended' by solid base/strength endurance type miles. This won't be easy and the risk of injury quite high but the confidence one gets from completing race pace and over-race pace sessions is 'almost' like winning a race before you even arrive at the start line. I've never admired arrogance as a personality trait but absolute belief in oneself and high self confidence together with the humility to never give up are certainly admirable. I certainly believe confidence is a key cornerstone in preparing for a race.

Session highlights (for those of you who enjoy comparing and analysing numbers) of 40x50m swim sprints @40', bike motorpacing (too short in hindsight) with solid 300-350 plus watt output (you are welcome to follow me on Strava to see my routes, TT segments and more numbers!), hilly cross-country/trail brick runs of +15kms at a comfortable 4'/min and below pace and a track brick run (inspired by Craig Alexander - think his bike was harder before but his fastest mile was 5:16 - I had to go +-4:50) of 4x1mile repeats/4x800m/4x400m ranging between 2:36-3:15'/km pace gave me great confidence particularly with the third and last discipline. What I lacked in consistent solid strength endurance miles on the bike, I would make up for in sheer determination and previous race and base miles and experience - a cretinous oversight...

My race went according to plan up to T1. I managed a great swim start from the run in off the beach and although the bunch was split up with competitors swimming quite wide to the first buoy, we soon settled into a workable bunch. +Lucie (Zelenkova) Reed on +Jodie Swallow 's feet came by me on the right just after the first buoy so I jumped on her draft knowing that this would be a reliable pull as they are both world class swimmers in Triathlon. I heard James Cunnama swims on her feet in training too so I felt little embarrassment drafting them! 

I lost Lucie's feet shortly thereafter as the group split into two again and my attention turned to +Ronnie Schildknecht who had come up on my left. I decided to stick with him for the rest of the swim as he was one of the strongest bikers out there and I'd try use him to pace myself on the bike. We swam together for the rest of the swim with most of the top finishers including +bart aernouts , +cyril viennot ,  and local triathletes +Travis Johnston +freddy lampret . I wasn't aware that a second group had gone off the front including fast swimmer +marko alberts together with +mark threfall, +axel zeebrok and +will clark. There must have been another group with +kent horner, +steven bayliss and ex world champ Tim Don as well as Jodie Swallow just after them.

Swim exit

23:43 was the fastest swim split by Marko with three companions in tow. The next mini group were at +-25:00 and then my main group at 26:30 and above. Running up onto the beach was pedestrian as I began to cramp in my hamstrings (yup I don't kick when I swim!). I started to lose time up the steep ramp into transition. Most of the guys were clipping on helmets when I sat down to 'assault' my wetsuit off. Unlike a Boss and more like a rookie I also lost time in the maze of bikes between me and bike rack 1-15.

T1 Bike Start

 

Bike leg - first corner after esplanade stretch

Heading out onto the bike course, I knew I had to 'put the hammer down' to regain some time, but the first 10kms or so didn't go too 'hammering-ly'. It took me a while to 'feel my legs' again after the swim and the cramping episode and eventually when I caught up to Lucie on the first hill up on the N2 highway I knew I had lost more time. Luc told me Travis and Freddy were just ahead, which I was aware of, and although I tried to bury myself catching them, my power numbers on my SRM weren't looking good. By the time +Gerhard DeBruin caught up to me I was becoming frustrated so I decided to hang on, no matter what. 

The risk in this, is that you forget about your own pacing and are dictated to by someone else's intensity and speed. Pyschologically though, it is often easier, if the competitor is of similar ability or slightly better, as you then worry less about yourself and pacing, and 'merely' focus on the simple task of maintaining the draft gap. This is often why you see long 'draft' lines at many Ironman races all over the world and especially at Kona (Ironman World Champs). Pro's are begining to play cat and mouse games just like pro cyclists do in the peleton and breakways of top cycling races.

My power numbers began to surge as I doggedly hung on to my new pace. 280 to 320 watts but then peaking for several seconds at 420-450watts on each rolling hill. Gerhards bike time of 2:28 odd bears testimony to my belief that he went too fast on the first leg, and each little surge he put in on every other hill was going to hurt later. I think he would have gone much faster if he had conserved and paced better in the beginning. He has certainly improved his biking and I struggled to hold on for a while. Eventually once we caught up to Jodie (first lady in front) he managed to slip away while I took my time in getting past. After the turn point, the route back to T2 is predominantly downhill so I was looking forward to a smoother ride in, this didn't happen.

Bike leg - catching 1st Lady

Bike leg - and then trying to pass quickly;)

My legs started to 'leaden up' and become heavier. I was increasingly uncomfortable on the bike. An annoying saddle sore which I had picked up in the last 3 weeks of training was beginning to flare so I had to keep adjusting my position on the saddle. Sounds like another excuse, I know, but these small challenges seem to add up and multiply when you are alone on a bike course and the odds are against you. When +Victor Debil-Caux caught up to me I was on my last legs. The lack of strength specific training and my previous surges earlier were beginning to tell and somewhere near the 60km mark my hip and gluteus muscles began to tighten. This tightening up became so severe that when I eventually stopped to try stretch them out I actually couldn't dismount my bike. I spent a few minutes trying to walk it out and when I re mounted to try continue I just couldn't put any pressure down.

I don't want to bore you with my 'adventures' in my 3 hours in the sweep vehicle so I won't. Between helping several 'walking wounded' and other severely dehyrdrated athletes, it isn't the best place to spend your time, but I'm thankful the sweep is out there. Unnawares to me, the back of the race course looks very different to the front. Not pleasant. But kudos to the many brave warriors out there who mostly complete this race on very minor training between work and family commitments. And better luck next year to my fellow sweep vehicle seat warmers - lessons learnt and challenges will be overcome!

Well done to Bart and Jodie for taking the male/female wins. Bart had a phenomenal bike split to stay ahead of Ronnie and then to continue to dominate on the run. Impressive indeed. A mention to Tim Don too for an impressive half ironman distance performance - looks like he will be a contender in the near future. A special mention to my girlfriend Nina Mayer too - her first official 70.3 Ironman on less than 1 month training, in between bike crashes, sickness and moving house, an impressive 6:30 indeed!

On a sad note, condolences to the families and friends of the two triathletes who passed during the swim leg. I only found out after returning much later from the sweep vehicle and I am still shocked. This certainly is a first for me in my career and just emphasizes the need for improved discussion, better involvement of all athletes in race preparation and the improved sharing of knowledge for a major endurance event like this. And with Ironman coming up, I hope athletes, trainers, coaches, Doctors etc all err on the side of conservatism and caution in advising Ironman competitors.

It's back to the training grindstone for me and I'm hoping to make amends for this little negative blip on my 2013 race calendar. I'll be posting my new race calendar shortly and hopefully I'll see a lot of you at the next few races here locally.

Hope you enjoyed reading my blog and please mail me any questions or training advice you may have - I love to over analyse triathlon ;)