Race Reports: October 2016

Sunday, October 16, 2016

IRONMAN TEXAS - Woodlands 2016

IRONMAN TEXAS

NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP

WOODLANDS TEXAS, 14 MAY 2016

THE SHORT VERSION:

Swim was good. Went with the wetsuit. Swam as straight as I could and had no incidents.

Time : 1:12:23

Bike was okay. Very twisty. And short. 95 miles instead of 112.

Time: 5:04:52. Pretty pleased with it considering the 83 turns we had to take.

Run was eventful. 4:35 moving time, 5:20 elapsed as we had to stop for 45 minutes due to a thunderstorm. This is my first IM run where I didn't walk other than the aid stations. Pity about the rain but what can you do.

11:50 gun time, 11:05 moving time. Roughly adjusted to something over 12 because of the 17 miles missing on the bike course.

All in all a tough day but probably easier being a participant than an organizer.

THE LONG VERSION (hide your wife, hide your kids)

Daaaaaamn! What a friggen sh*t show that was.

Up until 22km in the run I thought I'd have nothing to write about :) . So let's start at the very beginning (a very good place to start)

The pre race drama:

As many of you may know, the organizers had a nightmare putting the bike course together with residents on one section of the course telling IM to F-off and go elsewhere. Some recent flooding added to the misery. There was a real danger of the whole race being cancelled, but the organizers patched together a course with the help of a neighboring county. (All be it 17 short of 112 miles)

They gave some deferral options but Conrad was sick of training so we decided to stick with the race.

MYSELF, CONRAD AND JEFF AFTER BIKE CHECK IN

The swim:

The course changed last minute due to water contamination in the canal section. Worked out well though, the final course was perfect. This also meant a change in where T1 would be.

The swim was wetsuit optional-and having learnt my lesson from Boulder I took that option. Wetsuiters started at the back. I thought this might be an issue having to navigate through the back of the non wetsuit pack, but I underestimated how easy it is to swim past people when you have the buoyancy of a beach ball. Now I no how the strong swimmers like Mars and McFarland feel when they swim past my sorry ass back home.

I took an inside line and swam mostly on my own in clear water. I passed maybe a 1000 people and didn't get hit once. Only Jesus could have done better.

1:12 easy breezy. Transition in and out.

The bike course wasn't too bad considering the hurdles. I felt bad for the cars backed up for miles. There were two accidents. I saw the one, a 3 car pile up, it was bad. I felt beastly on the bike in the first half and dialed it back. Chris passed me 40 miles in. No sign of Conrad. Drank a ton of orange Gatorade ( just writing about it makes me wanna puke ) and peed FOUR TIMES on the bike. You wanna hear about it? Didn't think so.

T2.

Looooong run to the bikes.

The run:

Pretty boring so far right?

(I blame the following events on all the cry babies complaining about how hot it was)

I paced myself easy, having finally learnt my lesson from blowing up in so many previous races. Conrad cruised by me 5k in or so. We chatted a bit but I had to tell him to get on with it. Lazy git.

On my second loop Jeff rolled up next to me. He was having a nightmare of a day (a race report on its own). I managed to stick with him pretty easily as he was taking in the sights and smells of the available porta potties. At about 21k it started to rain. At 22 the lightning started. At 25 it was a hurricane.

check it out

At one of the timing mats they told us to get off the course and seek shelter. We were told that the clocks would be stopped.

(They lied!)

So Jeff and I huddled on the porch of some country club house along with a hundred other happy campers. Some people carried on, ignoring the threats of a DQ from officials (and risking electrocution)

OUR SHELTER FROM THE RAIN. It was clearing up at this point but we found out later that the finish line had been blown down so they made us wait longer.

Jeff went hypothermic and my teeth were starting to chatter. 45 minutes later they told us we could keep going. If you've ever run then stopped you know what it's like.

By that stage Jeff was white. I don't know if it was the cold or the state of the porta pottie we had to use. Anyone ever see Trainspotting? Shit everywhere. EVERYWHERE!!!!!

I managed to get my stride back and ploughed on in the rain. Had a sip of some dudes beer; made me feel better. The crazy crowd, who were so fantastic on the first loop, had packed up and left. I made some buddies on the run, shared some stories to pass the time.

Felt good coming in, happy to be done. No cramps, no stopping, no walking except for aid stations. 4:35 moving time on the run. An IM PB for me by a full hour.

The day was a total wash as far as times go. If I had to calculate it worked out to probably a 12:15/12:30 finish assuming I'd be a bit more buggered adding 17 miles to the bike. 11:50 elapsed, 11:05 moving time.

After finishing and picking up our race bags Conrad and I felt that the day wasn't complete. So we walked out bikes and gear 2 miles in the pouring rain back to the hotel. It was a great walk and really made me appreciate the luxuries we take for granted every day of our lives: Food, Water, HOT water, Clean clothes, a roof over our heads, Good friends and........Beer!

It was a disaster of a day but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I did spare a thought for the people who were still out there on the course, some still on their bikes when the rain came. Some still on the first loop of the 3 loop course when we finished.

Thanks Jeff for another great race. Fun times brother. Conrad and Chris - well done chaps - solid.

Also thanks to my training buddies and everyone who tracked the race.

See you guys on the road. Except for Conrad - his bike is probably on ecay by now.

IRONMAN LOUISVILLE - Kentucky 2016

IRONMAN LOUISVILLE

KENTUCKY 2016

You know its time to quit when you don't have the energy to write a decent race report. I took quite a few photos though so, like many of my assignments in school, I'm going to pad this report with graphics.

We arrived in Louisville late Thursday night. I woke up early on Friday morning and went sight seeing.

It wasn't long before the sidewalks started filling up with determined looking athletes.

Everyone walked right past these ladies. I came back after the race but they were gone. No donuts for me :(

After breakfast we went to the IM village to register. While everyone was listening diligently to the race briefing we went and registered - no lines!

I rented a bike - best decision ever.

Later we stopped in at this old school bike store to get some supplies. There was this "cellar" of bikes which was pretty cool.

After lunch I took a walk to the downtown finish area. There were loads of cool buildings, museums and art galleries, as well as some interesting people.....

....like these two guys.

The finish line was set up right in the middle of the downtown restaurant area, only 140.6 miles from the starting line :)

THE RACE

On Saturday the temperature dropped dramatically, and it was windy as hell. Sunday morning was just as cold (47 F / 8 C) but without the wind; which is good because we had to line up fairly early for the swim .

Us in the mile long line. We got in line at about 6:15 and only got into the water 2 hours later.

That was my only complaint for the day.

THE SWIM

Jeff and I hung together for about half of the swim as Jamie ploughed through the rest of the field. It went by quickly and uneventfully. 1h08min - an IM PB swim for me

THE BIKE

The bike course had plenty of ups and downs, but no epic climbs, and not too much wind. In 10 minutes we were out of the city and in the countryside. Maybe if I focused more on the road and less on the surroundings my time would have been better. An acceptable 6h20min

I was cold for the whole ride and it felt great getting off the bike and letting the sun warm my body.

THE RUN

After blowing up in almost every run in the past I decided to take it really easy at the start. I had some stomach issues and made some pit stops, but otherwise I kept the old man shuffle all the way to the end. 5 hours flat, not my best but definitely not my worst. All added up - 12h50min

Jamie crushed the whole race - 11h15min. Unreal first time. Jeff came in 11h30, an amazing time considering his shoulder is screwed and his bike was stuck in one gear for a large portion of the ride.

Jamie, me, Aaron,Jeff, Maggie and Ron after the race (and a hot shower). We stuck around at the finish and had something to eat. We watched the last people coming in - heartbreak for those who just missed the cut.

I went for a long walk the morning after at about 5:30 am. I walked through the IM village and saw about 30 people lined up for the merchandise tent (if you look closely you can see them on the lawn)

The river looks so clean and blue in this pic; its anything but that

This was my 6th and final Ironman. I'm done, for real this time. It's been fun. Something I never thought I would do once, let alone 6 times. I still don't quite understand my motivation. I think Jeff had a lot to do with it.

Thanks you psychopath!

The journey actually began 11 years ago in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Some friends and I were walking to a bar/club up the street from where I lived . We saw these freaks dressed in Lycra stumbling along Beach Road, looking like the survivors of some jazzercise war. I asked one of these Lycra zombies what he was doing. He explained to me what an Ironman is: "Its a 4km swim,...followed by........."

That's where he lost me..

My response was something like : "That's not possible, and even if it is who in their right mind would want to do that? Whats the point?"

THE END

IRONMAN BOULDER - Colorado 2015

Colorado has been on my must-see list for a long time. It didn't take much convincing from Jeff to get me to sign up. The conversation went along the lines of :"Come on, you'll be fit from SA. It'll be easy." During the run at IMSA, I regretted signing up for Boulder and wondered how much of a refund I would get if I pulled out.

"Damn you Jakubiak!" I cried.

Doing Eagleman in June was a good test but I got sick afterwards and it took about 3 weeks off my training. I only managed two 100 mile rides and very little running. This didn't do much for my confidence going in.

So, the game plan was : spend a few days in Breckenridge with Jeff to acclimate and get in some last minute training sessions. Jeff's sisters and their families were there too, along with Mike "The Power" Haus, who was also doing the race.

Dealing with the altitude was a challenge. By the 3rd day I was struggling, completely bonking on a 20 mile bike ride and hanging on to the side of the pool for dear life after Jeff conned Mike and I into doing swim intervals. The ride training was great as we had an endless bike path to train on. In between gulps of thin air, I took in some of the amazing scenery.

Video:Mike and Jeff finishing their run https://youtu.be/Fuuw9c1qwIg

Pic: I bonked on the ride so went and got a coffee while M&J ran. Jeff is crying because I didn't buy him a tea. Boo hoo

Pic: Chillin in the hot tub after a ride

Pic: Goofing with the kids

On Thursday I drove to Boulder, registered, picked up my bike rental (sweet ride), then picked up Jen from the airport. I did a short ride with the boys to check out some of the course and had a dip in the lake behind where we stayed. Getting access to open water was not easy and access to Boulder Reservoir was limited to obscure time slots and a tiny swim area. Luckily for us Mary, our gracious host where Jen and I were staying, had access to Baseline Reservoir ; a resident only private lake.

Pic: our own private pool. Thank you Mary!

RACE DAY

The Swim

The water temp was 78 F so it was not a wetsuit legal swim. This meant you could wear a wetsuit, but you had to start at the back and were not in contention for age group awards. We opted to swim without the suit incase Jeff did well enough to earn a Kona spot. We had a strategy to take turns pulling in the water. It was a great strategy when we practiced it in the lake, but needless to say it failed miserably when 2500 other swimmers were added to the mix.

We lost each other instantly.

Video: Swim start;
https://instagram.com/p/54bMmMQEIf/

By some luck I spotted Jeff half way through the swim when we were both floundering in some clear space. We helped each other along until a swarm of wetsuiters crashed into us. Jeff caught the slip and I fell off. I guess the extra kicking took its toll on my legs. My calves and feet took turns cramping up ( In hindsight I should have suited up) so I cruised the last half a mile, taking in some of the scenery and chillin before the long ride ahead.

The Bike:

The bike course had a northern loop X 2 and a western loop X 1. The first 90 miles went relatively well, a lot of long slow climbs and long fast descents. There were no serious climbs but very little flat riding.

The last 20 miles was a suffer-fest. The wind picked up and so did the gradient. It felt like it would never end.

But the view sure was pretty:

By the time I began the descent into town I started feeling very nauseous. The same as I did while training in Breckenridge, but worse. Headache, stomach cramps and dizziness. My feet were on fire and my ass hurt.

It sucked.

But no cramps! A big silver lining. I parked the bike and made the trek to the transition tent.

I wasn't thinking clearly and couldn't quite figure out how to dress myself. I started packing my bike clothes into my bag BEFORE I took my run gear out. I was a mess. So I sat there and contemplated life before getting my sh*t together and heading out for a little delirious jog.

The Run: (If you can call it that)

The first 5k was misery. My heart was beating out of my chest and just finishing seemed like mission impossible. The first 10k took 90 minutes, and it took a lot of willpower not to go nap under a tree with some of my fellow struggling athletes.

Seeing Jeff powering in the other direction was encouraging and I latched on to a group of guys dressed in green Trisuits running in honor of one of the members brothers who was killed in Afghanistan. I would pass them at the aid stations and they'd catch me back up. The crowd loved these guys and it was uplifting running with them.

Pic: Team Carpe Diem

At about mile 10 I met up with Bob, a home town hero who had cheated death on his road to becoming an Ironman.

Pic: Bob Stromberg

Bob suffered a heart attack during a training run. After open heart surgery and 3 days in a coma Bob came back to life and continued his quest of becoming an Ironman. Truly inspiring. Read about his story here:
http://chomp.uberflip.com/i/115410-spring-2013/0?

We pulled each other along, picking up the pace and skipping the last few aid stations on the way to the finish line.

Finishing was a huge relief and I was so happy. The crowd support the whole day was incredible, like nothing I have ever experienced. Often on the run the cheering numbed the pain in my legs and pushed me along. In some places I felt like a rider in the Tour de France on the Alp d'Huez. (Crawling along with people shouting in your face :)

I would recommend this race to anyone looking for their next challenge.

13 hours and 13 minutes. An IM PB for me and a daytime finish (dusky but still light:)

Thanks go out to:

Jen-my number one fan
Jeff-for your generosity. I don't know why no one likes you, you're not such a bad guy :) and not a bad triathlete either. 10:41. Insane. Check this guy.........

Thank you too to Denise, you're a star.

My swim coach: MF Bill McFarland

My run coach a fat checker: Marius
My cycling coach: Patrick Loughnananananae
My training buddies and tri geeks:

Mike,

Conrad,

Shane,

Ken and the ever growing Flashy Crew,

Trevor and the tri association

and anyone who followed the race and those I've forgotten - Don't hate me.
And Cazz-for those Sunday morning pancakes that keep me going. (And Mikes coffee of course)

PS. If you ask me now if I will ever do another one the answer is no. But hey, I said I'd never do an Ironman, so who knows.

Cheers,
Dale.

Some more pics.....

Just like dad. Colby and Dylan with cousin Ben at the Ironkids race.