The emotion involved when it goes wrong is something you cannot account for. When we put it all on the line and something goes wrong, our emotions may, at times, get the better of us.

But there is really no need to resort to violence, like these two, especially when in cleats.

I realise I owe you all a bit of a breakdown of the week as well as something I want to offer up for a bit more help with the Hawaii Project. So let’s go back a week and look at totals and how it all panned out.

I needed to do a big week. I had to do it WHILE doing a full work week. Contrary to many an opinion, I worked 9am to 4pm every day last week. Some days were less attentive than others, but there was no sleeping all day from home. I apologise in particular for the Wednesday at work, when I was struggling to remember my own name. Day 3 is always the worst. Thankfully, you wake up day 4, fully into the groove.

31 Hours of riding, all below AeT. At times I simply had to drop off the group to maintain the lower intensity if I was riding with others, but for the most part I rode on my own anyway. I rode twice a day on Tuesday through Thursday and rode the mountain bike 4 times during the week as well. I would imagine I could average it out at 30km/h so call it 930km I rode in the week, total, if it had all been on road. Very happy with that. Add to that 5 hours of running, all around 4min-4:20 per kilometer, all around 150HR. I ran every day, in small chunks at lunchtime. On the weekend I upped it a little to run 60min and managed to maintain form, pace and heart rate throughout the week with my running. Total run time was 5 hours, around 70km in total. Swam 3 hours in 4 swims, which equates to about 12km for me.

That was my 39 hours. I had 2 massages and cannot tell you how much I ate, all I can tell you is that it was alot. I dropped 1.5kg it seems, but none of this happened during the actual camp. It has all happened this week. I was 76.5kg going into it and this morning I weighed in at 75kg, which means 1kg left to go before the race, more or less (I don’t get too technical on these things anymore as my body shape is in constant change in the last 18 months and I am just letting it do what it has to do), in order to be where I was in PE in April at 74kg. Any lighter and I may have issues with travel and health and it leaves me with a bit of weight to lose on the day as well, which is allowed.

I wanted to offer a package to someone around my size, shoe size as well (what with extra product lying around) who enjoyed wine and may want to be coached by me for a year. Sounds like a garage sale and it is, of sorts. In total, the entire “lot” is worth R15 000.00 and it includes:

Urban Ninja Bike Kit x 1 (medium bibs + top)
Urban Ninja Tri Kit x 1 (hope you like white – medium)
Kleinhoekkloof Sauvignon Blanc 2009 x 6 – think gooseberries & fresh cut grass over khakibos with a hint of passionfruit
Kleinhoekkloof Merlot Rose 2009 x 6 – turkish delight, cherries and a honey-ish linger on the pallet
Puma Complete Road Racer III size uk 10 (orange baby!)
Puma casual run gear (medium top + shorts)
Rockets Compression Vest size medium
Urban Ninja Cap
Urban Ninja t-shirt
2 tubs of Whasp AminoPro Naartjie
1 bottle of Whasp Gel Blueberry
1 Case of the World’s finest craft beer, Jack Black Beer

Then Jason from Olympic Cycles has come forward to help with an amazing prize, in the form of a full Body Geometry Ergofit worth R800 as well.

Here is an overview:

The full fit manual is available here as well. Thank you Jason.

It’s not all though. I wanted to offer someone my coaching services for an entire year for 2011. This would ideally be for something endurance related, but perhaps the challenge comes for something else. It includes training programs, mental coaching as well as coffee, muffins and the occasional tequila after races. Essentially though, its a slot in the limited slots I have, which are pretty much FULL at the moment, in addition to all that’s offered above.

In total all these items are worth R15 230.00 in total. If I could get R8000.00 – R10 000.00 for all of it, then that would be amazing, which would mean you pay for the coaching and basically the rest is free. I realise this is specific to size 10 shoes and medium kit, but hey, that’s what I have and really its about the Ergofit Fitting, the Coaching and the Booze, right? I am hoping someone will find the value in there and the continued effort that goes into maintaining this platform and come to the party and help me be the fastest age grouper across the double (Ironman Hawaii + Maui Xterra) in 2010.

If you may know someone who would want this sort of package, or who want the cool stuff and you may be a size 10 and medium and they want to give you the gear, then pass along the link on the page.

I really do NOT want this to come across as charity, I believe there is fair value in there and I am not asking for R500.00 for a pasta party or overpriced t-shirts. If you need a breakdown on the value, fill in the contact form on the site and I will mail it to you. If you are interested in buying this package from me, please do the same. I will be most grateful for the contribution to the cause.

Have a superb weekend. I am running the first leg of the Table Mountain Challenge tomorrow for a bit of a lung busting workout the the real 3 week taper starts tomorrow. I am suitably excited and finally starting to feel a bit rested from the 39 hour week. Remember, Assume Nothing, Pursue Everything, Experience Now…

Lastly, Click the SA Blog Awards button, one more time…

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In prep for Ironman I have spoilt myself a little with some new toys. Well, let’s be honest here for just a second, I am being spoilt by my sponsors with new toys for the last racing day of the season.

New kit:

Luma Sports have done up some amazing kit to race in.

New shoes:

Puma have just released the Complete Utopia II, a shoe I am very excited about. Never mind the color that matches…

New nutrition flavor:

Apart from the normal gels and bars I will be using, as well as loads of awesome little pills from Sport-X, I have a new flavor of energy drink I have been playing with.

Blueberry yes yes!

New Suunto:

After Elgin claimed my T6c during Cape Epic, Suunto have come to the party to make sure I don’t overcook the first lap of the bike, and the run…

There is something truly hot on the boil though, and this is all I can say until it arrives at my front door…

I got some new stickers for my wheels and there is rumor that I may actually ride an aero helmet for the race. All in all, I am going to arrive looking like a pro. Ironman athletes are all so aware of what other athletes look like and I may as well employ all scare tactics for the big day out. It’s waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar out there!

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Day 7:

It goes without saying that the day had gloom written all over it, from the get go. We woke up to a cold and threatening-to-be-raining Elgin. The sun was threatening but we heard it was 4 degrees up on the mountain with some rain and yes, loads of wind.

Amazeballs.

I get cold in general, so today I donned warm gear as I knew the pack would hammer it out, killing themselves within 30min and we would again be stronger than the day before.

Indeed, it all began to plan. Riding tempo up the first climbs we were again ahead of schedule, so we had a bit of time to take it a bit easier. The legs felt great after about 15min. After the first 5km which are all virtually uphill we descended into the valley.

Coming around a winding corner on some loose gravel I felt the tell-tale signs of my back end sliding out. I am not the absolute best descending machine so this is normal, I corrected myself (which I was becoming increasingly good at), held the line and was about to unclip my left foot for a bit of extra turn when the corner of my handlebar, firmly attached to the bar-end, managed to tangle itself in a branch, which in turn, was attached to a rather large bush.

Not a problem going 15km/h.

By all estimations we were going about 40-50km/h at that point. I was ahead of Brett but I remember being able to look him in the eye before making contact with Mother Nature. This means a full 180 degree flick of me and the bike. Brett was quick to comment a little later that it was quite an impressive maneuver. Avoidable, but impressive.

Crashes are quick and unceremonious and this was no different. Tuck, hold, and hurt.

I was sore, all over, and not quite sure which hurt most until the throb started in my hand. Looked at the right glove to see it had a big gash in the palm where the throb was emanating from. Not good. Remove the glove. Blood is flowing, profusely, dread crept in.

This was going to be a long day.

The only words that I could come up with were “Duct Tape”. I had a 4cm gash deeper than I could see on the spot where I rest my hands on the bike. The skin around it was kaput. My heart rate monitor was missing, my head hurt and my right bum cheek was beginning to hurt too.

Brett taped me up (thanks bra!), helped ease the glove back on and we got under way again, slowly. I was pretty shell shocked and at first it was slow going. We got to a medic about 10km later and he removed the tape and got some bandage on me, shortly after washing the wound out with some alcohol. In my mind, I punched him so hard I decapitated him, it hurt so much.

Moving on. Stitches were going to be needed for sure, so best to suck it up, get some painkillers in, and get to the finish quick as possible.

Some of the crazy obstacles we encountered on the day, after hitting water point 1 in 180th men’s team (prob about 230th overall team) were:

1. Freakish headwinds.
2. A wall of sand about 500m long. I. Kid. You. Not.
3. Climbs so steep I had to get off and walk.
4. My chain lodged itself in between the wheel spokes and the back of the cassette.

Slogged it out I tell you. Brett was machine on the day. Kept me motivated all day. The myprodols may have helped a little as well, but just enough to take the edge off. We pushed and pushed and pushed until my body gave in with about 8km to go and I had to coast in. We had no idea we had ridden ourselves back into 65th men’s team. Had we known, I am sure I could have found one last gear, but I was emotionally done by 92km.

The sight of my dad surprising me in the medical tent will long live down as a great moment. Family are so important and having them there on the day solidified my loss and gave me a bit of extra strength for the day. We even broke out the wine and had some great laughs in the afternoon.

By the time the anesthetic wore off the infection kicked in. It hurt far more than the crash. I was starting to get cold sweats by the time I went to bed and hoped it would work itself out by morning, going through 4 wet t-shirts through the night. I was almost sure it would be gone by morning.

Almost.

Day 8

It was not to be. I woke up with a fire in my throat and in a cold sweat at 6am. Every bone in my body was sore, like I had flu. I knew there was trouble as we had 75km to pedal over a huge, rocky mountain.

My hand throbbed as I ate my breakfast and I was contemplating how I was going to hold the handlebars as I was barely able to hold my cup in my hand.

Getting on the bike and pedaling to the start has to be one of the hardest things I have ever done. I was cold and hot, sore and had no power in the legs. Crisis. The end was supposed to be a victorious day.

To say that we struggled on the day is an understatement. You want to race the last day, blazing glory, all guns firing in a splendor of hail Mary’s, French Bulldogs raining from the sky and 30 Seconds to Mars – Kings & Queens raging on a volume so high even Mick Jagger would ask for it to be turned down.

I could however, only soft pedal. My hand, well that felt like someone was stabbing me in it every time I rode over a rock and the downhills were total murder. I walked/crawled/swore my way up the big climb in the mass of riders, a space we were totally unused to. It took forever. I felt useless. I was beaten down.

On the downhill I had to stop halfway down to recoup, my pain was unmanageable by that point and I was going to slow I was in danger of falling off all the time. I had a choice to make as I could see Brett was frustrated as well. He had been so good all day. Patient. Quiet. Calm.

I had to either walk the hill, or ride and become one with the pain. I chose the latter. Screaming and yes, crying my way down the hill all in what must have been a huge cause of concern for those around me, I went as fast as I could, hanging on for dear life itself, balling my eyes out screaming the pain out for the remainder of the downhill.

Thankfully, that was it in terms of the rocky stuff. I was spent.

The release seemed to perk me up somehow once we got through the aid station and we started picking off some guys on the smoother road. My legs were still nowhere, and wouldn’t come back all day.

The walk down Gamtoos Pass was amazing, quiet, finding the peace that we were almost home. The neutral zone was frustrating as we got stuck in a group. The last 7km was in fact, 4km and in the end, we sat up and let the group go. We wanted to finish alone in the shoot. It has been a huge adventure and the realization that it was about to be over in less than a minute sucked, for just a second, before the crowds cheered us over the finish line.

Family, friends, they were all there. The way they look at you is incredible. Yes, we sucked on the day, but somehow, they still saw us as heroes. We were 44th team overall across the 8 days. We worked our way back from 98th including 3 hours lost over the week.

We were tired, but happy. Very happy.

Epilogue

To paragraph the experience is just never going to cut it I am afraid. First off, as is tradition, I need to thank everyone who made the journey possible.

Fairbairn Private Bank, Morewood, Sludge, Sport-X, Whasp, Biosport, Puma, Jack Black Beer, Rok Media, Rockets, Suunto, Legacy Cycles, ATC Multisport. You make us look great and we hope to do our best for you in return.

To Brett, my partner, I need to give out a personal 1min bear hug. The guy is amazing. I have known him for years but our week together was without a doubt, the best we had ever done. Generally we are trying to kill each other out on race courses (the occasional tequila competition may also have happened) but for this entire week, we were a team. We remained calm in all situations and we sucked the best out of each other when the going got tough. Mad love.

To the Epic, thank you for taking us over amazing landscapes and providing unique challenges each day. We salute you. It really is the greatest adventure.

The finish line was never enough and never will be. Already, we have Ironman in 2 ½ weeks time to keep our minds busy. After that I know I am intending to learn to surf ski and keep growing my MTB skill set.

This part of my journey was amazing, so amazing I had to split it into 4 posts. I urge you to find an adventure of any magnitude that involves physically challenging yourself. I am not saying go and do the Epic. We come from years of physical challenges. Build up. Start small. But make sure each one is a challenge.

Your life will never be the same.

See the light…

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Its a bit later than normal, but here goes.

After a few weeks of successful racing I headed up to WP Trials on Friday last week with a bit of hesitance, as I was nursing an upper respiratory tract infection, commonly known as a Stuffy Head. I did not feel great and was going up to see how I went, but not to kill myself. My plan was to work hard in the swim and bike, and coast the run with a hopeful lead.

I knew some of the faster guys were not coming up and this gave me a bit of hope for the day as well.

We lined up on Saturday morning with the usual smack talk and chatter and I got a good spot on the swim line and before we knew it, we were off on our 2 laps. I hung with swim rabbit Emslie for about 300m and then backed off once I saw we had a gap on the group. I merely wanted to limit loss to Emslie but still build a bit of a break to the chasing pack before the bike got going.

My new Orca Alpha suit, boys and girls, is the shiznitz. It felt really amazing in the water, with less restriction on the arms than I have ever felt. I swim with quite straight arms, and the suit didn’t inhibit that for one second. Kudos to Orca, I think first 4 out the water were all in Orca suits.

Onto the bike, and the mission was to sit up till about 5km, then hammer till 30km, then spin into T2. Mission was on the way when at about 5km I passed young Emslie on the bike and motored by, riding hard (there may have been a bit of white foam on the mouth at this point), checking my Suunto to make sure I was keeping it above 170. At 10km, I had 75sec on 2nd place, at 20km, it was 120sec. On leg 3 I thought I heard a puncture and nearly platzed myself, but the faint noise wouldn’t go, even if the tire was staying hard.

At 30km I still had 120sec over Harold chasing, with a foxy Brendan Lowen on his ass like a fly to a vrot carcass in the sun. I could see they were catching as Harold murders the bike, his freakishly sized calves not being supportive for his running agendas. I was pumped full of Whaspgel by this stage and was ready to spin/hammer home, but I felt as if I was riding with someone holding onto my shirt.

The last leg was murder and I couldn’t understand why it seemed so much harder (inspection after the race revealed that the brakes had locked onto my rear wheel a little and it was tough to spin the wheel – hence the extra effort and loss of time in the last 20km) but kept spinning as I wanted to have semi-fresh legs for the run, whereas I knew the two behind were going to hammer all the way into T2.

The official gap was around 30sec into T2, but I set out running lightly up the hill, but not murdering myself. My Puma racers were perfect for the day, no socks, light, no blisters, and YELLOW!

All our flat running was about to pay off. I buried the downhills and the flats, going deep into GP circuits for inspiration. The lead went up to 1:30 by the end of lap 1, 2:30 by the end of lap 2 so that I had the time and space to chill on lap 3 heading home for a well deserved win, sinus and rubbing wheels couldn’t stop me today.

As I came into the finishline I knew that the sickness, the strange bike feeling and the new, much harder run route would add to around 5minutes of extra time, so to come in just over 2 hours was a happy achievement, and proof that these damn ME workouts have paid off, that the calorie counting has paid off, and that a new attitude is paying off.

Thanks to all my sponsors, you make it so much easier. Puma, Orca, Whasp, Suunto, Rockets (worn in the car on the way home for no sore legs the next day), Jack Black Beer (official recovery fuel).

all images credited to Tess

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Usain Bolt wants you to wear these for when he wins. Puma
is making them. Nice punt for one of the great partners who make Urban Ninja possible.

They tie to your back, so you can focus your arms on drinking a Jack Black whilst checking your heart rate on your Suunto , wearing your Rockets Compressox, with your Orca hoodie on for cold winter, and shooting a Whasp Green Mamba.

How was that for an associate punt? See – all my brands are what we in the biz like to call “complimentary services”.

Now go enjoy your weekend. I am going to use all my products this weekend. And next week…. I can announce that I have a new TITLE sponsor. I am very excited about this, but all I can say is that the trend of Urban Ninja having brands associated that are based on animal names continues… puma, whasp, orca…

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In the movie Hitch there was a moment where Will Smith said “Begin each day as if it were on purpose”

I came to Port Elizabeth this year with a clear mind and some simple goals.

1. Dont walk on the run other than aid stations.

2. Dont blow up.

3. Have FUN!

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simple goals. I had a time in mind around 10 hours, and was feeling confident, as it was my first proper taper since swim days years past, and I was feeling the effects more than I ever had. I had a homestay, courtesy of James Cunnema and Alexa Cunningham, who opened their spare room to us. THANKS YOU TWO! it made a huge difference being in a comfortable space with the zen-like presence of James. The amount I learnt from him just in the few days leading into the race was noticeable to those around me. He is going to become one of the greats of this sport someday, mark my words.

3 days prior to raceday I felt real power for the first time in many years, and I held it back. I was light and floating, irritable and full of energy. Perfect. I was healthy and the athletes I coach were calm too, so no worries with them.

Race morning brought a shower of rain but by the time I had set up in transition with my new Prototype bike, the skies had cleared and brought what was undoubtedly the best weather ever for an Ironman in South Africa. I had a quiet word with myself not to kill it on the bike, as it was perfect weather for a blow-up at 32km into the run. I had to leave something for those last 10km.

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I swam with Ray Tissink for lap one and on his feet for lap 2 to come out the water in just under 50min. I thought my watch was broken, but put it down to flat conditions and swimming squad again. When I saw who was around me, I was content, my usual pack of guys. Onto the bike and did what I had practised for the last 8 weeks. Start strong for 30min, settle in, and then hit that zone. Much to my dismay the heart rate monitor wasnt going at all, so it was going to be a day filled with going on “feel” which can be very dangerous on a day like this. I held back the whole way on the first lap and was in at 1:40. What the? thats 5hr pace, and 20min faster than I was hoping for.

Made a conscious decision to slow the hell down in lap 2 and came in at 1:46. Much better. Going over the last speedbump into the 3rd lap I heard a nice, definite crack from the front end of my bike. My aerobar was cracked. I had a quiet chuckle (caffeine will make anything seem trivial after a 2 week hiatus) and got to riding with both arms leaning on the remaining extension. Held back again and came in around 1:45 and was excited to be in around 5:10.

At Ironman you will see that after the speed of moving forward on your bike for 5 hours, when you start your run, you seem really slow and easy. I had a trick up my sleeve in the form of a footpod. I went out and my first km was too fast. I backed it off until I was happy with what speed I was going, and held that for the first lap. I have to note that I had company for about 15km on the bike and about 5km on the run. It was a solo day. By 11km on lap 1, I was alone, and had caught a few guys. Even with the footpod and slowing myself three times on lap 1, I overcooked it by 5min. Amazing. Had I not held back, I am sure I would have overcooked it by 10 and ended up walking the last 7km again like 2 years ago.

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The heat was up suddenly and I was passing people I shouldnt be. But then I thought to myself, this is Ironman. This is the 1 day of the year we all arrive and put out cards on the table. There are no excuses. You go ALL in, big dog style. Stuff happens out there, but you make the most of it. Its bragging rights day.

I held well on lap 2 and got a smell of 9:30 about 3km into the final lap. I decided to push at 6km to go and see what I could do. As I pushed the pace, my bladder decided that I couldnt run anymore. I stopped for a wee break that lasted more than a minute, but felt like an hour. I even had a gel while at it. Classic. Pushed really hard from there, felt like going flat out, but was in fact, according to the footpod, ambling along. Felt like I was going full tilt and saw I gained a total of 200m per hour in speed. Realised I was cooked but was smiling because I was still going faster than alot of guys, and catching people the whole way.

I came around the corner at 9:30:23 and stopped… I was going to soak this up.

I got the crowd going, cheered people, high fived some spectators, held back tears of joy and crossed the line in 9:31:07. An hour and 5 min faster than last time around.

ROCKING!

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my athletes totally outshone me and they were 1:30 and 2:20 faster than last time around or predicted. I am so proud of you guys.

Monday rolled around after an awesome night culminating in everyone finishing the race under 17hours, and I went to slot allocation for Hawaii with a long shot. It turned out positive and i got a slow for the Big Show. I am going to Hawaii for Ironman. I still cant believe it.

to my mom and sister who made the trip down, love you. To my dad who couldnt make it for the trip, but sent my sister and mom down, I appreciate it more than you know, and next time, i`ll personally fly you down. It was amazing having mom and sister there. TO ATC for the support, Gert said it best “it was like having a Whasp Gel everytime we went by their gazebo”. To my girlfriend Marilu, thank you for being patient with me and letting me live my dreams. MWAH! To all my sponsors : Whasp, Orca, Oakley, Suunto, Zipp, Puma and CEP Compression Socks, many thanks for all the help. You make it way easier than it is for alot of people.

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so now its time for ice cream, beer and late nights for a few weeks before we start prepping for something I have dreamt of for 10 years.

to every single person who helped out on raceday, who came to support, and who raced. You are ALL such a part of the experience of Ironman, I applaud you all. You all answered that question and your answer was “I can”

ciao.

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