...after IronMan

Last year this time I was running 8 km as my longest run, I was a little heavier, and I had 10 toenails...now after IronMan, I am still the same person, but my mind is different. Its all kinda wierd ! I feel like the 'limits' have been removed from my mind. I am reminded of what 2 people told me before IronMan..."Life changes after IronMan - Avron and "After IronMan, you can do anything" - Andrew.
So I can now happily share the following exciting plans...

Ashleigh has qualified to run Comrades Marathon; 87 km Ultra 'up run' ...and is running on 15th June. I am flying to Durban to support my amazing girlfriend...

On August 24th we are running Puffer; an 80km mountain trail run which starts at Cape Point and runs along the mountain to Table Mountain and finishes in Cape Town's Waterfront. There is support along the route, but we need to carry our own water, compass, nutrition etc...

We are looking to buy a double surf ski to enter the Mixed Doubles Surf Ski Challenge which starts in October...

And we both have half marathon and marathon speed goals...

...and in between we are planning full moon hikes up Lions Head again, more running, me learning to surf ski without landing my beautiful Ashleigh in the sea, full moon runs up Chapmans Peak, maybe Double Century 200km bike ride, trail running, a visit to Sanbona Game Park (with spa treatments)... life is pretty good... with my pretty partner...

...my inspiration...Ashleigh

This blog would not be complete without a post dedicated to a very special lady... my IronMan Ashleigh...

My IronMan journey was started by 3 things; the seed was planted many years ago when I read a small article in the back of a running magazine about Paula Newby-Fraser winning IronMan in Hawaii again (she won it 9 times!), then my brother Andrew completed 3 IronMan's in New Zealand, and finally Ashleigh's words in a Puma sportswear advertisement; Ashleigh helped me to see, in addition to the IronMan goal, that there was a journey of self growth leading to that goal, and that inspired me to eventually commit my dream to a goal.

As I was so unsure that I would actually be able to complete the IronMan race, I did not share my goal with Andrew, so for the months that I ran alone in the dark, I had only Ashleigh's words to keep me going.... and they did. I did not know any other people training for IronMan, so I clung to Ashleigh's words as the only link to my goal. I had hope from her words, but also I kind of peace that there was someone else out there that I could relate to.

As my journey progressed I came to meet other people who were training for IronMan and to my complete surprise, Ashleigh was one of them ! For some reason I believed that Ashleigh lived in Port Elizabeth, and I was planning to ask her to join me for a coffee in the few days before IronMan to share with her what an influence that advert had had on me, but here she was ...now a training buddy!

Slowly we started doing more and more training together, swimming and cycling, and meals started becoming part of our time together....I found that I really enjoyed my time with her... we related... we shared goals, values, interests, and attitudes... and jokes... a friendship was forming... I admired and respected Ashleigh's commitment to training, her discipline, her attitude, her humour....and I still do... (Ashleigh's attitude, committment and discipline enabled her to improve on her first IronMan time by 1hour & 50minutes and finish 87th out of 258 women in this years IronMan - I am very proud)

Our friendship has now developed into something far stronger and I am a better person for having Ashleigh share my life. A... (Mister Gushy comes out here) ...you continue to inspire me, to encourage me, to challenge me to be a better person... and all this while we explore life's fun and challenges together....
Ashleigh your words were there as a promise when I decided on my goal, you were there during training, you were supportive during the 3 weeks I was ill and not able to train, you were with me at the start of the race and waiting for me at the finish...thank you Ashleigh for my perfect first IronMan journey... and thank you that you are 'with me' like that every day now... thank you for our awesome relationship and our very exciting continuing journey into the future together....

IronMan - the journey...and what I learned...

Ashleigh's words "IronMan journey" inspired me to start this quest, to take on a goal that quite honestly, I doubted I could achieve. (before IronMan, I had not even met anyone that had done it; except for my brother Andrew, who has completed 3 IronMan triathlons in New Zealand).

Looking back, the journey was everything that Ashleigh said it would be....it was a fantastic journey.

I believe it was such a great journey because training for 'a first IronMan' is such a daunting goal and the training and time constraints so intense, that learning about yourself and the challenges you face are magnified for you to clearly see.

So this is what I learned;

1: Dream big and challenge yourself; I now believe that if you know before you start that your goal is achievable, then you are not aiming high enough. There must be some doubt in your mind to keep you focused and excited.

2: Break your big goal into small manageable goals (if you have set your goal according to point 1 above, then the big picture of where you are headed will overwhelm you)

3: All your limits in your life are only between your ears; we limit ourselves by poor thinking and by poor goal setting. The mind is a very powerful thing, you need to make sure that your mind is working for you and not against you.

4: Always think and talk positive...fact; no further explanation required

5: Its easy to deal with small things when you have a big goal. With a big goal in mind little things do not trouble you. You are able to deal with them quickly.

6: You have loads of people in your life that want to see you succeed, theycold be friends, doctors, store salesmen and colleagues - don't be afraid to ask them to help you - they want to!

7: Share; you don't know who you will inspire (thank you again, and again, and again Ashleigh)

The best products that I encountered:

1- Hammer Perpetuim endurance fuel....you are at a disadvantage if you start an endurance event without it, but with it, you can go far...

2- Carbon fibre bikes...once you've ridden carbon, you will never ride aluminium again.

3- moisture management running tops (yes, I was 'old school' t-shirt runner)

And that's it....everyone learns something about themselves and about life in their first IronMan...my training friend Ally's journey is taking her to Brazil completely unexpectedly...

where could you go?....

what could you learn...?

what could you discover...?

IronMan - raceday

(apologies for very late post) Excitement built for race day as one can imagine. An 'army' of volunteers assisted 1,678 athletes to get registered and prepared for the big day; but more than that....flat sea ! Everyone was excited, especially since last years IronMan was a very difficult swim in a very rough sea.

One of the reasons for this very late post, is that for me race day was a huge anti-climax. I had been sick for 3 weeks prior, I was frustrated by my illness and the inability to train and without those 3 weeks of training, I think I had lost the excitement of my journey. But more than that; if you have done the training, it's easy to finish the race. Having said all of that, I enjoyed race day thoroughly.....

We started with the drums as we walked over the timing mats onto the beach for the swim. Crowded together before the start you can feel the tension of one and a half thousand athletes ready to 'battle' IronMan. There are prayers, jokes, whispering, encouragement, wisdom.....everyone psyches differently.... booom....the cannon fires and that tension uncoils into a mass of wetsuited bodies rushing into the sea, running, bumping, splashing, bumping, swimming, bumping.... swimmers everywhere, arms everywhere, legs everywhere, bodies everywhere...there is just not enough space in the sea ! I thought I was prepared for it, but 'man' its a war zone. I tried to swim out of the mainstream, which cost me some time as I swam further and got wounded anyway ....after someone kicked the perfect uppercut that cleared my head clean out of the water; I decided next year I keep my line ! Anyway, the swim done in target time of 1h15, I was stoked...and on my way to transition....

Again...bodies everywhere; some even changed outside the tent. My transition was smooth and 8 minutes later I was on my bike and heading out on my first 60km bike lap....but oh hell... I can feel my legs are already done. I decided to take the first lap easy, but that strategy didn't work as the second and third laps were even tougher. Slowly I resign myself to the fact that my 3 weeks of being sick are costing me dearly. I decide to enjoy the view and and the ride and hope that my running legs woke up this morning, because my cycling legs definitely did not ! The route is great; 3 laps of 60 km, mostly flat and a long section along the sea shore; very little wind; this should have been a great ride. Frustratingly 7 hours later, I am back at transition with time to make up. Another 8 minute transition and I tell myself that the time has gone, forget it, and just focus on the run....

Out on the run course I discover to my total dissapointment that my run legs never woke up this morning either ...but hey, I have time to finish and reach my first objective: finishing IronMan. The 42km run course is long, very long. After 3,8km swim, 180km bike and the prospect of another 42km on my legs, "excitement" is not a word that sprang to mind ! But hey, I am doing it... I am finishing IronMan ! The spectators 'made that run' - they excellently supported and encouraged all along Marine Drive Port Elizabeth, spectators line both sides of the run and really encourage the IronMen (15% of the field are ladies). You race with your name on your number so everyone encourages you by name; its awesome. The weather is still perfect, but the day getting long now as sunglasses start getting removed to accommodate the setting sun.....darkness comes quickly and highlights the loneliness of my quest... I have seen some friends along the way, but IronMan really is a personal quest. The evening is so perfect that spectators are sitting on the side of the road burning candles - with no wind to blow them out !

On my last lap, 8 km out from the red carpet I start planning my finish.... I have visualised my run alone down that red carpet so often... and that moment is now....

Suddenly after a long day, time seems to suddenly speed up because I am here, at the red carpet and I am immensely sad that its all over... and ironically, I cannot really remember my run down that red carpet, maybe because I was dissapointed with my time, dissapointed that I never had the legs on the day, dissapointed that months of preparation and expectation are now over....but...today, at this moment... and forever... I am an IronMan ! Objective achieved. Relief. I have never been so pleased to get a finishers medal. It has been a long day... 14 hours and 32 minutes long....

What a great day, what a great race, what a great organization...what a journey!

I cannot describe how pleased I am that I took on this challenge. As Avron told me months ago "IronMan changes your life". I now understand why all the faces lit up of those people that I spoke to about IronMan.....'man' you gotta do IronMan !

....reflections....

On reflection, my journey to IronMan actually started 8 years ago, when I decided during yet another endless bout of bronchitis, to step off the path of pharmacies, doctors and drugs to treat my asthma. I remember it clearly, in an 'aha' moment of sudden clarity I said to myself "enough! there has to be a better way". So with no knowledge of any other form of healing or treatment, I started out in blind faith on a new health path on 1st September 2000 (Spring Day, here in South Africa - very appropriate). My journey led me to Vicky, my trusted Accupuncturist, Doctor of alternative medicines and friend. Vicky has led me through 8 years of an incredible journey of healing, learning and spiritual understanding. Without those 8 years, I could not have even considered training for IronMan. Thank you very much Vicky.

This is where my incredible journey started and with only 16 days to go till the big day, I have very mixed feelings...... .

I took a decision on some knowledge of my brother Andrew's IronMan experience, but as he lives in New Zealand I was unfortunately not as close to his race as I would have liked to have been.

Ashleigh was sponsored by Puma for her first IronMan and her words in this Puma advert in Runners World magazine "It was eight months filled with enlightenment, frustration and accomplishment....the benefits and learnings will remain with me for the rest of my life." that made me commit to the goal. I made that decision purely on faith again. And I am really grateful that I did ! Training for my first IronMan has been an incredible experience ! The journey has given me way, way more than I could ever have imagined. When I started out, becoming an IronMan on race day was my goal and it took Ashleigh's message to make me realise that I should focus on the journey to my goal. I have come through 180 degrees, beause this journey has been so incredible, that I am now wondering how the actual race day can top it ! From what I have heard, it will be absoluetly awesome, but I cannot see it, so I am again taking it on faith.... .

The other great decision that I made at the beginning of this journey, was blogging it.....it has been great documenting my progress and sharing it with you. It really has added another dimension to my journey. Thank you for your support.... .

But now as race day looms (16 days to go and inside the 17 day 'training window') I am actually very sad that my journey is over, as there will always only be one 'my first IronMan'.

I have been training for nearly 6 months in total now, the last 4 months have been training twice per day and my body is showing signs of wear; (if you are the "oooh too much info" type, please skip ahead to the next paragraph now!)....I have a slight chest cold from running into a cold south easter before work, I have sores on my chest from my heart rate monitor, my nipples are still sensitive after bleeding on a long run the other day and I have a toenail which is blacker than Robert Mugabe's heart, which I hope stays on till after IronMan....but these don't bother me, because I know that I earned them all ! (and I am sure that I will be 'good to go' shortly! ....and I have a new respect to women with young babies!! :-) ).

I still have to get to Port Elizabeth, then on race day, swim through the 'war zone' of 2,000 other competitors and finish the bike course and run my first 42km marathon after over 8 hours of swimming and cycling, to actually become an IronMan but I can already understand, what people are telling me, that "IronMan changes your life" and "after IronMan, you can do anything".

I realised yesterday morning that I have spoken to many IronMan finishers, but never actually seen an IronMan finishing medal...WOW...I am really looking forward to seeing 'my one' first!

It's quite wierd actually, 6 months ago I was worried that I may not be able to finish IronMan and my thoughts were of concern, now I am confident of finishing (barring any major problems of course), but I am still the same person!

But when all is 'said and done' the biggest thing that I can take away from this journey, is this: If I believe that the goal that I am setting for myself is achievable, then I am not aiming high enough! From now on I will strive to always have goals that I cannot believe are possible initially, because that is where the excitement is.... .

"find your passion" / perfect day

Most 'self-help' books will tell you to "find your passion"...... I know, because I've read loads of them (though the authors will never tell you how to find your passion, but that's a whole new subject!)

I love riding my bike. Yesterday I went cycling again in 50km/h winds. I wanted to cycle far enough to test my nutrition plan for the 180km race day, so I had a basic plan of where I wanted to ride and a basic distance in mind......

I first headed to Cape Point (straight into the strong wind) and reached there eventually. To show how strong the wind was, I reached Cape Point with an average speed of only 20km/h. There I turned and rode right across Cape Town to Melkbostrand, then across to a third 'outer limit of Cape Town, Durbanville ..... then home.....175km later.

Here is my point; I got so involved in my cycle and the enjoyment of it, that somewhere I completely forgot about the wind! I guess that for nearly 8 hours I had "found my passion" and was living it. "When you are living your passion, life is good and your problems are diminished"....maybe the books are right......?

When I got home I went for a short 5km 'brick run' (so called because in triathlon; during the early stages of the run leg, which follows the cycle; your legs feel like bricks, so training for this is called a 'brick run'). Heres the joke..... after nearly 8 hours and 175km on a bike saddle, followed by a short 5km run, a neighbour asks me when I get home "how can you run in this wind?"!

The following day the weather was perfect (again), but this time it didn't bother me at all..... my previous day had been perfect in every way......

enjoy the journey...

Let me pre-empt this post by reminding you that I am not yet an IronMan; this blog is about my journey to IronMan and the life lessons that I have learned, and been reminded of, along the way.......

So this is the goal.....

Well done Andrew (my brother) for earning three of these in New Zealand.

But I'm a guy..... guys are goal oriented..... I only thought of the goal; becoming an IronMan.

It took a girl, to point out to me that the process of achieving the goal is just as important, just as rewarding and just as enjoyable. I have really enjoyed every single day of working towards my goal. I have learned, enjoyed, celebrated, been dissapointed, even crashed, recovered, lost 10kg's and made mistakes, every day has been different, exciting, challenging. Thanks again Ashleigh, for telling me about the road to the goal; the process of getting there.

Guys, enjoy the journey, enjoy the day......