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Ironman Lessons

by Paul Kaye
Training for Austria has changed my body and I’m loving the fitness. Can’t wait for the next one!
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Not so long ago – I laid myself bare in this blog stating that I was hoping for a 12-hour Ironman in Austria. I made my goal public to help me with motivation. It worked – I was certainly a lot more motivated.

But I didn’t achieve my goal of 12 hours. I missed it by miles. But, I have gained so much more than achieving my goal, so much more. (The photos tell the whole story!)

I left for Europe on the 3rd of July, first stop Denmark to see my kids and share in their summer holidays. Together the three of us flew down to Klagenfurt in south-eastern Austria where the 10th anniversary of Ironman Austria was being staged on Sunday 13 July. What a beautiful venue for an Ironman event. We arrived to beautiful hot sunshine and blue skies and an unbelievable vibe and sense of excitement. Klagenfurt was in the grips of Ironman fever.

It was so good being part of a 60-strong SA contingent of which about 40 Saffas would be participating on race day. Everything was organised by Triangle (thanks Keith, Paul and Kelly for everything!), the organisation that owns the Ironman franchise in Austria, France, Monaco and South Africa, so we were in great hands. We all stayed together and had VIP luxury coaches to get us to and from Ironman City, registration, the pasta party, the race and of course the awards evening and after-party (which we dominated).

My first memorable moment was getting the ATHLETE bracelet strapped on – mine usually say MEDIA, VIP, or ALL ACCESS, but this time I wasn’t doing the talking, I was a participant.

Next was opening my bike case (I strongly recommend getting a proper bike case to transport your precious cargo, as it buys peace of mind as well as ensuring your machine and race kit gets there in one piece), extracting my bike and getting it assembled. I had some bike admin, but got that sorted at Ironman City at their bike shop. It wasn’t cheap, but two days from race day you’ll pay anything to get your equipment sorted.

The pasta party was a good way to rev up the excitement even more. We were lucky to be sitting right next to all the pro’s – what a privilege.

At Ironman, you have to rack your bike the Saturday before the race and leave it overnight. I had spent quite a bit of the day just chilling at the lake with the kids (spectacular – the most beautiful, clear water. The locals brag that you can drink the water straight out of the lake) and then suddenly came to the realisation that I had to ride my bike over to transition and take my bike and run transition bags with me. No big deal right? Wrong! For some reason I wasn’t feeling the nerves – I hadn’t even opened my registration pack yet. I still had to prepare my bike, helmet and pack my transition bags for the race. Wow, I had to get cracking. I got packed and sorted just in time, and my 8-year-old son Sebastian rode his rented bike with me the 10K to the transition. Whew, just in time.

First mistake was getting to dinner and bed way too late on the Saturday night. We only ate at 10pm and I eventually climbed into bed after final checks just after midnight. I had to get up before 4am to eat breakfast and catch the coach at 4:30am for the start – plus get both my kids out of bed and ready for a very long day.

What one has to accept with Ironman is that it is a very long day, plus it’s a very long journey of training to get to the start line and many things will be out of your control. For me, it was work, travel and winter that made my training a challenge – trying to fit it all in. From a bike and swim perspective, I think I peaked two weeks before race day. Additionally, because I do so much race commentary, I never race – the last triathlon I did was in October 2004, so I’m simply not used to the washing machine effect at the start of the swim fighting it out with 2500 other athletes (I had a panic attack at the start of the swim and almost bailed).

From a running point of view, well, hmmm, I never really peaked – I simply didn’t do enough of the quality sessions or the long runs towards the end. Also, I hadn’t properly figured out how I was going to manage my nutrition on the day. These are all things within my control. My fault if things go wrong on race day.

However, beyond my control was the fact that I got a nasty cold five days before the race. I had been holding off the symptoms for weeks during my training, but the flights across and the climate change were just too much for my already fragile immune system. I was properly bunged up, hectic post-nasal, chesty and coughing like a chain-smoker. Not good!

I probably shouldn’t have raced. But how do you step away – after all the training, the expense, the travel, the expectation, the desire – to finally be an Ironman? Well, I decided to throw all goals out the window and just go out there and do it. But do it easy. Only goal was to be smiling the whole way round and take the day as it comes, then to cross the finish line with Jami and Sebastian – what a finisher’s photo!

Also beyond my control was the weather – it poured for the first 30K of the bike and I had to ride through pouring rain and a serious thunder and lightning storm for the last 40K – this definitely slowed the bike down.

All of that said, Ironman was a blast, I enjoyed it, really enjoyed it, and couldn’t believe how quickly the day went by. Yes, I raced with a cold that handicapped me, forcing me to go easy and in the end contributing towards me having to walk most of the marathon – I did a 5:49 marathon, which is really very bad. The swim was hectic, fighting for space with 2500 other athletes so I swam really wide to avoid them and probably swam a little more than the 3.8K. My time was shocking, but I put it all down to experience eventually exiting the water after 1h19m. The bike was fun, even with the rain I was having a ball. On the three climbs I couldn’t go hard as I simply couldn’t get my heart-rate up, and was unable to breathe hard. I finished the bike in 6:01 – I’m happy with that.

In T2 I struggled to find my run bag as someone had taken it by mistake and misplaced it. Once out on the run, I struggled terribly with stomach cramps and nausea. This prevented me from taking much nutrition during the run, certainly no GU. I relied on half coke and water. I simply couldn’t run and walked most of the marathon, which was very frustrating as the legs were willing but the lungs, heart and stomach weren’t.

Coming into the last 300m, I turned the second-last corner to be swallowed up by the crowds and spotted my kids waiting for me. I got instant gooseflesh all over. Wow! Jami and Sebastian were just as excited to see me. Jami had a tattoo sprayed all over her leg, had bought an Ironman sweatshirt and was looking absolutely gorgeous. Sebastian had on the official race shirt and had gelled his hair – super cool.

I stopped when I got to them to give them massive hugs and kisses. Sebastian grabbed my right hand and started pulling me towards the finish line... ”Why you running so slowly daddy?” He he. With 50 metres to go, I was holding both Jami and Sebastian’s hands and just sucking it all in – it’s overwhelming, but damn does it feel good. In the VIP stand were all the SA contingent with the South African flag flying proudly! How patriotic we become when away from home.

Ironman is very selfish – all the training, not going out, being boring, having nothing else to talk about – but I’d like to think that I approached it with a reasonable balance.

It wasn’t my finish, it was our finish: Paul, Sebastian and Jami. 13 hours 32 minutes 45 seconds. The photo of the three of us on the finish line is priceless, and probably one of the most emotional moments for me was when my super-cool 15-year-old daughter commented on one of my Ironman photos: “I’m proud of you dad :D Love you”

I almost cried.

Thank you Jami, thank you Sebastian.

What I can recommend is the following if you want to do Ironman:

1 Nutrition is a major in IM. Actually that’s an understatement – once you’re on the start line, nutrition is everything. I didn’t do everything right, but it’s all part of the very steep learning curve. I made sure that I ate really well (lots and lots of the right foods) in the days leading up to the race. I also made sure that I was well hydrated. I drank water with my meals and sipped on my GU2O drink the rest of the time in the last three days.

2 I made myself some sandwiches for my transition bags plus some fruitcake. I took a GU just before the swim start and another in T1 before the bike and then one GU every hour on the bike. I also ate half a sandwich coming out of T1 and put fruitcake into my pocket which I ate two hours into the bike. I had spare sandwiches and fruitcake plus a spare carb drink in my special needs bag just in case, but didn’t use them. It’s good for the mind to know it’s there if you need it.

3 Due to the stomach cramps and nausea which started towards the end of the bike, plus the stress of finding my run bag, I didn’t eat the fruitcake I had in my run bag, nor did I take the gel for T2 – I should have, though. I had GU with me on the run, but didn’t use them. I should have.

4 Here’s another tip: Don’t carry too much weight on your bike in the form of water bottles. I had a Profile aero bottle between my tri bars and a normal bottle in my down tube. My aero bottle started with my normal GU2O and in the other bottle I had a triple concentrate of GU2O. At every water point, I would grab water, take a couple of big sips and then top up the aero bottle after which I would add some of the concentrate. It works like a charm.

5 I also had spare running kit and two pairs of fresh socks in my run bag. I didn’t cycle with socks on because I just thought that it would take too long to put the socks on with wet feet. Just as well, with all the rain, it felt as though I had wet feet for six hours. Fortunately I was using proper triathlon bike shoes with drainage. It helped!

6 Make sure that you have the right equipment for the job and that you know how to use it properly and have trained extensively using it.

For the rest it boils down to your training (I had a coach to give me a weekly training programme – thanks Richard), mental attitude and luck on the day.

I’ve learnt so much about myself and about training and commitment. It has changed my body and I’m loving the fitness. I can’t wait for my next Ironman.

Footnotes contributers Mike Finch Runner's World Editor

...................................................................................................................... Allister Arendse Runner's World Deputy Editor

...................................................................................................................... Bruce Fordyce 9 Times Comrades Marathon Winner

...................................................................................................................... Baglett Runner and Blogger

...................................................................................................................... Ryan Scott The Gear Guy

...................................................................................................................... Running Wanda The Gadget Girl

...................................................................................................................... Guest Columnist The Reader

...................................................................................................................... Kirsten Curtis Online Content Producer

...................................................................................................................... Damon Kalvari

...................................................................................................................... Jason Greer

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