PROJECT : 226+

Challenge Copenhagen

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 08:51:04 +1200

As I sit here and type this report, I still can’t believe that the race has now come and gone and I have actually achieved my goal of racing (and I use that term very loosely as I think few people race an Ironman) an Ironman Triathlon.

Like so many of my fellow triathlon club members who took part – firstly, before reporting on how the race went, I have to say a big thank you to all the people who helped get me across the line.

My coach for the last 3 months – Tom Bennett @T0mBennett(@T2team) who was outstanding in designing a programme that transformed my running & that would in the end get me to the finish line after I picked up a nasty ITB injury at Swashbuckler triathlon in May. He patiently answered all my questions, reassured me I would get over my running injury and also set about making me capable (if not competitive) on my road bike fitted with aero bars. Also part of ‘Team Deon’ was Mel Duckett who physio’d up my knee / ITB when the injury occurred, Jonny @profeet who did a great job with my bike fit, and of course the ‘pain lady’ and her team @thetritouch who kept me in working order for most of the build up.

Then there is also a big ‘thank you’ that needs to go out to my club mates, club supporters, training buddies & friends and family.

Thames Turbo – as the Carlsberg adverts go – If Carlsberg did triathlon clubs…. The support from all the club coaches, fellow triathletes and support crew was immense! Too many names to mention but in particular – Jayson Searles, Martin Hollywood @mhowood & Nathan Dunstan @nathandunny (also Nathan’s family who supported me as if I was a family member) – what great training partners, great motivators and probably the best club mates a guy could wish for – thanks for all the support, advice, encouragements and much more guys…

Then a big thanks to my SAFFA crew – Troy @troymaloy, Jamie @jamiewardell, Kyle & Derek. You guys are all inspirational in how you approach your sport. The way you have balanced life, finances & training with such excellent results was an inspiration to me when I took on this challenge and especially Jamie & Troy have been mentors to this rookie ‘Ironman in the making’. Derek, you have been the best mate a guy could have; encouraging, supportive and like Jamie & Troy I am in awe at your achievements based on the small amount of time you had available to train for this event. As a ratio; your ‘training vs results’ shows you are one talented dude….

And then - my family and my biggest supporter Diane needs special mention. To Robyn, Steve & my Godchild Jen, you always show such enthusiasm and interest in all my exploits. My parents & parent in-laws that cheer me on from afar and make a fuss about my achievements. And my loving, patient, super organised, super vocal and gorgeous wife Diane who allows me the freedom to train long hours, who sacrifices social occasions when I am tired, who has gone without, sacrificed & saved up for me so that I could buy my triathlon toys, equipment and clothing – your selfless acts are so greatly appreciated & now (for a while anyway) it will hopefully be payback by me.

And finally, while giving thanks it wouldn’t be right of me to pass up this opportunity to share a prayer of thanks to the Lord for giving me strength in tough times, and providing me with all the resources and support needed to achieve this great challenge….

Race Report

August 12^th, 2011 my wife Diane, friend Derek and I flew into Copenhagen on SAS airline with a number of other club mates ready to compete in the 226km Ironman race Challenge Copenhagen. The race was set to take place in the Danish capital on Sunday 14^th August and after checking into our hotel we made our way down to the registration in the heart of the city.

Once done a leisurely walk back took in a few sights before we had an early dinner and headed to our rooms for a good nights sleep.

Saturday arrived and after a bit of a sleep-in it was all systems go. A few friends; Nathan & Alex, and I went for a quick ride and then run around the block to loosen the limbs, check the bikes were working properly, and to try settle some of the nerves that were beginning to round up the butterflies in my stomach and then it was pretty much time to head down to rack the bikes and hand in the run bag with my kit for the 2^nd transition.

Before this however we made a quick stop in at the Turbo hotel to catch up with our club mates and have a quick club photo to mark the occasion. It was then back home for an early-ish night as we had a 4:30 wake up planned to get to the race start on time.

Race day came and all too soon we were on the CPH metro to Amager Strand, the lagoon and start location of @challengCPH Challenge Copenhagen. The day before it had been rainy and windy, so it was a relief to see the sun out (sort of), and only a light breeze blowing. That would change as the wind picked up on lap 2 of the bike….

After meeting up with Derek and his girlfriend Kristen, we proceeded to double check our bikes, get our wetsuits on and mentally prepare for the start of what I knew was going to be a tough day. As had become customary for Derek and myself at our big races, we said a quick prayer and headed down to the start of the swim. The club (or should I say the legend that is Mr Richard Gower) had arranged for us to go off as a Thames Turbo group in the 2^nd start wave of the day, 5min behind the pro field. This was great as it meant we would get onto the bike fairly early on and wouldn’t be caught up in the crowds later in the race. I gave my dear wife a final kiss for good luck and lined up on the beach.

The Swim

7:05 and the start gun went. I had positioned myself to the right, directly in-line with the first buoy and this turned out to be a great tactic. I found myself on the feet of the fast boys and pretty much cruised around the first 400m with very little effort. I had chatted to coach Tom @T2team about swim tactics and followed his advice and for the whole swim jumped onto the feet of slightly faster swimmers as they came past. This meant I swam faster with less effort and was ecstatic to get out of the water in 1hr5min, exceeding my swim expectation by about 5min.

Bedsides running past my bike, T1 was uneventful and went fairly quick. I did choose to cycle with a fully cycle jersey and gillette (which cost me a few seconds) but I had budgeted 5min for T1 and so was happy with that in the end.

The Cycle

This is where things got interesting. On the bike I felt good – really good and so it was hard to hold back when after the first 20km I looked down to see I was averaging above 35km / hr.

The roads were in great condition and rolled fast and I knew if I paced myself well I would get a decent bike split. Initially the course is a little technical in that there are a few twists and turns to get out of the city but once on the coastal road it was a case of rolling lumpy mounds where you could just get onto the aerobars and turn the legs over nicely.

I initially passed a few turbos and recognised Kim who gave me a quick shout of goodluck (he must have had a great swim, but admitted to me in passing that the swim was his strong discipline) before eventually at around the 80km mark John & Brian (2 guys from the club) caught me up. Up until this point I had been following some advice that @jamiewardell gave me and had been pacing myself conservatively according to how I felt, always clicking down a gear that felt easier as this would ensure my legs kept fresh – so far so good. At about the 90km mark however I felt strong and decided to up the pace slightly and left John & Brian – they would catch me later….

At about 80km I had also caught up to Liz Pinches, another from the club (Liz would go on to win the womens age group race - those wednesdays off really help!) and she was making the bike look far too easy. I went passed her but that soon changed when I sat up to take on some food and she cruised past me to slowly start pulling away from that point on. I knew Liz was aiming for a decent time so thought if I kept her in sight it would bring me into T2 in a good split. My mission at that stage was thus to keep her in view. This worked really well for about 40km until I encountered my first major Ironman lesson of the day.

The drafting rule states that you are required to drop back 10m once someone’s front wheel has passed yours. You have 20sec to do this. Now I am a law abiding triathletes and hate drafting and try to keep to the letter of the law, however in this case I truly think I got the wrong end of the stick. A cyclist, while going up one of the few hills on the course, pulled in front of me and promptly sat up. Unfortunately I had my head down, was standing out of the saddle and probably took about 22sec to drop back as he dropped back towards me having slowed down once he had passed. Well the next thing I knew a marshal was next to me signalling for me to pull over. Long story short, she gave me a stop and go verbal warning, explained (taking 5min in broken Danish / English) the law to me in great detail and warned me next time it would be a yellow card. In a way a yellow card may have been better as I lost so much time stopping. It was pointless arguing as I figured anything I said may be taken the wrong way and the last thing I wanted was for her to DQ me. So I took my unwanted medicine and that sort of subdued me for a good 20-30km. The rest of the ride was uneventful except for a quick pee stop and a quick stop to re-fix my saddle bag that had worked loose while going over a cobbled section of the route.

Highlights of the ride have got be the large group of Turbos cheering me on up one of the hills and the ‘tour de France’ like atmosphere on the feed hill 77km in where the crowd were 4-5 people deep and pushing in on you, some even patting you on the back!

Total bike time 5hr38 @ just under 32km/hr. I had hoped for a 5hr30 bike but with the stops and toilet breaks I considered it job well done.

Again a fairly quick transition that involved a few big dollops of Vaseline to stem some chaffing – but overall quick and easy onto the run.

The run

I started the run at a brisk 4min50 pace and for all the will in the world tried to slow myself down. I knew to get a marathon time of 3hr40 I needed about 5min10 but the adrenaline and atmosphere kept making me drift up in pace. After doing the 1^st 10km in 50min I knew I was running too fast, but worse I started getting stomach cramps. This threw me as I had never before had a dodgy stomach in any race and this was a whole new experience.

Do I force food in, do I drink only water, and do I need salt tablets? Who knew?? I decided to not eat and take a salt tablet which seemed to settle it down after a few kilometres. My nutrition up to that point had been fairly good, but truth be told I missed a food bar and a few gels on the bike. I just couldn’t stomach the sweet taste and lack of liquid in my mouth after a few hours and so just took on energy drinks hoping to replace the missed calories. In retrospect, this was probably the start of my stomach issues which slowly snowballed. By the 20km mark, I was starting to feel weak, my legs were pretty sore and tired and my stomach had started to cramp again. More worrying for me is that my heart rate had dropped from 75% (my usual marathon rate) to 55%. What did that mean? More unanswered questions…

Pretty much the whole run I had also had @nathandunny chasing me. He was about 2min back for the first 20km and unlike previous races where I had run away from the man, he was running strong and maintaining the gap. Although great mates, we have a friendly rivalry and I was keen to try and keep the lead, however at about the 24/25km mark I realised my cramps had progressed to an active bowel and I would need a toilet break. I thus slowed looking for porta toilets and allowed Nathan to catch me. He graciously asked me if I was okay and if I needed anything, but alas what I needed to do he couldn’t help me with… At the next aid station I told him to run hard and I would see him later. He told me he expected to see me soon, but there was no catching the lad and he kept his lead all the way home. My toilet break was only 3-4min long, and I did feel much better after it, but I had very little energy left in me and although I did lift the pace at the end there was no way I could ‘seek and destroy’ as I had joked a few days earlier, to hunt him down.

From that point on I ran purely on coke – aaah, the red ambulance – I hate to think what the last 12km would have been like without it… There was no way any food could get past my lips and definitely no gels would be able to go down. My legs were broken, I remember running up to Diane and telling her how much I hurt, but there was nothing she or anyone else could do for me. If I wanted this I needed to commit and finish off the race. With 12km to go, and based on my last 10km pace, I realised I was in real chance of loosing my goal of sub 11hrs. Finishing my 1^st Ironman was always the main goal, but my secret goal for the day was sub 11 and a 10hr40 target (if everything went 100% to plan). I haven’t looked at the data on my garmin yet, but I do recall picking up the pace after meeting up with a total kiwi stranger who started a conversation with me at an aid station. I was standing with my hands on my knees, feeling sorry for myself when he said come on UK (he recognised the Turbo colours), lets go. I looked up and corrected him, saying I was actually from SA (no insult intended to all my UK buddies ;) – he said ‘even better, lets go……’! It turns out that he was doing his 2^nd Ironman race, he had done CPH last year and finished on 9hr42 – but this year had punctured twice and due to dodgy stomach problem too, was on track to finish in the same time as me. It was amazing that this guy had been placed in my path at that exact time as he lifted my spirits and from running at 6min/km suddenly we were back at 5min15/km. It shows you how the mental aspect of this sport is so important. We chatted a bit but also ran in silence, walking the last few aid stations and running a good pace in-between. He did warn me that he wasn’t going to do a sprint finish, and I assured him I was in no mood to race him. The lesson here is that the triathlon community really band together to help get each other through tough times, and Richard the kiwi saved my goal, bringing me in for a 3hr57 marathon and a sub 11hr Ironman.

As I ran down the finish shoot I looked for my Diane my wife and took huge strength from seeing her there cheering me home. I stopped and gave her a kiss, and told her I loved her before she chased me on to the finish. Pointing to the sky to thank the Lord for blessing me with the ability to finish such a gruelling event as an Ironman I was welcomed home by Nathan and a group of Turbos waiting in the finishers shoot. We hugged, shook hands, exchanged congrats and basked in the glory of having accomplished an epic event. Proudly sporting my finishers T-shirt + medal and towel I made my way back to Diane to celebrate further with her and other friends…

So everyone is asking me – Did I enjoy it, was it hard, will I do another?

My answers –

Yes I enjoyed every moment (although some where very painful)

Yes it is the hardest thing I have ever done – probably mentally more than physically (although my body took a huge battering at the time…)

I will do another Ironman, although I am not sure when. Ironman SA is on my list, however I may sneak in another in Europe before I get that in.

The whole experience will be one that I will remember and treasure forever. Like achieving anything major in life, it is something no one can ever take away from you. It has been an emotional rollercoaster – the highs and lows in the training, build up and particular in the race have taught me so many life lessons. What completing an Ironman race is like, is hard to describe – it’s one of those things you sort of have to experience yourself to understand the commitment, suffering, joy and elation you go through. I do however believe that anyone that puts there mind to it can take on this challenge and in ending, if this report inspires you to contemplate taking on a race of this proportion, my advice to you is to just do it – take on the challenge, stretch yourself, commit to the idea and you will never regret it.

Total time - 10hrs 51min 31sec

Coach Tom from @T2Team at ITU hyde park… Via...

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 08:49:11 +1200

Coach Tom from @T2Team at ITU hyde park… Via http://instantretro.com

Cowman Middle Distance Triathlon Race Report This is a race...

Mon, 04 Jul 2011 21:40:57 +1200

Cowman Middle Distance Triathlon Race Report

This is a race report of endorsements for a number of people so apologies for all the name dropping but they really helped me hit my goals on this specific occasion and so I really wanted to mention them….

After the overindulgence of 13 triathlons in 2010 I have only planned 3 for 2011 of which Cowman was my second in the lead up to IM CPH. This is my take on how the race unfolded for me yesterday.

After the 3am Swashbuckler wake up of my previous middle distance tri I had decided I was going to try and stay as close to the Cowman venue as possible and get as much sleep as possible prior to race time. I think this proved successful as I registered & racked on Saturday and so arrived at the race venue at 5:30 feeling like overall a good night’s sleep had been had and I was well rested. Did the usual faf, transition set up, and meet & greet of turbos and friends pre race and so was fairly ready to race come the 6:15 race briefing.

Swim – 35.50

This all started a little quick for my liking. It was a case of get in the water, okay everyone back on the bank, okay GO!. _ I was sort of ‘’what, have we started????!!!!’’ head down, thrash thrash, get punched, kicked swum over etc etc. I reached the first bouy literally in the middle of a massive pack and after having a number of ‘Harry Wiltshire’s’ thinking I was Gomez, decided to take a wide line fearing for my life. (No dramatization, I genuinely felt panicked – and normally the swim is not necessarily fast but at least comfortable for me). Swimming out wide meant I had clear open water but it also meant I probably ended up swimming a lot of extra mileage, a price on this occasion I was willing to pay. I had been hoping for around the 33min mark but came out the water in 35.50ish and a little annoyed at all the ‘runners’ (swimmer who had swum too close to the banks who then decided it was a good idea to stand up and walk / run 30-40m and then dolphin dive their way around sections) that I had spotted along the banks. Anyway that was out of my control so I decided to focus my energy on things I could look after myself which was T1. Possibly one of my quicker T1s. Everything ran smoothly and before I knew it I was on the bike course.

Bike – 2hr35

Love this course, at the very most you could call it lumpy, enough to keep you honest while riding but no real climbing challenges. A fast ride for sure. I had planned a very specific bike leg - warming up the first quarter, going hard, backing off for a while, going hard and easing up as I came into T2. So much for race tactics – it was head down and ride hard and see if I could keep the avg km/hr climbing all the time. Sooooooo much fun to get down on the bars and hammer it out – passed loads of people and had some ding dong battles with a few guys who where of similar speed. A few downsides to the cycle were the 2 nasty accidents I saw on the side of the roads – really hope those guys are okay today and the drafting by some over eager AGers. Am a big believer of doing things by the book and being an honest racer and just got annoyed at the number of people that sat on my wheel. Often because I had people directly behind me (even after shouting DROP DROP) it was difficult for me to drop back to keep the legal non draft distance which forced me to try rather muscle up the pace and overtake everyone – fine for a 70.3 race but I wouldn’t want to keep doing that in an IM race as my legs would blow!

A big thank you and shout out to @profeet whom I had a bike fit with a few weeks ago – I can honestly say the fit was bang on and made a huge difference to my ride. Comfort, power, and position where all spot on. Looking at my stats I was well over 35km/hr at the end of the ride (and looking back in parts I was conservative) so think there is room to go even quicker. I’m super keen to get a TT bike soon but took lots of satisfaction overtaking a number of Shivs, P3s and other noteworthy bikes on my properly fitted road bike. It goes to show that there is a lot more to going fast on a bike than just the machine sitting underneath you. When I came back in, T2 was again quick for me – no hitches, a perfect change-over and onto the run.

Run – 1hr37

I had been worried about the run as I have been having treatment with Melanie Ducket and tailoring my run training programme (design by Tom Bennet) around an ITB injury I picked up at swashbuckler. So my plan was to start at a good pace and see how the knee felt and run until I felt any discomfort at which stage I would tone it down. This was a tough old run course I found. Just enough hills, grass, shale, stone and lumpy downhill to keep the pace down a few 10sec/km of what I would have gone had it been more sure underfoot. Lap one went well enough, lap 2 I started fatiguing a little and on lap 3 when Roger & then Pete came storming past (great running guys) I was having to work very hard to maintain. I did catch a few turbos, on my third lap I bumped into Leggy who had committed a schoolboy error of not wearing socks and was paying the price with blisters! He needed one of Aurelie’s OUCH running vests – you could see how uncomfortable it was! Like a proper trooper however he soldiered on and even with painful feet smashed a great time. At about the 16km mark I felt a very slight twinge in the knee and knew that was my cue to dial it down a tad. I found that if I ran just under the 5min/km mark the knee was perfectly fine and as Copenhagen is the main goal of the season and realising I was well within a sub 5hr 70.3 at that pace, made the decision to be consistent the last 4-5km rather than try and save and extra few minutes on my overall time. And so I soaked up the atmosphere and ran into the cheering pom pom girls with a satisfied smile on my face knowing it had been a good day at the office.

Total time – 4hr52min & achieved my goal of going sub 5hrs.

As always a big thanks to all the supporters, especially my wife who brought cupcakes as a post race treat (didn’t realise how many Turbos enjoy their cake, sorry for those that didn’t get any! will bring more next time!). So much support out there on the course it felt like every 5min on the run there was someone encouraging me – awesome to be part of that atmosphere.

A big thanks to Tom Bennet whose been helping me out the last few months. Just as much as @profeet has helped me with my bike fit which made a big difference to my bike times @ TeamT2 has been the driving force behind a huge improvement in my overall fitness. For instance my run is probably the strongest and best it has ever been and I have no doubt the specific sessions I have worked with Tom on have been the reason behind this. Thanks buddy…

And finally big thanks to all my training buddies who I train and race with. I’m not a pro (although my wife argues that’s what I try sound like) and the reason I race is to enjoy the social contact. Of course I am competitive and there is banter at times, but racing in isolation of others would be no fun for me. So a big thanks to the guys I train regularly with @mellowmalloy @jamiewardell as well as Kyle, Jayson and the ‘I don’t train much but still smash out 5hr30min 70.3 race - Derek! Also a big shout-out to my statue of the day at Cowman – Nathan (@nathandunny). I am fully expecting you to be the pigeon come Copenhagen (just don’t drink so much water before the bike leg next time ;)!

So now – onwards to CPH – the next big challenge in the diary! I can’t wait!!!

Swashbuckler race report This race was always going to be...

Tue, 24 May 2011 02:27:56 +1200

Swashbuckler race report

This race was always going to be early with a 5:15am start – however finding out the campsite I was staying at only opened its gates at 7am to let cars out, meant I had to park outside which created about a km walk I had to factor into my days timing first up.

So alarms were set for 3:15! (that just sounds, and was crazy) so as to try and get some food in, pack up the content of the tent and drive to the race start. Surprisingly all went well and at 4:30 I found myself with all my gear in transition – ready to suit up and make my way down to the water for the start!

I wasn’t sure what the conditions would be like as at about 2:00am I heard what sounded like a typhoon blowing around my tent – so expected the worst – however besides the rain that started at around 4:00am – the temperature seemed fine and the wind in the transition area seemed – manageable – then again – I didn’t have a disc wheel!

The swim –

There was definitely a tide at play on the swim and after self seeding mid-pack (I never learn and as usual got caught in the group for most of the swim) and having to swim back ‘upstream’ a few times to get behind the start canoes the race was off with a somewhat sudden start! I sped downstream to reach the turn around buoy in good time but that’s when my day fell apart somewhat – as I went around the buoy someone grabbed my arm with my Garmin 310xt on it and proceed to rip it off me to try and pull themselves forward. I have no doubt they didn’t mean to purposefully break and throw my watch away and am sure their fingers accidentally got caught in the strap – but feeling my arm being pulled back and then seeing my Garmin slowly sink into the Beauli river left me with a somewhat sick and deflated start to my day. I swam back, thrashed around a bit to try and find it – but after the 3^rd or 4^th person behind me swam over me it was clear my prized possession was gone and I was just annoying the masses. For a moment I thought to pack it in there and then as my mood was foul – but logical prevailed when I thought about all the other money on accommodation and travel and race entry would have wasted had I let that incident totally ruin my day… I thus finished the swim in a poorly 37min and faffed around in T1 while I tried to get over the psychological blow I had just been dealt…

The bike –

The bike course was awesome and besides starting on wet sticky roads from the early rain showers (I actually stopped to check if my brakes were rubbing on my rear wheel – hahaha) – it was a pleasure to ride on once my tyre dried up. The wind was stiff in places – but much more manageable than I thought – with just the last home stretch being a real killer into a very strong headwind. There are long flat straight sections you can just get down on the bars for kms at a time and hammer. Mind you there is a lot of livestock around and I had to dodge a few cows and wild horses on occasions. My biggest problem was that I didn’t really know my pace and as my swim was so slow it meant I had to pick my way through the field for at least the first 20-30km? (I’m guessing). I eventually got to a stage where there was no one else in front of me that I could see which made pacing even worse as I had at least been able to get avg speeds of the people I was passing on an occasional shout out.. I thus started my new mantra – which was – If you’re hurting it means you’re going fast, if you’re hurting others are also hurting! Repeated about 100 million times = 2hrs22min bike! Thanks Mr Bennett (training rides and mantra discussion helped me on that one! ;) The other problem I had with no watch is that I didn’t know distance or time to judge my nutrition – which ended up with me having only 2 gels on the bike and 1 x 750mil bottle of nunn. This would come back to bite me on the run. Major lesson number 2 for me is that I will always have a dedicated bike computer and not rely on my Garmin wristwatch for info in the future. I believe the boskman is on similar roads and or part of the route – so for those racing that event – enjoy, it’s a special and nice area to cycle in.

The run –

Not the most difficult run in the world but a few challenging humps and gravel paths to niggle at the calves. This is probably where I made my biggest race mistake and went out way to fast. I felt strong off the bike and ran the first 5km way too quick before dialling it back when speaking to some other runners with GPS watches on. One guy was running at a 7.5min mile pace and I went past him and lost him very quickly – problem is at that time I couldn’t work out what 7.5min miles were in km (i.e. to try judge my speed) and only on reflection after the run do I now realise I must have been running below 4min30/km for the first bit – not sustainable for me! At least there were drink stations fairly regularly on the run (but the nutrition damage had already been done) which helped keep me going but by 15km I was mixing a shuffle and type of walk/jog/run to just keep me moving. The most disheartening was watching other tri friends and acquaintance come past me the last 3-4km – one guy said he had been tracking me all day and thanks for being his target (I am guessing that’s tri banter, but had no response for him on the day). Also met a few BAD tri guys who stopped to ask me if I was doing Copenhagen and how excited they are to be over there with us Turbos! Hope I didn’t look to disgruntled as I didn’t say much to them, grunting and sort of nodding – deep in the hurt locker is no place to make new friends I am afraid… A friendly high five at the end from the BAD crew who were a few minutes ahead overall however should hopefully keep the tri club relationships amenable. Next goal however is to claw back a few BAD tri places at Copenhagen! Run totalled about 1hr55 for the 22km – not my best but happy to have got around.

Total time which I found out later that night was 4hr58min. Pleased to have a sub 5hr at the minimum, but a lost opportunity to post a strong time on a fairly flat and well laid out course. Well done Ben – the top Turbo of the day – whose overall time was awesome and resulted in a good place in the field!

If you can stomach a 5:15 start – I would highly recommend this race – it’s well marshalled, has a great race director, although a little light on nutrition makes up for it with probably one of my most favourite medals I have every received – an aaaar aaar pirate head complete with an eye patch to boot! That’s definitely going up on my wall and will most likely annoy the heck out of the wife, but what boy (I mean man) doesn’t want a picture of a pirate on his lounge wall!

Brighton Marathon Race Report

Mon, 11 Apr 2011 23:45:22 +1200

Having just finished a significant event in my build up to Challenge Copenhagen, and since it’s been a while since my last proper post I thought I would do a bit of a catch up on how my training and racing is progressing and do a marathon race report (in all the senses).

At the moment I am basking in the glory of having finished my first marathon. Yesterday’s race was the sunny Brighton 26.2, which went perfectly to plan but my update actually begins a few months back. Prepping for Brighton, running has taken up a large portion of my tri training over the last 2-3 months but I have tried to stay consistent with a couple of swims every week supplemented with an hour here and there on the turbo and long rides on the weekend. My progress had been going well having run a PB half marathon at Wokingham (1hr32) but as it often does, training went a bit pear shaped after that and I missed a few key long runs. Due to a bit of a knee niggle I also cut back on running about 5 weeks ago and focused on the bike for a couple of weeks which meant that I missed my last half marathon tune up race, and so, going into Brighton I wasn’t 100% sure what running state I was in. If you throw in the fact that I was also away on holiday for a week in Egypt two weeks out from race day it all made for a few nerves about how the day would unfold.

Come Sunday 10^th April 2011, the sun rose bright and warm, and my now well refined breakfast of Kellogs and youghurt, 2 x slices of nuttela toast and a banana washed down with accelerade drink (sorry Jon) ensured I was well fuelled for the 9:00am start. I have to say that having raced many triathlons now, the later run race starts have been very nice, and perhaps racing Tri in Europe mainland where the starts seems a little later than the conventional 6:30 kick offs in the UK, are rather appealing! Having headed to Brighton with a few friends - Derek, his sister Robyn, my super special supporter wife Diane and some triathlon club buddies Mel and Mike, our merry band started the 3km walk to the start in high spirits of what the day might hold. I say ‘high spirits’ but actually there were more than a few nerves…

Derek had done his traditional amount of prep (which included about a run a week and 2 or 3 ‘long runs’ of about 15km!) for his 1^st marathon. Robyn, a seasoned comrade’s marathoner with 2 medals to her name, had basically stopped training about 5 weeks ago due to her impending move to Australia taking up all her spare time (she was planning on only doing 21kms – for fun), Mel and Mike had also had their training curtailed due to work commitments – and as for me, well I knew I would do okay as I had trained but wasn’t sure I would hit my goal of around 3hr30. In the end everyone would finish, Diane was an absolute trooper of a supporter and the sun would shine on a great day at the seaside.

My race report:

Things didn’t start great for me – I had underestimated my ability big time on my entry form and clearly hadn’t written a very fast estimated finish time (not often I can say that, it’s normally the other way round – or so the wife tells me, especially when related to DIY projects around the house!). This meant that my start number was pink, the second group from the back, and I had about 8000 runners in front of me! I considered muscling into the red group (1 behind the elite group) corral – but a stern looking lady with bouncer like, big gun arms guarded the entrance. When she looked at my number and said ‘pinks back there’, I meekly mumbled something about being colour blind, my mistake, and thanks for pointing me in the right direction. Diane also told me not to ruin the day by doing something stupid and being thrown out of the race, and so much to my dismay I settled in to my group positioning myself next to the old man with the walking stick and the guy wearing sponge bob square pants costume.

The gun went bang on 9:00am. I say gun but it actually sounded more like a world war 2 bomb siren (or so the old man with the walking stick informed me) and so I started my first marathon. And then I stopped…. Clearly the crowd wasn’t going to be moving quickly at all for the first few kilometres and so began the sequence of 20m shuffling 2 seconds standing still for the first 10 min. Lucky by the time we reached the actually timing chip start line (where my race time would begin), the crowd had thinned slightly and I could start bobbing and weaving my way through the throngs of ‘runners’ made up of ladies wearing fairy wings, service men running in full military gear & backpacks, men with tigers on their backs and some half naked man wearing a nappy??? After 5 min, space did open up a little more, and I was starting to run more freely BUT 2 things happened that made me think this wasn’t going to be my day. Firstly I got a bad stitch in my side and secondly I needed to go to the toilet for a wee. I couldn’t understand either of these things. I haven’t had a stitch since my cross country days at school and I had relieved myself 10 minutes before the start of the race. And so I reluctantly darted behind a tree 2km into the race for A) a rest and B) to empty the bladder. I can only think I had over-hydrated and that this caused both problems as once I had started running again by the 5/6km mark the stitch went away.

My tactics were pretty simple for the race, run conservatively until half way and then try negative split it home on the flat part of the course. A few friends who had run the race the year before advised this tactic and it worked great. My race splits show me having run 1:42 the first half and 1:41 the second half of the marathon – but to me the second half felt much faster. The first 5km was pretty slow due to the crowds and so when I had the opportunity to pick up the pace I started running at closer to my 10km speed than marathon speed – this took me through the crowds quickly and at about the 10km mark I was to see the first blue / red / white (TURBO) vest of the day in front of me – Marcus! He was running at a consistent, good, strong pace and it was the perfect opportunity for me to settle into a rhythm and so I decided to stay with him until at least the half way mark, running around 5min/km. It was great having someone to run with and a bit of chatting made the miles go by a lot easier. We also were able to see a few friends and fellow Turbo runners on the course in the out-and-back looped sections which was great, sharing the race with others is half the fun of these events and it’s always inspiring to see club mates performing well. A mate, Martin Hollywood, @mhowood was in particularly fast form on the day and ended up with a 3hr00min55sec time and 56^th? overall! He was like a red / blue and white blur, however was gutted not to break the 3hr mark. There’s always next time buddy! Tom Morgan – one of the club coaches, was also pretty quick – practising what he preaches…

At about the 22km mark, feeling really strong I told Marcus I was keen to up the pace to at least 4:50km and said my farewell. Marcus had his own challenge (catching a gent by the name of Straggler to try and win a race bet) and so I left him to his pacing and mini compo challenge (which I believe he won?). The route had by now flattened nicely, however having had a breeze on my face for the first half, I suddenly started feeling rather hot now the wind had died and changed direction. Within about 5 min I caught up to the 2^nd Turbo in front of me on the course (Straggler), gave him a warning that Marcus was 1min back and put my head down. Head down and back to the job at hand I was knocking out 4:30km and passing loads of people. The question on my mind was – am I going too fast? I felt good, was at the 32km mark and as I now only had about 10km to go thought I may as well give it everything. BOOM or BUST?

Looking at my pacing wristband I could see that I wasn’t on target for a 3hr20 marathon but wasn’t far off. According to my calculations (which are dodgy at best, but especially bad when dehydrated & running in 30 degree heat – okay probably only 21/22 degrees but this is my story and it felt 30!) I could probably make 3:24 at my current pace and in my head started settling for sub 3hr25 time. That would have been a bonus as I had planned on a 3hr30 finish. I then remembered a marathon talk podcast about a runners central governor which controlled their exertion levels and thought I would test my ‘gov’ and see what he said. So I decided I would try to make up the time and end as close to a 3hr20 time as possible. This would mean running a 4:25/km – possible but not probable for me at the back end of a marathon. Low and behold my legs actually listened! And even felt okay (okay that’s a big lie they were shouting at me and using language not fit to type here) but at least complying. Mentally it was a tough part of the course running around a deserted dockyard with few spectators but soon enough I was on the road back to Brighton pier and the finish line. With about 5km to go I happened upon another turbo (I think it was Alan?), gave him a friendly hello and then went deep into the zone. At this stage I had about 4km to go and 19min left to break 3hrs20. Still doable – but very hard. 2km to go and Jon Crews (another Turbo) pops into site. By this stage the runners had thinned substantially (so I knew I was catching the frontish pack). Having seen Jon running very strong the first half I thought something must not be quit right as he wasn’t looking too comfy (later I found out he had some tummy trouble) – having said that who does look comfy at 40km?? I again said high, gave him a thumbs up and past him, but Jon wasn’t going to let me go so easily and 300m later I had a sense of someone on my shoulder. Jon had summoned an energy reserve from somewhere and had picked up his pace to match mine. At that moment I looked at the Garmin and to my dismay realised I was not going to break 3hr20. I had about a km to go and about 2min to do it in. Not possible, or probable. Jon also probably realised something similar and told me to go on and that I was running well. This gave me a boost and so even though my target was gone I maintained my pace. 800m to go on the Garmin, 600m – where is the finish?? Then into view pops a sign – 800m to go to the finish? What???? Stupid flippin Garmin – either I had been bobbing and weaving a huge amount or the GPS system was out. My watched ticked over – 3hrs 20 and 800m to go. That was it my race had been run – I decided to enjoy the crowds and last 500m now of the route, soaking up the atmosphere. The finish line now firmly in my sights I enjoyed the runner in front of my asking the crowds to clap by raising his hands as if they should raise the volume – the crowd obliged and went ballistic – wow what an experience – probably the closes I will get to experiencing what an elite feels like – Tick tock tick tock, oh yes better cross the line… First marathon done! 3hrs23 flat! One of the best races of my life – and yes now the 2011 season feels like it has officially started!

My entry for the Copenhagnen Training camp competition..

Thu, 07 Apr 2011 22:14:16 +1200

Name: Deon Scheppel

Background: I live and work in London for a hospital as a learning & development manager. I am actually South African; I am married and live in the beautiful little town of Teddington.

How many triathlons have you done? I started triathlon in 2010 and have done 3 x sprint, 3 x Olympic and 3 x 70.3 distance races.

Why have you chosen to give yourself the challenge of doing a full iron-distance triathlon? I used to play rugby (which is the number 1 sport in South Africa). During a game in 2009 I hurt my neck badly and it turned out to be a major injury which required spinal surgery in October of 2009 to insert a titanium disc between my C5 & C6 vertebrae. While in hospital I had time to contemplate my life and realised there was still so much I wanted to do and achieve. I had always been interested in doing a triathlon and so decided I would set myself a goal of completing a half iron distance race (I thought people who did the full distance races were mad!) as a way of proving to myself and others that I could overcome this challenge. My recovery started with walks in my local park and after a few months of building up firstly my swimming, then cycling and finally running, I achieved my goal of finishing a 70.3 distance race in 6hr01min! At the end of this race I knew I was hooked on the sport of triathlon.

Why are you doing Challenge Copenhagen? (Why this specific event):

As part of my journey back to health and to help me achieve my goal of finishing my first half ironman, I joined a triathlon club called Thames Turbo. It is one of the biggest, oldest (and certainly in my eyes) the best triathlon clubs in the UK. The support and friendships I developed helped me get through some hard training months and even tougher race days.

2 years ago the club organised an overseas trip to race Challenge Barcelona. The individuals that raced in the event were so impressed and enjoyed the race so much that they decided to organise a further trip for 2011 and chose Challenge Copenhagen. After having completed a few 70.3 races in 2010 I decided that I was ready to take on the challenge of a full long distance triathlon and couldn’t pass up the opportunity of racing with 60 other turbos in Denmark! It is also an opportunity to again prove to myself that with hard work, faith in my ability and a little support any ‘ordinary’ person to achieve ‘extra-ordinary’ things.

Tell us your greatest / most fun experience in sports: I will never forget South Africa winning the rugby world cup for the first time in 1995. That is when, as a child, I realised the important role that sport can play in developing society and helping individuals achieve their dreams.

What motivates you? I love sports films, and photography. My favourite sporting film at the moment is Chasing Legends and I love the work of the adventure photographers Nick Nichols & Michael Clark.

What are your expectations for Challenge Copenhagen? To say I don’t have a secret finish time in mind would be lying – however as this is my first ‘full’ Challenge event the goal has to be to firstly finish strong and secondly soak up the experience of training and racing with so many friends in such an amazing event. If you pushed me for an answer I would have to say ‘watch this space’!

Sharks lost but since I did 21km in perfect 29 degree sunshine this afternoon I cant complain 2 much...

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 22:11:08 +1200

Sharks lost but since I did 21km in perfect 29 degree sunshine this afternoon I cant complain 2 much about today- off for 6 course dinner!

Epic run today on Nabq bay beachfront boardwalk. Camels, bellydancers, Bedouin lounges, kiteboarders...

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 07:44:45 +1200

Epic run today on Nabq bay beachfront boardwalk. Camels, bellydancers, Bedouin lounges, kiteboarders all within 2 miles of each other!

And so the quest for proper sun begins. Sitting in the belly of the big steel bird waiting 2 head...

Sat, 26 Mar 2011 14:39:00 +1200

And so the quest for proper sun begins. Sitting in the belly of the big steel bird waiting 2 head out 2wards the bright blue African sky’s.

Off to @thamesturbo swim. 3rd training session for the day! #Mightneedwaterwings

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 23:54:37 +1200

Off to @thamesturbo swim. 3rd training session for the day! #Mightneedwaterwings

Long run done to round of an epic training weekend. #backinthegroove. Now for kiff lunch with some...

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 19:28:46 +1200

Long run done to round of an epic training weekend. #backinthegroove. Now for kiff lunch with some mates!!! #couldeatmyownbodyweight

What a week! Superheroes (@mhowood), Vikings (Challenge...

Sat, 08 Jan 2011 02:28:00 +1200

What a week! Superheroes (@mhowood), Vikings (Challenge Copenhagen) and pirates (Swashbuckler middle distance triathlon) are things banging around in my head! The race plan is becoming more refined and the training I am very pleased to say is coming along nicely as I get into a regular exercise routine.

So far this week I have managed to hit all of my training goals. I recently bought the new Joe Friel book – Your best Triathlon – and have been using it to design an Ironman training programme. I have learnt that part of the joy of triathlon for me is figuring out how I should be training / structuring my sessions and learning as I go along and this book is AWESOME! All part of the 226+ value of enjoying the whole of the experience.

Training wise I decided to start the new years off as I intend to go on. By that I mean I am trying to be as consistent as possible – i.e. not miss any sessions! So far so good. Applause please as I list this weeks sessions - Long run on new years day (after the cocktail party – hosted by & thanks @mellowmaloy !) – tick, long ride out to boxhill (even if Apple did try and sabotage my plans by having an alarm software malfunction of epic proportion!) – tick, Mondays recovery run – tick, Tuesday bike / run brick – tick, Wednesdays track session – AWESOME tick!, Thursdays long swim at Hampton open air pool – swim fail but session tick! Now I have another long run and long ride to look forward to this weekend before I begin it all over again!

Also pretty stoked I was able to wangle an entry into the Swashbuckler triathlon. It’s a half Ironman race down in the new forest on 22 May 2011 (check out race list). It sold out in Dec 2010 but credit to the organisers they are one of the few companies that allow substitutions and I was able to get a place off someone that could no longer race. Wish other race organisers would take a leaf out of their book (no names mentioned but I’ll give you a clue – it was a race that won a triathlon220 race of the year award last year and squeezed £200 extra out of me via charity for a late entry!)

Finally a reciprocal triathlon shout-out to the real Ironman superhero – I mean @mhowood for the mention in his blog - http://www.triblogs.com/blog/gunforhire I recon a true superhero is someone who has a family with kids, commutes a couple of hours a day, manages a race team and still finds time to train and race at a really good level – good job! And you have to have super powers to get that done!

Until next time..

Just entered the swashbuckler middle distance triathlon and am now off for some swim training!

Fri, 07 Jan 2011 13:00:00 +1200

Just entered the swashbuckler middle distance triathlon and am now off for some swim training!

Nobody trips over mountains. It is the small pebble that causes...

Fri, 31 Dec 2010 04:55:00 +1200

Nobody trips over mountains. It is the small pebble that causes you to stumble. Pass all the pebbles in your path and you will find you have crossed the mountain.

~Author Unknown

This week’s blog is motivated by an Inov8 poster I happened upon...

Fri, 24 Dec 2010 22:36:00 +1200

This week’s blog is motivated by an Inov8 poster I happened upon while browsing their website looking at trail running shoes. (Click the pic for a link to their website – I have some great Roclite 315 trail shoes of theirs I can recommend). For me this poster sums up my passion for triathlon and endurance sport. Yes the end is important but how you get there is probably more important. Well it is for me anyway.

As my sites name (226+) suggest – a race is more than just an event in a calendar – it’s the training, the sacrifice, the fun, the support, the travel, the motivation, the people and everything else in-between.

Bottom line – enjoy the journey as much as the result.

Click on the picture for some more winter wonderland photos - I...

Sun, 19 Dec 2010 04:27:00 +1200

Click on the picture for some more winter wonderland photos -

I went for the first run in about 3 days this afternoon. I have had a bit of a cold (again!) and so had been resting up. When the snow came I couldn’t resist going into Bushy Park near my house in Teddington to see how my usual 12km run route had suddenly turned into a magical winter wonderland! It was the best run I have had in ages - not fast, I didn’t threshold it, or run to a specific program - all I did was run and enjoy the opportunity of being outdoors, (and.. I EVEN stopped every now and then to take a few pictures!) - it was awesome and I felt so privileged to be able to enjoy such a beautiful site…

Love this photo… it captures a true spirit of adventure...

Fri, 17 Dec 2010 08:19:00 +1200

Love this photo… it captures a true spirit of adventure & challenge.

Strap line should read - That’s not the finish line in the distance, that’s the start!

Living the dream..

A cool idea - why not customize your own drinks bottle - check...

Thu, 16 Dec 2010 06:51:00 +1200

A cool idea - why not customize your own drinks bottle - check out this design I was playing around with…

Click on the picture to try it out yourself…

Ithemba kalibulali - The begining

Tue, 14 Dec 2010 04:20:00 +1200

I am not Zulu, but come from a place in South Africa that is the native homeland of the Zulu peope - KwaZulu Natal. As such my perspective on life has been influenced in part by my African friends and my approach and philosophies shaped by the Zulu culture. My ability to speak Zulu is limited however Ithemba kalibulali - I am told means: ‘Hope does not kill; I shall live and get what I want one day’.

I don’t want to repeat my story in this part of my blog, but having signed up for some of the most physically challenging events of my life in 2011, I thought it only appropriate to keep a record of how I progress towards my goals. The Zulu proverb above is thus a metaphor for my ultra endurance challenges - I shall hope as it doesnt kill me, I shall live (train hard) and one day get what I want (finish my endurance races).

So… in the beginning -

Week 1 was all about starting to get into a routine and planning my year around my races in 2011. This race list I am sure will change over the coming months and I will probably add (hopefully not drop out) to the events listed. The idea is however that I will keep a fairly tight control on the number of races I enter - perhaps try and theme the races to 11 in 2011… more to come on this.

Training wise - I’ve started up again (1st Dec) after having a complete break of about 2 weeks having picked up the dreaded lurgy! Diane my wife, was surprisingly sympathetic (unlike some cycling buddies who hurld abuse at me on twitter for not making rides) and I am guessing she could see I was fairly under the weather. Week 1 of training thus was a low key event with a couple of swims, a few hours on the turbo, 3 runs and 2 gym sessions. It may sound a reasonable amount for the pre-season but the phrase’ weak as a lamb’ comes to mind. Hours were done, but at low intensity - just about all I could handle.

I plan on picking things up as December progresses, partly to fight the additional fuel that the festive season brings with all the Christmas parties and quality streets lying around the house and office - but mainly cause - well I have entred my first Marathon, Ironman race and Ultra marathon!

More to follow soon..

“Desire is the starting point of all achievement, not a...

Tue, 14 Dec 2010 03:23:00 +1200

“Desire is the starting point of all achievement, not a hope,
not a wish, but a keen pulsating desire which transcends everything.”

~Napoleon Hill~