Well Ironman South Africa nr. 3 done. It was the hardest of the three, with temperatures well into the 30 degrees. According to my Polar watch( and I know the watch is close to you're body) the average temperature on the bike was 31, with the high 40. On the run it was an average of 30 with the high at 33. I got so many cramps on the run, you won't believe.
I have mixed feeling of the day but I think all Triathletes have this due to our competitive spirit.
First of all I am happy that I finished and only 3 minutes slower than last year, one must say the day was a success. I was really worried about the swim and I think I started too far to the back. My swim time was the same than last year. I really need a swim coach if I want to be competitive. I have increased my swimming by more than 30% and still swim the same time, with conditions the same than last year
All of the top guys swam under 1h00, me coming in at 1h15.
It was then the old story of playing catch up. Preliminary results show me having the second fastest bike split in my age group, coming in at 5h02.
My heart rate average was 145 bpm, which I struggled to get down after the swim It had to be in the 138-148 bpm max zone for the bike. It took me 20 minutes to get in the zone, like I said playing catch up.
The now famous south eastern did not blown but it was blowing in a northern direction. This meant that the last 20 km of each lap where you can really fly on the bike was now a semi head.
You really had to work on the bike.
When I started my run everything was according to plan, running 1h10 minutes per 14km lap. Well that only lasted for a lap and a half. On the second lap the heat really got to me and the cramps was all over in my legs. I really struggled on the second lap and the first 8 kilometers of the third lap. During the last six km's I just pushed myself and were almost crying of all the cramp but I wanted a sub 11h30.
The whole day was magic and a special thanks to all the support from my family who were next to the road for the whole day. Also to all the text messages and emails thank you very much. Got a email from Bryan(trainingpayne.blogspot.com) whereby he postponed his long bike ride to see when and where I finished. Thank you very much, that is now real Ironman spirit.
Then one also need to thank the race organizers and all the volunteers. This race is really well run and everything is first class.
I am so happy and according to the prelim results I finished 10th in my age group and 60th overall. Will just need to check the final results tomorrow and will post it.
I guess one can say that the cramps was due to me pushing to hard on the bike, but I think I lost it at the swim. losing 15 minutes in the swim you play catch up all the time even on the run. I also need to work on my nutrition, think I am consuming too little food on the bike and that cost me on the run. Will ask for some help from Luis and Mark at markallenonline.com as I believe they have more than enough experience on this field.
Hereby just a summary of the race splits, will have a full breakdown later
Race summary
Swim: 1h15:04
Bike: 5h02, 35.6 km/h, 145 bpm ave, 4904 kcal, 84 rpm cadence ave, 236 watts ave.
Run: 4h03, 5:38 min/km, 134 bpm ave, 3510 kcal, 86 cadence ave,
Total time 10h25:08
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