Going slightly Mad

I am going slightly mad and that is according to Kim. When she came back from her week away from home she saw all these pieces of paper I've put up against some walls and cupboards and fridges in our house.

You see during the week that she wasn't here I planned my IM South Africa campaign and decided to write my goals down of what I want to achieve at IMSA this year.

I have read somewhere or it was on some course I've been that they say you must write your goals down for you the look at, being in your mind is not good enough.

Kim say I was just lonely and is busy going mad and I must take all these A4 papers off her fridge and food cupboards. I said I will take it off after IMSA. Surprisingly she hasn't taken them off herself as I just left it.

I looked at last years performance and also at my performance in Kona and decided on 5 things I want to achieve or be better at. I haven't made this lengthy and complicated list, just 5 things I am working towards.

This weeks training is still on track and if I can manage both my run and swim session tomorrow I will end the week on just under 20 hours training. This morning was so nice to sleep a little bit later than usual as I didn't go into the dealership. That is one thing if you wake up every morning at 4am, you appreciate the morning when you can sleep until 7am.

First I decided to do my gym session and had to rush it a bit as I had to do some business in town before my brick session. I also went and ordered my mothers present for her birthday. Her birthday is only 21 February but the present we decided on getting her needs to be ordered. They said it will be a week but I don't want to take any chances and ordered it well in advance.

When I got back home I wanted to do my 5h15 brick session but Kim said that her sister's child is coming to show us her newborn.

The visit turned out to be longer than I thought and I had to change my plan of riding outdoors to riding on the Computrainer as I would now finish when it's dark. Right at the top is a picture DJ took when I was about halfway with my bike session and above is a picture of DJ holding Nathan, she was so excited to be able to play with him.

We had to close Eddy in the spare bedroom as he was even more excited than DJ and was all over Nathan. He was staring out the window looking for sympathy or for someone to open up for him.

Today's Training:

Gym: 50minutes, 483kcal.

Bike: 4h45, 154km, 129bpm, 3903kcal

Run: 30minutes, 5.9km, 140bpm, 473kcal

Chain Reaction

With Kim away this week, we are all taking strain and I am so busy trying to get to everything. I had to start training a little bit earlier in the mornings to be done with my training before 6am. Then it's a mad rush to prepare breakfast, have DJ's lunch box ready for school and pack my food for the day and get ready to leave before 7am to drop DJ off at school.

For the first two nights DJ slept in her own bed but on the third she came upstairs and said she can't sleep alone in her bed. I could see when I got back from work that she is not feeling well and misses Kim.

When Kim is home she sleeps in her bed alone, no problem but I think because she misses her she needed that comfort. Allowing her to join me in bed was the start of a chain reaction which caused some very uncomfortable sleeping for me, and the best of this is it will now continue until Kim gets back.

You see when DJ came to join me her poodle Dolly also joined as they are inseparable. Dolly sleeps with DJ in her bed. With Dolly now on the bed, Eddy who sleeps on a pillow beside our bed decided that if Dolly can be on top why must he be sleeping on the floor. So Eddy jumped up and joined the party and the more I tried to chase Eddy off to sleep on his pillow the more determined he became to sleep on the bed.

Eventually I gave up and let them take over. Then Kim's cat Max, who usually sleeps on the chair in our bedroom corner decided to come and have a look and see who is all these new faces in his Mommy's bed. Luckily he was chased off by Eddy and went back to his chair.

Well for the rest of the night I had less space than what I need to sleep comfortably. This whole thing continued Wednesday night and will most definitely happen tonight as well.

Training wise I am having a good week. I haven't missed one session and feel good and can feel I am making some progress. I must add that if I had to continue with this one parent lifestyle for more than a week I won't be able to get all my sessions in.

Some blister I got from this week swimming and using flippers to do some of the drills. I am now forcing myself to include at least 15 minutes of drills during my swim sessions which I did not do before. In the past I would have just jump in the pool and start doing the laps as per my training schedule.

I have some new respect for single parents training for an Ironman and also for Kim. Maybe it is a good thing to have a week like this one, to see how much she is helping me to do what I love doing.

Weeks training:

Monday:

Swim: 1h12, 3km

Bike: 1hr, 32.5km

Tuesday:

Run: 55min, 11.5km

Bike: 2hrs, 65km

Wednesday:

Swim: 1h05, 3km

Run: 1h20, 15km

Thursday:

Gym: 1h05.

Going to be a long week

This week is going to be a long week. For a start it is going to be the first week this year, in fact since middle December last year that I will be working a full week. In December it was the public holidays and in January it was first the short leave and then the Ironman70.3 that made all my weeks a three or four day week.

Secondly Kim is attending a week long training course(for her work) in another city and is only back Friday night. She drove through this afternoon as she must be there early tomorrow. It is to far for her to travel everyday and she is sleeping over. My mother is here to help but getting all the training done, getting DJ ready for school, feeding all the cats and dogs is going to be more than a hand full. If my mother's flat wasn't on the same stand as ours I think I would have had some trouble.

And then it is training that will also be hard. After IM70.3 last weeks training was not that hard but with me getting a bit "soft" and picking up some flu/cold I did not complete the whole weeks schedule.

Lucky for me it seems if the bug is something of the past and I could manage a 4 hour bike and a 30 minute run(brick) this afternoon. Funny how I could feel that I was not 100% yesterday but today when I woke up I could feel I am fine. I think resting yesterday and doing no training helped me get over it.

And as always Eddy sleeping while I train. Funny but as soon as I get out of the Aero Position or stop pedalling he jumps up and think I'm finished. Can understand when he jumps up as I stop pedalling but how he knows when I am getting out of the aero position I don't know. Will start calling him my Aero watch Dog, will thank him if I can be aero for the full IM bike route.

Amazing that it is a week since I had a beer or wine, just last week I said I am done with it until IM in April, time flies. On the eating healthy side it is also going good but with the last three days not training 100% the fat loss has been slower than expected but I am sure it will pick up again with the long hours of training coming.

O, and sorry for posting another pic of Eddy but I couldn't resist. This is the Jersey he got from Nina when we stayed with them in LA. It is still a bit big but will be ready for winter, amazing how quickly he is growing.

Well that's it for now, DJ standing next to Pc and keep asking me when am I finished, I must come and watch Tv with her.

Today's training:

Bike: 4hrs, 129km, 135bpm, 3722kcal

Run: 30min, 5.7km, 142bpm, 499kcal

I can feel It's Coming.

First let me just share with you the mess Eddy created yesterday when we arrived back from work. He can now reach the Toiler roll holder and destroyed the roll. He is so active and naughty but if you look at the picture below how can you get cross with him.

This morning Kim wanted to assault him as he chewed her one shoe to pieces as she left it next to the bed when she got ready to go to work. She went downstairs to have breakfast and help DJ get ready and when she came back he was having a ball with the shoe. Thanks Eddy, you cost me a new pair of shoes.

Getting back to the post heading I can feel that I am busy getting sick. Knowing my body I can feel the lack of energy, the headache, the stuffy nose in the morning, the signs are just there. It started yesterday morning as I woke up, I could immediatly feel that I am not 100%. I still did my Gym session but started feeling worse as the day went by.

Last night I was suppose to do a 90 minute Tempo bike but could only manage 30minutes. I started getting dizzy and didn't feel to well. I decided to rather stop than push through and do more damage than good, there is still plenty of training time left.

This morning I felt better and went for my run but as the day progressed I started feeling bad again. I didn't want to go to the doctor yet and bought some flu medicine at the chemist. Tonight was suppose to be my swim speed workout but I gave it a miss.

I will see how I feel in the morning and will decide if I am going to do my long bike or rather rest and recover to have a good week next week.

The past weekends IM70.3 and maybe the stomach bug on Friday night was just too much for the body and maybe it triggered the flu. Add all the germs that is floating around in airports and you are almost guaranteed to pick up something.

Glad the first part of the weeks training was spot on and I could manage all my sessions.

I had a look at my training totals during last years IMSA training and the totals for Hawaii's training block and I couldn't believe it but I am ahead of schedule compared to IMSA and just a little bit behind the Hawaii schedule but only just. So I am not that worried as I thought I was way behind.

The weight is also moving in the right direction and I am closer to my race weight than a week ago. Since Monday I've stopped drinking Beer and Wine and will be off the Beer and Wine until IMSA and I am also cutting out the chocolate and sweets. Having gels and Mars bars on my long bike rides will be my treat for the week. I am doing good so far this week although it's early days and there is still 12 weeks to go.

Wednesday's Training:

Swim: 47min, 2km

Bike: 1hr, 33km, 835kcal, 127bpm

Thursday's Training:

Gym: 1h12, 594kcal

Bike: 30min, 17km, 394kcal

Friday's Training:

Run: 30min, 5.8km, 443kcal, 129bpm

Sleeping on the Job

On Monday morning as we waited at the airport to board our flight back to Johannesburg I saw this employee of the Airport Company sleeping in the departure hall. At first I thought it was very funny but later I was upset about it.



The wheelchair he is sleeping in is not his and he is not paralyzed. It is one of the wheelchairs they use to assist passengers!



Now I don't know about you but I have never slept at work while I was suppose to work. I go to work to work and go home to sleep. Never mind sleeping at work but to do it in front of your customers!



What is even worse is that we as passengers are customers of the Airlines and of the Airport Company. Now have you ever slept in front of 300 customers?



A lot of passengers were foreigners and I heard people speaking German and even the guy in the tiny tight Pink short of which I posted a picture of on Twitter was Italian and visitors to our Country. I know that because I could hear the air hostess when she talked to them on the plane.



Now everybody is going on about the Soccer World Cup that is starting in June. With this guy sleeping while he is on duty it is definitely not sending out the right message to those foreign visitors to our lovely country.



When we walked through the door to board the plane after a 30 minute delay he leisurely stretched and slowly stood up and walked to the other side of the hall. In total he was sleeping for more than a hour from just after 11am to about 12:30pm while we waited to board the plane. Wonder if he went back to his Wheelchair and slept further later the day as it was just before 1pm when we boarded the plane.



I know this has got nothing to do with Ironman but I just felt like sharing it with someone.

I'm Happy (IM70.3 race report)

This past weekends Ironman70.3 race went much better than what I expected. I went into the race with the mindset of using it as a training session as my fitness level is not the same as it was at IM70.3 in 2009.

The main reason is in 2008 there was no peak winter training to get ready for an Ironman in October as it was the case last year. Last year I took a break in October/November after the Ironman and only started training for IM South Africa which is on April 25 beginning December.

The year before I took a break in Winter and started training in September resulting in my fitness being better in January.

But I must say I did surprise myself on Sunday. Any race I do I race and although I said it is a training session I wanted to try new things and I wanted to keep my heart rate in the Zones, preparing for IMSA later the year.

The swim was rough as any IM swim is and to add to it the sea condition was rough. My swim time was 2 minutes faster than last year with a much calmer sea. I am confident that if the sea was calm I could have swim close to 30 minutes. My time at the end for the swim was 34:19.

I must say the way I have learned to swim lately helps a lot and even with my arms getting tired at the end due to a lack of fitness I could manage to keep pulling through with the whole arm although it wasn't with the same amount of force as in the beginning.

I am happy with the swim but can still improve a lot, coming out of the water in position 610 does not help in the overall position. The only nice thing is I get to pass 500+ athletes on the bike, which is a motivation.

The Bike was good, my time was almost 8 minutes faster than last year with a lot less training than last year. There was even a head wind coming back to town which hampered a lot of athletes. One thing about the P4 that I noticed and mentioned when I got the bike is that it is so fast and comfortable if you get a side head wind. When the wind comes at you from an angle it seem that it just cuts through it.

Photo of me getting ready for transition

I passed a lot of athletes coming back especially when the wind picked up. What I am also happy with is that my average heart rate was exactly the same as last year. After the Bike there were less than a 100 athletes in front of me.

At the last aid station 20 kilometers before transition I could not manage to crap any bottles (Water and Power Aid) as it was falling out of my hand as soon as I crapped it, meaning that I had less than half a litre of water in my front bottle for the last 20km. I was a bit worried when this happened but just manage to use the water I had left sparingly.

On the run I tried something new, which I am not to sure if it worked and if I am going to use it at IMSA. I tried the new way of running(for me) by running 10 minutes and then walking 1 minute at a brisk pace. I was passing athletes only to be re passed by them when I walked which was demoralizing but I stuck to it.

My walking pace was at the 7:30min/km level for most of the 1 minute intervals. As soon as I started running again I will pass those athletes again and gain on them with them passing me again when I walked. This continued the whole time.

Can see the extra fat from the off season I carry on the run in picture above

I think this way can work for an IM but I am not too sure if it is the way to go in an IM70.3 event.

My next half ironman is end of February and I think I will run that one without walking and see how it compares to this one. I have another half IM beginning March and will then make a final decision of what I will do at IMSA.

My time on the run was 1 minute slower than last year but my heart rate was a whopping 9 beats a minute slower than last year. Maybe that will be a benefit if you run a marathon.

Transition times were pretty much the same, 10 seconds faster from swim to bike and 30 seconds slower from bike to run.

Always a highlight the post race massage

Final times for the day was:

Swim: 34:19

Bike: 2h44:41

Run: 1h39:53

Total: 5h03:53

Position: 12th in my age group out of 283 athletes and position number 100 out of 1960 athletes overall.

A Lot of Running

Last night was the worst night I had ever had before any race. I was running to the bathroom and back the whole night. If I can run this fast tomorrow I will have a PB on the run. Luckily the bathroom is only 1.5meters from the bedroom in our super small hotel room. At one stage I thought I can maybe sit on the toilet and my head can lay down on the bed. OK, that is a bit far stretch but that is just how small the room is.

The bad thing about the whole night was that because of the limited space Kim was awake every time I would get up. Sorry, Kim. Kim did not get sick as she had her own small pizza and did not have any of mine.

The only thing that could have upset my stomach must be the Pizza. Shows you that one can never be to sure when you are in the hands of someone else. We ordered Pizza from a very popular and well know Pizza franchise chain in South Africa. I don't know if it was the pizza that was off or if my stomach can't handle these rich junk food ingredients anymore.



I was still a bit weak this morning but because I was already up and had to do a pre race session in each discipline I decided to go early and do my 500m swim before it gets to crowded.

We were down at the beach just after seven and it took some time to get use to the cold water. The temperature was 17c and because I haven't swam in such cold water lately it took me some time to adapt. As I walked down to the water a man with a English/American accent asked me if it is always this windy here. I had to burst his bubble and said that it is not that windy at this stage.

He must be careful as it can get very windy or he must visit Port Elizabeth where the Ironman is held, now that city can get windy. He said to me he only had a disc rear and a very deep section front wheel. I hope he will survive.

After the swim we had a quick coffee and then I went to pick up my bike. The bike was 100% and we headed back to the hotel. After fitting all the cadgets onto the bike I went for my ride and then did my pre race run.

By 12 o'clock I was done with all the training and packing my transition bags. I left for transition just after 2pm as our wave had until 2:30 to rack our bikes. When I got there there were hardly any bikes in transition. I racked my bike and stored my bags to attend race briefing at 2:30.

I thought race briefing and the deadline for racking bikes was 2:30 but it was 3:30, damn I just didn't feel like driving back to the hotel so I sat there and watch all the people racking there bikes. Boy do you get some characters and people with this air around them. Not even the Pros act that way. I had to laugh at one guy who had to put his helmet on before entering transition but couldn't get it on. Someone had to remind him to take his cap of his head before putting his helmet on.

Race briefing was like any other briefing, same old same but good to hear it again. I was back at the hotel just before 5pm and had this dilemma of what to have for pre race dinner.

I took the bold decision to go for McDonald's as my stomach is still not 100% and I was just not feeling ready for pasta. Not the best pre race meal but I have never become sick of McDonald's.

Will only know tomorrow if it has been a good or bad idea. Tomorrow it is the usual 4am wake up and having breakfast and finalizing all the last minute stuff before heading down to the beach at 6am for my 7am race start.

I had a look on http://www.ironman.com/ website to see if they will have race tracking but it seems that they won't have as no tracking links have been loaded. In case it comes available and you feel like tracking my progress my race number is 1214.

Tight like a Tiger

Today was really tight since we started our journey towards East London for this weekends Ironman70.3. The whole day was just full of delays.

Kim arrived at the dealership just in time for us to leave for the airport but I had one or two things still to sort out which gave us 20 minutes to get to the airport which is normally about a 45 minute drive.

Needless to say Kim was a little bit stresses as I drove a little faster than normal and just as I thought I've made up some time it started to rain which means disaster in Johannesburg traffic. Add to that all the road works on the freeways towards the airport and we were late again.

Luckily we could book in before the closing time. Because we were late we were giving seats that's available which meant that me and Kim weren't sitting next to each other.

Then it was the old story when you have a middle seat- you get the biggest or fattest persons on either side. I had this big guy and I am not joking he is like double my size next to me in the aisle seat. Luckily the guy at the window was normal but my 1h15 flight was very uncomfortable.

O' and then we had a 20 minute delay on the runway, don't know why but the "official" announcement was that they are just waiting for a aircraft to land then we are next in line. All I can say is it took very long for that plane to land.

It didn't stop here, when we got to the car rental company they couldn't get my booking on their computer system. Luckily I did have the reservation receipt and gave it to them. Something I've learned in the past, always carry all your confirmations with you when you go on a trip.

When we got to the car the thing was a wreck. Being in the motor industry I know cars and has driving some wrecks in my life. When I saw the car I just sensed that it is not 100%. The rear bumper was damaged but I was OK with that but when the boot didn't want to close properly I asked for another vehicle.

I then drove again faster than normal as it was now just after 5pm and I wanted to pick up my bike and register before the 6pm closure.

Due to me rushing I took the wrong turnoff and was now running late again. When we got to the hotel where the registration is taking place I rushed to the car park to pick up my bike but they closed at 5:30pm. Now I can only get my bike tomorrow at 9am. No train smash but I wanted to do my 30 min easy bike spin tomorrow early and then get the bike ready for transition. Just have to reschedule my program for tomorrow.

Luckily I could get into registration and at least that's done.

When we arrived at the hotel we were so shocked to see how small the room is. You need to step outside to change your mind, that's how small it is. Good thing I couldn't get my bike tonight as there is not enough space for everything including the bike. Luckily I will rack the bike tomorrow and on Sunday hand it in at the bike transport company after the race.

So no sleep over for the bike in the hotel.

After we unpacked which was just a matter of stacking all our clothes onto each other in one closest we headed to one of the local shopping centres and ordered a Pizza for take away.

Just hope the weekend improve and by Sunday there will be no more tight fits.

Happy Birthday Sis.

Today was the start of the new school year for kids in South Africa. It is also my older sisters, Etresia's Birthday. She lives in Polokwane, about 280km from us so we obviously could only phone her and wish her a happy birthday. She is a teacher and I think having your birthday on the day the school starts is not that nice.

My Brother in Law invited a few friends over and they are having a little party tonight. Luckily she is not that lonely on her birthday but I don't know if having a small party/ get together is such a good idea after your first day back at work and during mid week.

DJ set her alarm at 6am and then changed it to 5:45am. I don't know why as she did get everything ready last night, in fact since we came back from the coast on Sunday. She is now in grade six, and we took the usual photos on her first day of a new school year. We've been doing it since she started school and it is so funny looking at the pictures how we changed over the years.

I can't remember me being so excited about getting back to school after the Holiday's

When she arrived back from school today she phoned me to tell me all about it. She was upset that they sat in there register class the whole day sorting out paper/admin things and did not rotate classes. She is so excited getting started (again not Daddy's child).

I received a parcel today from Marco from the bike shop. It is a Zipp T-shirt with Kona09 on it, maybe something they dished out in Kona which I missed. He is the Zipp agent in South Africa so they probably sent him a few. Thanks Marco, appreciate it.

I will see him down in East London this weekend as he will have a stand at the expo promoting his shop and the products he stock.

Eddy finding a new spot to take his morning nap, on one of the chairs in our bedroom on top of a cushion. He is so funny and I can't believe the personality he is developing. Make the family laugh with all his activities

Today is a rest day for me but tomorrow it is going to be a full day. I have a swim, bike and run session but luckily all of them are not that long. I will go and swim with my wet suit tomorrow as I haven't swim in it since IMSA last year April. Just need to get use to that tight fit again.

The Truth Hurts

I could see during the past few days that the Ironman70.3 I am doing this weekend is bothering Kim and she is not as confident as with previous IM races.

Last night as I drove home I phoned Kim and suggested that we take DJ to the local family restaurant to have something to eat and relax before the new school year starts Wednesday. We had a lovely time and DJ really enjoyed it.

When we arrived home and relaxed in front of the TV after feeding all the animals, Kim said something that hurts but it is the truth. The conversation went something like this.

Kim: Are you ready for Sunday

Johan: No, my training is not at the same level than last year because I took more time off after Kona than what I should have and the concussion also didn't help getting back into shape sooner.

K: Yes I can see you gained a lot of weight since Kona.

J: I know

K: I think you are going to suffer on Sunday.

J: I know

K: I don't think you are going to fit into your race kit

J: I know

K: You must start to get back into your routine and train or you are going to waste your time at IM South Africa in April.

J: "Speechless" [ turning the volume on the TV louder]

It is true when they say that the truth hurts. I was already embarrassed when she said I am not going to fit into my race kit (as it is a tight fit even when I am in shape) but when she made the last remark it came as a shock.

I realized that I can't waste all my energy, time, money and family time just to go to IMSA and participate. When I am going to IMSA, I am going with a goal in my mind.

Although I've been eating healthy, OK 70% healthy and counting the calories I haven't pushed myself to do that little bit extra and committing to 100% training and healthy eating. As of this morning I am really focused to loose the 5kg's I gained since Kona and to loose some more fat to be 100% come April 25 when I am at the start of IMSA.

I know it is to late to try and get in shape before Sunday but if I can eat healthy for 5 days it will be better than not eating healthy until Sunday.

The main problem is not eating too much but just "cheating" at some stage during the day with a chocolate or maybe one beer at night.

Getting a wake up call from someone close to me was just what the doctor ordered and I just had to get that reality shock since Kona. I guess training during winter was hard on the body and the euphoria was still there of me participating in Kona. All this just adds up and it is so easy for the mind to say "take it easy".

I also suddenly remembered what the elderly man said at the gym the other day: Don't stop because one day you won't be able to start and get back into shape again. Not that I stopped but I was not at 100%. I guess I need to start before I am way out of shape and then it takes so much longer.

Today's training:

Bike: 40 min, 23km (10 min Wu, 3x5min all out with 1min rest, 10min Wd), 552kcal, 127bpm

Swim: 55min, 2.5km.

Recharged

For the last few days I didn't blog or wasn't too active on Twitter as I was down at the coast with my family. We have a holiday flat about 20km south of Durban where we spend some time at whenever we have a chance. But lately there just wasn't time or should I rather say the spare time we had available was taken up by other things or a certain thing, named Ironman.



The last time we've been down was January 2009 and it is really a shame. And it is not as if the place is fully booked that we can't use it, we only use it ourselves and if close friends want to use it. People say it is a bad investment not renting it out but we prefer having it for family, friends only, renting it out to people we don't know is not good as they just don't care about it and don't look after it.



When I saw DJ playing and relaxing I actually felt guilty of not coming down more often. She was so exhausted at night that she would fall asleep before 9pm only to wake up after 9am in the morning.



I only joined them on Wednesday night after they have been there since last week Saturday but even just relaxing for 4 days made be realized that one need some break away weekends and holidays to recharge.



Kim and DJ picked me up from the airport which is a 20 minute drive from the flat. When we arrived back my mother and sister prepared everything and we had a BBQ. The weather was so pleasant and we sat outside till late just chatting and they told me about all there adventures the past week.

DJ and my Sister are like sisters and had a great time together.

I didn't take my bike with and just did a run every morning. I wanted to go for swim workouts at the Gym that is close by but decided against it as it would have taken up more family time. Instead me and DJ played for most of the day in the sea. Luckily the "Jellyfish" disappeared when I arrived and Kim showed me some picture of what it looked like the week before. Some days it was so bad that they couldn't swim.

DJ also learned how to braai(BBQ) and amazed me at how fast she learned how to braai. It was a sad but happy moment when she asked me the following one night while we were having a BBQ: "Do you think Grandpa would have been proud of me, now that I can BBQ" He loved his Barbecue and will Barbecue everyday if he could. Needles to say you couldn't teach him anything about BBQ.

During the evenings we sat outside our flat having a glass of wine and just talking about stuff. One night me and Kim decided we are moving down to the coast as we are much more relaxed, only to erase that thought the next morning.

Kim and my mother having a drink one night.

We arrived back safely in Witbank this afternoon and I did a 1 hour bike session just to remind the legs what it feels like after we unpacked. It was a bit of a struggle unpacking with Eddy wanting all the attention. Niel and Gerhard looked after him and all the other animals while we were away, Thanks.

Well I am now recharged for 2010 and can go full speed ahead and face the year. Unfortunately the same can't be said about the upcoming Ironman70.3 that is taking place this weekend.

With Ironman South Africa being three weeks later this year than last year my preparation is three weeks "behind" last years and I am definitely not ready for it. I keep telling myself that it will be a training session and not a race. The very hilly bike course will also add some pain to the "training" session.

Kim asked me why I am doing it if I am not 100% prepared? I guess it is because I have done IMSA70.3 since it started in 2008 for the first time and probably because I am a sucker for punishment!

Welcome to the World

Monja gave birth over the weekend so there is another addition to the family. Monja is Kim's sister, Marle's only child, so that would be Kim's niece I think. Kim would have loved to be there but is down at the coast on holiday and said she will visit them in Pretoria as soon as she's back.



We are so thankful that everything went well and there were no complications and the baby boy is healthy.



Yesterday, the first working day of 2010 didn't start so good for me but as I said to some staff members things can only get better. With the break inn we had over the weekend they stole our server but it was recovered when they caught the thief. The only problem was that he ripped everything into pieces when he stole it.



We first tried figuring out which cable must go where but with no luck. One thing that was on our side is that we changed from one IT company to another as the previous one just could not maintain and sort out our IT issues.



Being the first day for the new company they were there in a flash and had us up and running just after midday. Guess they had to impress on their first call out. I'm sure if it was still the previous company we would have been without Internet and emails and all the different systems being used to run a dealership up to now

This is a picture as I drove into Springs yesterday morning. The rain is really creating havoc and a lot of accidents are happening with everybody going back to work.

Luckily it is warm and sunny with no rain down at the coast where the family is enjoying themselves. I am flying down to join them tomorrow afternoon and will have a little break with them until Sunday. Dejone is so excited and can't wait to see me (and ViceVersa). Every time she phones or sends a sms she tells me how she is missing me.

The last two days training has been right on schedule, just hope it can stay like that. I won't take my bike with me to the coast and will concentrate on my running and swimming. If we are back early on Sunday I will do my long ride then instead of Saturday.

I am really super excited about my swimming and just need to keep the focus. I compared my times with those of June 2009 when I was also 4 weeks into my 20 week program. I am about 10 seconds per 100 meter faster on average. I now swim constantly between 1:32 and 1:138 per 100 meter.

On this mornings run I continued trying the run/walk technique. It is amazing, I did exactly the same distance during my 50 minute tempo run compared to last week even with the 1 minute walking intervals. The big difference is I run at a faster pace during the 10 minute intervals and I feel stronger later in the run and can maintain a faster pace. All this was done in the prescribed heart rate zone.

I am sure that the pace will even improve more as my fitness improve.

Yesterday's Training:

Swim: 1h18, 3.5km

Bike: 2h15, 76km, 1879kcal,

Today's Training:

Run: 50 minutes 10km, 823kcal, 141 bpm

Bike: 1h00, 32.5km, 661kcal

Have an AWESOME 2010

Not long ago everybody was talking about 2010. So many things are happening in 2010 and in South Africa it is World Cup Soccer, with every second person planning or telling you how it is going to be.

Even if you raise your concern about the economy or crime or about anything people tell you, "Wait for 2010 it will be better"

Well now 2010 is here, it is a reality not next year and I hope and pray that everybody will have an awesome 2010.

We went to the traditional Fireworks display at one of the shopping centre on New Years eve. Although it's been happening for a while it is the first time we attend. It was very good and you could see we were the rookies among all the people.

We didn't know where to park and when we eventually found a spot at around 11:30pm we had nothing but a blanket for DJ. Everybody around us was having snacks and drinks to keep them busy and "Happy" until the fireworks show started at 12pm.

As we went home at about 12:30 it was a real challenge negotiating your way back to our neighborhood. I guess it is always like that but I haven't seen so many drunk and reckless drivers in a very long time. I said to Kim if I was head of Traffic in Witbank I would have held a road block but I guess they don't hold a road block because they won't have enough jail cells for all those people.

The rest of the weekend was very relaxing and we had a BBQ on Friday the 1st, the weather was amazing and it was a real sunny summers day. Luckily I only had an easy run on my training plan as the Gym was closed and I could not do the swim training that was on the schedule.

Yesterday all the ladies in our household left for the coast for a week long holiday. I will join them on Wednesday as I need to be at the Dealership untill Wednesday when my partner returns from his Holiday. One of us needs to be present to look after the two branches and be there for admin duties like signing cheques etc.

Late last night I received some good news after they informed me that we had another break in at the dealership. The Thief became a little greedy and came back on the same day to steal some more Pc's. Luckily they caught him and I hope this put an end the all the break ins we had during the last year. We must have had about eight during the year with four just in the last month.

Yesterday I also did my long bike session and boy did it hurts. I went four hours and I could feel it after the session. I listened to some podcasts while I was riding and although they were very interesting I prefer listening to music. I need some music to keep me pumping and performing, the podcast did not have the same effect. With the family not here it makes it easy to train as I don't disturb anybody but I don't want it to be like that permanantly, it is so lonely.

This morning I went for my long run and tried something new I heard on one of the podcasts yesterday. It was an interview with Bobby McGee a famous running and now triathlon coach and he use the run/walk method. He suggest that you run for 10 minutes and then walk for 1 minute but at a brisk pace.

He says that during an Ironman very few people run the entire marathon and by training to run/walk you will do your marathon faster than if you train just to run and you won't be demotivated during the Ironman race when you start walking as you trained that way.

I tried it this morning and my pace was a little bit slower than normal but I did not feel as tired as usual after my long run. He suggest you take the time you want to do the marathon at and then find your walking pace and according to that you determine at what speed you need to run every 10 minute "interval"

Mentally it is also good to break down your marathon in 10 minute chunks. I am going to give it a try and see if I can improve. For the past two years I could not improve on my run time so I guess I can't lose anything if I give it a go.

Yesterday's Training:

Gym: 1h06, 622kcal

Bike: 4h00, 116 km, 3342 kcal,

Today's Training:Run: 1h40, 19 km, 1632 kcal, 140 bpm ave, 5:18min/km.

Swim: 52 min, 2.5km

Weeks Totals:

Swim: 9.8km

Bike: 236km

Run: 45.3km

Gym: 2 sessions

Total: 17h11, 291.1km, 13439 kcal

2009 Totals

Although I record every training session and load the totals on my Polar Sports Program and log the Monthly Totals on my Blog, I never though of what will it be in a year.

Lately I've seen a lot of people making public what they've done for 2009 and I though let me have a look. Don't know if it is a good or bad thing as I will now want to improve on last years totals and as they say more is not always better.

Anyway here are the total numbers for 2009

Swim: 340.4 kilometers ( 212.75 miles)

Bike: 8089.9 kilometers (5056 miles)

Run: 1813.3 kilometers (1133 miles)

Gym: 69 sessions

Total Calories: 439 518

Total Kilometers: 10243.6 (6402 miles)

Total Training Sessions: 450

Total Time: 590 hours

Wow, What will I do with 590 hours in a year if I wasn't doing Ironman??????