Hey yourself, long time no speak.
Yes, I know. I have been watching you and I thought I better come and have a word.
Oh, yes?
Yes, you seem to have lost your way a bit. All this being thin stuff. It hasn't helped you race really has it? Quite the opposite.
Yes, I know but what do I do, this is a sport of little people.
You have to be true to yourself mate, you always have been before, why does Triathlon have to be different. You almost fell off your bike exhausted a week ago. Forget what everyone says or thinks, be strong, be big and be ready for race day.
Thanks Big Pete, I will do that. See you later.
That was a (shortened version) of a real conversation I had with myself (one of myselves) while running about 8 weeks before race day. I had previously been unable to complete a ride due to being so exhausted. It was a conversation that proved pivotal in helping me what I consider to be the best race performance I am capable of and restored my faith in my ability to complete the Ironman run. You see after Japan and the disaster there, I had all but given up on being able to run more than about 5km, I was at the point of defaulting to walking in races. The effort of trying and failing to run again would be too much for me. Yes, I have a great reason to give up, but just because you have an out does not mean you should take it.
You see, I had been missing something for the last few years. I am unique, as are you, what works for other people does not always work for me. So here is what does not work for me - trying to be light. I have taken many different approaches to try and be a better runner and they have all failed. Why? Because they have taken me away from what I know to be true about me as an athlete. When I was playing rugby, I was an okay player, not as skilled as others, but bigger and stronger. So that was what I played on, that was what I trained. I got bigger and stronger than anyone else and it worked to let me play at a level I was not really talented enough to play at. I know from that, how my body reacted to different types of training, how I recovered and importantly how much rest I needed to be on top of my form for a big game. That knowledge, as it applies to the actual physiological responses in my body is as true for triathlon as it was then. But I had forgotten that.
So it began, 8 weeks of monumental training and food intake, an extra 3kgs went back on and my energy levels and training improved significantly. I would toe the start line at a carbo loaded 104kgs, a full 13kgs heavier than South Africa 2014. By all accounts this was a terrible idea, but as I said I am unique and I had set my mind on using my knowledge from the past and not looking at the conventional view of the world.
I have to say, my usually unshakable self confidence was not itself. In the days before the race I was FREAKING OUT. My taper had been significant also, with almost no hard sessions in the last three weeks, I did everything easy apart for about 3 sessions, and when I say easy I mean very very very fall asleep type easy. That was also part of my theory. Historically I gain and lose fitness very slowly, I recover even more slowly. It has always been the case for me. So I was intent on being fully recovered on race day. So I am racing heavy and possibly over tapered but I know this should work, "know" is a strong word when are on the start line.
So this was the gamble. Train less, eat more, rest more and race faster???!!!!!! Sound like a plan anyone would follow? - well no but that was the plan because that was what I needed to do. This was my last pitch at a good Ironman race, if this did not work it was going to be over and it would be walk time for good.
The Swim
Jo and I lined ourselves up in the very front group of swimmers for the time trial start, a last good luck and we were off. Now we all know I like to think I can swim. But do you know why I think this? Two reasons. 1. I have the best swim coach in the world. 2. Having the best swim coach in the world makes you think about every stroke you take. Is it perfect? Is your head down? Is your catch good? Is your chest down? are you on the right feet? All of it. It all counts on race day. It counts double when you are intent only on one thing in a race and it has nothing to do with swimming. I was only here for the run so the swim was a complete cruise. But you know what happens when you cruise effort wise but swim with good focus? You go fast. How fast? Well 53mins is fairly shifting given the lack of effort. Don't get me wrong, my stroke work was pretty solid, I was not just flopping about but it was certainly not a "race pace" effort. It was far and away the most enjoyable Ironman swim I have ever done. I could tell I was going fast and holding my pace, for those who tracked me the timings were off a bit - I did not do the first 1500 at 1:27 pace then suddenly accelerate to 1:21. For me it was deadset even pacing. Note this swim was off my least mileage EVER in a swim prep. It is getting comical now really, it seems the less I swim, the faster I go! That is a bit of an 'in' joke, the truth is I raced the entire open water season this summer gone and that is what set me up for this swim. There is no better prep for a 3.8km Ironman swim than a couple of flat out 5km open water swims with some 'real' swimmers.
My head comes out the water and my watch says 52:35, with a bit of waddling up the beach I reach the timing mat.
T1
Are you kidding me - uphill sand run, really?
Nope - uphill sand walk while waving at the crowd more like it, oh yes and high fiveing a special guest. My Big Bro Patrick and friend Cheryl had come over to watch. It was just magical to have them there. He was easy to spot... he is my brother after all!
Anyway, I am in the change tent and donning my new toy. You know I was grieving the loss of my long serving aero helmet to in transit damage, right up to the point the guy at the expo told me he had a Bambino in my size and I could make myself look like a giant fly!
The Bike
When I say I am the downhill tailwind champion of the world I really mean it, which is handy as the start of this 180km was about 15km of downhill tailwind on the smoothest road surface you could imagine. It was like, flying.
Usually I have a great deal to say about the bike but in this case I only have this.
wwwwoooooooooo hooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The course is out of this world brilliant. Its is wonderfully scenic, if has some nice climbs to break it all up, it has 1 km of mental cobble stones, like real, smash your teeth out, shake your bike to bits cobbles. Luckily my WHEELSCIENCE wheels took this in their stride - did I mention how awesome they were?
My main memory of the bike ride was that I did not seem to be able to keep myself in check as much as I wanted to. My heart rate was a bit too high but my legs were just powering along so I went with it, hey what is the worst that can happen? (errr a 6 hour walk can happen!)
Up until the 140km mark I had had almost no one pass me - 'non' swimmers I guess. And I had seen no drafting of note. Sadly at 140km I was overtaken by two large groups who were openly drafting. Happily I was then overtaken by some TO's who proceeded to card about half of the people in those packs whilst at the same time doing their nuts... in German... at them, it was hilarious. The bad news was that as the TO's disappeared the non - penalised guys just got back together. REMAIN CALM, said a voice in my head but it was too late. The red mist had descended. I passed a German guy who was equally upset as I was about this "Look at this" he said, "It is a disgrace, why do they come here to just cheat!" I said to him "How do you say 'cheating fu87ker' in German?" . "probably okay to go with the English on that" he said.
So that was it, I closed down the 500m between me and the second group in about 3 seconds, after dropping a massive watt bomb. (This is not a recommended ironman bike strategy by the way). I sailed passed them insulting each and every one of them, making sure to make eye contact just to be sure. Then another 500m up to road to the next group. This lot were even funnier, most of them were totally spent, killing themselves to stay in touch with the group. Again some carefully selected words for each of them as I shot past them. So here is the thing - what do you do after you have just done something like that. Well the sensible call is to be happy you have made your point and then back off, but what if your ego backs you into a corner and wont let you do that? Well you put the hammer down for the last 20kms of the ride just because, OKAY! I actually felt pretty awesome, again my heart rate was high but my legs seemed to have endless power in them.
T2
I get off the bike feeling very pleased with myself, but also feeling totally terrified. It was now that my race was about to begin. So here is the situation. I have changed so much in my run prep, I am heavier than normal and I have not run for more than 4 mins constantly for over 6 months. (I run/ walk in training as well now), oh and I have attempted to break the sound barrier on the final 20kms of the bike. This is what I look like terrified - starting the run, holding my breath waiting for my legs to fail after 30 seconds.
Pretty awesome right!
The run
So this was the plan. I have my Garmin screen set to show lap time, heart rate and average lap pace. The plan was to run at 5:30 per km pace for 4 mins then walk for 1 minute at 10min per km pace. That gives an average pace of about 6 mins per km. That was the plan anyway. If I could do that about 50 times I would crack a 4:12. To me that would mean I had "run" the marathon. It was my only goal coming into this race. This would decide if I would continue even trying to run ever again or just give it up.
So what happened? I hear you scream. Well you see the above plan? That is what happened, much to my complete amazement. My legs just worked, it was fucking brilliant!!!!!
I just concentrated on keeping the 5:30 average pace and I never faded. I was even walking fast, around 9min per km. It was almost an out of body experience. I saw my Bro and Cheryl about four times before they had to jet off to the airport and hugged them, I was all smiles. I would not say it was easy but I kept on going. I high fived every kid, talked to any spectator who cheered me, stole some beer from some random Irish group on the last lap - only about 1/2 a pint though. I cannot describe what it felt like, maybe imagine being the Duracell bunny?
It was pretty funny on the last lap, as I took my walk breaks people around me would say "Come on you can do it" I would then show them the four lap wrist bands I had and say "I already have mate!"
They would usually only have two or three and look very surprised!
The Finish Chute
Remember to be unique - everyone is.
So who to thank? Obviously the better half of Team Coombe who shares all my epic adventures with me. Love you!
JVW - I know you haven't read to here so will thank you in person. All my Tri Fitness swim buddies who make Tuesday and Thursday morning so awesome.
Xavier Coppock and TEAM for being open to my rather strange approach to running and crafting my training program for the Bike and Run (Yes, I said Run). Thanks mate, more of the same please.
All our MTC/Fluid training and coffee buddies. It's always great to see you guys.
Now New Zealand 2017, its not that I am going to talk trash about beating you all for 8 months, but............
