In January 2019 I volunteered at the Ironman 70.3 Buffalo City event. The atmosphere was fantastic. Participants were all shapes, sizes and ages and I thought to myself that if they could do it, then so could I. So the 2020 event was added to my bucket list.
After adding Ironman 70.3 Buffalo City to my bucket list, I set out to start training. I had only started running about 6 months prior to this and so had a long way to go to get my fitness up and start training all 3 disciplines. I call it my mid-life crisis as I was not athletic at school and not sure why I started enjoying running at the age of 43.
I got into contact with other athletes that had the same goal and started training in the gym during the winter months and then from around September I started cycling on the road with various groups of people and managed to increase my average speed from 17km/hr to just under 24km/hr. I also started swimming in the ocean (which was my biggest fear) and after help from such wonderful people, I overcame that fear and I now enjoy open water swimming a lot more than pool swimming and also more than cycling.
After months of training, early mornings and putting my mom/wife/house duties aside, I was ready to tackle the event. I was mentally and physically prepared and my Iron Will was going to get me there, if nothing else. I had trained in cold waters and rough seas and cycled the Berlin route 3 times, the last time being extremely windy with cross winds that made me feel like I was going to blow off, but I still managed a reasonable average pace and knew that I could finish on race day.
Unfortunately, the weather conditions on race day were just too harsh. The sea was icy cold and became choppy on the return, but I still managed a reasonable time of 50mins, which left me with 20 minutes to add to my cycle. The cycle up to Berlin was tough. At about 10km in my sugar dropped and I felt faint, but there was no way I was going to give up. I fuelled up more than I planned and I got to Berlin feeling strong for the return trip. The cycle back should have been easier downhill, but the head wind was so strong. The NEX was a killer and the last stretch along the esplanade was even worse. I was in the lowest gear and should have been cruising, but I felt like I was being pushed back and really struggled to get to the dismount line. I was so relieved to finally get off the bike and start the last leg of the race, but was approached by the officials to say that I didn’t make the cut off. I missed the cut off by a mere 1min 22s and feel so robbed.
But I made it through the swim and I finished the cycle. There were about 100 athletes that didn’t make the swim, of which 3 landed up in hospital for hypothermia. There were many more that were cut off after the cycle, some of which had completed many Ironman races before. So I know that I did all that I could.
So, so close, yet so far.
Someone later said, don’t worry you can try again next year, to which I replied “I’m done”.
But I’m not done. I have worked too hard to just give up.
And why should I wait a whole year to try again when I am ready now and the next event is only 4 months away, in Durban.
These races are unfortunately very expensive, so I need to raise funds to cover the entry fee, travel, accommodation and a wetsuit.
I know I can do it and I desperately want to accomplish my dream of crossing the red carpet.
Thanking you in advance for your support and generosity.
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