2018 IRONMAN 70.3 SOUTH AFRICA

Ironman 70.3 South Africa- January 28th, 2018. Yeah, that’s right. January. I went way outside my comfort zone and kicked off my 2018 campaign significantly earlier than normal this year. Racing halfway across the world is always a bit of a gamble but this one felt like an even more significant bet. I went into the race with only 4 weeks of proper training and a few extra holiday pounds still on my bum. Not to mention, there was a foot of snow on the ground when I decided to trade the Colorado winter for the African summer. Despite the risk, Jeanni and I were given an offer to make the trip about 10 days before we had to leave. Both of us were knowingly underprepared but we saw more positives than negatives and decided to book it up. 

It was a bit of a hustle to turn this from a winter training bike into a race ready whip!
(Photo: Jaryd Brown)

I’m quickly becoming quite the world traveler. That is one of the aspects I love most about being a professional triathlete. Along with that, I’ve established a routine when it comes to international travel. Most would shy away from the 3 flights (one of them being 16h) plus a 9 hour time change. But I took it about as well as anticipated and landed in East London feeling adjusted and ready to race. 

Picture: Jaryd Browne

I had gotten some decent sleep in the build up to the race but four days is not nearly enough to get on the time zone. It still “felt” like I was back on Colorado time meaning the race would be happening from 11:00pm-3:00am on my body’s internal clock. I’m generally pretty good at rolling with the time zones but this one was going to be tough! Fueling, hydration and particular, caffeine were going to be huge players. 

Always 2 bottles of EFS the day before a hot race.
(Picture: Jaryd Browne) 

1 hour before the start I downed my 5x First Endurance pre-race caps and 1 can of Beet Performer. I hit my warm up jog, some ECFIT activation and then went down to the beach for the ocean swim. The gun went off and I used my height advantage to get a bit of a lead on the long run into the sea. I quickly found myself in the main bunch within contact of the lead kayak. There were 2 athletes ahead but the gap seemed to be very small so I settled into the front pack and hit the cruise control. I took control of the group on the back half and pulled back a bit of the time on the two ahead. I exited the water in 3rd position 0:30 down from the front. 

Picture: Jaryd Browne

I think it’s important to mention my transitions here. I always joke about having the fastest transitions but some of these pro transition times are really unacceptable. It’s free speed and something that I visualize, practice and nail every single race. Once again, I had the fastest T1 and T2. Making up critical time in T1 which negated that 0:30 gap out of the swim.

https://www.obstri.com

This bike course is LEGIT. Honestly, one of the hardest courses I have ever done. For reference, harder than 70.3 St. George, harder than the World Champ's course in Zell Am See, harder than Challenge Iceland. 3000 feet of gain in the first 45k on rolling hills. After the turn, a slamming descent but not without 5-10 hard, unexpected punching climbs. The boys came through early on the climb and had guns blazing. I had 5:00 power over 400w, 30:00 power over 360w. I maintained contact for about 30 minutes but my lack of fitness was eventually exposed. I struggled on the back half but made it to the top of the course still in contact with 3rd-6th place and knew the downhill was where I would make up time. By 70k I had bridged to the 4th and 5th place guys. By 80k I picked up the 3rd place dude. From there, it was hard to drop anyone and our bunch of 4 all got off the bike together. 

Picture: Jaryd Browne

Once again, the fastest T2 of the day and I was onto the hilly, hot and humid run course with a little bit of a gap. I settled into my standard 70.3 goal pace (~1:15) for the first 30 minutes or so but didn’t have a lot of gas in the tank to sustain that effort. 3rd and 4th pulled away and I had no response. 1:21 may seem like a pretty slow time but it was only 2:00 off the fastest run split of the day showing just how tough that course is!

Picture: Carene Botha 

I crossed the finish line in 5th place- honestly very happy with the performance. I was going to be stoked just finishing this race in one piece. The fact that I was able to grab a paycheck and kick my butt into gear with a hard 4 hour effort made the trip 100% worth it. 

I came back to life after a cold bottle of Ultragen at the finish line and waited for Jeanni to come through. I saw her battling for 1st and 2nd on course, so I was on the edge of my seat to see who was going to break that tape. I feared it wouldn’t be her but deep down knew she was going to suffer in front of her home town fans and get the W. #littlelegend has arrive- 2018 edition. 

Photo: Chris Hitchcock 

I fly back to the USA content with this performance but hungry to train properly and arrive at my next race knowing I have done the right preparation. I know that I have at least 5:00 in my back pocket that I will chip away at and unleash at my next series of 70.3’s. 

Until next time- 

JM

Picture: Jaryd Browne