Port Elizabeth South Africa - #5 of 30

Port Elizabeth South Africa (also known as the windy city ;)

Welcome to South Africa!!

These international races are tough on me, but I LOVE the challenge.  A full week or more of being away from family, friends and work.  I sure do miss my blonde crew when I am gone.  Good thing we have Skype to keep in touch with loved ones.  I flew out late Tuesday night and flew all night...and day.... arriving in Port Elizabeth on Thursday afternoon.  One of my gym clients Quinton (who is originally from South Africa) graciously set up a place for me to stay while visiting and racing.  I was greeted at the airport by Neil, who is the son of the family hosting me.  Mom and Dad were Gayle and Kevin.  Kevin reminded me a lot of my dad, a big jokester and Gayle reminded me of my mom, she took care of everything.  They were incredibly nice to me the whole week and took care of all my needs.  It is amazing that people from around the world will open their homes to me and treat me like family - simply amazing and what a blessing.  They fixed me lunch and then I headed straight for a nap.  They woke me for dinner then I went back to bed for 13 hours.  it is going to take a lot of food and sleeping to get me through this year.  The name of my game is recovery!!!

The Pier in Port Elizabeth - Mandela Bay

Friday, April 20, 2012

The weather was very nice, so I headed out the door to find the race site and do some exploring.  I found everything without a problem and got all checked in for the race.  I ran into a friend from Russia who happens to be a pro and doing the race.  He informed me of a meeting they had where they were told a weather system was on it's way and would arrive late Saturday, just in time for the Sunday race.  The system called for high winds and rain.  The race directors came up with a plan to cancel the swim for the age groupers and have the pro field do one lap of the two lap swim.  I was in shock with the news as the weather was perfect!  I couldn't believe that I was about to relive New Zealand all over again... ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!  I went home and the boys were headed on a campout with the church.  Passing on that opportunity, I went out to dinner with Gayle and her mom.  We gossiped like a bunch of school girls and had a great time!

ALL SET!!

 Saturday, April 21, 2012

This is the coast line we biked and ran along

I woke up today and could see the weather turning.... It turns out the weather was the real deal and it wasn't just a cruel joke on me.  I packed all my bags and just prayed that the swim wasn't going to be cancelled tomorrow.  I put on all my bags, jumped on my bike and headed down to the pre race meeting and gear check-in.  As I sat and listened to the meeting it sounded like things were a go for race day.  We were going to SWIM, bike AND run.  At the very end of the meeting they called up the race director for a special announcement.... 'OH NO!, here it comes' I thought.  He proceeded to go over 'plan B' in case of weather problems. Apparently there is a 'good' wind direction and a 'bad' wind direction for water conditions.  The winds had shifted and so far were going to be favorable for the morning swim and SO FAR we were going to be able to do the full 140.6 miles of racing (or doing in my case;).  I headed to transition for the mandatory helmet check, bike and gear check-in.  To my surprise, my helmet had the smallest of cracks in the foam, which got me turned away and denied entry 'till I had a 'safe' helmet.  I was instructed that I needed to find another helmet to race in.  My only option at this point was to buy an over priced helmet from the expo.  I have more than enough helmets at home and I could certainly get one for cheaper back in the states.  Disappointed, broke and with no choice, I bought a new helmet so that I could race the next day.  EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON!!!  It turned out that at the same time I was buying my helmet and explaining to the guy what I was doing this year, there was a magazine owner there who overheard and wants to do a piece on me.  Ha, how about that!!  I was all bummed about having to buy a new helmet.  Then it turned out that this purchase put me in a place where I landed a good media piece for the charity!!  I headed home for final prep, dinner and off to bed.

Sunday, April 22, 2012.  Port Elizabeth South Africa Ironman #5

Beach Swim Start

I kept getting woken up at night by the gusts of wind and KNEW they were going to cancel our swim.  I had my breakfast and then was taken down to the race site by Kevin - thank you as this is an early favor to ask someone to do on their weekend.  It was raining and nasty, but the water looked good enough to swim in.  At 6 am they made the final announcement - "Athletes, we will be swimming today and you will compete in the full Ironman in Port Elizabeth!'  I was overjoyed and then realized that I now had to race in these conditions.  It was going to be a rough day but I was so happy to just be racing after the possibility of a cancelled swim.  The rain let up right before the gun went off for our beach start.  It was a cool experience to hear a national anthem I had never heard before and have traditional African dancers kicking off our big day!  The gun sounded and 1800 of us poured into the ocean.  The first lap of the swim was pretty hectic with big congestion at the turn buoys.... it was a fight to get around them.... SO FUN!  I love this sport!  At the first turn, I got kicked hard in the face tossing my goggles off my head.  I stopped to locate them and was kicked in the gut and then a shot to the groin.  I managed to gather myself and get my goggles back on so I could continue swimming.  My right lens wouldn't seal and I was pissed trying to swim with salt water in one eye.  Half way through the first lap, fighting my way around each turn, I noticed a guy who suffered the same goggle fate as me but wasn't so lucky to get his back.  He was swimming without goggles... all of a sudden my one leaky lens wasn't so bad.  No matter how bad we have it, there is always some chap that has it worse.

This was a two lap swim, where we got out of the water and ran up the beach around a marker before getting back in the water for our second lap.  I flipped my goggles over hoping this would fix my seal problem.  Turn out that was a good move and did the trick.  The weather on the swim continued to get worse as the waves got bigger and bigger.  By this point the swells were big enough that it made it hard to sight to the next marker and when I would go to take a breath, I could hear the wind swirling around me.  It turns out, the swim was a tough one for everyone, with the pro field going 10 minutes slower than normal.

In normal conditions this bike course would be daily routine and simple, relatively speaking.  But with this wind, it was going to be a big challenge.  Only one week ago I thought I had done a tough bike ride in the hills of Napa.... that thing was easy compared to what I was about to experience.  Basically, the course was a big rectangle with head/side winds on the way UP, NASTY cross winds along the top and bottom and tail/cross winds headed back along the coast.  I did the first lap and got a good feel for how tough this was going to be.  We passed transition after each lap and after my first lap, I glanced over and was shocked at the amount of bikes still in transition, meaning these people didn't make the swim cut off.  I found out later that around 30 people didn't make the swim cut off.  My arms were starting to get sore from holding on so tight trying to keep my bike upright.  I had deep dish wheels on which acted like sails in the wind.  I headed out for another lap around the city and coast line.  When the wind gusted, it would kick up sand and violently throw in in our faces like a sand blaster.  This hurt like hell and also filled my mouth with sand - neither were very much fun.  Looking around, the field of cyclists looked beaten down and broken.  Most people were up and out of the aero position, concentrating on keepimg their bikes going forward without falling over in the gusts.  I finished the second lap thinking "OH MY HELL, I HAVE TO DO THAT ONE MORE TIME!!"  I passed transition for the final time and headed out for one more beating. The crowds were incredible, as they cheered us all onward and upward around this course.  I forget to say that on the second lap, I saw two guys crash as the wind blew their bikes out from underneath them.  They were both on downhill sections, where I was braking down the hill in order to not have this same crashing fate.  I felt beaten, but not down as I finished up the third leg of the bike.  We found out later in the awards banquet that the race officials almost pulled us off the bike course and reduced the bike to only 2 laps... now that would have pissed me off!!

Sasquatch On the Lose

Thrilled to be off the bike without harm, I quickly transitioned and headed out onto the three loop run course.  With almost no chance of winning my time bet with my friend, without putting too much stress on my body, I wisely settled into a comfortable pace for the marathon.  I felt good after averaging only 136 HR on the 112 mile bike in hell.  The winds didn't let up on the run and it was the first time I actually drafted on the run (which is legal).  The cross winds would push you off line and when running into the wind you could tuck behind one or two runners and get some relief from the continued beatings.  I proudly picked up my mandatory glow stick and headed out for the third lap of my run.  I felt pretty good until the rain picked up it's intensity and combined with the winds beat us further.  I remained in good spirits   interacting with the loyal spectators braving the same elements we were.... but with no glory.  Thank you to all the spectators and incredible volunteers in South Africa.  Now wet, cold and tired, I forged through the last 3 miles of my marathon finishing just over 4 hours and a Ironman time of 12:39:58, and I'm damn proud of that time!!!  Having raced last weekend, this was a good test to see how my body would feel racing week after week.

I headed to the post race massage and food tent.  I looked up and thought I recognized the guy sitting across the room from me.  I walked over to him and asked him his name.  Just as I had suspected it, was the current world record holder for the most Ironman races done in a year, the same record I am trying to beat!  I shook his hand, introduced myself and told him what I was up to.... he didn't seem threatened or nervous.  Well he should be CAUSE I'M THE IRON COWBOY!!!  Or maybe he didn't understand what I was saying because he didn't speak English very well.  It was cool for me to see him there and have the chance to walk up to him and shake his hand.... it was like the passing of the torch ;)

My travel home was ridiculous as I spent the next 39 hours on planes and airports.  For those of you who have read this far should get a good laugh here.  My last few long flights home have left me exhausted, not being able to sleep much.  These international flights have on demand movies for us to watch.  So I watch these movies....but I'm so hammered and tired that I find myself crying in a pillow like a girl at the sentimental parts of these 'chick flicks'.  So for a good laugh, picture me mid flight, middle of the nigh,t crying watching these movies.... the two most recent were New Years Eve and Crazy, Stupid, Love.  Laugh it up - Enjoy!!!  See you in Marble Falls Texas Next week then St George to cap off this series of 4 in a row.  For now that was #5 in the books.

 

This larger than life Mandela statue is all made out of little BEADS!

Space Shuttle!!  The pilot said we will never see this again - So I took a picture!