When I got back from the race today, I said to Joanne: "Please, KILL me!"
I am well and truly buggered after an extremely draining and exhausting ride. To put it in perspective, it is the first time I have been on the bike for about 2 weeks (with the exception of one 20km cycle about a week ago). I also took very little pleasure in the scenery, partly because of the battering ram winds, and from the sheer strain of it. I often felt like I was driving my body to the absolute limit. That may sound like I put in a decent effort, but the reality is that this race proved to what extent my body is still beating off some kind of virus - or whatever is responsible for the feeling of malaise.
I have (for the last 2 weeks) been having chills and sweats but I can't say I feel terrible. I just don't feel 100%, and this makes the already hard work of bicycle racing incredibly arduous. My maximum heart rate was 175 and that is just skyhigh. That is basically hard to achieve even running uphills hard.
Enough griping. The Zipps were a joy to ride on, and frankly I felt like I let them down. I really was uncatchable on downhills, and initially felt light and fleet of foot on the uphills. I enjoyed the roar they made off the road, particularly loud at high speed. I didn't have to ask people to move over, because they could hear me coming.
There was drama at the top and bottom of Hospital Bend. One kid dropped his glasses and so stopped right there and tried to pick them up, which of course almost caused a number of pileups. At the bottom someone lost his helmet. It bounced like a pinball between the bikes. I watched it, hoping that it would roll harmlessly by me, but at the last moment it bounced nicely right under my chainring. Fortunately it just bounced lightly off it - it didn't get sandwidged between my bike and road, because that would have been, simply, THE END, going at the speed we were going.
At Muizenburg a pigeon was wandering on the road and flew into my wheel as I approached. I heard its wings brush my wheel and felt the pulpy crunch as I went over it. I think even the bird underestimated the wind, as it just got slapped through the air as it took off. Sorry about that birdie.
Someone, in fact more than one I believe, went over the side of Chapman's peak...Not sure if they survived.
The first 40km (until Simonstown) were close to ideal. A group of about 8 of us pulled away from KK group (comprising a mixture of corporate and international individuals). Somewhere on the Blue Route we reduced our group to a core group of 5, all of us, visibly, knowing our stuff.
My heart rate was high, but I thought I'd be fine, and that my legs had the endurance in them. Wrong!
After Simonstown the wind and the climbs really showed me how weak I am, and I can't blame being physically a bit off entirely. The core group left me behind going into a headwind and an uphill. For me, that is always very depressing, demoralising and a really dreary moment.
Lots of baboons were waiting on the side of the road, licking gel off discarded wrappings.
My climbing, having been in the flatness of the free state, has definitely slipped. What happened to the conditioning I picked up at Franschoek?
I could feel myself losing ground on the hills after 40km, and bringing it back on reasonable slopes. Downhills - I went like a rocket. No one could catch me and very few were able to just stay in my slipstream. KKKRRRRRRRRR. I felt like the wheels wanted to go faster but my legs couldn't keep up!
At Scarborough I began to feel a deep seated fatigue, which stayed with me the rest of the way, up Chapman's, Suikerbossie, and even the comparatively easy flat section before Greenpoint.
I ended the ride with a guy from JJ group who said I'd left him behind (surprise) at Simonstown. KK gropup proved to be pretty strong, as I saw a few guys streaming by throughout the day.
Some results:
The brother of a friend of mine, Driaan, did a 4:40 on not much training, which I think isn't bad at all.
My friend Mandy did a 4:16 which is actually excellent in these conditions (she was aiming for a 4:00)
My brother CJ did a 3:09 which is hardcore.
Me: 3:44, which is an average speed of 29.2km/h (maximum speed 75km/h)which is just a bit sloppy for me I feel. Quite a shocker that I didn't at least average in the 30's.
The temperature was an average of 25 degrees Celcius, but a maximum of 35.
4139 kcal
Heart rate was an average of 159, which what I averaged at the Free State Triathlon champs over a 2hour 30 minute period. That is just way too high, especially since the last half of the race my heart rate would have been necessarily a lot lower since my legs were very tired and I was just struggling to turn them over. Maximum heart rate 175.
My glimpse of greatness came while I was riding with the core group of 5, who led off the front of KK group. We really flew and were probably on course for close to 3 hours. I actually felt like one of the strongest riders in the group, and really enjoyed flying through Kalk Bay. I'd like to really get closer to my original form. The desire is there, now it is just a matter again of building myself up, brick by brick, and giving myself ample time to do so. Will work allow me the luxury of time to train, in the future?
Now, heading to the Ironman, I have to consider my health, and also abandon any ideas of treating it as a race. I will simply pace myself, and spread myself as thickly as possibly over the whole distance. I am not going to pull myself into threads with a fast swim and attempt to have a strong bike. I know what my legs feel like now, and believe me, walking 42 kilometres feels like a big deal at this point.
I'd like to go to the Ironman and just go the distance, whether it takes half or the whole day.
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