DARE TO TRI
I am an
IRONMAN!
I swam and ran in my youth, and rode my bike. Nothing spectacular, but I could swim fast. Then I stopped swimming and running, and riding my bike, but today I am an Ironman, thanks to DARE TO TRI. – BY CONRAD JARDINE
Forgotten your specs, Conrad?
In my 30s I began to suffer from acute lower backache – and a ballooning belly – and three or four times a year I was bedridden with pain. I lived on a cocktail of physio, acupuncture, painkillers and anti-inflammatories, but when the pain was gone, I forgot about the exercises the physio prescribed, and even tried getting back into running a few times. I remember wondering if I would ever get fit again.
Then one day, while on a work trip( with a stash of anti-inflammatories ready at hand), I had to walk about 1km every day to get to the office. I recall the warm, sweaty relief I felt in my lower back, and I knew it was not the painkillers. Then a colleague took me on a 30km walk around town. It was painful … I felt every muscle in my legs screaming … but at least it was not the stiffness in my back.
BACK IN ACTION
Upon my return home, I thought what the heck, I might as well continue walking, maybe even do a bit of running. I also returned to swimming, and my memories were filled with youthful fitness, although my body held me back at first. Fortunately, my back responded well, but now I was seeing the physio for other aches and pains instead. Eventually I felt ready to take on my first 10km in Soweto... but I thought it was too short, and immediately made up my mind to take on the Comrades! My first attempt in 2014 was an adrenaline-charged DNF, but the next year I finished Comrades … and was exuberantly finished!
That same year a cycling-mad colleague challenged me to take on the Ironman, but since I had not been on a bike for more than 30 years, I knew this was not something I could just jump into. So, a week after buying myself a new bike, I joined DARE TO TRI. The cycling was humbling at
first, with lots of‘ first-time discomfort,’ but Coach Derick and the DTT team were patient and full of support, advice and guidance.
My first 5150 in Germiston was excellent, followed by two more, then a missed cut-off in the 70.3, but I felt ready to take on the full Ironman and registered! In training, Coach Derick slowly took us up to the full cycling distance, and a month or so before the event I did my first 100km ride. I remember thinking to myself, if I had known that cycling was going to be so tough, I wouldn’ t have registered for Ironman! Fortunately, as if by magic, I felt more comfortable on the bike in the next few rides, and finally felt ready for the race. Just as well, because it was too costly to withdraw!
GETTING THE JOB DONE
Ironman took forever to come, and even longer to finish! I was so excited that I forgot to hand in my specs before the swim, but thankfully a helpful race official took them and dropped them in my bag, and I headed out for my most effortless swim ever. I felt like a swimmer should feel … with chafing and all. After that, I remained cool on the bike, thanks to fresh memories of great DTT training rides, and in spite of a puncture just 2km into the race! The cycle was long and lonely, but made bearable by the odd chat with a fellow athlete, and by the cheering spectators. I also made sure to take in the sea view.
The run was really tough! In spite of my solid running background, I did not feel like a runner, but the spectators thought otherwise and kept me going, and finally I finished, feeling like a champion, in 15:59. Thanks, Coach Derick and Dare to Tri, now I am an Ironman!
Coach’ s Corner
By DTT Coach Derick Marcisz
Congratulations to Helen Webb, our visually impaired DTT athlete, who together with her American guide Caroline Gaynor finished the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii. Helen had a“ tough day out on the lava fields,” but managed to get home in 16:27:25 – a great achievement for somebody that only started triathlon 14 months ago!
Sign up for DTT Today!
The season is underway, but you are still able to join the DARE TO TRI programme, which is an affordable and manageable training programme that fits in with your family / social and work commitments. You will receive personalised coaching and can join coached weekend group training sessions. You cannot get this level of coaching at this cost anywhere else! To sign up, go to https:// daretotri. canbook. me / dtt-2017.
Images: Courtesy Conrad Jardine & Derick Marcisz
32 ISSUE 100 NOVEMBER 2017 / www. modernathlete. co. za