Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 103, February 2018 | Page 33
IRONMAN
DARE TO TRI
Here I Come!
After many years of running and also serving as race director of several running events, 60-year-old Steve Jackson is
set to tackle his first full Ironman this year, with the help of the Modern Athlete DARE TO TRI programme and a nifty
bike rack!
M
y story starts in 1991 when I hit a stationary 18-wheel truck with my
superbike, which left me with pins in my left arm as well as broken bones
in my right hand, cracked ribs and torn ligaments in my left knee. Then in
1992, I had a lung collapse while experimenting with solvents and paint at work.
After some time in hospital with a drain in my chest, I could not even walk from
my lounge to my bathroom without stopping for breath, but when I watched the
Comrades Marathon live broadcast, I turned to my wife, Angela, and said, “I am
going to do that.” She laughed out loud and said, “You can’t even walk to the
bathroom and you want to run 89km?”
The fact that I had not run a step and was a heavy smoker before the lung collapse
did not seem a problem for me. If you set your mind to something and plan
properly, you can do it, right? I joined the Vaal Athletics Club and it took me a few
years to go from walking around the block to running a qualifier, but I have started
every Comrades since 1994, with 21 finishes and a PB of 8:49, and also have
permanent numbers at Om Die Dam, Tough One, Suikerbosrand Ultra, Vredefort
Dome and Mont-Aux Sources. Angela has supported me from the beginning,
suffering through the training and races that took me away from my young family,
as well as the night classes and correspondence courses to get my MSc in
Production Management from UH in England. She is as much a part of my success
as I am.
New Challenge
However, after 20-plus years of running I was bored, so in 2015 myself and two
clubmates decided to try something new, and the discussion turned to Ironman.
We could run and cycle, but the swim was a problem, so we contacted the trainer
at our Virgin Active gym and arranged for group training sessions. In our first
session, Elsabe asked us to do four lengths so she could assess our ability. She
stopped us after two lengths and stated, “Clearly beginners.”
My first open water swim at Sun City in 2015 was a complete disaster. Nothing
could have prepared me for the mass start, or the dark, choppy water. I breast-
stroked and walked my way around the buoys! Meanwhile, I borrowed a cheap
mountain bike and did my first Rockman Dash tri event, with an only slightly better
swim. I then did another Rockman and stood on a thorn before the swim, had a
terrible cycle with numerous punctures and riding the last 4km on a flat front wheel,
and during the run the thorn worked its way deeper into my foot. The paramedics
dug it out after the race, but actually wanted to send me to the emergency room to
have it cut out!
The New Plan
By now I was getting frustrated at my lack of progress, so it was time for a new
plan. At the beginning of 2016, I took early retirement and had time on my hands,
so I got involved with the Om Die Dam ultra, where I picked up a Modern Athlete
magazine and saw an article about DARE TO TRI (DTT) with Derick Marcisz. I had
met him through my job at Arcelor Mittal, and this was the beginning of a new plan:
Ironman 2017 here I come. Just one problem… Angela agreed to the weekend
training on condition I did not leave her without the car every weekend. When I
retired, we scaled back to one car and a Harley Davidson each, as our two boys
had already left home. Fortunately, I could put my fitter and turner trade skills to
work and fitted a bicycle rack on the back of my Harley. If you can’t do it on a
Harley, it isn’t worth doing!
Joining DTT was the best thing I could have done. It gave me training schedules
and group activities, and the group consists of both beginners and experienced
athletes, so there is a peer group with which to start the training and the
experienced group from whom to get advice. My first races with the DTT group in
2016 included the Bela Bela 5150 and Miway Cape Ultra 70.3, finishing in spite of
tripping on a tree root and bruising my ribs. This was followed in early 2017 by the
Germiston Trinity Tri (5150 distance), Ironman 70.3 East London and Prestige Ultra
Triathlon 70.3.
I was ready for Ironman in April when disaster struck. Just two weeks before the
race I got an inner ear infection and burst my ear drum, so there was no way I
could compete. However, it is not in my nature to give up on a goal, so I adjusted
my plan... I just had to add tinnitus (constant ringing in the ear) to the rheumatoid
arthritis in my hands, Crohn’s Disease (chronic inflammation
of the colon, controlled by avoiding certain foods)
and the steel pins in my arm. I have entered the
2018 Ironman and am now in the experienced
DTT group – and I will do a full Ironman.
Want more info on Dare To Tri?
If you are interested in joining the DARE TO TRI programme, go to https://daretotri.canbook.me/dtt-2017 or mail
DTT Coach Derick Marcisz: [email protected].
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