RACING » NELSON MANDELA BAY
A SPOT ON
THE PODIUM!
BY ANNAH WATKINSON
ou saw my smiles, my effort
and what it meant to me when
I crossed the finish line. What
a race – and to podium in that field. I
trained for that race!
Seeing pictures of me cross that finish
line makes my journey sweeter. People
often see just the race and the happy
Instagram pictures, but there is so much
that goes on in the background to make it
happen – endless training, juggling work
schedules and, of course, the travel and
‘dread’ just before a race.
Sometime back, I was racing in Europe.
I went across in a fairly depleted state
and ended up walking the end of the
marathon. My body and mind were
exhausted. I had got tired of solo travel
and the requirements of work. This all
pushed me to re-examine my approach
to racing and to re-examine if I wanted to
race at all.
Having moved to Cape Town in mid-
2017 and taken on a new role in Absa’s
investment bank division, I had – with
hindsight – battled to establish an
eco-system to support my elite athlete
ambitions. After a few mediocre races, I
took a break from triathlon and cleared
my headspace. A holiday in Croatia was
a key catalyst as I was able to swim and
run for the love of it. I realized I had been
ignoring my love for the actual swim, bike
and run and had been focusing only on
meeting a training schedule.
That was the re-set I needed.
First off, I changed coaches. I had met
Rafal Medak 10 years before when we
were counterparts at Barclays/Absa.
We had the same interests and Rafal
had followed my races and my career.
We spoke as friends and I raised my
concerns about balancing racing and
work. He responded by saying, if you are
thinking about giving it one last shot, do
it, but you need to make some changes.
That really resonated with me.
I spoke to my then coaches, Natalie
and Raynard Tissink, who were
supportive of my need to re-set. Their
ongoing support is something I cherish.
Raynard built me a strong base, a strong
mind and an everlasting friendship.
Rafal started coaching me a month
38
before the Isuzu IRONMAN 70.3 World
Championship in September 2018. My
race was sub-optimal but my focus was
deliberately on the 2019 season.
We started working towards a number
of 5150s, then IRONMAN 70.3 Bahrain
to close out the 2018 season. It helped
that I had now established great friends
in Cape Town who were there to support
me. I was starting to have fun again.
My mindset change was to focus solely
on my performance relative to my prior
races and not on the field. It was a need
to raise my intensity from within.
As a coaching style, I appreciate
speaking with Rafal almost every day. It
is a partnership, and my strong result in
Bahrain ignited my training in December
and January. Training was awesome, fun
and different – we mixed things up to
ensure I had time to hike up Lion’s Head
with friends and do some ocean races.
2019 started positively with a
promotion at work, and then it was
straight to East London for IRONMAN
70.3 South Africa. I had a clear and
deliberate race strategy that gave me
space to let the magic happen. What was
important about that race and winning
the pro section is that I delivered on my
training. I find if I do that, I love the race.
After a quick visit to Dubai for another
IRONMAN 70.3, my focused turned to
IRONMAN South Africa and the quest for
a Kona slot. As part of this strategy, I spent
two weeks with Rafal at a training camp
in Gran Canaria. The combination of the
intensity, remoteness and having Rafal
at my training sessions was new to me.
The support of Triangle Sports Team also
helped me settle into a routine that was
completely different to what I had ever done
leading up to an IRONMAN event.
When training works, when your body
responds, and when I have work under
semi-control, I thoroughly enjoy everything
– and so I headed up to Port Elizabeth. The
nerves were high, but through Raynard
and his team, I know PE well and have my
routine – plus I had a few client meetings to
take my mind off the Sunday start.
On the day, I had Rafal’s detailed input
and instructions and was confident I would
execute on my race plan – which was
merely to deliver on my training. It was great
to have Rafal and his team with me as I lined
up for the race – and I am not sure who was
more nervous!
Y