Ironman African Championship Training and Racing
I was at Ironman South Africa, my first time racing in the Southern Hemisphere, where water goes down the plug hole the opposite way. Thankfully, my bike peddling did not need to be in the opposite direction also.
I was in Port Elizabeth on the Eastern Cape of South Africa to race Ironman South Africa full distance 5th March 2023. It was a race that threw everything at us starting with fork lightning bolts in the sea swim, gusty winds, torrential down pours and burning sun. I finished the race wet through from head to toe with sunburn. Fantastic, what a challenge, smashed it!
The Ironman South African Championship Course
Its a full course event of a 3.8km (2 1/4 mile) sea swim, 180km undulating bike and 42km marathon run.
Swim Course Ironman South Africa
The swim start, finish, T1 and T2 are all together at Hobbie Beach just outside Port Elizabeth near the Boardwalk and pier. It is a single loop sea swim in the Indian Ocean with lots of things that want to eat you. The course heads out for about 300m before you turn left and swim forever towards the very distant cranes of old Port Elizabeth. Once at the cranes the course turned back towards the pier and swim exit.
In perfect weather conditions this would be a perfect swim. However Port Elizabeth is known for its winds and rough seas which can change several times in the same day. I arrived a week early to prepare and only managed 2 very short swims in very rough seas.
And so it begins
Race morning up at 4am, simple carb breakfast, hoping for early poo poo’s, then down to transition to add fuel and battery to my bike, still no poo poo’s was making me anxious. By 6am hundreds of us stood on the beach in self selecting pace pens for a rolling start. I chose 1hr to 1:30hr which was the largest group of swimmers and necessitated further shuffling about in the pen till I felt about middle.
The sea was calm with a swell and we were all ready to go. As the sun rose to to show us the way we saw the clouds. Then the electric bolt lightning started, thunder drowned out the crowd and we sat down on the beach to wait. At that point I was more worried about the electric bolts than I was about Great White sharks or drowning.
The race was firstly delayed, then for athlete safety the swim was shortened significantly to about 800/900 meters. I had mixed feelings about this, because my swim is the weakest part of my race so this immediately gave me a better chance against the gifted swimmers. On the other hand, one of my strengths is endurance and by shortening the event this meant that the event would help those athletes that tend to die late on. I suppose also the fact that we now had a shortened swim meant that technically it was no longer full iron.
A senior moment
As expected I got wet in a half descent time. I ran up the beach well behind my age group leaders, but I had a cunning plan! My much practiced transition was going to be the fastest transition ever and I would pull back vital minutes. Hilariously I had a senior moment. (Us oldies will understand this and empathise, younger readers may ponder now, but beware, your time will come ).
So I charged up the beach peeling off my wet suit to the waste, passing loads of athlete, I grabbed my bag, helmet on, socks on, shoes on, sun glasses on. Last thing was to stuff my wet suit into the bag and drop off, wait! that would be the wet suit that I was still wearing from the waste down. I did not do a fast transition. Much swearing stripping pulling and more swearing as I dropped still further behind.
Bike Course Ironman South Africa
As well as the full distance Ironman South Africa event, there was also an Ironman South Africa 70.3 half iron race, this race started after the full distance and was later going to impact on the full race dangerously.
The bike course Ironman South Africa full distance was a 180km (112 mile) 2 loop, each loop being 90K, the half iron 70.3 race did the 1 loop.
Loved the Ironman South Africa bike course
I was excited about this bike course, I’d ridden some of it in practice and driven the full loop on a course recce. It had the potential to suit my strengths being undulating with a little technical, fast descents and long climbs of moderate slope 1% to 5%. The far end of the loop was an out and back with 3 tasty climbs/descents steeper at 5% to 10% . Approximately 1300m of climbing in total. The roads were all closed as you would expect for an Ironman event and the road surface was quite good, being pothole free but the surface tarmac was predominately of the rougher kind which increased tyre friction and made your bike vibrate irritating and tiring. It was a pleasurable reprieve to hit stretches of super smooth and see my pace increase by a kph and more.
Each lap headed up the seafront and turned inland through the city for a few miles climbing steadily, with most of the climbing in the first half of each lap. Probably 80% of the course was absolutely stunning scenery, all rolling hills, endless beaches, crashing seas on sharp rocks, sand dunes as tall as hills.
At the far end of each out and back were 3 tough climbs and 3 descents. It was here that it became dangerous for the racers on their second loop. This was because the faster riders on the full iron event caught the slower riders on the 70.3 event and flying down hill at 60/70/80kph between riders struggling to ride in a straight line or riding side by side chatting, was terrifying and dangerous. Personally I think more emphasis on race/riding etiquette is needed in the race briefing.
Water bottle issue
Another issue on the bike course was the choice of water containers at the feed stations, unbelievably they supplied bottles of water that you would buy in a shop complete with security cap attached. This meant that you were trying to bite off caps whilst cycling at speed, ridiculous! To make it worse, the bottles supplied would not fit into bike bottle cages, so you had to literally either stop and transfer water to your own bottles or swig and squirt as much as possible within the 100m litter dropping zone, ridiculous! Just to inform those that don’t know – it is an automatic disqualification for littering on the course, so you have to dump anything you can’t carry within a 100m ‘litter zone’.
Strength, mental and physical
An athlete I coach asked. “Is it physical or mental strength, the secret to a fast bike split ? “ Its very much both, to race at the sharp end, you need to be both physically and mentally strong. Genetics and training determines our physical strength. To be fortunate and gifted with descent triathlon endurance type genes is certainly only a part of what it takes to compete for a podium spot. Good quality training is essential.
Our training with Peak XV Tri Coaching is the other part of the recipe for success. My fellow coach and mentor Garrie Prosser has spent much of his life training, racing, studying and coaching himself and many many other athletes. Certainly Garrie is a big part of my success story, and I thank him for his wisdom and support.
I had a good bike split of 5hr 25min the 4th fastest in my age group, which in the breezy wet conditions was good enough to catapult me into 4th position (Age Group) and onto the run in contention for a podium finish.
RUN COURSE IRONMAN SOUTH AFRICA
The run is where my race got really competitive as the race dynamics began to take shape and athletes knew where they were and what they had to do, or could do.
Top quality international athletes entered Ironman South Africa
Can I digress? Backtrack a little to before the race and to January. Ironman announced that this years World Championship for men would be held in Nice, France in September. The first 2 races for qualification suddenly became New Zealand and South Africa. Which meant that many elite age group athletes from Europe suddenly signed up for South Africa to qualify for the World Championships. Prior to Christmas, my serious competition in my age group based on past performances was probably 2 or 3 athletes. By the start of Ironman Africa Championship race I researched 10 athletes in my age group that had the potential to win. They all had something in their Ironman CV that put them in contention. Recent sub-11hr times, Ironman 1st places, World Championship experience.
This was a top class field. To finish top 5 let alone podium would be extremely tough. I would need me to be at my best. My best and more.
The run course was a 4 lap along the sea front. The start and finish was in the middle. We had a 2.5K (5K) out and back in 1 direction, then a 2.5K (5K) the opposite direction. This made each lap about 10K.
Amazing Atmosphere
The people of Port Elizabeth created an amazing atmosphere. They lined the route, partied, cheered and sang their support. The athletes.raced, ran, walked, cried and crawled their way to their red carpet. As much as I compete to win. I am in awe of the majority of people that just want to finish. They struggle for 15/16/17hrs into the night step by painful step refusing to give up. Very well done guys.
Only a marathon to run
My race was going quite well. Now I only a marathon to run, so easily said, harder to do.
First lap. I was Glad to be off the bike. My legs felt like they were still going in circles. It was also now the hottest part of the day, being very sunny, hot and humid. I was overheating and and slightly dehydrated off the bike. This was because at some aid stations they had not taken the security caps off water bottles. We had to bite the caps off and many dropped wet and slippy bottles. To make things worse, he bottles wouldn’t fit into my bottle cage making it all a bit of a mess really, ultimately I know I didn’t drink enough on the bike. I wasn’t the only one, it was a common problem I think.
That first lap was a test of thinking and problem solving, I decided to hold back, walk every aid station and hydrate.
The 2nd lap I started to feel better and my assistant (wifey) shouted me an update that I was still 4th but catching 3rd with a 1/2 marathon to the finish.
A decision had to be made. Do I hold my pace fingers crossed or go for the podium? Smash it ! Turbo’s on, ignore the pain and into the last lap the last 10K now in 3rd with a podium spot.
My trusty assistant told me that 2nd place was 2 or 3 minutes ahead, I kicked again and emptied my tanks.
The weather turned bad and we were soon running through puddles in torrential rain
Never give up
You should never give up and here is an example of why.
Running into the last 5K and I found myself trading places with a bald athlete that could just have been my opposition. I tried in vain to see his number but couldn’t, so I just had to beat him.
In the last 2K and we were step for step and flying. I know I have a fast sprint finish and I was praying that I could hang on to use it. He increased his pace. 200m from the red carpet I went for it. Pumping the air and driving forward with all I had and more. I didn’t dare look back, my calf’s screamed, my body screamed, I screamed, a screaming profanity mess down the red carpet and over the line in 2nd place. I commented at the time “goodness gracious that was a tad trying” or something similar.
As it turned out my battle to the line was with an athlete who wasn’t even in my age group. That battle had spurred me on and that meant that I had done enough to secure 2nd place 49 seconds ahead of previous Ironman Africa winner. I had had to run a negative split marathon to do it. It hurt.
Facts
Ironman South Africa Championships Men V60/64
1st Derek Farr 09:25:55 Netherlands
2nd Quin Beech 09:49:41 GB
3rd M Reinhart 09:50:30 South Africa
4th Nick Kinsey 09:58:28 GB
5th N Schroeder 09:58:58 Germany
6th Antonio Bussolati 10:15:56 Italy
Pro Winners
Leon Chevalier 07:11:44 France
Laura Phillipp 08:01:59 Germany
Quin Bits Good & Bad
2nd AG
100th place overall
19th AG swim split
4th AG bike split
3rd AG run split
1st AG British athlete
In my Age Group I remain unbeaten by any British athlete in any long distance triathlon since July 2021. This includes, 2 World Championships, European Championships, African Championships and National Championship.
PB – My sub 10hr time is of course my PB for an Ironman event but the swim was shortened. My time, had the swim not been shortened, is impossible to know for sure. Based on an extrapolation of race pace my predicted time including the full swim would have been 10:45:41. Which is a PB. But who knows?
My transitions were very slow, both should have been minutes faster, I need to work on that.
When I dropped a water bottle and I carried on cycling, regardless of any consequences. This made me dehydrated. I should have stopped to retrieve water. Had I done so then I would have easily mad the time up through being hydrated, especially on the run.
I forgot my sun/run cap and suffered
My training went well, but I think I could have done more. I should have done more long brick bike/run sessions in particular.
Ironman African Championship 2024
The Ironman African Championship is is an event that I highly recommend. The bike course is fantastic. Its a good mix of long and short hills, typically 1% to 5% with a few slightly steeper lumps. The road surfaces are pothole free and mostly of good quality. I especially liked the scenery. It’s simply stunning and varied and includes miles of sea crashing onto rocks and sand dunes like mountains.
Visit South Africa
A visit to South Africa is an adventure in itself. It is a truly beautiful country with masses of wildlife and safari opportunities. The people are varied and interesting and add greatly to the Ironman race and your South African adventure. It is a great idea to combine a holiday, maybe a safari or whale watching with an Ironman race event.
Training for Ironman Africa Championships
Peak XV Tri Coaching
We have masses of experience in coaching and training and are very confident that we can help you be the best that you can be at this event. We can help you smash it, and enjoy it.
Garrie Prosser and myself Quin Beech are fully qualified coaches and have vast experience of racing Ironman events across the world.
I now have experience of and contacts in Port Elizabeth. I can help you with the practical logistics of travel. accommodation, does and don’ts.
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