Not a gambling man

If anyone followed my advice and put money on Craig Alexander at a local betting shop, don’t forget to buy me a drink next time we meet. I’m extremely pleased to see a fantastic athlete like Alexander win the Ironman in Hawaii. Here’s an excerpt from the press conference. I think it says enough about what a great athlete he is.

Some other aspects of today’s presser that told much of the story of the race:

Turns out that Craig Alexander said some encouraging words to Andy Potts as he went by him on the bike.

Of the man who had never run further than 15 miles, had never done a 100 mile bike, but still managed an eighth place finish, the ever-sportsmanlike Craig Alexander had this to say:

“I was really happy for him to get eighth,” Crowie said. “He’s definitely a danger if he ever wants to focus on this race. He’s a pretty quick learner.”

When asked why he would encourage a competitor like that, Alexander said:

“When you reach out to people in the race it takes away a bit of the pain.”

I’m also pleased that Rutger Beke has made a successful come back. Considering he had a four minute time penalty during the bike, it took an enormous amount of mental strength to keep his focus and not do the easy thing, which would be to give up. In that perspective, it reminds me of my race in Desaru where I had a very bad swim, but never gave up. The satisfaction of reaching your goals afterwards is indescribable.

Also, I’d like to congratulate Carmen for her inspiring performance in Kona. You are truly an Iron(wo)man.

Ford Ironman World Championship (11/10/08)

IRONMAN = 3.8 km swim – 180 km bike – 42 km run

The big boys are slowly starting to arrive in idyllic Kona for the Ford Ironman World Championship: a legendary race on boiling lava-covered roads with an unforgiving wind. This is by far the most important race on any ironman’s calendar, elite or age-grouper alike. The lucky few who have won the right to book their Kona plane tickets, all went to a grueling training routine that allowed them to qualify for the epitome of long-distance triathlon.

I have never competed in an Ironman, and I must admit, I find it a completely different discipline from what I have done so far. I’m not sure if I ever will as I’m still having a debate with myself if I would actually like it. I thoroughly enjoyed the half ironman I did recently, but an Ironman is still another story. If I ever do it, I want to reach certain targets, and that would mean a sub-three hour marathon for a starter. That’s not a big deal in a normal marathon, but it is in an Ironman. Anyways, if I do an Ironman, it won’t be before 2010.

Thanks to Luc Van Lierde, Kona has reached mythical proportions for Belgian triathletes. In this year’s race, we have no less than five athletes who have the capabilities of finishing in the top fifteen. Marino Vanhoenacker could even win the race. Nevertheless, I believe the Aussies are going to dominate again as they did last year. I’m going to put my money on Craig Alexander. I met him a few years ago at the Laguna Phuket Triathlon in Thailand, and although he is an absolute superstar, he was very much down-to-earth. Winning in Kona would be a deserved accolade for his fantastic career. Here’s my top 5:

1. Craig Alexander (Aus)
2. Chris McCormack (Aus)
3. Marino Vanhoenacker (Bel)
4. Eneko Llanos (Esp)
5. Luc Van Lierde (Bel)

Craig Alexander

For the women’s race, it’ll be toss up between Chrissie Wellington (Gbr) and Samantha McGlone (Can). I think Chrissie will win thanks to her fantastic run.

I’d like to wish Carmen from Malaysia good luck. She qualified for her age group through the Langkawi Ironman in February. Enjoy the race, soak up the atmosphere, and most of all have fun. Being there is an amazing achievement in itself.

Carmen

Vietnam International Triathlon

Where: Hoi An, Vietnam
When: 23/08/08
What: Triathlon
Distance: Swim 1.5 km – Bike 40 km – Run 10 km

Originally, I had not planned to do this race. Although it’s organized by probably the best organizers (Tribob) in the business in South East Asia, the race does not offer any prize money. At the end of the day, I’m still an amateur (no sponsors) and racing costs money. I decided to contact my company and ask them if they had any interest in sponsoring me. A few months ago, I won an X-terra triathlon in Mui Ne and received quite a lot of press attention (newspapers, TV, magazines). To my surprise, they decided to pay for my flight, accommodation and registration fees, as long as I would show the company’s logo during the race and mention them in any interviews.

One of my colleagues had also entered the race, and to be fairly honest, it’s always more fun when you go to a race and you have some friends tagging along. Since the company was paying for it, I chose a pretty fancy resort to stay in. Japanese style decorated rooms in combination with a TV showing the Olympics almost made me not want to leave the room.

I knew before the race that the ½ Ironman in Desaru might play a factor in my performance in Hoi An. Would I have had enough time to recover? The moment I hit the water, I knew I hadn’t. I felt like a sack of potatoes. The swim turned into a struggle which I just wanted to get over and done with.

Once on the bike, I got into a pretty good rhythm. My heart rate was much higher than I wanted to and I tried to control it as much as possible. Going into an anaerobic state at such an early part of the race is just looking for trouble. I quickly started catching up with the faster swimmers and only one cyclist managed to pass me. I kept a pace I felt comfortable with and started mentally preparing for the run. The bike course itself was OK, a bit windy at times, but the biggest fear factor was definitely the Vietnamese motorists and pedestrians. When it comes to traffic rules, they live on another planet. What am I saying; they don’t have any rules whatsoever in Vietnam.

Going into transition, I heard over the speakers that the athlete in first place was too far ahead. The number two position was realistic and set that as my main goal. We had to run three laps of 3.33 km each. Before the end of lap one, I had caught everyone and somewhere in the back of my mind, I kept hoping the person in first place would bonk. Obviously that didn’t happen, and I finished the race in second place overall and first place in my age category. Although I felt I could’ve done better, Frederik Croneborg from Sweden deservedly won the race.

Desaru 1/2 Ironman

Where: Desaru, Malaysia
When: 16/08/08
What: Triathlon
Distance: Swim 2 km - Bike 90 km - Run 21 km

The swim was probably one of the toughest I had ever done in open water. The buoys were lost between the waves and personally I felt the swim course could've been marked better. Most of the buoys were as big as my mobile phone. Still the navigation went fairly well, but my goggles decided to live a life of their own. They were too tight and I started to get a headache, and thus resulting in a loss of concentration. The last few hundred meters I swam using breaststroke and my goggles taken off. Once on land, I felt relieved.

I decided to listen to the advice of my coach and some friends for the bike leg. Control your bike and stay within your heart rate zones. I surprised myself and was able to maintain the same time difference with other top age groupers, and even went faster than Wong An Thiam (I had never beaten him before on the bike). The last 20 km though, I couldn't ride in the aero position anymore as my glutes were tightening up and I didn't want to take risks for the run. Other than that, thanks to my punctual nutrition intake, I felt both physically and mentally fresh.

The run always turns into an imaginary game of Pacman for me. A little figure eating away at all the food that lies in its path, in triathlon terms: other runners. My confidence was incredibly high, borderline cocky, and I approached it with one single determination: "I WILL catch all the non-pros." My pace for the first 5km was incredibly high and when I looked at my watch (18:13), I was like, wow dude that's Chris McCormack territory. I tried to keep my pace as high as possible without blowing myself up and at the half way mark, my timing was still excellent (40:15). However, I started to get a bit restless because I hadn't caught anyone of significance. I made sure I kept my focus and kept the pace up, and then it happened, I started seeing people just ahead of me at the U-turn and water station section. The number two guy in my age group was struggling, and Dino was just ahead of him. That lifted my spirits and soon I passed both of them, although the heat was also starting to hit me pretty hard too. And then Mother Nature heard my prayers, the clouds magically appeared as they were a gift from heaven. With 3 km to go, I suddenly saw Razani's orange tri-suit. The competitive me just couldn't give up that opportunity and I upped the tempo again. And guess who was ahead of him, the athlete who was first in my age category. He looked at my number, panicked, tried to run faster, and with an over-my-dead-body attitude, I placed an ultimate sprint out of my legs. I wanted first place no matter what. Thanks to a time of 1:24:10 on the run, first place was mine. What a sweet way to start my half ironman career.

I finished fifth overall in a time of 4hrs49mins. The first four athletes were pro-athletes, so I was very pleased to be the first amateur to complete the race. My run was the second fastest of the whole field (600 athletes), even three minutes faster than Pete Jacobs. A nice boast for the ego, but I also know he was taking it easy. Months of hard work paid off.