Coorperation
| Ironman South Africa: cramps all over |
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| Monday, 03 May 2010 07:36 |
 Looking for excuses is something I do not like to do and will not do, or at least try not to. Everything is just part of the deal, whether you like it or not! It might be an erupting volcano, a missing laptop or cramps from fingers till toes, but is this not just part of the deal? Of course this can make racing harder, but did anybody ever said it was going to easy? There is nothing you can do about it, except from giving a 100% (more is impossible, less is easy)and racing the best you can. And giving a 100% is what I gave last weekend in Ironman South Africa! Last week was crazy! Flying to Port Elizabeth on Wednesday, race on Sunday, leave on Tuesday and be back home on Wednesday! Although it was one hack of an adventure, I will not try to attempt this again. If you like adventures, you to go to South Africa, if you want to do something different than something like a city trip and you are willing to spent some more money on it. But for racing… I thought about writing solely about my race, but since has not been any change to write something on this laptop in South Africa for some dumb reason (I take full responsibility for this), I have put in my whole trip. Eyjafjallajökull (I am not going to pronounce this for any of you!) As you all know there was some volcano eruption on Iceland, which held air traffic in it grasp for a couple of days. All flight were cancelled above a large part of main land Europe and thousands of people stranded on different airport. One of those people was me! It was uncertain whether or not any of us could fly! Phoning KLM and trying to figure out what the possibilities were, took not only forever, but also a lot of energy. Finally the Dutch airspace was declared safe, but contacting KLM was impossible. I guess I was one of those thousands of people who tried to contact them to get rebooked to some other flight. So on Tuesday morning at 3AM I gave it another try and succeeded to get rebooked for a flight on Wednesday morning. Even Utah shortly crossed my mind… Wednesday Wednesday was mostly spend in the train (departure 5:06AM) and the plane (a 10 hour flight). Luckily I met Rick Nijhoving, Mirjam Weerd’s friend. We had some nice chats during the 10 hours and I got a bit distracted from the race and all the stress from the last couple of days prior to my flight. A safe and great flight with KLM brought me to Johannesburg‘s Tampo International Airport where I was picked up to sleep at Terence Lowe, a friend of Lucie Zelenkova. He showed me around in Johannesburg when we missed a turn on the highway. Work is still in progress for the world soccer championships…. 19 hours of travelling from Groningen through Schiphol to Johannesburg finally got me to a great sofa to sleep on and so I did as a little baby! Thrusday We were brought to the airport by Terence’s his parents. When I got from the car I picked up my backpack from the backseat and it just felt too light somehow… I was certain it was heavier when I left home. I checked and almost freaked out: MY LAPTOP WAS MISSING!!! Being clumsy and skatty is fine, but this was just too much for me to handle early in the morning. I checked in my luggage and we had breakfast at the airport, but my mind was just wondering around how and where that damn thing could be! I got on the plane, still hoping that my laptop was at Terence his place, but a text message woke me up out of the dream: it was not at his place! Although the flight only took 1:20, it seemed to last longer than the flight the day before! Sitting still was hard, I wobbled around in my chair, almost bit my nails and turned on and off my IPod for at least 20 times. My mum and dad had already been a week in South Africa (driving from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth along the coast) and therefore my dad could picked me up from the airport! Determined to get as quick as possible to the guesthouse, we packed my stuff in the car and drove ‘home’ straightaway. At the guesthouse I only said: ‘Hello, Jerzy. Do you have internet?’ ‘Yes…’ ‘Can I use it to change some passwords?’ And so I did, but after changing 2 out of a dozen all tension I felt till that moment just eased off…. At that time I knew the laptop was found and that it would be returned at some point! But not only all the tension of the lost laptop disappear, the tension and stress for the race also vanished at the same time. I felt relaxed and everything was going to be fine! In the back of the garden we had our little guesthouse. Perfect! Here I met Ton. Ton his girlfriend was supposed to come over, but could not rebook and two of his friend had tickets, but their van was stolen with their passports included. So the Kasemier family was his surrogate family for the days to come. I have not heard anything negative from Ton, so I guess and really hope that he enjoyed our ‘visit’… But I really felt (and still feel) sorry for him as this was just not the way it was supposed to be!! Nonetheless he kept laughing! At the beginning of the evening me and Justin (the sun of the guesthouse owner) went for a little run on the course. I knew that it was going to be dark quick, but it was still surprising that it just took 15 minutes to get dark! We covered part of the course in daylight, but we had to come back to see all of the course, because part of our run had been in the dark… Friday Somehow I have this need to explore all parts of the course! And although the swim course is a rectangle as in most races I wanted to swim it. Ton had not dare to try it on Thursday, because of the brutal condition out there in the Indian Ocean. But on Friday everything was ‘calm’ again… 5 Foot waves were pounding on the pillars of the peer and I was about to give the swim a try… Had I just become mad? Of course I survived, but I had a second and third breakfast, saw my fellow swim mates from below and from above and managed to swim the course double in just one lap! But! It was so unbelievably awesome to be tossed around, riding the waves as a surfer by just straightening out your body and feel the power of the ocean once again, that I forgot about those extra breakfasts as soon as I hit the shore again! We had our PRO briefing at 11AM, short but efficient to let us know that they would be strict on Sunday. Last year in Klagenfurt adrenaline rushes through every vain during the briefing, but this time all felt comfortable and relaxed! There was really nothing more to do before the race. No more training, no more recovering, no more mental battles, just race as good as possible and give a 100%! Well… My bike still had to be build for a ride and some exploring of the bike course, again together with Justin and I was came with me! In South Africa traffic is different… There are cars in all kind of sizes, small busses with some black guy hanging out of the window of the sliding door to see if you want a lift, large busses like the American school busses and more participants like we have on the road, but they drive on the left instead of the right. Justin kept me on the right, or should I say left side of the road. The course was beautiful and I kept laughing during our ride. Riding in South Africa on a Friday afternoon is not something I do on a weekly basis and seeing monkeys cross the road and leaving the rest of the monkey family flabbergasted in the tree is something that has not ever happened to me before!!! Saturday Resting, resting, doing a ride of 60 minutes, resting and more resting is about all I did on Saturday. Ooh… I dropped off my bike at transit and that was about it… And I had a cappuccino with Rick, Mirjam, Ton and my parents. Relaxed and ready for the battle of the next day! Sunday At 3:45AM the alarm started buzzing! Getting up was not as hard as expected. At that moment the ritual starts. It feels just great to do this in preparation of my race and I stuck to it. Getting a shower, getting dressed, having breakfast or at least trying to get something down my throat, going for a short run, stretching, just my little ritual to get ready and give it my best shot! My parents picked us up to head to the hotel near the start, where they slept, to get the last preparations done. Ton came with us and he helped to get my tires pumped. Bottles on the bike, shoes clicked in and done! Time to get my wetsuit on at in my parents room and head to the beach for a short warm up lap. But when I tried to get my first leg in I almost had cramps in my leg, which happens now and then so I did not pay any attention to it. And off to the beach! My warming up was short, really short… About 5 meters I think and then I had to get back to get to the start. We were 15 meter in front of the age-groupers and when I looked back I could feel the energy from the 1800 triathletes behind the line! And then I finally got nervous. Everything got to a halt! ‘Damn! South Africa! Sunday morning! Jerzy? Yes?! What are you doing? Well….’ I was overwhelmed by the tension I felt at that moment, but it only lasted 1 minute, because everybody was trembling to get started. Somehow I only saw Stephen Bayliss in front of me, trembling his feet in the knee deep water, waving at some athletes on the right to keep back, trembling again to keep warm or get his heart rate higher, waving again, pushing forward… BANG! And off we went! It would be different at the office this time! The sea was not gentle to us at all. Wave after wave came from the Indian Ocean to throw us back at the beach… The first stretch was hard and so much fun at the same time! Up and down, up and down, just like in a rollercoaster, but instead of wind in my face, there was salty seawater trying to get down my throat. Spotting the buoys was hard and therefore I navigated on the people in front of me and in the kayaks and boats surrounding us. The sun was over the ocean and I was in the whirlpool called the Indian Ocean: ‘Whooooooooooohooooooooooooo!’ The lap was done before I knew it, but when I got back to the beach and caught a wave, both my hamstrings just cramped! It only lasted for perhaps a second, but the feeling lasted longer. Taking it easy in the loop on the beach was the only thing to do and not get cramped again. But back in the water my hamstrings just popped again and I was fighting the cramps in the legs by taking it more easy! I pushed it as hard as possible and tried to swim a bit more technical, but with these waves that was just impossible! T1 (transit one) passed without noticing it. I always turn on the automatic pilot to guide me through, as it did this time. The cramps had finally disappeared and I was on the bike to get it going! The first few kilometers are always hard, but normally I can just push and push forward. This time however it felt as if I was moving my legs up and down with elastic bands keeping me from moving freely. My hips were stiff and my legs felt strange…. But I pushed forward! At the top of the ‘hill’ I stretched and stretched and try to give my hips some more space and getting the crampy feeling (which appeared again) from the legs. After the downhill part everything just felt better! The pace was good and I really kept my focus and did not look forward or over my shoulder. I was racing my own race at the set power. But at 50km I was passed by two guys and I could keep up with them quite easily. Uphill they pushed it, but within reason for me. The second lap was not as hard as the first, but somehow the cramps returned. When pushing it a bit harder, in uphill parts or just after turns, the upper legs almost cramped again. The set energy plan made for the race worked perfectly, perhaps even better than expected and there was no way that this could have been the cause of the cramps! But what was?? I thought about it for a few seconds perhaps and then returned to my main task of the day: race at 100% and beat myself! The last lap was good, although the cramp spread to my fingers. When shifting gears my fingers straightened out or just crossed on my right hand. At 170km I ‘got dropped’ and paddled back to transit and trying to safe some energy for the run and hopefully recover from the cramps before entering T2… But I guess this was just too much to hope for. When I sat down I almost cramped and trying to get my running shoes on was near to impossible with straight legs to keep them from cramping. I had left my shoe laces in and had to tie them…. You can guess what happened… My fingers cramped when I tied them… After getting a bit of sunscreen on the red shoulders desert was served: 42,195km! Shuffling the first kilometer kept my legs from cramping, but the gel did the job on the fingers… It was going to be a long day! You are kidding me, right? Again there was something in an Ironman race… At 3km the legs almost cramped and walking was the only solution to the problem. Really bad cramps could stop you from running, so at the first feeling of cramps I slowed down or started walking…. ‘Arggg! Damn! This is not what I want! I do not want to run another 3:40 marathon! That is no why I am here! It is going to be a damn long day if I cannot continue running… These cramps are killing me!’ Somehow my legs started moving again and at kilometer 5 I got my gels and said that it was going to be a long day… But after that the cramps disappeared and I could keep running till 25km! I was still in place 12 (or at least I think) and then the cramps struck me again! This time on the inside of my right leg, the right pointer finger, the right side of my sixpack (or beer barrel as I prefer to call my belly) and running became more of struggle… Running from cramp to cramp kept me from running a proper marathon! Ton was at the special need station in the last lap. He quit the race at the bike… It just was too much for him to handle, missing his girlfriend and friends! He did great, he fought, he gave it his best shot, but 100% for him was just enough to complete part of the bike. But this did not keep him from cheering for me! He helped me in those last 9 kilometers to continue! To finish my race! It not matter anymore if I lost 10, 20 or more minutes if only I would make it to the finish line! And so I did! I continued and pushed myself up the hill, running till the cramp hit me again! Looking back to see if Mirjam was coming…. Running, looking back, cramps, walking, looking back, cramps, more walking, running, cramps, looking back, walking, looking back, running, cramps…. And then I saw Mirjam coming to my amazement! She was in fourth place!!! I cheered and shouted to her that I did not see any other women behind her. At least the walking was good for helping out a friend! I continued to push and run, walk and cramp till I got back to the boulevard. ‘Push! Keep it up! There is only two kilometer left! You should manage to get there!’ I managed to get to the finish, I got the big Ironman medal, but above all: I BEAT MYSELF!  There was nothing left of me after the finish! I had destroyed myself with great precision! 3,8km of swimming, 180km on the bike and the marathon had done their job properly! Leaving nothing the way it is supposed to be! Walking was just too much for me to handle, as was sitting! I sat down at some truck next to Bella. Mirjam, Ton, Terence and Rick joined me, but their company was even too much for me. If I had turned my head and put it on Ton’s shoulder next to me I would have started crying straight away…. Rick made a movie of me showing my foot and getting cramps in my leg… But that was about everything I did when I sat there…. All else I could do was stare… At nothing! I could not even think anymore… And I must say that this is one of the strangest things that happened to me that day, there was a total silence in my head! No more thinking, no more wondering, no more cheering, no more getting myself back on track, nothing but silence! I got cold and Ton gave me his jacked and I left to make it to the hotel by crossing the bridge over the course…. This bridge proved to be a worthy opponent as it almost got me to the ground! The muscles worked just fine this time, but my exhausted body could not handle all this too well. When I got to the top of the bridge and things started turning and I almost fainted! Luckily some photographer stayed with me on the way down just in case… In the hotel room I crashed in the bathtub with warm water! Which warmed me a bit, but after getting out I was cold again within 5 seconds and straight into bed to get warm again. At last some rest! I started laughing again, although my mixed feeling were trying to get a grip on me. But I just had one hack of an adventure and the next race could not come soon enough, but above all, the battle with myself was won, which was lost so many times before this day! A smile stayed that night, although my body was not functioning properly anymore. Monday The day after… I was crippled, but not as bad as in the past. The legs would move, but like captain hook with two wooden legs instead of one. The intestines worked again and the body was screaming for some coffee! As the little breakfast, the rest of the day was relaxed, no stress and just trying to recover from all that had happened the day before. All there was left of the Ironman weekend was the award dinner in the evening, but I was just too tired to notice everything that happened down there. Tuesday Although the legs were still made of wood, getting out of bed was easy! Mirjam, Rick and I had made plans to visit some game park just outside Port Elizabeth before our departure back home. At 8AM we took of for our trip. I could write about all we did that day and what we saw, but actually it was nothing more than sit in the car and spot 10 elephants, 5 warthogs, 2 jackals, 3 tortoises, a couple of coedoes, a lot of people with cameras and an awful lot of bushes! And that was about all that happened in South Africa. The flight back home took forever, but at least I slept a couple of hours. It is good to be home and plans are being made for the next Ironman! Last, but not least The erupting volcano made me arrive late, leaving behind my laptop at Schiphol stressed me out and cramps during the race might also have had its influence. But that does not mean that they are excuses for the result of the day. These setbacks, if you want to call them that, are just part of the package called IRONMAN and dealing with it is part of job!! I dealt with it and this was the result of doing so! Nobody ever said it was going to be easy!! Related links: |