In the blink of an eye my world was spinning and things were moving fast. Unexpectedly fast…

What started as a harmless ‘rushed’ lunch while working has me finally leaving hospital 6 days later. Who would have thought that a raw salad and two egg omelette could wreak the havoc that unfolded. My fault entirely… instead of rushing, I should have been slowly and purposefully enjoying my lunch, but I know we’re all guilty of shovelling down the food while multitasking.

My last mouthful felt like it went down sideways. I had an immediate discomfort in my chest, directly behind my sternum that quickly escalated to intense pain. It literally floored me in a matter of minutes, I was home alone and Charlotte was not answering her phone. Stupidly I was underestimating the situation and left it about 30 minutes before I went to the neighbours for help.

Charlotte arrived home around the same time and took me directly to the medical centre. Should have went straight to emergency.

Once in Noosa Hospital and after numerous tests and drugs to relax the smooth muscle of my oesophagus and no improvement I was given some contrast dye and a c-scan. Unfortunately they found some air/gas outside my oesophagus and quickly added IV lines, a not so fun catheter and organised getting me transferred down to Royal Brisbane to be around specialists. I was told it was good news that they got me on the strong antibiotics quickly but I’d likely get worse before getting better and that I would potential end up in ICU.

Nothing like a punch in the face reality check.

Every single time I swallowed it was followed by a level of pain I have yet to experience and I have belted my body up pretty good.

On Thursday I had more tests but not before the specialists came around telling me about the critical nature of what was going on. They wanted to take a conservative approach and after hearing the other option of having a chest ripped open and 4-5 months of recovery and a moderate chance of complications.. the conservative approach of bill by mouth, heavy antibiotics and constant observation sounded excellent.

Thankfully no ICU and I don’t know why but the small oesophageal perforation looked to have sealed up pretty quickly. I guess a great benefit of living a healthy lifestyle and believing that it would rectify itself pretty quickly.

There is always lessons to be learned if we’re open to them. Obviously one is to chew my food properly but we are not immortal and it’s scary as hell when the norm gets pulled right out from under your feet and control is lost. Not FUN!

Some other lessons… Life is bloody short – so aim to always bring your best to the table… sometimes we coast (honest) and we just can’t. Success means work.. it usually means 10x the work than we think. In our sport, that doesn’t mean 10x the volume – it means 10x the work. That is different. What isn’t getting attention. Diet, recovery methods, missed sessions, sleep, belief that your goals ARE possible?.. keep working the mind. This all takes much more work than we originally think and that is just thinking about our sport.

What about family, work, friends … don’t we all have catching up to do. Momento Mori!

Only a few weeks ago at Noosa Farmers markets we had a guy on our table have a cardiac arrest. Scary watching this guys life slip away.. Cause – a shitty diet was pretty evident. Just because we’re ‘healthy’ endurance athletes doesn’t mean shit won’t happen and we all know how many triathletes wrongly think that it doesn’t matter what they eat!

Tomorrow my good friend Yuri Elkaim releases his Super Nutrition University… it’s a 12 month course that will give you leave you knowing more about nutrition than your doctor and most people enrolled in some nutrition school. You’ll be able to apply the teachings to positively effect how you feel and perform. Just remember SLOW AND PURPOSEFUL chewing of food

I’ll send an email tomorrow about this, so you can check it out.

For me my Ironman NZ goals are a distant memory… I have Ironman Frankfurt on the cards so I’ll be leveraging my NZ build for that.

Look after yourself

KM

One thing I can say for sure. Writing this, even though I made notes on my iPhone after each day, it is near impossible to capture in words the impact this trip had on each and everyone of us and the feelings of the moments experienced. It is but a glimpse inside of the thoughts inside my head.

Six guys, riding unsupported for 850km over 8 days in a pocket of South Africa is, was and will continue to be truly epic. There is no other way about it and that is just as it should be.

The crew: Raoul De Jongh, Guy Versey, Dan Hugo, Nic Lamond and Jacobus VD Merwe

Some themes for this trip:

1. Food and lots of it, it all good and it all stupidly cheap.

2. Family Farms

3. Coffee

4. Parched As

5. Someone being a Honey Badger … in a light hearted way.

T minus 1 day to EUT2011 start

A day of travel. Raoul and I kickstarted it with a short 30min easy run in Stellenbosch (a place I’m going to have to come back to) before a quick breakfast, then packing a 4WD with 7 bikes, luggage, guys and one girl – Courtney Brown (Dan’s Boulder flat mate) who would drive the car back from George after Day 1 the Rock Pedal Classic.

The drive to George was via whats called the Garden Route, which is visually stunning. Stopping for fresh biltong (jerky) and seeing Elephants literally on the side of the road had this Aussie wide eyed and salivating for more.

Stopping at some of the boys family farms to add to the overall experience and hospitality. First was Dan Hugo’s, where his parents Pam and Stephen put on a spread for us (thank you) before a quick stop to a coffee roaster in Robertson to grab a brew and for Dan to load up on even more coffee.

All of us in disbelief on how much coffee Dan was going to lug on this trip, but all very grateful each morning that he did. Thanks Dan.

We arrived in George, went for a swim at a local Virgin Active club before the boys did up a big fillet of beef on the brie (BBQ) with salads.  All pretty relaxed the day before the offical EUT2011 start.

Day 1 – The Rock Pedal Classic

This was one of the two times in the trip that we could ride without the weight of our backpacks. In the years past this race has been a two day affair. For this year the organisers decided on a one day 100km with 2000m vertical monster. A tough way to start a tough 8 days.

The first 50k seemed to fly by, going up over Montagu pass which we would do again the following day was stunning, but getting over into the valley on the other side meant temps in the 40′s. I came from doing the last of my prep in consistent temps under 10 deg celsius with more clothes on and frozen feet to this stifling heat. The second 50k was ‘ridden’ with some of the most brutal quadriceps cramps I have ever experienced. One near vertical rocky, technical 3k climb had me wondering if I would get up it, some what cursing and laughing at the same time to my predicament – 60k into our 850k adventure. While Nic was way off the front, and the others behind cruising, Raoul waited for me and distracted my mind.

The descent on the other side of the climb bordered on ridiculous. I watched a guy blow a front tyre in front of me and be lucky he didn’t come off. A bad crash here would likely end in heli trip (where you wouldn’t get to enjoy the ride).

I found myself very lucky at the bottom of one descent that Raoul and I had just flown down and had to stop to climb over a fallen tree. My front wheel had been making a banging noise on the way down courtesy of a skewer that had pooped itself open.

After a little over 5h of riding and the day was done. The next 30 minutes bordered on the hilarious with my quads continually seizing no matter what position I was in. Guy rolled in next with a cut to his eye continuing his tradition of coming off the bike. While Dan, Jacobus and Courtney rolled in with smiles a little while later.

Day one of eight ticked off.

Day 2 – George to Oudtshoorn

We said our goodbyes to Courtney Brown and rolled out for Outtshoorn at 7:30am with full and weighty backpacks. Thankfully Nic had somehow packed a second camelback which ended up be a lifesaver for me.

We once again got to experience the spectacular climb of Montagu Pass before descending down and stopping for coffee at Guys brothers farm in Herold where a few of the boys talked africans with Guys brother about rearing cattle.

The ride from Herold to Oudtshoorn introduced me to the Klein Karoo (think Outback). It’s quite desolate but beautiful in it’s own right. After a short 67km the day was heating up and another theme of my trip I was parched as. A welcomed lunch of Ostrich burger, an XXL fresh juice and milkshake seemed to hit the spot.

We pedalled back to our overnight stay at the ‘Best B&B’ where once again we got treated to some great hospitality and funnily enough the owners sister was a champ triathlete back in the day. A quick dip in the pool before a much needed nap. The temps were now pushing high 40′s.

With the need for more food, Raoul and I rode into town in the heat of the day. It was all consuming and my first thought was how the hell did my wife win an Ironman in this heat in China – respect. With a full back pack and extra grocery bags we made our way back and one thing that became apparent on this trip form the get go was that there were no slackers. Sure we all got tired but things got done and done as a whole for the group. Food was never just made for one person or by one person. Bikes got washed, as did clothes but Dan had full control over the coffee and patiently made cup after cup on his little portable percolator for which we were most grateful.

With the heat the rest of the boys must have been envious of my shaved head and found that their hair had to go. So on the trip to town a set of clippers were purchased and haircuts given before heading out on a late afternoon run. While Nic, Jacobus and Guy ran for 45min. Dan, Raoul and myself ran a little longer. An impromptu route following a fence line and then a little single track somehow ended us up running across a runway, making this epic trip that little bit more epic.

Dinner… a line that come out of my mouth on a daily basis was how cheap and good the food was. I just couldn’t get my head around it. I guess coming from a place where my dollar bought at least 8.5 times the amount of Rand helped, but comparing apples for apples I found it amazing cheap.

We rode back into town in search of a place to eat and happily landed in the Queens Hotel who let us leave six mountain bikes in the lobby. We started with a beer at the bar before sitting down to a three course meal and a couple of bottles of wine. Raoul, Nic and I shared starters of carpaccio of Ostrich, a beetroot salad and sczheun squid. The rack of lamb I had for my main was the best I’ve ever had and it was finished off with strawberry pavlova. All of this cost $30AUD a head!

Day 3 – Oudtshoorn to Prince Albert

We wanted an early start as we didn’t want to be caught climbing the Swartberg Pass in conditions of yesterday. Only five minutes into the ride, Nic realised he had forgotten his water bottles thus giving another coffee opportunity at the Queens Hotel Cafe where Dan lovingly practiced his barista skills.

So a little behind time we rolled out of Oudtshoorn for PA via Mattys Beukes family farm where for the last five years he has meticusly built single track after single track to perfection for his MTB Destination. Mattys gave us a preview of the riding which left smiles on the dials every minute of the hour riding sans packs we spent there. They have also put a few nice chalets on the farm, so I would venture to say EUT2012 will spend a night there. Who in there right mind could resist the opportunity to ride more of this single track heaven?

All too quickly it was time to depart for the pass. The day got lonely for me and I was was in the hurt box. In fact I didn’t hurt that much, there was just no power in the legs. I was happy enough to let the boys go and be at one with my own thoughts. I learnt a valuable lesson that I needed to eat more, lots more. When the intensity is relatively low but the volume of hours high on this ‘camp’ the focus turned to the tank needs to be continually filled up.

The terrain again was resolute but you could see the mountain range that had to be ridden over in the distance and eventually make out the road. Raoul who was always flying was waiting for me at the base and we started the ascent together. A little over an hour of climbing before a small descent passing a road that little did I know I’d be taking into Die Hel the following day. A long 1200 vertical descent over 9 or so km to the valley floor where I got one of my favourite pictures of the trip. Thankfully from here we had a slight downhill and a cranking tailwind to led us to Lazy Lizards cafe where six dirty, hungry and parched boys demolished a ton of food with the bill coming to a total of 580R ($70 for 6 lamb curries, a box of peaches, litres of yoghurt, cold drinks, and milkshakes). I was ‘learning’ to take a leaf out of Dan’s and Jacobus book and EAT.

We rolled ourselves a few hundred meters down the road to our accommodation – a little cottage where the owner had stocked our fridge full of food and the biggest apple pie any of us have ever seen. We weren’t going hungry. After a nap we ventured out to get some much needed supplies. Chamios cream was running low, so a trip to the pharmacy for some fissan (zinc cream) that is typically used for nappy rash. In Australia it’s called pseudo cream and it works a treat. Then we were off for more food! Back to Lazy Lizzards where Dan and Jacobus bought two more boxes.. yes – boxes – of peaches before heading to the local dairy. I got another couple of blocks of cheese, some more yoghurt and some drinking yoghurt for everyone and once again I couldn’t believe how little it all cost. On the way home I got to happily experienced the marvels of modern technology out the front of Lazy Lizzards which was now closed but I could still pick up their wifi to video Skype call Charlotte and Mack. To say this made my day would be an understatement. I have the coolest wife in the world who is cool with me disappearing for 10 days in South Africa and I am grateful for that.

After a day in the hurt box, I declined the run with the boys and cracked open a cold beer and washed bikes. Then enjoyed some fantastic cloud formations a sunset and a relaxed dinner with us all discussing our plans for 2012. I’d be psyched to see everyone achieve the stated goals.

Day 4 Die Hell

An appropriately named place for where we were heading today. Over breakfast Raoul let it be known that we had to re-climb the backside of Swartberg pass to get up to the entrance to Die Hell. That meant a load of vertical to start a very long day…. excellent. You look up and up and the road disappears. At times a comfortable gradient at others not so comfortable. After 1h40 and only 14km we all regrouped at the top to reapply sunscreen and soak up the 360 degree vista. My legs felt much better today and I had purposely fuelled up as big as I could with the spread put on by our Prince Albert host Diane.

A short descent and then the right turn into the start of Die Hell where we had 37km of rolling hills, climbs and some descending that was just pure joy. The temps started to kick it up a notch and well over the weatherman’s prediction of 25 degrees. After what seemed an eternity I rounded a corner and got saturated with the view into the valley of Die Hel. Wow… followed by childish screams of joy into the never ending switchbacks. Loving the fact you could let loose passing those on enduro motorbikes and the few that would spend a whole day driving bumpy roads into literally nowhere. Just as I hit the bottom of the descent my GoPro Camera mount snapped for a second time leaving the camera hurtling away. Thankfully it didn’t happen a few minutes earlier!

Another 5k on hot, sandy roads and we arrive at the only kiosk around. The boys have learnt from previous trips to order food in advance. After 4h08 riding in the now baking hot sun, we find some shade, drinks and a tasty Karoo meal. All was quite as we pounded down lunch, refuelled and hydrated as much as possible. I took a group shot on the GoPro and instantly felt the viscous sting of the midday sun. The kitchen was getting hot as we literally entered no mans land. We had an hour in front of us through the valley and supposedly one little ‘kicker’ of a climb before descending to a dead end.

Before we even got there we had to negotiate sand that led to a locked gate which we only got permission to enter at the 11th hour. Without that permission the road in Die Hel literally ends there. Most turn around here (if they go further than the kiosk) and head out of the valley the same way they came in. For us it meant a little extra riding and then a portage up Die Leer. Oh that ‘Little Kicker’ was a bitch. Pure and simple the hardest climb of the day. It put everyone into oxygen debt, and swear words where thrown as a slight slip meant a foot down and then an inevitable walk.

We then descended to literally the end of the road where two nice properties where located. No one was home, but you have to wonder why you’d build there. It’s beautiful but you’re a long and bumpy way from anywhere. We got some shelter under a big bale and broke our bikes down. Wheels off and cable tied to the frame to make the frame smaller and easier to climb with. Bike shoes are replace for racing flats (when you’re carrying your bag you go the lightest option).

Die Leer.. it’s a ladder up a mountain. Supposedly an old Donkey trail but I’m thinking more like a mountain goat track. You’d never know it existed by just looking at the mountain. But in-between two poplar trees and across a little river was the trail. I got a few steps waiting for Nic before I remembered I’d left my Garmin back under the bale. A quick run back to get it and up the ladder we went. The near vertical ascent zig zags its way up over loose, rocky and sometimes extremely narrow path. About 800 vertical and 1600m later we topped out one by one. After 52 minutes of hauling a bike, a full backpack it was good to find shade under a tree and laugh at ourselves.

The bugger was we had a long way to go and my camel back was dry. The boys came to the party and shared some some water and then once again we where off on an old rock, challenging 4WD track through arid conditions. It seemed like we were always going uphill and finally it was ‘hello legs’, so grateful that you could come to the party. I eventually caught up with Raoul who mentioned there might be a water tank or at least a trough that may have ‘water’ in it for the cattle that wander up here. Last year they had to resort to drinking water out of the trough… I was hoping we didn’t have to resort a bear gyrlls rendition.

Soon enough we could see a water tank in the distance with water pouring out the top.. however as we got closer a herd of cows and a few feisty bulls with horns and stamping their back feet stood between us. The overflowing tanks of bore water was our goal and we shooed the herd to a safe distance. I was once again out of water and the cold, clean water just revived the senses. One of those times when water is just so good.

Some more gnarly loose trail and then a hairball rocky descent and out of die Hell. The sign in my self portrait says it all- to hell n gone. This year the accommodation in Seweweekspoort was booked a further 10km down the road.. mentally for me this proved the most challenging part of the day- on gravel road, a brutal headwind with yet another climb in the distance and no real idea where our farm stay was. The fuel and water gauge both read empty but 10h10′ after we rolled out of prince Albert we rolled into Geoffrey’s farm with thousand mile stares.

Geoffrey took stock of the situation and made up pail after pail of fresh lemonade as we also scoffed loads of his own dried apricots. Absolute Heaven. Ever so slowly we got some life back into us and all had that satisfied feeling that comes with such an adventure.

The day was nothing short of epic and Geoffrey’s hospitality put the final touches to it. He treated us like royalty and laid out a feast of organic leg of lamb from his own herd, loads of vegetables, and a couple of bottles of red. We all soaked up the views, each others company and Geoffrey’s stories. A memorable day.

My Garmin showed a little more elevation than Raoul’s at 3400m for the 113k.

Day 5 - Seweweekspoort to Anysberg Nature Reserve

We left Geoffrey’s farm after he once again fed us in epic proportions. Today’s ride promised to be much easier than yesterday. The opening stages were on paved roads, so we made quick progress. I got to see my first load of Baboons that were seen cheekily running out of the fruit farm, no doubt with stomach’s full. There was a lot more chatting today and we were all in good spirits. After a little climb on the paved road we turned left and headed for the reserve. Once into the reserve proper we had 23k of 4WD track that was sandy and the pace was on to get to our destination. This was that uncomfortable riding that makes you strong but at the same time you have that internal battle of just dealing with the uncomfortableness or letting go and dealing with a slower solitary ride. Uncomfortableness wins and a tad under 4 hours ride time we rolled into our chalet accommodation in Anysberg Reserve. The pool was calling.

We had organised the warden to buy and stock up our Chalet with food. For Dan and Jacobus it wasn’t enough and they talked/charmed the lady working in the park into getting her son to drive from her house some 40km away to bring more food. It was much appreciated by all. The day was short on the riding front, so relaxing, swimming in the ‘pool’ and an afternoon run where we had Red Hartebeest run near us was very special.

A few of us climbed up on the roof to take in the sunset which seemed to last for ever. Even after the sun disappeared the light from that direction wanted to stick around. Ever so slowly the light faded and was replaced by the most spectacular star show I have ever witnessed. We just sat there, looked up and enjoyed the simple pleasure of star gazing. The excitement of ‘shooting stars’ was evident from all of us. Just one more and then we will go to bed.

Day 6 - Anysberg to Ashton (Kleinhoekkloof)

Another shortish, fast 100k day as we headed for Raoul’s family wine farm in Ashton. It seemed Nic was eager to push the pace pretty early, so the uncomfortableness was there once again until we dipped towards a dried out creek bed and scared a few Red Hartebeests just off the side of the track. That slowed the pace while we enjoyed the realness of the experience. Even after seeing so many Ostrich farms early on in the tour, seeing them in the wild Ostrich was enjoyable. Then a Gemsbok running off to the side of us that then darted across the track in front of us point the icing on the cake. Special is all I can say and it made my trip feel complete.

Somewhere down the road we took a left towards Montagu that is no where near the Montagu pass we climbed on days 1 and 2 and with that turn came a vast expanse and a headwind. I really didn’t want to be in a rush to leave this place and was doing my utmost to soak it all up and enjoy the moment. Soon enough we left Anysberg Nature Reserve behind us and climbed the high side of Otberg Pass. Topping out at 999m the next 17k or so was all a welcomed descent. The headwind made us work for it but we did so in a pace line fashion until stopping for lunch in Montagu where I had a venison pie and multiple double espressos before the final 15k on paved roads to the De Jongh farm.

Getting to experience some of the guys family’s on this trip made it even more special. Being at Kleinhoekkloof was no exception. After another 4h ride and 100km we rolled into the family farm it went something like Jack Black Beer, plunge pool, shower, then wine ‘tasting’, food and laughs. We got to drink a load of fantastic wines that aren’t even for sale yet. Raoul cooked up a tasty risotto, while we all enjoyed the hospitality put on by Dennis and Remmel De Jongh. More wine was had before the lemonchello was bought out, which is supposedly a tradition. I can say that Remmel made sure that Dan got his share.

An interesting way to ready ourselves for our biggest day in distance yet from Ashton to Elgin. Game on.

Day 7 – Ahston to Elgin

Into the unknown. Raoul took us into a valley for which he really had no idea how we would get up and over the back of Jonaskop Mountain. By the time we got to the 4WD drive tracks in the distance we were definitely committed to finding a way over. There was no going back. With three boys on the phone to various people who had some knowledge of the area a sort of route was planned and the adventure started. We found some old Cape Epic tape and the route was a mix of sand, loose rock, carrying bikes through something that may have resembled a track until we finally stumbled onto a track the Eskom (electricity) guys use. This didn’t make the riding that much easier but it was ridable. Once again the view at the top was worth it and it showed us our way out through undoubtedly private farm land.

The spirits soared as we rode through wheat fields with all sorts of bok running off in the distance and then we were rewarded with seeing Blue Cranes. After hopping over a few gates we were back on roads but had some serious work to do in front of us. First up was a quick stop for food in Villersdorp and then heading towards Nuweberg and to be climbing once again to our destination in Elgin. Supposedly the plan was for another route but with the time in the saddle already being what it was, the direct route was favoured.

There were calls of the best game pies in South Africa at a farm stall in Peregrine. After 8 hours and some 150 odd km of riding we hit the Peregrine farm stall and between six guys (two in particular) there was a lot of food consumed. Raoul believes he counted “8 pies, 2 quiches, and 4l of yoghurt, 2 bags of crisps, and a box of fruit, 12 cold drinks, 6 ice creams and 4 coffees before we got up and I am pretty sure I missed some.”

Even after the drinking of last night which funnily enough left none of us feeling in the slightest bit shady. We needed (wanted) some more. With some space provided by the dwindling supply of sports nutrition packs were filled with bottles of wine and more food before we had to ride on further to our nights accommodation. Again this was new and no one knew exactly how far it was. Thankfully after another 20 or so minutes we arrived at our last nights accommodation. It wasn’t long before Jacobus had the fire going for the brie (once again food was purchased in advance of our arrival) and a feast was assembled washed down with good wine and fun banter between the boys. I also got treated to the best bed and had my best sleep of the trip.

Day 8 – Elgin to Cape Town

And then there was one big green bottle sitting on the wall…

There was much debate in which route to take back to Cape Town to provide this Aussie with an experience he will fondly remember. For the most part it wold be on roads but from Elgin after we said goodbye to Dan and Jacobus who headed directly for Stellenbosch we made our way to Grabouw, on some fun trails and up an over an old wagon trail where we carried our bikes out of respect. On the other side we got spoilt with some super fun single track into Somerset West.

It all is such a blur, but I remember being kindly given a howling tailwind along a coastal road to Muizenberg were we stopped and got a reality dose that we were indeed back in civilisation. We fuelled up with wood fired pizzas at a place called Knead and the noise was deafening. From there we decided the shorter route was best.. plus I had a plane to catch so we road through the Constantia winelands, where it was awesome to see Nic’s dad drive by in his old convertible Merc wearing a Boer War hat no less welcoming us nearly home. We then went via Camps Bay and finally back into Green Point (Cape Town). 120km bought us to near 850k for the 8 days.

After showers and a shave we headed down to Hudsons for burgers and beers and an attempt to get back into some sort of normality. It was then time to pack my bike and gear, say my goodbyes and head to the airport headed for Heathrow and Macks first Christmas with six bottles of Kleinhoekkloof wines no less.

Wrapping Up

As Raoul says in his post. The trip is special. Period.

The chance to disconnect from the world while doing something that challenges you both mentally and physically while being around and supported and supporting new friends is something that we all need to do. The chance to be out amongst nature at it’s finest is place worth pursuing and provide memories of the fondest kind.

A trip like this teaches you a lot about yourself. and from understanding comes improvements.

Raoul, Guy, Nic, Dan and Jacobus – wow – what else can I say but thank you. It was a pleasure getting to know you and I look forward to spending some time with each of you again in the future. Raoul/Guy – If the invites there for EUT2012, count this Aussie in.

What an adventure.

EUT2011 GoPro Footage to come.

For more check out;

Urban Ninja

Dan Hugo 

At this time of the year most people have set new goals or New Years Resolutions and many of these will never come to fruition simply becuase they never get started or becuase they have not spent time reflecting on the past year and what goals did and didn’t get achieved or as importantly what was learned. My good friend Raoul who I just spent 8 days riding throughout South Africa with (blog post to come) wrote a post on his 2011 Lessons. He is already very successful but is on his own path to genuis and you can learn a lot from him here.

So many of my readers and even myself will obviously have some pretty tough race / performance goals for 2012 and even beyond. For many, I know it is to qualify for Kona or to break those seemingly elusive ‘hour’ barriers.

Here are some of my best tips to making those goals happen.

1. Belief

It all starts with an unshakeable belief that what you’re trying to achieve is doable. You need to throw away the ‘I’ll believe it when I see it’ attiude and exchange that for seeing it in your minds eye first and developing that belief with daily action. See it, Feel it and Believe in yourself – it’s the only way.

2. Win the Play

Recently I was reading an email from Alwyn Cosgrove on goal setting and practices. He mentioned a talk with Jim Wendler who talked about when he played football, everyone wanted to “win the game”. Jim’s approach was to “Just win the play. Win the play and the game will take care of itself”

How good is that advice! We can use that in our daily training and racing. Thinking about Ironman in it’s entirity can be daunting, but when we brake it down and just take care of that next swim stroke, that next pedal revolution or stride, the day will take care of itself. Same goes for training and eating healthier.

3. The Process

Process goals are potentially better than outcome goals. (i.e ‘winning’ your weekly training sessions, as oposed to going sub 10) – both are highly important, but most only write down outcome goals without planning out the process of getting there.  When you focus on the process of getting the workouts done and not necessarily the outcome that you’d hope to achieve (not every session can be a ‘best ever’) and just take care of the attention to the process, you’ll take care of the outcome by defualt.

Many success coaches will tell you that success is just a series of small behaviors repeated over and over. Set the behaviors in place and the outcomes will arrive in due course. Success does leave clues.. just follow the clues.

What behaviors are you going to change/create in 2012 to see your goals become a reality?

Ironman NZ camp 27th to the 30th January 2012

Come and join Ironman Champion coach for a training camp on the Ironman course in Lake Taupo and ensure you leave no stone unturned in your final lead up to the Ironman New Zealand race on March 4.

The Ironman NZ Camp includes:

In depth coaching on the requirements for a successful day. That means we will be covering what to do in your final prep. We will dissect the swim, bike and run courses and get to train on them and then we will go over all those other ‘little’ but so important things like;

• nutrition
• pacing
• mental strategies
• race week to do’s and not to do’s
• vehicle support
• Hammer Sports Nutrition

Cost $197 AUD (trispecific athletes get $50 off)

Sign Up Now or register your interest, just email Kristian at info@trispecific.com.

Full details and accommodation choices for the TriSpecific Ironman NZ Camp will be given after Christmas.

I’m as excited as a 6 year old in a lolly shop but how is it I find myself being the first non South African invited along? I simply asked… But to back track, A friend and ex athlete of mine Josh Rix said if I happened to meet Dan in Maui (Xterra World Champs 2010) last year to say hi. Literally a couple hours after that email, I went riding with another friend Tyler Butterfield and low and behold the guy I end up pedaling beside was Dan… Small world. 

The day after Xterra world champs, Charlotte and I went to dinner with Tyler and there was this whole SA contingent with us and that is where I met Raoul and discovered his urban-ninja blog. 

Raoul’s blog quickly became one of my favorite and regular reads and I made contact with him about some guest blogs and we have been in contact ever since. A cheeky twitter message from me saying something along the lines of “I’d be more interested in coming along on your epic unsupported tour” ended in some back and forth Skype messages and getting an elusive invite. Stoked!

One of the cool things in life is how a person you meet can be a catalyst for some amazing life experiences. This is case in point and another life lesson I want to share is, you gotta ask! If you don’t ask you don’t get. The odds are always good. It’s 50/50 either yes or know, but it’s 100% no if you never ask. So if you want something, be willing to work hard for it but ask.

So I’m about to depart for a night in the famous training mecca of Stellenbosch before we all head of to George and the Rock pedal classic mtn bike race 100k which makes up day one.

From there the itinerary is: 
- George to Oudtshoorn 129km
- Oudtshoorn to Prince Albert 72km Via Swartberg Pass (includes an hour hike carrying bikes on some donkey trail. — Prince Albert to Sweweekspoort 93km Through de Hel (from accounts de hel is quite hellish)
- Sweweekspoort to Anysberg Nature Reserve 110k
- Anysberg Nature Reserve to Ashton 100km 
- Ashton to Franschhoek  124km
- Franschhoek to Cape Town, 24th December 96km Over Jonkershoek on new route to be planned.

824km of mtn biking plus some non planned running..

The epicness continues for me with packing up my gear as soon as we finish (hopefully having time for burgers and beers) and jumping on a flight to London a few hours after we finish. Getting into London at 6:30am on Christmas morning… Wouldn’t want to miss my son’s first Christmas!

The next 9 days are sure to give us some very memorable life experiences and lasting friendships. I’ll be capturing some of the adventure on the trusty little GoPro camera and will load that for you guys and have a report after Christmas. 

And for those of you racing Ironman NZ in March, I’ll be running a camp in Taupo over the course from Jan 27th to the 30th. More details to come but if you’re interested email me at info [at] trispecific.com and I’ll get back to you after Christmas.

The events we sign up for provide the impetus to get out there and do the work. To hurt, to discover new levels of uncomfortableness.

Over the past month or so there has been quite a bit of racing and while some athletes get sensational results, there are the many left wondering how it all went so wrong or how they could have played things a little better.

From all the emails and athlete feedback I get, and even from my own personal experiences I see many recurring themes which effect the end result, whether the race goes good or bad and these things provide an opportunity to learn and therefore make our racing better. 
 
Looking back not only on the race itself but the prep leading up can provide many clues into what was successful and what needs to be fixed, worked on or completely changed. 

Look at Craig ‘Crowie’ Alexander. In 2010 he got exposed in Kona, and that exposure led to a select group of athletes going after that weak spot. Crowie had a great day and ran a 2:41 but was beaten by 3 better guys in Macca, Raelert and Vanhoenacker on the day. 

Just a couple of weeks later Crowie has spoken with his advisers and nutted out an eleven and a half month plan to eliminate any weaknesses. Was it all plain sailing? Hell no, but we all know the result. Dual world championship titles in quick succession. A 70.3 one on a ‘bikers’ course and a course record in Kona. 

So where are you getting exposed? 

Is it nutrition? If so, I recommend simplifying it and then practicing it until its down. Question whether we need to be ingesting the huge amounts of calories we are told to (maybe its just the companies trying to sell more). So get educated, get informed but then practice and refine it for you.

Is it muscular inefficiencies or imbalances? Get an FMS (functional movement screen) some ART and get to work on those problem areas with mobility exercises and self myofascial work. For triathletes these are typically the hips, thoracic spine, shoulders and ankles.

What about your self belief or mental attitude. Quite frankly we all need work here and some required reading is found here.

Was your training inconsistent, not enough, too much and just plain wrong? There is a fast track here. 

What about the other things like, sleep, organization, support, properly functioning equipment. The list goes on. 

At the end of the day we have many choices that effect the net result. The responsibility does fall on you as athlete and goal chaser to make sure you have crossed your T’s and dotted your i’s. 

So go on and grab a blank sheet of paper. Draw a line down the middle and on the left side write down all the things that went right (keep doing them). From prep through to race day execution. Then on the right side jot down all the things that went wrong, that need to be fixed and the things you need to find answers for. 

Once you have all that, get to work on developing a plan to make yourself the athlete you want to be and ask questions.

Feel free to ask me questions at info[at]trispecific.com and in the New Year I’ll start a Friday QnA blog. 

This place brings back found memories for both Charlotte and I. In 2007 Charlotte finally won in Busso and got her first Ironman win.

2007 was a great year for us. Charlotte, myself and fellow TS athlete Michael Baker shared a unit in Dunsborough. We had such an enjoyable race week that everything fell into place and we all had our best days.

The memory of that race and a feeling I’ll continue to chase like an addict in search of a fix is forever etched into my mind. I remember the anxiety I felt each time, I’d cross paths with the 2nd place female (I’d see the bike in the distance) and I’d hope to hell it wasn’t Charlotte, which would mean she was still winning… for some reason Charlotte and I would pass each other going the opposite direction (I started 15 mins behind) at times where we’d simply miss each other. But there were also the many fellow athletes that day letting me know she was winning. Still gives me goosebumps as did that moment when I knew Charlotte had won and that I was going to break 9 hours.

Michael went 9:29 (which he will hopefully better on Sunday, he is in the best shape I have ever seen him), I smashed 40 minutes off my previous best of 9:37 and snuck under 9hours (8:57) and Charlotte came oh so close to the Sub9 club with her 9:00:50 race.

What a day.

The following year was just as fond for me, as I got my first Ironman AG win and another sub9 result, unfortunately Charlotte came in second to Gina Crawford who had an exceptional day. Charlotte made a costly mistake on the run, going too hard too early (wanting to catch up). Instead of sticking to her guns, and plans of 3x 59 minute laps, she went through the first lap in 56 minutes. Those 3 minutes in that first lap dug her a little too deep and thus left her not being able to capitalise on Gina who was struggling in the latter stages and potentially winning the race.

Lessons…

So for those of you racing this weekend, whether you’re going for that personal best, chasing a Kona spot at arguably one of the hardest races in the world to qualify or going for the win, I wholeheartedly recommend that you go for it. But I also recommend you pace smart, which allows you to push hard when it counts.

If you can push hard while your fellow competitors are slowing, you have the upper hand. Running strong especially in the last 12k gives you a huge mental boost. There is no doubt that your quads will be screaming and you’ll be having the internal fight where you’re body is wanting you to take the foot off the gas (to ease the discomfort), but you’re willing your mind to keep going, and not give in.  It’s one of those many race day choices you have. A choice with lasting impact.

Do you ease off and be a little more comfortable?

No,

You go on and make peace with the discomfort, and push, push yourself out of that self imposed comfort zone and set your bar a little higher.

Life favours the brave.

Right here and right now you have a choice to give it to yourself and get those goals. Even if you fall short, there is one certainty in life.

You’ll never regret giving it your best shot. No excuses, just you against the clock.

Show us what you got.

My excitement is buoyed by the challenge I have coming up. In three weeks time I’ll be heading over to Cape Town in South Africa for a ‘little’ Epic Unsupported Tour where I’ll be riding with some exceptional South African athletes, so I need to be fit both mentally and physically for the 825k of mountain biking over 8 days… the epicness continues with hopefully finishing the last day around 2pm (Christmas Eve), getting clean, packing a bike, having time for some burgers and beers (well deserved) and making the 8pm flight from Cape Town to London, arriving Christmas morning then 2hrs drive to CP’s folks. I can’t miss our little mans first Christmas.

Anyway I was training this afternoon on parts of the old Ironman UK course down in Sherborne. It’s not that long of a ride from Knole but the wind came out to play. So then came the choice. Do I put it in an easier gear and spin, or do I keep it in the big ring and push? If you know me, then you know I’m quite partial to riding in a big gear… Riding on a mtn bike into a headwind in a big gear is hard work.

However it made me think of one of my favourite quotes, “The world class are comfortable being uncomfortable” and if that is a trait that helps you become world class, then it made perfect sense to push. Especially since this was my TT tolerance day. So adding some good fatigue to my legs early on before my planned TT was a great opportunity. See, developing the ability to push hard when it counts is another trait of the world class and when it counts in racing is being strong in the back end of the bike and the run.

I was presented with a perfect opportunity, to continue to develop my strength, add some good fatigue (yes there is such a thing) and then another opportunity to over come set motor patterns by getting comfortable being uncomfortable. Today this was made easy for me. First with the wind, then getting lost and having to race the dwindling daylight home. Fun but effective times.

The question begs. Are you willing to be uncomfortable? To continually step outside your own comfort zone and open the doors to the triathlon success you want and that is quite frankly inside of you waiting for you to decide to unlock it.

I have made it really easy for you. All you need to do is plug and play… In the Southern Hemisphere we have Ironman NZ, IM Melbourne and IM Australia all coming up early next year. There is still time to ensure you’re on the right plan and following the right advice.

Click here to claim your copy of the TriSpecific Advanced Ironman Blueprint

“Kristian, What I did want to mention sooner rather than later is how bloody happy I am to have made the ‘move’ from long aerobic time wasting sessions to this new plan. You have absolutely no idea how _____ good I am feeling right now. You have motivated me so much that I can’t believe it and I want to thank you so much for that. I’ve come a long way from doing the long programs back in 2008 to get me to Kona and I now feel so strong, confident and motivated that I am absolutely going to smash IM NZ in March. Lucky for you that you are not in my age group lol.” Glenn Davies

“G’day Kristian, I’ve been wanting to email for a few weeks now just to let you know that I reckon the $97 I spent on your plan and readings is the best money I’ve spent in triathlon for quite some time!

I’m into week 3 now and I’m really enjoying the training and how it’s structured. The Tuesday bike strength/power sessions hurt but are gold. Anyway just wanted to let you know that Im thoroughly enjoying working to your plan, the emails are great as is your website.” Matt Hartnett

Two days into the camp and after a long day in the saddle with a 40km descent in the driving rain then getting cold waiting, the inevitable happened. Sick… I hate being sick, especially when you’re on camp. Even though I felt like crap, I really knew something was up when my RHR was 30 beats higher than normal.

I mentioned inevitable because that lovely word ‘hindsight’ showed how the odds where staked in my favor of getting sick.

In the lead up to the camp, I had a lot of various stress, from work to trying to get a lot done before leaving Australia for essentially the rest of the year. Sleep was also extremely limited. Looking back I think I got a sum total of about 6 hours sleep in 48 hours. Not good and definitely a lapse in not practicing what I preach… we’re all human right?

So the lessons here are, in times of increased stress, somethings got to give and that something is burning the midnight oil. You need rest. Period… or your body is going to bite you on the ass and make you rest.

But that leads us to another issue with OCD folks. We push too hard and don’t give ourselves enough time to fully recover and thus dig the hole even bigger. We should be smarter and thankfully this time when I got sick I was.

So sick has happened and here’s what you need to do about it (below I’ll cover some things that will strengthen your immune system and minimise the risk of getting ill). What you need to do is focus on the task of getting rid of the flu/cold/virus asap.

Take a Day or Two Off

A day or two missed training now is much much better than a week or two missed because you kept pushing it. I recommend to my athletes that you take a day off immediately if you’re sick or on the verge of getting sick. The following day, see how you’re and then make a decision whether to take another day off or ‘test drive’ the body.

The Come Back

Here’s where I see most athletes make BIG mistakes. Athletes fret about missing their sessions, so they either play catch up (not a smart move) or go back into training at full volume and intensity (definitely not a smart move on a still depressed immune system).

Here’s what your come back should look like:

Day 1: A short swim or bike session of 20-30 minutes max and you can even throw in a handful of short light 10 – 20 seconds efforts to help stimulate a recovery response.

Day 2: An easy short run and then another easy short session of swim or bike (20-30 minutes each). One of these sessions should have a few (3) short efforts of 15-30 seconds with full recovery between to lightly stimulate the systems and getting them back on track.

Day 3: If you have been tracking your morning resting heart rate (which I highly recommend) then you can effectively use that as a guide when to resume training. When it is elevated 5-10bpm higher than usual then take the day off. Also if you have started easing back in and the light sessions cause a higher heart rate than normal it simply means you have not recovered enough. A good site to see if you’re recovering enough from training is restwise.com (TS athletes get a 20% discount). On the other hand if you feel much better you can resume training but still EASE back into the volume and the intensity. Do not rush this.

Nutrition

When we are sick, unfortunately we crave crappy refined foods. Eating so called comfort foods right now is a big mistake. This is NOT the time to be eating highly processed and refined sugary foods. (not that anytime is really that great for those foods). Sugars create an inflammatory response and that is the last thing we need on a depressed and struggling immune system.

What you need to do is eat very clean (you may not feel like eating at all, which is OK, you have more than enough fuel on board and this includes even lean fit athletes. Some good lean protein (to keep positive nitrogen balance and stop muscle catabolism) and loads of vegetables. Keep fruit to a minimum to reduce sugar content and thus inflammation.

You’re going to want to keep your fats up and especially the healthy ones (omega-3 fatty acids). When you’re sick your body will be forming lots of new immune cells and since fats make up a good portion of a cells structural integrity, you’re going to want to provide them with the raw materials they need.

Another big thing you need to do is get hydrated. You’re still loosing more than you think, so drink up (water) your body and cells need it.

Supplements

As a hard training endurance athlete I believe you need to supplement a good diet with some specific supplements. To keep it real simple, you’ll want a high quality antioxidant/multivitamin to reduce the oxidative damage to our cells. A high quality fish oil is absolutely critical for it’s anti-inflammatory roll, a good probiotic for gut health (your gut is your immune system) and a greens drink (vital greens or athletic greens).

Further to that, at times sickness I increase Vitamin C consumption to a level that has the therapeutic response I’m looking for. Vitamin C is an immune booster but the levels we’re are typically told to take are so low that won’t do anything at all. Ascorbic acid is found in high concentrations in white blood cells and when we get sick the VitC within these cells is used up quickly to prevent oxidative damage.

Personally and with a lot of my athletes we have dramatically reduced both incidences and length of cold/flu symptoms by using ‘large’ doses of ascorbic acid. At times of immune stress I up my VitC supplementation to what is called titration. This means the point of getting loose stool movements or even diarrhea (this is the only side effect) and means I’m a saturation levels. These levels are person and sickness dependent. I suggest taking 2000mg/hr until you reach titration, adding up how many mg you took and then reducing that by 2000mg the following day (spread out throughout the day).

So when I was in Bali, I was able to get over my flu symptoms (day 1, I had the typical fever and muscle aches) within two days and was back training properly on day 4.

Other vitamins you will want to ensure your getting enough of  is Vitamin E due to it also improving immune function. The current RDA is not adequate in ‘healthy’ sedentary people so there is no way it will be adequate in athletes or those fighting sickness. You want to be somewhere between 800-1200 IU daily whether you’re sick or not. Then there is Zinc – again as athletes we’re more prone to have deficiencies and with zinc this leads to a diminished immune response. Zinc has been shown to shorten the duration of colds/flu by up to 50%. Amounts between 50-150mg/day are perfectly safe.

 The lifestyle factor

As I mentioned above that hindsight can be a great thing… I got sick due to inadequate sleep, a few days of sub-optimal diet and still trying to fit in the work load (two businesses, training, organising a long trip). Something had to give. Sleep is of utmost importance during our everyday athletic,  work and family lives. You can only kid yourself for so long that you can get away with it… you can’t. When you do get sick, sleep/rest is even more important as it taking a day or two off.

The cliff notes

1. Take a day or two completely off and use that time for the extra rest needed. When you do start back ease into the training and no making up for missed sessions.If your symptoms are still there or your RHR is still elevated, more time off is needed.

2. Cut out the refined foods… yes all those comforting foods. They will help you hold onto your sickness for longer.

3. Eat clean but get your good essential fats in.

4. VitC to therapeutic levels. This is the level of what your body needs, not what you think it does. Typically this is greater than 5000mg/day and sometime much much higher.

5. Ensure you’re getting 800-1200 IU of vitamin E and 50-150mg of Zinc/day

6. Rest… funnily enough it helps with recovery.

Basically she misread the ‘easing’ in part of the program and hit the full session a little earlier than she should have. Her long term consistency has been very good, so taking some time out being a damn cool aunty taking her nephews to Vietnam on holiday won’t really impact her much physically for the Ironman Western Australia prep.

Was taking a trip that close to IMWA optimal? Not really, but living is not all about swim, bike and run. Getting her head comfortable in the fact that her long term consistency across the months and years does in fact count and count greatly is all that is needed as she gets the work done over this last 6 weeks before game day.

Anyway the reasoning behind the email and misreading the actually session is because she attended an ‘amazing and inspirational” (her words) presentation from Kurt Fearnley. So I had to ask to be filled in on the presentation.

Kurt gave 6 overriding points which hold true for all of us, and especially so if we crave success and below is a cut and paste from my athletes email.

This is what it takes

The bulk of his presentation dealt with his recent achievements, how he prepares for events & what he believes sets him apart.

Recent achievements; just won Chicago Marathon & heading back to tackle NY Marathon….Kokoda track (crawled) in 11 days. Hell, I walked it in 8 and still rate it as the hardest thing I have ever attempted/achieved.

He kept a journal during his Kokoda experience and he read from this a few times….quite thought provoking & brought back some good & bad memories of my time on the track.

1. He spoke a lot about preparation & being true to your preparation.

2. He loves spending time outside his comfort zone (the more time he spends here gives him confidence on the start line) He is prepared to hurt more than his competitors.

3. If it’s on the program it gets done – period.

4. He reckons he has only had 3 “in the zone” racing moments his entire career … races are all about hard work. Don’t kid yourself….if you want it …you have to go get it.

5. He believes & trusts his coach implicitly.

6. He tells himself numerous times every day that he will win gold at London 2012 & is already formulating his race plan – which will be executed 100’s of times prior to race day.

Lets face it – none of the above is NEW but what made it quite special was hearing from someone so humble, achieving extraordinary things by putting all the above into practise to achieve their goals.

Disabled? Impaired? I didn’t notice.

Back to me… so are you following any of these 6 points above?

Are you true to your preparation or do you readily justify your excuses? What about learning the art of getting comfortable being uncomfortable, does the program get done? Are you willing to really go after your stated goals? Do you believe and trust your coach or advisers? If you don’t, the program will not work anywhere near to the extent as it will when you fully trust, believe and apply. How is your self-talk? Are you replacing “I Can’t” with why the hell not and “How Can I?”

Start implementing these 6 things and amazing things will happen. The KEY however is taking action on the above. Nothing moves until you do. So you better get moving because success takes a load of hard work.

Embrace it.