20th Anniversary Ironman South Africa – Race Day Advice by Lawrence van Lingen

A great IRONMAN starts with a good breakfast. Make sure you don’t eat too much, and eat what you’re familiar with.

The all-you-can-eat breakfast is a post-race tradition, so hang in there one more day. Remember to pack your ego into the post-race bag and securely tie the knot. Race with your head till your body packs in, then race with your heart. It’s that simple.

Make sure you know what to expect weather-wise on race day. Temperatures will probably be around 20 deg C, but it can either be very hot, pretty chilly, or wet and windy. Be prepared.

Stand on the promenade at first light to inspect the swim course. Port Elizabeth is the Friendly City so say hello to everyone and smile. PE is also known as the “Windy City”, so check which way the wind is blowing. If the wind is on your right cheek as you face the sea, and you are able to wear a hat, you’re in for a good day. This is called a westerly: west is best. If the wind is from the left, it’s a “beasterly easterly”, and I’m afraid you’re in for a tough day. In this case, forget about times; it’s going to be all about the last man standing. If your hat blows off, it could also be memorable - no matter in which direction it disappears.

As you gaze out to sea, it is completely normal to feel a sudden urge to visit the portaloo. Do so, then get back to the promenade. If there are a lot of white horses and the wind is blowing into your face, apply lots of Vaseline to your face and neck as there could be blue bottles (though this is rare). If you see this sort of sea the day before the race, ask the lifeguards if there are blue bottles and, if so, don’t swim. You don’t need stings, nor do you need to get demoralised by swimming in a choppy sea. Establish what the water temperature is. If it’s likely to be below 20 deg C, it’s worth investing in a wetsuit hoody, especially if you are small, skinny or are not used to cold water.

Swim Smart

As you face the first buoy, faster swimmers line up to the left, while slower swimmers and pros do so on the right. Usually the westerly wind pushes you a little from the right to the left as you swim to the first buoy, so aim 20m right of the first can, straight into the rising sun. If you breathe to the left, try to swim a little more on the outside of the course; if you breathe right, stay more to the inside so you can keep an eye on the other swimmers and keep your line. If you breathe bilaterally, good job: you can have extra ice cream afterwards and can choose to breathe on the non-choppy side.

Before you start, determine how far you are prepared to swim hard. This distance is determined by your training. In peak form, I will only swim 400m hard or to the first buoy before I settle into race pace. “Slow before you blow.” If you’re not sure, swim hard until you’re through the waves, then settle into your groove.

If there are waves, remember not to go out as hard as you can; save a little breath to dive deep below the wave and let it pass over you. Push off the sand to get back up to speed. Stay relaxed. You will be fine. Wetsuits are the best swimming aids in the world – your sleek little investment will pop you right back up to the surface.

Remember, there is a special place reserved in hell for swimmers who repeatedly bash into other swimmers at the start of an IRONMAN. If everyone heads in more or less the same direction, everything will get sorted out as the field thins out. Don’t try to take the racing line around the first buoy. Rather stay smooth and go 10m wide and have a good chuckle as you pass the waterpolo match stuck against the inside of the buoy.

You only need to get your bearings after you turn left towards the second can. Aim for the crane at the end of the harbour. This leg should be downwind and super fast and relatively easy, so try to keep a long smooth stroke and see if you can find a bit of free glide with some of the waves pushing you from behind. Find someone who swims marginally faster than you and swims straight, and get on their feet or swim on their hip.

Remember, an equally comfortable spot in hell is kept for swimmers who knock down lead swimmers’ ankles (the odd toe touch is perfectly acceptable) or swim so close to the lead swimmer that they interfere with his or her stroke. Pro tip: it’s quicker on the shore side of the bunch at this point.

Stay Cool on the Beach

Once you round the buoy and head to shore, it is an amazing feeling. The swim gets easier and flatter, the pier is packed with people and you can feel the atmosphere from the water. Stay away from the pier – a current runs out to sea here so you want to keep at least 50m away from the pier. The bigger the sea, the more true this is.

Pros and racing snakes need to constantly look behind them when they breathe to watch for waves. Make sure you have some air in the tank so you can pick up the pace to catch a wave. The rest of the field should relax and swim till your hands touch the sand, and only then stand up. If there is a bit of a swell running, duck under the wave as it passes over you. If you get caught up in a wave, tuck into a ball, enjoy the ride; the wave is taking you closer to the shore. When you have had enough, make your body stiff and straight and, hey presto, your super wetsuit will pop you back up to the surface like a cork.

Now comes the little run along the beach. This is the most critical part of the whole swim leg. Even if you are a pro or a real bad-ass age-grouper, the most important thing is to enjoy it. This is one of the best shows in the world of IRONMAN – the pump and adrenalin rivals the legendary corridor of screaming fans of the Solarberg in Roth. So enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!

Also make a quick mental note of how your legs feel. Tree trunks at this stage and the feeling of a sandbag on your back as you start the second swim leg, means you should ease off in the second half of the swim because you are definitely overdoing it. No-one feels good for the first 100m of the second swim leg as your blood has gone straight out of your arms to your legs, but if you can get your mojo back in the first 100m, then you are doing great. Press on.

For the second lap, repeat the formula of the first lap, remembering to save a bit for the turn around. If you are clock-watching, most people swim the second lap around two minutes slower than the first (although that’s five to 10 minutes if you are scraping the cut-off). Some people take a gel at halfway (sneak it well up your wetsuit sleeve). This might be a good idea if you are swimming over 90 minutes or if you have practised taking gels in training. I personally don’t; there’s no water to wash it down with.

At the end of the swim, do the tree trunk vs pogo stick assessment again. If you have had a great swim, you will feel like you are floating. If the swim has knocked you back a bit, it might feel a bit like slow motion, so adjust the pacing of the first 30 minutes of the bike accordingly. It is always better to choose to go slower rather than be forced to go slower. A conservative start to the bike leg after a hard swim is a great strategic move that will pay off handsomely later in the race.

Ride Conservatively

The bike course in our Friendly City is moderate as IRONMAN bike courses go and can be a great course for fast bike splits. But it can also give you a solid working-over, so read on to learn how to tame this wild ride of Africa.

Moving through transition, it’s time to take stock of how you feel. Remember this is when to get the blood flowing into the legs and to calm the heart rate down. Smooth is fast: glide through transition efficiently, using it as a recovery period. Get some sunblock on, then get out there and let’s go kick some butt.

Chances are you swallowed a bit of seawater during the swim, so it’s important to let your stomach settle for the first 20-30 minutes. I like to mix my first juice bottle a little weaker to make allowance for this and get right into drinking as soon as I feel thirsty. I also knock back a gel straight out of transition, but if you have a sensitive or untrained stomach, or if you swallowed half of the Indian Ocean, hold off for a while.

It’s really important to get your tyre pressure right on this course. Marine Drive is quite rough, so wider tyres with softer pressures are faster and more comfortable and help save the legs for the run. In fact, wider is better in the current fast-wheel arms race. Skinny tires pumped hard are old-fashioned and a real bad option on this course.

While on the subject of wheels and technology, please don’t get psyched out by the equipment you see on race day. Stick with the tried and trusted, and you will be fine. IRONMAN is all about the run and whatever gets you to the run most comfortably is best.

Chrissie Wellington kicked my ass and that of half the pro men’s field to win her first IRONMAN and come 7th overall in Korea in 2007. She had the fourth fastest overall run split of the day in brutal conditions. Her equipment? A road bike with clip-on bars, training wheels and a normal helmet.

Nic Kinsley – one of the most consistent age-groupers, the first amateur in 2009 and a man who always has one of the best run splits of the day in South Africa – always rocks a normal helmet and training wheels. It’s not about the equipment, folks. It’s all about the run.

Race Tactics and the Final Stretch

Speaking of the race, at this moment you should be doing a fast left up the steep bump past the Fire Station up Heugh Road. Stay seated and spin up this bump; you should still be trying to get your heart rate and legs into the groove. The hill that faces you is a critical part of the race. It’s a gentle 12km climb, hopefully into a headwind, and you need to climb it three times. So, listen up if you want to kick butt. Stay seated or in the aero bars, and listen to your body. The aim is to get some rhythm and stay smooth; it is only important to ride this hill well the third time around. If you are strong on this hill on Lap Three, you are well on your way to acing this course.

My late swim coach Ron “The Legend” Borrill used to say, “Remember the rule of thirds: first third is easy, second third concentrate on technique, last third race with your heart.” And that is the key to this course, or any IRONMAN for that matter. Whenever you get the urge to put the hammer down, save it for the third lap, and then it’s all about the run.

Continue up the hill, staying seated, preferably tucked out of the wind in your aerobars. You are tapered and you are pumped full of adrenalin, so if you think you are going too fast, you are definitely going too fast. Remember most of the wind is blowing over the top of Mount Pleasant so you are relatively sheltered. Stay seated up the last steep kick to the watering table at the top of Mount Pleasant, and only stand to stretch your legs as the hill flattens out.

Now is a great time for a bit of nutrition as you freewheel down, hopefully still in your bars. As the route flattens out, you get a 7km slog over rolling terrain, hopefully into a headwind (west is best) to the turnaround. If you went up the hill correctly, you should be smooth and strong now. A great tip for all but the pros and super-strong is not to ride hard when you hear the wind loud in your ears. This is one of those times when you should be patient and relaxed, no matter how tough or slow it seems.

After the turnaround you should hopefully be rewarded with a 35km stretch of tailwind all the way to the start/finish area. Sweet. Feel free to hook it all the way. The next 35km should take less time than the previous 21km. The converse of the wind in your ears applies, so when you don’t hear the wind in your ears, you can give it the beans. Pedal easy on the downhill past the back of the university as it can feel quite tough as you turn left along the beachfront with a crosswind. Enjoy the crowds and spectacular show at the finish area and get ready for Round Two. You guessed it: hold back on the hill again and make sure you have plenty in the tank for Round Three, because it’s still all about the run.

Please don’t get psyched out by the equipment – it’s not about the equipment, folks. It’s all about the run. On an IRONMAN, you can’t really call it an IRONMAN. Just ease off and keep moving…