The significance of the 27 year dream

When I started writing my weekly journal, prior to leaving Los Angeles for Kona, Hawaii I realised that it was exactly 27 days until the Ironman World Championships. I stopped to reflect about the upcoming 27 days, as well as the number 27 and I realised that it was quite a significant number in my life.

It isn’t significant because I was born on the 27^th, but because it was 27 years ago in 1985 that I first heard of triathlon and entered a triathlon. In 1985 I think there was only one Ironman, it was in Hawaii and I dreamt of racing it.  At the age of 27 I plucked up the courage to leave the comforts of the teaching profession and head to Europe to attempt some Triathlons, only to injure my knee and return 6 months later without having done a solitary race.

So it was 27 years ago (1985) that I saw a poster advertising Port Elizabeth’s first ever Triathlon, to be sponsored by Total Sports and it would comprise a 1500m swim, a 35km bike and a 15km run.

I can recall thinking, quite  naively, that this event was made for me…. I wasn’t the worst swimmer, I had ridden a bike when I was young and I could run. All I needed was a bike and I managed to get a Le Turbo at a cost of R450 (US$35). Race day dawned and I can’t remember if it was windy, but I do recall the sea being quite choppy, but I was hopeful I could compete against the likes of Jack De Kort, Mark Edge, Ian Walland and a few other lifesavers who had taken up the challenge.

When I saw about 6 or 7 strangers amongst the masses on race day I was worried and started enquiring who they were, only to hear they were the winners of races held in other cities, including the national champion Manfred Fuchs from Durban and Paddy Murphy from Cape Town. To say I was in over my head was an understatement, especially as my biking was woeful, but fortunately the 15km run was my saviour as I made up a 7 minute deficit off the bike to win that day and then I was hooked.

I then set myself a goal of trying to win the Durban Ultra Triathlon,  hoping to qualify for the SA team to the London to Paris Triathlon Relay and the Ironman in Hawaii.

I came close, but never did win the Durban Ultra in 1985, 1986 or 1987 and gave up Triathlon in 1988 to concentrate on the Comrades Marathon. I was lured back to Triathlon, via the Leppin Ultra-Man in 1990, a series incorporating 5 ultra- distance races, including the Durban Ultra Triathlon.  I managed to win the Durban Ultra Triathlon that year, overhauling Jaco Loots and Manfred Fuchs on the 32km run and I was going to go to the Ironman in Hawaii, or so I thought.

Little did I know how much sporting isolation would put paid to that, until I received a regret letter from the organisers and that was the beginning of the end of my sporting career.  Motivation started to wane and competing for SA coastal teams vs inland teams didn’t quite cut it, but as sporting isolation contributed to change and to Mandela’s release from prison I don’t hold any regrets about that.

When we emerged out of the darkness and back into world sport, I was trying to assist the athletes I was coaching to win races and make it to the Olympics. Focussing on the athletes and their needs and neglecting myself is hardly a worthwhile excuse for allowing myself to deteriate as badly as I did, but I ballooned to a Ton and am not proud of that fact.

Most of you know that for me there was a Before and an After moment in my life. Before my Stepson’s tragedy in 2004 I was in a rut and I can assure you it was not a ‘comfort zone’ and since then it has been the After! I started out trying to run 20 minutes three times a week with Richard Sharwood and gradually progressed to running a marathon and then the Ironman. At first it was a case of trying to get fit and then that spark that was ignited by Reece’s passing, became a flame within and as I fuelled that flame with more training and progress it became a burning desire to fulfil a lifelong dream.

In 2005 at the SA Ironman awards evening I wrote on a serviette the words “in 2010 the year you turn 50, you WILL qualify for Kona!” I chased that dream with all my might and even though I did my Achilles and missed the 2006 race, I tried in 2007, missing Kona by one place. Then I had the DVT scare after the 2007 IM and missed the 2008 race. In 2009 I was fit and ready, but self-destructed and ran a 6hr 15 marathon. I recall vividly friends suggesting I give up on my Dream, as they obviously saw that I was trying too hard and I was becoming a little despondent, but I had to keep on trying.

I don’t regret much in life, because the only time the rear view mirror is of value is when you are prepared to learn from your mistakes or experiences, so I prefer to look forward. However, although I didn’t regret the sporting isolation I did regret giving up on my sporting goals a year or two too early, as the opportunities for South Africans in 1992 and beyond were bountiful and I missed every single one, because I had not persevered. So close, yet so far and 2009 was another of those watershed years…. Do I quit or do I push on?

Life is a 10 speed bike. Most of us have gears we never use…. Charles Schultz

Choosing the latter wasn’t easy, as Money Talk had just merged with Consolidated

Financial Planning with new leadership and structures and it also required the support of my family, never mind the fact that I needed to up my motivation and my training. At Ironman SA 2010 I had the race I had been dreaming of and finally qualified for Kona and the Ironman World Championships. This was it, or was it? Due to the generosity of so many friends and triathletes, I was able to go to Boulder, Colorado to prepare and I had worked hard to get myself into shape where I believed I would be a genuine contender in Hawaii. Unfortunately a bike accident (clavicle shattered into 5 pieces)  2 weeks before Kona led to me flying back to SA for a collar bone operation on my 50^th birthday, instead of to Kona to fulfil my dream.

Today is the 2^nd anniversary of that dreadful accident and it’s been two long years since that fateful day, two years of sacrificing, two years of hard training and two years of personal growth. But it’s also been two years of immense sacrifice by my family and I thank them for their support and encouragement; it’s been two years of patience by my employers, my work colleagues and my clients.

So last night we touched down in Hawaii, what a relief to finally arrive on the Big Island as I’ve followed Paula Newby Fraser’s 8  victories, Dave Scott and Mark Allen’s 6 victories and the late Keith Anderson’s effort in those earlier years. More recently I’ve followed Raynard Tissink’s epic efforts and watched Craig Alexander and Chris Mc Cormack win 5 races between the two of them.

The next 3 weeks will be crucial to what happens on the 13^th October, but I’ve learnt to focus on the process, on the journey and not so much the outcome. For me I believe I’m victorious in having finally made it to the Big Island, the next goal is to stand on the start line and take it all in. Thereafter the first goal of any Ironman athlete is to get that sought after finisher’s medal,  although believe me when I say I will give this race my absolute all in an effort to let the world’s best in my age group know that I was present.

Kulia I ka nu’u – Strive for Excellence!

The Sun setting in Kona, Hawaii

Thank You Isuzu