3. Motivation

Exhausted, I'm laying on the bed broken and spent. Like a used dish rag that has been through the wringer. Unfortunately I can't sleep. Probably too high on adrenalin from the madness I had just put my body through, or maybe just too tired to consider sleep.  Nevertheless it’s hot, my body is aching, but my mind is racing.

If you recall I started this madness to raise funds for Kids Haven, a rehabilitation centre for street children. I'm laying there broken and battered like my dog's chew toy.  I start making little calculations, tallying up all the well wishes, promises and donations I have managed to collect for Kids Haven, well wishes, more than I could count so many saying "you're doing a good thing"  or "wow you're a good man to do this" even countless saying "you're better than I am " and "no matter how hard I tried I could never" unfortunately, cash monies collected equal a sum total of zero.

How could this be? I've put it out there the kids need help. I've spread the word of what I'm doing. I've been doing this for almost a year the kids should have millions by now.  I honestly had no idea it would be this difficult.  I was under the impression the athletic stuff would be the hardest.  Turns out I couldn't be more wrong.  

I think it was time to change my strategy, I figure if I'm going to make any kind of impact I will need to finish well and get noticed, hopefully even get a sponsor. So I started training, when I wasn't training, I was campaigning.  I'd ride my bike to work, which just for the record is such a good idea.  Especially for cheapskates like myself the saving on the fuel bill was astounding.  I was getting stronger, more used to being on the bike, saving money, win win. 

Except of course when the idiots were not trying to kill me.  I find it really difficult to understand, we cyclists take almost no space on a road yet people feel the need to pass us close enough to smell our goo's.  Almost as if they see you and think... hmm, I have some dust on the left side of my car... that spandex warrior will work really well to get it off. Then they wonder why we take up the entire road if we don't need to. I'll explain why we do that right now; we're just giving ourselves enough space if indeed we need to swerve away from an overzealous car clean freak.  After all we do not want to leave a nasty snot stain on your windscreen do we?  Apologies, as you can tell it does occasionally get a bit hair raising out there. 

I'm cycling, working out, swimming, running, doing everything I should have done before I foolishly tackled the race of death...death by stupidity.  And believe me when I say it is stupid to attempt an ultra triathlon when you are ill prepared.  So for now, when I am not training, I am at the PC doing the much dreaded networking.  Prior to this I was BBC (born before computers).  Facebook was just a site to find jokes and funny pictures, I had never heard of Twitter and blogging was some kind of secretion stemming from the nose that was never to be spoken about.  Now I am doing the posting, telling the jokes, trying to draw attention to my own little campaign, my idea of making the world a better place. Trying to do what I can to make a difference. Getting the word out there.

A typical session for me would be cycle to work in the morning... work.... cycle home.  Try not to puke for an hour, run to the gym. At the gym it is some kind of combination of swim, spin, run or circuit then repeat. A total workout of about 4 to 5 hours for the day. After that it's on the PC, telling you guys about it. I'm talking, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, any media mode I could find, I'm getting the word out. On the plus side all this exercise has my gut move from a barrel, leaning more towards a braai pack, and on a good day with a bit of imagination, if you squint your eyes just right and look directly at the sun you might even consider it a six pack.

You need to understand something about me.  Before I started this whole campaign, it would take me up to a year to say something to you.  I was always the quiet guy in the corner watching everyone at the party.  Kept my goings on really to myself, hardly said a word until I knew everything there was to know about you, what you liked, what annoyed you, what were your limitations, that way I knew just how far to go before you'd snap (my neck).  And I am unfortunately one of THOSE... those who will find a weakness, and tease, terrorize, torture and play until you can take no more and you will still love me for it.  For as torturous as I am once you get to know me,  you will always know to rely on me when you're stuck up a tree wearing nothing but a sock and a hair band. You will rely on me to tease you endlessly about it... after I help you through whatever the problem is. And now, it is Kids Haven I have in my sights, and they will not be getting rid of me for a long time.

Admittedly it has been a long and arduous road, with many up's and downs. Full of financial, physical and emotional challenges. I’m sure I'm not the easiest guy in the world to live with on the best of days, but now I have cycle gear scattered all about the library, gym equipment has overthrown the lounge, the kitchen is my own private science lab and the laundry room is just a nightmare. But I have been very lucky... I still manage to attain all my appendages regardless, we will see how long.

The hardest for me was a few weeks ago after endless campaigning, networking, all I had been getting was the usual religious and spiritual replies from everyone and not really any positive feedback, I read this post,  http://www.timeslive.co.za/sport/other/2014/08/01/kids-haven-protege-wins-medal-for-south-africa

Turns out we are doing something, realize it or not and all we can do is keep at it. Kids Haven produced a Commonwealth medal winner they must be doing something right.  I have no choice but to keep doing what I am and hopefully I'm lucky enough to inspire one of these kids in the same way.

2. The First Race

Here we are, it's 5 am in Natal Midlands the weather is glorious, the sun is just about to start rising and we're in the car on the way to the race.  For the record, first half Ironman distance tri, and I'm stoked.  I've been training hard (at least so I thought ) for this and by all my reckoning should be tough but I should do ok.

My mind is racing flashing back and forth to training going through my pre race checklist ticking off everything.  Did I train enough, did I bring my HRM, water bottles, and did I pack the wetsuit?   Where are we?  I'm sure the dam was on the other side when we came for the race numbers?  OH MY GOODNESS!  This can't be happening.  There is no way I could be lost. It’s just a 5 min drive from the lodge, why is this taking so long?  OK, calm down, get your bearings and start over.  Luckily I have a pretty good sense of direction so I manage to get myself back on track in no time, this time a lot more focused on the task at hand... getting there.

We arrive and the tension is just unimaginable excitement seething from not only the athletes but spectators as well. Other competitors asking, “ is this your first race? And you chose this one?”  Almost as if I was insane, but my mind is just in the zone.  Hear nothing but my heart beat in my ears, see nothing but the track. I think... 

Man, I got this.  Swim?  Takes me about 35 min to swim 2kms, has been for a while now.  The cycle? Piece of cake, did the 94.7 in 3 hours, I should breeze through the 90km as well, and as for the run?  This is gonna be easier than I thought.  I've been running 21km in under 2 hours. All in all I should be done in 5.5 to 6 hours.  Don't know what the big deal is?

This is all going through my mind when I hear Stace saying... “dammit the batteries to the camera are dead”. That of course doesn't phase me, except I hear the MC announce the decision on wetsuits, " I repeat the water is wonderful, wetsuits will not be allowed" OH SHIT! This, I had not prepared for.  For those of you that don't know, the wetsuit is meant to keep you warm in cold water however it has certain side effects. It is almost as if your mother herself is holding you up in the water, pulling you through the water. Sort of like aiming you and almost moving you forward magically without you using any effort. I'm not sure if this is all psychosomatic, just boosted confidence, or if the wetsuit actually does play some part but hearing wetsuits were not allowed sent me into a spiralled panic I just couldn't avoid.  

This was my first open water swim EVER.  What if I get tired? What do I do? How will I get through this?   My HRM starts screaming at me. Heart rate in range! How is this possible?  I haven't even started, this is when I realize it is actually telling me to get my shit together.  So breathing starts, focus, calm, everything is under control. Phew, that was close.  All under control now, got my groove back all happy and ready to go. 

Again I see nothing hear nothing just pure focus.

And we're off water really is wonderful, refreshing, clear and calming. I am a bit intimidated by the sheer volume of traffic in the swim, I calmly fall back and wait for it to thin out.   That's it, I'll come up from the rear and make up time with the cycle and run.   Game plan worked perfectly, swim finished really strong started the cycle without a glitch.  Then 300m into the cycle my chain starts slipping.   Ugh! I don't have time for this now, I'm pretty strong how can this effect me?  I mean I have a 7 speed bike, I'll just avoid this problem one.  The first 2 laps go off without a glitch.  I'm 80 km's into the cycle, it's 36 ͦ C and it's only been 3 hours since the start.  Man, I am tearing it up, made up with time and then some. When suddenly catastrophe! I hear the words ringing in my head, "good morning Mr Gamiet, this is your wakeup call!!!”.

And what a wakeup call it was. My left quad decides it will never let my leg bend at the knee again.  EVER.  It just stops working, no notice no warning.  My right quad, on seeing this decides umm not fair, if he's not doing anything why do I have to? So... it too says the hell with this, you will be a stick man. You will loose all use of your knees until we are treated better. From this point forward, you will move like a zombie, as if your joints are nonexistent!  

Now in all fairness, I did abuse the legs a bit in trying to make up time, and for the legs to cramp that bad could even be understandable.  However having both legs cramp while your feet are clipped onto the pedals is not exactly the most ideal of situations to be in.  In all honesty I would have to admit, it must have looked like a giraffe trying to get off a bicycle... so I'm willing to bet, anyone seeing this probably had to stop whatever they were doing until they could get their uncontrollable laughter to subside.   I was moving at 30km/h, trying to stand, sit and get off the bike at the same time. And no matter what I did the quads kept pulling me back saying... “Oh! where do you think you're going mister?”.

I manage to hobble my way through the cycle in another 2 hours, when time came for the run, I was exhausted.  My original thought of... Ag will probably be done in 6.5 

hours has drastically changed to; DAMMIT, JUST FINISH ON YOUR OWN STEAM!!!  

Every aching step I took made the cramps worse.  Every second dragged into years, my legs screamed.  Oh goodness is there no end to this madness?  The only thing driving me forward the reason I was doing it,  all that was in my brain ... finish for the kids ya damn wuss.   Stop being a little wimp and finish. Eventually with 5 minutes to spare I see the light at the end of the tunnel, almost hear angels again, the finish line.  Eventually the end is near.  The funniest thing happened right there in the last few hundred meters.   It was the strangest sense of accomplishment, gratification, pride; I couldn't believe how good I was feeling.

.

Even my legs stopped screaming just for the last few meters. When I crossed the line, it all just made sense... life, just made sense. No failure in the world could be as bad as the failure to try! I felt like I could, like I had, 

like I am... a triathlete.

1. The Origins

So I'm sitting having coffee with 2 gorgeous women just chewing the fat, catching up.  I hadn't seen Zaids in about a year and it was really great chillin with my cuz. She starts telling me about this EVENT a few of her friends had being doing.

I had heard of Ironman, but it had never crossed my mind as being something for me.  I mean, it's just some dudes running around and playing games in tight clothes right?  Well boy was I wrong, it turns out these dudes are SERIOUS athletes.   There are sponsored elite machines, there are your hard core fitness freaks, even the average Joe trying to achieve a personal goal. 

I was not even considering thinking about it when in her really jolly, bubbly, giggly voice that is so uniquely her, Zaids says "They even do it like for fund raising and stuff, it's a awesome vibe the entire day with people partying and socializzz..." as I hear the angelic voices singing, I see the clouds open, light shines down and it hits me like a tonne of dirty, sweaty, socks.  I sometimes wonder if it happens to be the same tonne of socks that has overwhelmed and are escaping all 3 of my laundry baskets.

I should mention that not 2 weeks prior to that, a few friends from work and myself decided to make a change in some kids lives and have a braai (that’s BBQ for the uninitiated) for an orphanage. The thing is I was so touched by the conditions the kids were living in I felt compelled to do something.  But what?  

So this brings me back to the tonne of sweaty socks. My mind just kicks into gear all fired up to do this. I AM GOING TO DO IRONMAN TO HELP AN ORPHANAGE!!! Sounds simple enough don't it?   Swim a bit, ride a bike and take a jog?  I can do that in a heartbeat, I mean I had been doing kung fu for over 10 years this should be a breeze. 

Turns out the joke is on me.  It's called Ironman for a reason. This is not for any old chump who went to the gym last week, this is for some serious guys.  There's a whole other language, lifestyle, diet, wardrobe, not to mention equipment, jeez the cost alone was astounding.

Nevertheless I endured, did what research I could, started working out (what in my mind was training) even managed to get myself a bicycle. The more research I did the harder I worked out (some might even consider that I started doing training) and the harder I worked out the more I enjoyed it until eventually, I have to admit...

Hi everyone, my name is Zane, I am... I'm... I'm a triathlete. I use the rent payment for entry fees, my kitchen looks like a mad scientist's lab, vacations are planned around my "A" race, I just can't get enough... cept of course, during the race there is always the eternal question WHY? OH WHY do I do this to myself?

So for anyone interested, I'll be blogging about my training, my races, accomplishments, failures.  Basically whatever goes down on my road to Ironman South Africa 2016. Maybe someone can learn from my mistakes on a similar road, maybe some of you just want to laugh at my stupidity, whatever the reason you are welcome to take a peek into my road to Getting There.