NY Marathon 2008: what a great day!!

It seems so long time ago when with my wife Katja we decided to celebrate our wedding anniversary running a marathon, and what marathon to remember could we pick ? New york City Marathon!! it is important to note that not me not Katja ever run a marathon before, I run the marathon in Nice IM but, as I could easily notice during my run, this was a complete different kind of effort.

I followed a 12 weeks training plan, due to a twisted anckle and a bad flu I could not train the last 3 weeks. Katja did even better, due to lack of time and injuries she followed a 7 weeks programme (!)

We arrived in NY the wednsday night before the race. NY is so beautiful, incredible and full of things to see and do that we did not exaxtly "taper" the way we should had... In the morning we went for a jog in central park and during the rest of the day it was sightseeing and powershopping!!

on Saturday before the race we participated in the International frienship run, it was fun to see all this runners from around the world running together wearing their respective country colours, I decided that if I go there again I will bring the EU flag with me....

After struggling quite a bit to bake the energy cake (thanks to an italian restaurant not far from the hotel I could bake it in time) Saturday night we go early to bed as the big day is starting soon.

Sunday 2 November: Race day

we wake up at 3h30 and both eat some energy cake, we check that everything we need is in our bag and we go to the lobby were hundreds of runners are waiting to go to the national library to take the bus to Staten Island. there will be 50.000 runners starting the marathon and to take everybody there you need a great organisation. our bus is at 4.30, we all look like zombies when we board the bus and we are worried about those 4-5 hours we have to wait in the cold before the start.

with Katja we go to the orange start, we find a spot and start waiting, some fall asleep (see picture) even if the air is pretty cold! no matter how many clothes and blankets you bring with you, you are going to be cold anyway. everything is well organised, we meet other runners, everybody has a story to tell, and the time goes fast.

45min before my start we jog a little with Katja (she will start 45 min after me) then we say goodbye wishing each other a great race....... we are both mega excited and eager to start.

finally I get to the Varazzano bridge, we have waited for this moment so long and finally I'm there at the start of the NYC marathon, the speakers play the American national himn, it is a powerful moment and bang we are off for 42km195mt. the first miles on the bridge are amazing, you can feel the bridge coming to life with all those feet moving on it, on the left side you can see the skyline in manhattan and on the water many boats shoot water giving us incredible rainbows with the sun and the cold air it looks great. I feel good at the start, too god even, as I'm way to high with my heart, but I cannot care less, I'm running the NYC marathon I dont care about pace, heart rate and the 40 km in front of me (I'll pay this bold attitude later....). I look around, we are now off the Varazzano, cruising at 13km/h in brooklin, there are so many people encouraging and many bands playing all kind of music that you find yourself running on the beats of the notes. I pass the half marathon in 1h37, way to fast,! we are going up the Queensborough bridge, it is hard and so silent (no spectators allowed) I start feel strange, like my legs getting heavy. when we get out of the bridge there are so many people scxreeming and encouranging that you start realising how much of great people New yorkers are, they all tell you you look great, you look strong, you are going to make it, my legs are probably not listening as at km 25 is the total black out! the effort feels the same but the speed goes so much down that it's unbelievable. the legs are in pain as well. I start telling myself that I'm a healthy triathlete, that I competed in the Ironman and that I can handle pain, that it will pass but I still slow down although trying not to walk. at an aid station I walk a bit, than start runing again, we are running up 1st avenue, man it is so long and going so much in the opposit direction of the finish line that it is so hard for the mind, I start looking for metro station to go back to the hotel, dive on the bed and put my legs up, eat some pasta and watch TV...... it is now 10 km that I'm in this state of pain and willingness to quit. at km 35 it all comes back again, the pain is still there, but I feel like running again and start enjoing the course and the people around. We are in bronks tourning south again towards 5th avenue and central park, I start passing people again, the last miles in Central park are great, many people cheering (there were 2 million along the course!!) we turn columbus circle and head straight to the end, all my plans to finish in less than 3h30 are gone but I'm happy to finish, I think I did all possible mistakes one can do in a marathon but nobody will ever be albe to take away the emotion of crossing that finish line..... it was simply magic!

It took me 3h39minutes, a marathon is bloody long and bloody hard and it is such an accomplishment to finish. I only think about Katja now, if I suffered like that with all my triathlon training I can't imagine what she is going through,I know she has a strong mind and she will finish no matter what, but I'm still worried.

I collect my medal, my bag and put up some warm clothes, I then go to the finish line and wait for Katja. It is amzing to look at the people finishing the marathon I found myself clapping and encouraging people of all kind, all nationalities, finishing with a sprint of walking in pain, on a wheel chair or without legs running the whole marathon on crouches....

finally I see Katja coming, she is running, looking great, I screem her name she comes to hug me and we start crying I'm so happy to see her finishing and to celebrate our 10th anniversary in such a unique way.

We missed each other after the finish and it was hard to walk back to the hotel without her.

But when we meet again it is a whole evening of resting, eating, telling stories and emotions about the marathon it was like we lived it again sharing our race experiences

what a great day of sport till Paris in April!

Season 2008 PODIUMs

4 podiums in this first Triathlon season, order cronologically they are:

• Sprint distance Triathlon at NATO: 2nd place M40


• Sprint distance triathlon at Hollola Finland: First place scrach


• Olimpic Distance Supercoupe Triathlon Chièvres: 2nd place M40


• Sprint Distance Ligue championship per team Oupeye: 3rd place scrach

Crazy enough that I have been training for long distance triathlon the whole year and I got the best results in short distance ones. Is there something wrong somewhere?

for the details.

Ironmanneke de l'Otan 8 May 2008

This was my first "solo"competition of the year as one week before I participated at the belgian championship per team in Landen (official opening of the season) with the great guys of RCBT. I was nervous as it was also my first race with all the RCBT club watching and because in landen I understood that my speed was not exactly "the" speed needed for a certain level of triathlon success. I also noticed in Landen that transitions are very important and that I had to change few things (like no socks, no drink or eat, no looking around...) if I wanted to get faster in and out of T1 and T2. So the race! The swim was in the pool 500mt @ full speed. I started with the M40, got out of the water in7'14 in second place and managed to pass the 1st during the transition. i could then start the bike in first position and that was a tremendous kick as I had a motorbike in front of me opening the road, like at the tour the France. I pushed as hard as I could on the bike knowing my weakenesses in the run and managed to close the bike leg in 29'06 still in first position but with the others very close behind. I start the run and Luc Husseine passed me at the double of my speed, no first place today I tought, the worst was that I could not go and get him or just run with himb as he was too fast. The run was tough as I was at my max but still not fast enough as other 2 people passed me, fortunately they were M50 so at the end I managed to keep the second place. The best part was the after race as I could get to know better the other athlets of RCBT, lots of jokes lots of fun and lots of great advice on triathlon racing and training. Agreat day of sport and perfect weather!!!!!

Teramies Hollola 2 August 2008

This was the most allucinating triathlon experience. Here is the story: my parents in law have a hause close to a lake in Hollola Finland were we go for holidays. It was already 2 yers that the first saturday of August I saw a bunch of people getting together at the beach and start swimming than take the bike and disappear with quite a large crowed watching. So the told me that every year the have the local pub (!) organises the Teramies triathlon on a rearranged sprint distance. I decided to give it a try this year being there for holidays. The start is at 11am so I start preparing my transition (no transition area existing) everyone just put his stuff on the beach and the biké somewere were the road starts.... 11 people are participating, 1 looks very fit and younger, another arrived at the start with a sigaret in his mouth and a beer (large) in his hand, another one told me he placed 5th in his category at the Finnish half ironman championship a month earlier, another one was last year winner and his bike was Hawaii championship like. My children, wife, parents in lawand people that normally you see at the beach are all there, and with all the triathlon talking and training I've been doing and an Ironman in my CV, I cant do less than 1st place, that's clear! so we start for a 800 mt swim in a beautiful lake, I get first out of the water with almost 4 minutes lead. I hit the road for 22 km bike on a far from flat road course with perfect smooth asfalt and a motorbike in front of me opening the road. I cruise at 36 - 37 km/h average speed and close the bike with 5 minutes lead over the second. at T2 I cant find my running shoes as Katja and the children are not there, somebody after a wile point me my runnig flats and hop we go for a relaxed run of 4 km, I finish my 3 lap and cross the line hand in hand with my children, even if it was not world class level it felt good to win. The after race is nice as well because you can see that everyone did their best effort in racing and everybody is very friendly with the italian "numero uno". after the podium we are are invited at the "gala" party at the pub in the evening, were after lots of beer, free makkara (famous finnish sausages) for the athlets and some aquavite shots, rumor says that I went on stage to sing "Like a Vergin" to celebrate the victory. Great atmosphere and mega fun!!

Olimpic Distance Supercoupe LBFTD Chievres 31 Août 2008

This has been a great podium first because it was a Supercoupe competition and second because I could compare with last year results. With a 2h21' I was 12 minutes faster than last year.

summary in french taken from what I wrote for the club:

Au départ de cette dernière épreuve de 1/4 de la saison on est beaucoup du club à être la, c'est chouette de se retrouver aux inscriptions, dans le zones de transition, de s'aider à mettre la combi et de se donner les dernières conseils et encouragements. 5' avant le départ je rentre dans l'eau avec un plongeon olympique pour impressionner mes concurrents, je perds me lunettes et je bois beaucoup d'eau..... ok je fais comme si riens était, je remets me lunettes et je m'échauffe un peu. au départ je cherche JC (pour prendre ses pieds) mais il est un peu trop vers la droite et je n'arrive pas à me rapprocher, je suis à coté de Manu du Bin (de très bon pieds aussi) le plan d'eau n'est pas très large, ça va bousculer beaucoup, les bouées sont mise suivant la géométrie d'un traceur soul, il faudra aussi naviguer pas mal. 3-2-1 bum partis je suis en premier file et on accélère vite je nage à coté d'en gars pendant tout le premier tour côte à côte, à 2 cm, je respire à droite il respire à gauche et on à le même rythme et on rigole quand on prend de l'aire presque en bouche à bouche, la natation est rapide je suis dans le premier group, je m'accroche. je sors 15eme de l'eau je monte le raidillon pour aller à T1 en apnée et j'ai la tête qui tourne quand je me baisse pour mettre mes chaussures. je commence le vélo et je sens toute suite que j'ai de super jambes, je pousse sur les pédales et j'essaye de rattraper du monde. j'aime beaucoup le parcours vélo à Chièvres avec les virages serrés beaucoup de relances et surtout pas de longues côtes. je commence à remonter des coureurs, dans un passage ou un peu voir devant je vois un casque rouge sur un tri fonction noir et blanche..... . JC!... ahi ahi ahi, je ne peux pas laisser filer cette occasion, je sais qu'il est à sa 22ème heure d'entrainement cette semaine, je peux le dépasser. je commence à pousser plus fort et petit à petit je récupère. finalement j'arrive dans son groupe ils sont trois, je passe sans dire un mot, sa se joue aussi psychologiquement, JC me regarde et BIEN SUR il va jamais me laisser filer..... c'est une guerre des nerfs il me repasse, je le repasse, j'essaye de m'échapper il est toujours la. je sais que si je veux arriver devant lui je dois mettre au moins 5 minutes.... ah ah ah.... je me sens des mieux en mieux en vélo me le Président ne lâche pas, j'arrive à T2 en 10eme position JC est derrière de......quelque secondes, je traine un peu à la transition car je mets des chaussettes. .... JC et les deux autres du groupe me dépasse, je commence la course à pieds en 13ème position, il fait chaud, le parcours est vallonné mais je dois m'accrocher. Je ne pense même pas aller chercher ceux devant mais j'essaye au moins de ne me pas faire dépasser. le première tour se passe bien je dépasse même un jeune, on se croise avec les autres coureurs au turning point, je vois JC courir très bien et très vite il remonte sur les autres on s'encourage très fort, je croise aussi les autres du club et les encouragements font vraiment du bien car je suis à fond et je sens la fatigue. je croise Yves qui cours vraiment bien avec un style impec, il faudrait que tu me donne des cours de rattrapage. Un TGV me passe, c'est la championne de Belgique, elle coure vite, un V2 me passe aussi, c'est Alain Bronchart, c'est impressionnant comme il cour.... deuxième tour et je suis toujours en bonne position je crois 3ème en V1 et dans le 15 scratch. le dernier tour est dur mais je retrouve un peux mes jambes et pousse encor un peu, il y a un autre V1 10 secondes derrière moi, je croise JC une dernier fois il va fort il me crie "merde je suis 6ème" avec une énergie incroyable, il me motive à fond. je suis près de l'arrivée maintenant, toujours en bonne position, je monte les escaliers avant l'arrivée et j'ai comme l'impression que mon cœur sort des mes oreilles, je suis encore en apnée et je passe la ligne d'arrivée au bout des forces.
je suis très content car je sens j'ai fait un très belle course, on se retrouve avec JC et on attend les autres athlètes du club, je suis vraiment content de le voir arriver, aussi au bout de forces, c'est magnifique de voir quand on donne vraiment tout jusqu'au bout. Philippe nous régale un sprint magnifique car il jouait le podium sur la somme des temps avec les 3 épreuves du w-end. on s'encourage et on se félicite, on exchange nos impression de la course, on blague on rigole on est vraiment content d'être la ensemble profiter de cette belle journée de triathlon. Le RCBT est vraiment un club très bien avec une ambiance sincère et génuine.
L'after race est aussi très bien, on "s'hydrate", on attend les résultats officiel, il va y avoir des podiums marqué RCBT. on discute, on se connait mieux.
Dommage que c'était une des dernières courses cette année

LFBTD Championship Sprint distance per Teams 14 Septembre 2008

This was the last race of the season and a great occasion to celebrate as 3 RCBT teams were present at the start: the one going for the podium Eric Huyghebaert; JC Paquet; James Pirnay and myself; the one going for the performance and our joungsters going for the experience.

The swim 500 mt in the pool Eric our best swimmer is in front leading us to a 7'29 swim split, the transition is fast (and good I'm not the last one to leave T1 for once), the bike leg is fast with many sharp turns and no hills, we try to stay one behind the other not always managing it and we loos time especially after the sharp turns, we end up with the 6th time in 30'16 (we all thought we were faster!!). the run is very very fast, too fast for me as James has to push me in several occasion I give all I have and still I cant run as fast as my team members, the encouragements and support is great and we cross the finishline in 17'59 (my fastest 5k ever) 2nd time overall and we take a beautiful 3rd place!! We wait now for the other RCBT teams that we crossed and encouraged strongly during the run, it is great to see how everybody is totally into the race and want to finish good! we ran the last meters with the other RCBT teams and make a lot of noise celebrating, i'm really happyto be part of this club as the athlets + our supporters are great ;-)

too bad it was the last one I think we will all miss competing till next spring

place now to new objectives and training plan

Season 2008, how it all started and results

2008 was my first Triathlon season. I was Mountainbiking before, enjoing this sport very much.

It is when I decided to diversify my training that I started to go swimming again and, due to lack of snow on christmans 2006 in Finland I also bought a pair of runing shoes and start running (never stopped since). When going swimming at the Calypso pool, I was noticing a group of people swimming with penguin like suits and talking about triathlons, fast transitions, ironman.... I was fascinated by their swimming and by the stories thet were telling. finally I could talk to Jak Waimes, he explained me about the RCBT club, about short distance, olimpic distance and long Ironman distance Triathlons.

He introduced me to Jean Cristhophe Paquet, the President of RCBT and Hawaii competitor and finisher. After few swimming sessions (fast) with him and a "I asked a lot of questions" lunch I was hooked!! I signd up with RCBT and registered for Ironman Nice...... how crazy is that? I only did one olimpic distance triathlon (in Chievres) before.

So, I found a 30 weeks training programme, shaved my legs and started training for the ultimate TRI experience. That was hard at the beginning but the programme was very progressive and well done (except for the lack of hill training that I discoverd too late it would be helpful for a race like Nice) it was still pretty hard but a pure pleasure to get fir for a demanding sport like triathlon

in 2008 I competed in the following triathlons:

- Belgian champ.ship per team in Landen (sprint Distance)-18th position in 1h

- Ironmanneke de l'Otan (SD) 15th position overall and 2nd M40 in 1h01'

- Eau d'Heure SC LBFTD (OD) 72nd scratch and 20th M40 in 2h18

- IronMan Nice (3.8; 180; 42) 535 scrach and 100 M40 in 11h36

- IronMies Hollola Finland (0.800; 22; 4 - ricreational level) 1° scratch in 1h13'

- La Gileppe Supercoupe LBFTD (OD) 32nd scrach and 10th M40 in 2h11'

- Chievres Supercoupe LFBTD (OD) 16th scratch and 2nd M40 in 2h21'

- Oupeye Championnat inter-equipes LFBTD (SD) 3rd in 55'44"

A great season!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

all this thanks to a great team the RCBT: way to go guys cant wait for next season!!

A post will follow on the 2008 podiums

Gérardmer triathlon longue distance par equipe RCBT

Le RCBT à Gérardmer

Ce W-end une équipe du RCBT (Fabrizio en natation; Arnaud Martin en vélo et James Pirnai an CAP) était à Gérardmer pour le Triathlon longue distance en équipe, c'est difficile à expliquer mais vous ne pouvez pas nous trouver sur le nom RCBT mais sous celui de Orca attitude 3 (le tout n'était pas organisé par nous…..)

C'était un w-end avec une météo pourri et une désillusion coté résultat mais c'était comme si un rayon de soleil nous accompagné tout au long des deux jours car on c'est amusé comme des fou (peut être pas Arnaud aux sommets des cols) et l'ambiance était incroyable, je vais vous raconter…..

Vendredi 13h James et Arnaud viens me chercher au travail, on va manger à la cantine et on est près à partir pour 430 km de route. Arnaud conduit, il nous explique qu'il a fait bien ses calcules pour mettre de l'essence au Luxembourg ou sa coute beaucoup moins cher, on approuve et on commence à parler de sport, de voyages, de nos histoires personnelles, on rigole beaucoup, les km défilent rapidement. Pas à 5km, pas à 10 km pas à 30 km mais a 60 km du Luxembourg on a presque plus d'essence et on doit s'arrêter. On quitte l'autoroute et on prend la belle route qui mène à Gérardmer, on à besoin d'une pause technique, au sommet d'une colline on s'arrête pour faire pipi on est au croisement d'au moins 6 routes assez trafiqués, des champs partout, pas un arbre, je crois que même ma mère de l'Italie a pu nous voir…. La discrétion totale!

Finalement on arrive à Gérardmer il est 18h30 nôtre hôtel est en face du lac, on nous donne une suite avec vu sur le lac on se croyait en lune de miel. On rencontre Philippe (l'organisateur de nôtre séjour) et les autres participants des teams Orca attitude (3 au total) plus un nombre de participant au 1/4 de dimanche. Katja (ma femme) et une copine on aussi fait le déplacement pour nous encourager elles sont encore sur la route car elles sont parti plus tard à cause du travail. À 21h Katja et Mave arrivent, elle sont hype et pleine d'adrénaline à cause des 5 heures de conduite, elles mettent une ambiance de fou à table on rigole beaucoup et les blagues sort sans arrêts, Katja annonce que je vais faire 55' en natation (ça va être la blague du w-end) et qu'on va être sur le podium, James dans un élan de confiance promet le fleures du podium à nos supportrices, Arnaud est inquiet à cause de son état de santé mais il est confiant et il nous promet maximum 4h, on est gonflé à bloc et on rêve d'un podium!
Après une promenade au lac (il fait doux) on va se coucher, vous pouvez vous imaginer l'ambiance avec 3 mec dans la même chambre, James se colle un patch voltaren sur la hanche et il stress à cause du control antidopage si on termine sur le podium. La nuit se passe bien, à 5h on se réveil tout le trois pour une petite discussion stratégie de course au toilette, on n'est pas stressé du tout mais c'est vrai qu'on sent tous un peu la course, le départ est à 9h30 on retourne se coucher.
A 7h on se réveille on ouvre la fenêtre on arrive à peine à voir le lac, il fait froids et il pleut des cordes avec du vent. Au petit déjeuneur je suis tendu, les courses en équipe son chouettes mais la pression est forte car la course des tes coéquipiers dépends beaucoup de la tienne.

Je sors de l'hôtel avec mes brésiliennes, ma combi, mon bonnet jaune et mes lunettes sur moi car il pleut très fort. James et nos supportrices sont au départ natation, elles vont rester debout sous la pluie toute la journée, elles sont été magnifiques et elles nous ont encouragé sans cesse.

À 9.30 le départ est donné pour 4km de natation dans un lac superbe, les pros, les groups d'âge et la course open sont parti depuis 50', on est une 40aine d'équipes.

Sa démarre très fort, je suis en troisième position, les deux devant on un rythme des fous et je n'arrive pas à prendre leur pieds, le groupe de chasse se forme, on est 5. Au passage au 1er km je laisse passer deux nageur devant moi car je n'arrive pas à mes détacher, je regarde mon cardio je suis à 90%. Dans le groupe sa bagarre ferme je reçois beaucoup de coup car on est tous au même rythme et personne veut lâcher la position, il y à du vent de face et des vague, de temps en temps je bois une tasse ma sa glisse et sa nage très bien. Au passage au 2.5 km on accélère, il y a des changements de rythme tout le temps, je m'accroche, 93% au cardio. Au 3eme km je commence à sentir mal aux épaules et au bras, sa bouscule toujours beaucoup, c'est une vrai course de natation en eaux libre, je commence à utiliser plus les jambes, ce n'est pas question de lâcher ce groupe, à 800 mt de la fin sa accélère ferme et le groupe explose, j'accélère aussi car la troisième place est la tout prés de moi, j'en peut plus car sa va vraiment vite mais je m'accroche, je sort de l'au en 6ème position en 1h1min. mais à quelque second de la 3ème

Je dépasse un nageur en courant vers T1 ou Arnaud m'attends, je suis en apnée et j'ais la tête qui tourne, Arnaud enlève le chip de ma cheville et pars pour 120 bornes à vélo en 5ème position, il pleut toujours et il fait froids. Le parcours vélo est dur en 3 boucles de 40 km avec deux ascension à 900 mt chaque tour. Arnaud se remets de son accident d'il y a deux semaines mais il est enrhumé et il a eu de la fièvre pendant la semaine, on espère que tout se passe bien. Il boucle le premier tour en 1h 20 min il passe devant nous il à l'aire bien on l'encourage beaucoup, surtout Katja et Mave. On va manger quelque chose on se dit qu'il doit faire vraiment froids au sommet des cols et surtout dans les descentes, il pleut toujours. On retourne sur le parcours vélo, pas de traces d'Arnaud après 2h50 de course, on est inquiet, il boucle son deuxième tour en plus 1h45 il est pâle, il a froid et il nous fait signe qu'il vas pas bien, on l'encourage fort, il aurait du abandonner car avec sa grippe c'était dangereux, mais il ne veux pas laisser tomber le team, il s'accroche et il arrive frigorifié avec le 27ème temps vélo en 4h 38, il tremble et il n'arrive pas à marcher car ses jambes crampes tout le temps je lui masse les cuisses pour chercher de le réchauffer. Philippe trouve une chambre avec un bain car nous, on avait laissé la chambre. Le couple dans la chambre fait couler un bain chaud pour Arnaud, je l'accompagne, Arnaud est vraiment au bout. Finalement il rentre dans le bain ou il arrive à se réchauffer.
Sur le parcours CAP c'est le James-show!!! Même si le podium est impossible à réaliser maintenant, James nous montre qu'il est un vrai homme de sport et sort toute sa générosité en réalisant une course à pied incroyable. Il nous organise très bien pour ses ravitaillements heureusement qu'on était 4 pour l'aider par ce que c'était complique: alors, moi je l'attendais avec un gel a chaque tour (4 au total) après 50 mt Mave lui passait un bidon d'eau, Katja était placé après 100 mt pour récupérer le bidon et prendre les photos quand Arnaud est revenu pour aider avec le bidon et les gels. On était tellement concentré sur nos taches qu'on oublié d'encourager notre coureur. Les tours s'enchaine et James passe avec la précision d'une montre suisse chaque 30 min. il cour bien et il dépasse beaucoup de monde, sa foulé parfaite et puissante est remarqué même par les autres coureurs qui lui font les compliments quand il les dépasse. On sait toujours pas ce que le coureuses lui disent quand il les passe mais bon ça cette une autre histoire.

C'est le dernière tour et on va tous sur la ligne d'arrivé pour attendre James, il arrive sur le tapis, Arnaud et moi on cour les dernier mètres avec lui (et on est presque lâché) pour passer la ligne ensemble, James termine le 30 km en 2h….. avec le 2eme temps en CAP!!!!!!!!!!!!! On remonte beaucoup de places et on est 12emes
Après la ligne d'arrivé on est félicité par le speaker et aussi par nos groupies maintenant complètement trempées, Il y a un méga ravitaillement à la fin.

Finalement on se retrouve à l'hôtel, Arnaud vas mieux, on a tous le sourire car on a passé une belle journée de sport, on avait le niveau pour allez sur le podium mais ça c'est le triathlon, tout peux se passer sur une course. On ramène une belle 12eme place et surtout on termine en équipe.

Ironman Nice 2008

Voilà

this is the story of my first Ironman and my 4th overall triathlon at that time

anyting is possible!

It is 4am when my alarm reminds me that today is race day. I wake up and go downstairs in the Hotel kitchen to try to eat somenting
After a tea, some ham sanwitches and a lot of honey and jam biscuits, I go back to the room and start preparing, at 5 I wake up Katja and we go togheter to the start. There is a full moon over the sea and while we walk in the street of Nice we see athlets coming from all directions all going towards the same place: the start of the 2008 Nice Ironman.
At 6 am the bike park closes and we all go to the beach preparing for the start, you can see the tension in the eyes of all the athlets. While going down the passerelle I look at the swim course: the see is flat the light is magic, there is a powerful energy all around, I feel the emotion coming up all over my body and it's a tremendous kick, i know I'm ready and I'm eager to start. There are 2300 athlets on the beach there are athlets on my left, athlets on my right and athlets behind me, in front of us the Ironman: 226 km of unknown territory.

SWIM 3.8km3-2-1 bum it's 6.30 we hit the water. The start untill the first 500mt is a total battle, there are bodies everywhere, you get hit, you hit people, there are legs, arms and feet everywhere, I see immediately that I'm faster than the group I'm swimming in and I cant pass anywere, it opens up a bit and I manage to find a way through. All these accelerations are very energy consuming and I know I have to find a more comfortable pace as the race is long. After the 1.5km turn things are getting better, I swim on the side (the good one) of the pack and I have a beautiful pace, I feel I glide on the water with a good speed and little effort. I check my cardio underwater, 85% of my max, excellent. Everytime we turn at a buoy it gets packed again but it is part of the game. After 2.4 km we get out of the water for a small run on the beach and we jump in the water again, I feel great I push some more. At the last buoy I swim close to a guy that has a perfect style it is so beautiful to see this kind of swim that I get additional steem for the final hundreds meters, I get out of the water in 58 minutes, there is a screeming crowd all over, I turn back and I see full of people still swimming their way to the beach. I learned later that i finished the swim in 170 position….

BIKE 180 km
I get fast to the transition area, take the swimsuit off, put the helmet and the glasses on, take the bike and get out of T1 in 4 minutes for the 180 bike leg. The bike course is fantastic, it is one loop in the mountains around nice passing through the most amazing little villages where there were a lot of people cheering and encouraging….. Back to the race: the first 20 km are flat and we all push on our pedals hard, I keep an eye on my cardio, I cant get up more than 85% if I want to finish and one eye on my speed, it feels good to bike I read 35km/h, 36km/h 38 km/h I know it will not last as the mountains are getting closer but i enjoy the moment. Unfortunatly I start feeling strange in my stomac I have cramps since I got on the bike, I know I have to drink and eat constatly but if liquids get in, solid food is not welcome in my stomac. I tell myself it is going to pass and concentrate on te race. Many people pass me on the bike, they are the fast bikers slow swimmers. I let them go sacrifying my ego but saving my race. Jalabert (former pro cyclist) passes me after 45 minutes in the bike leg, he is fast!! The road starts climbing, the organisation announced 1800mt of cumulated climb, they will be more than 2000 at the end which is a lot on an Ironman race. The toughest part is a 20km climb where we go up 900 mt all in once, I try to pace myself and turm my legs fast in order not to charge them too much with lactate. More than 1 hour later I reach the summit of the 'col de l'Ecre at 1150 mt, it was hard but up here it is so beautiful that you forget about everything, the lanscape changed completely, there is an amazing view on the sea and on all the small villages built on the Alpes maritimes rocks. We are at 1100 meters but the air is very warm I think about the marathon: it will be tough!. We dont go down yet as the bike course remains high in altitude with several flats, constant easy climbs and downhills. At km 100 the hardest part, 7 km climb towards the "côte de Saint Ponse" and the "col de Vence". This was hard!! My stomac is still cramping, I get paranoya about not eating enough but everytime I try to eat something solid it does not go down, I go up the "col" slowly knowing is one of the last difficulties of the bike leg. The heat is bad and I try to drink as much as I can. On the top of the "col" I get my motivation back only 65 km to go mostly down hill or flat. I eat an energy gel and I feel better. After a long flat we get into the 30 km down hill, it is pure pleasure, a true adrenalin rush, my speedometer gets crazy 50 km/h, 55 km/h 60 km/h it's a beautiful road, straights, large turns, narrow turns, small villages, sometimes you see the sea down there sometimes lots of rocks or trees, most of the time the eyes are fixed on the road as it goes down so fast.
We are at sea level again the last 20 km to Nice, flat course, we are a group of athlets going really fast back to transition area I know we all think about the marathon it is going to be hot! I still have my cramps and I dont know why my feet are boiling in my cycling shoes. It is 10 km to the end when I go behind another athlete to try to pass him I spend too much time behind him (1 min) without noticing that a refree was behind on a motorbike, I get a black card for drafting (which is not allowed on ironman) and I have to go 3 min to prison before the run. UNBELIEVEBLE this refree had no heart!!
Finally I get back on the promenade des anglais at the airport, 5km to go and the bike leg is over, I feel great apart the cramps in the stomac and the heat in my feet. I'm looking forward to run now as it is 5 days I did not run and I really missed it. At 1 km to T2 I see Katja on the left she wears a beautiful yellow dress (freshly bought in Nice, that apparently is a great city for shopping) she yells "vai fabriiiiiiiiiiiiiiii" I get an adrenaline shot and I push harder to the end of the bike, i was so happy to see her.

RUN a marathon (42km195mt)
I get in the transition area fast, it took me 5h55min for the 180 km a bit more than 30km/h average speed, I'm very happy! I get off the bike and test my legs they are doing fine but not my left feet that has a blister under. My neck, shoulders and lower back are doing great, I'm so eager to start the run that I forget my polar on the bike so I have to run back and take it. They put your bike in ther racks according to your time of arrival I'm in rack 10 out of 45 racks although many people passed me I'm still in a good 456th position….
I go to prison for 3 minutes and finally I get my run bag. I put on my running shoes, a cap and off we go for a marathon. The marathon course is a 4 loops run back and forward from the plage du centenaire to the airport on the promenade des anglais. It is 13h30 there is no shade and no wind and 35°… not exactly like good old Belgium. I run well, pacing myself at 5'30 per kilometer I feel great with all the people cheering I look at my polar: 85% perfect!! If I keep this pace I run the marathon in less than 4h, unfortunately this is not going to happen!! I pass by Katja she is few meters after the first aid station on the right I'm so happy to see her, she encourages me very much, I can feel she is very happy too, full of positive energy, she really wants me to finish, she tells me I look great (she does not tell me I'm a handsome healthy thriathlete though, but maybe it was to long to say….) she also tells me to eat and drink a lot. I pass her and head towards the airport for the first loop. I come back and finish the first loop (10.5 km in less than 1 hour), my stomac is still cramping and the blister under the left foot is hurting, I start to get worried about my nutrition and I force myself to eat bananas, tuc biscuits (finally some salty things) and energy gels. I drink a lot of water, coke and energy drink really teasting bad when warm…. 1h 30 in the marathon and the heat is unbearable we get sponges with water at every aid station (6 on the 10.5 km loop) they keep you fresh few minutes than is over. I did not have a time in mind for my marathon but I would have liked to run it in max 4h, it is hard to accept it is not going to be the case but phisically it was impossible to go faster. It felt like I was using most of the energy to keep my body temperature acceptable, my foot was hurting and my stomac cramping, I was hot and feeling tired, I could see people at he beach playing in the water or sipping fresh teasty drinks, I tried to accelerate anyway to keep the bad feelings away but my head start feeling strange and sometimes my heart missed a beat. Several people were collapsing on the run course and the medics just took them put them in an ambulance and took them away from the race, I did not want this to happen! I could deal with physical pain but if I fainted or my heart started doing crazy things this would have meant DNF (did not finish) and I came this far, all these days and hours of training in all weather conditions, in all situation in the most amzing places or in a garage biking on a hometrainer. I thought at all the sacrifices, all the time I did not spend with my family or socialising or going out and just eat something fat and get drunk, I though at all of you and at this project we are in together to send Ethiopian girls to school and may change their future, I could not DNF, I wanted to finish so much.
I'm only the end of the second lap, the half marathon! it is stupid because I feel good with my muscels and my breathing, I'm at my aerobic threshold but I cant go faster….. I get to katja again she is there smiling in her yellow dress, she is full of energy and she runs with me few meters I tell her how I feel, she boosts me with her energy and encouragement she tells me she wants me to finish no matter what time.
Once the decision taken not to worry about the time the run gets better, I walk through the aid station so that I have all the time to eat and drink and I run in between the aid stations, i break the distance in pieces and not think at the 20km to come but at the next 1.7km till next aid station.
The heat is crazy and more and more people breakdown, they just stop running and get in the shade or just sit on the side expressionless, or put the head on a light post and throw up, other just collapse on the road or you see they zig zag walk. I think how luky I'm to be still well on my feet.
I start the last lap and pass close to katja, she tells me "see you at the finish line" I "enjoy" this last lap, I run better but still walk the aid station and a little after as well, at he turning point at the airport I manage to do pipi and suddenly the cramps disappear (it was probably my kidneys for the wole race….) my feet is still hurting and it is mega hot but you know what? I did 221 km I now can do the last 5!!
I think at the sentence I've heard once watching an Ironman video "you can quit and they wont care but you will always know" I think how the sentence "anything is possible" is so true! you just need to want something so much and do everything you can to leave your dream and never give up! The ironman is such a trip inside yourself that you came out of it as a different person. It is about sport, a very beautiful sport and it is also about life, it is about realising how luky you are to be able to do something so amazing and also manage to help others while doing it. Life can be so beautiful sometimes and give you incredible emotions you thought you would not be able to feel again.
I read 40 km written in big carachters on the road, I'm almost there I take all the energy left and accelerate there are many people encouraging close to the finish line, I can see it now, I can hear the speaker and the loud music, I leave the run course to go towards the finish, there is blue carpet on the road and screeming people all over, I see Katja, she screems something at me I cross the line my arms up in the air and the biggest smile on my face: I've been swimming, biking and running for 11h 36 minutes, I raced the IRONMAN, I lived a dream.
Fabrizio