Race2live: The Average Joe Ironman Challenge 2010

Since day one I heard about Triathlon (I was trying to get in shape with my friend and Ohio Triathlon Legend Chip Bruchac in Dec. 2006), I have always wondered if I had what it takes to qualify for Hawai, the holy grail of triathletes doing Ironman distances (3.km swim, 180 km bike, 42 km run). Now more than ever, I believe 2010 is my time to give it a go.

In truth, hardly anything in my DNA favors me to do so.

I am built like an average joe. 35 years old. 6 foot 5 (1m75). I have short legs and a long torso. I am short sighted and can t wear contact lenses, which is a handicap in the swim. Due to my passion for triathlon, and the speed at which I went from being overweight to becoming an Ironman (in a year and a half), I have developed a history of injuries, some of which may now seriously impede my ability to compete:

1 A ruptured PCL ligament in my right knee due to a bike accident: according to the doctor, this means I cannot run long distances and push hard on the pedals anymore

2 Some plantar fascitis and achilee heel tendonitis on both legs: this means I cannot run on the front of my foot like I used to, to run fast despite my bad right knee.

3 An unknown hurt in the front of my right knee that appears after I run more than 30 minutes

The Ironman Qualifying time for Hawai in Europe is incredibly fast, well below the 10 hours mark, around 9:25 for IM Zurich. My current best time in Zurich is 11:40. I only need to shave 5 min on the swim (1:09 instead of 1:14), 1:10 hour on the bike (4:50 instead of 5:55), 1:07 hour on the run (3:20 instead of 4:27) and perform among the top 50 fastest swim to bike and bike to run transition possible. This would bring me around 9:25.

On the plus side, I have:

1-285 days to heal and get ready for Ironman Regensburg (my choice of race because it is the newest Ironman on the block in 2010, with perfect race conditions relative to my training in Zurich with a hilly course and a flat run along the Danube, and fewer competitors (50% the amount of competitors for 2/3 the amount of slots for Hawai) or tired competitors (from IM Switzerland a week prior). I believe a 9:40 should do it.

2-A clear goal: qualifying for Ironman Hawai 2010

3-Faith and a lot of Dreams

4-A strong mental and competitive spirit

5-An absolute determination to succeed

6-Fantastic supporters (I won t name them, but they will know whom I talking about...) with a lot of family and friends support

7-Two years of experience racing at Ironman Distance with 2 hours improvement year over year and lots of races under my bellt

8-A very methodical and detailed approach to race preparation (plan, nutrition, sleep, ...)

9-an excellent know-how of my Strengths & Weaknesses

10-A good base with above average Ironman endurance (I still feel "fresh" after the IM)

11-Great discipline

12-The ability to train around my weaknesses: substitute impact training (running) with skating and Nordic Ski in the winter and possibly roller blade in the summer (or running on treadmill and low impact trails at my work ) ; using elliptical rotors cranks and high cadence on the bike to compensate for my lack of strength (..)

13-Access to state of the art training facilities at the ETH (Polytechnique Zurich) for weight training and more (biking, swimming if need be...)

14-Time to train... and rest in 2010: I decided I will take an 80% position [not secured yet, I am discussing it with my company]

15-Some fundings. I have some savings and will try to raise a little bit of sponsorship from extended friends, families and companies I know in 2010.

16-The latter will help finance the equipment and the coaching needed to up my training and get from average Joe Ironman (I placed 256 out of 428 in Zurich in 2009) to being in the top 7 guys who qualify in Germany's 2nd Ironman Race.

17-A strong ethic. No drugs.

In order to start sharing with you my dream, I want to show you the type of bike I am testing in the next couple of weeks, to have a fighting chance to beat the top 35-39 triathlon guys riders from Germany. The bike you are going to see is a 10 years old prototype made by a Swiss Inventor, named Rudi (married to Dane, a lovely British woman) called the Cheetah. There are only 120 in the world. Although its design is 10 years old, Rudi has tinkered with it until it nearly reaches perfection... still today.

It has won 8 Ironman Women WorldChampionship in the last 14 years: for some odd reasons, maybe due to size? (this is a small bike with 650 cc wheels), men pros to my knowledge have never won Ironman races with it. Rudi was gentleman enough to lend me his personal bike (SN# 95) so I can get a feel for it. We are about the same average size, and it is a fantastic fit for me.

Since it is late, I will only upload a few photos of the bike tonight just to wet your appetite.

I will give you a review of the bike once I have time to test it seriously. What I can just say. Having tried it in Buswill (where Rudi and Dane live) for less than 30 min, it litterally took my breath away, and I was more than scared to ride it in the wind... because it takes side wind like a sail!! It is faster than I have ever been. And I believe that properly used, it will give the P4 (the newest and greatest TT production bike in the world from Cervelo) a serious run for its money. In 2007, Ironman Legend Natasha Badman rode it at IM South Africa, and she did the 9th best race of all competitors, theoretically earning prize money reserved to men...

Cheetah from the side. You see it... much lower profile and I believe, 3 cm longer than other bikes on the market.