It’s the last day of 2011 and I am really enjoying reading posts on a lot of blogs I follow and on Twitter about memories of 2011. So much so that it has inspired me to go back into the archives and see what my highlights of 2011 were:
1. January saw me finish my first Ironman 70.3 triathlon (1.9km Swim, 90km cycle and 21km run) in just over six and a half hours, in the pouring rain & with pink hair.
2. March brought an interesting little initiative across my path. Roxy Burger started the 40 days of zarmies for lent and it got a we bit bigger than any of us imagined it would. Here’s to even more sarmies in 2012.
3. April saw me finish my first Ironman in Port Elizabeth (3.8km swim, 180km cycle and 42km run) in just under 14 hours. Hearing Paul Kaye on the red carpet saying “Big Brad Brown, you are an Ironman” will always be one of my favourite memories of that day.
Me running down the red carpet
4. The Comrades Marathon rematch took place in May. After failing to finish in 2010 the pressure was on to get the job done in 2011. One of my fondest memories of the day was having my Dad (Who has done 11) on the route supporting through out the day and at the finish when I crossed the line in just over eleven and a half hours.
Having my Dad at Comrades 2011 was awesome
5. My first magazine cover (much to my surprise it wasn’t Farmers Weekly).
My June Cover
6. Having a dream come true by running across our vast country from Cape Town to Johannesburg as part of the Continental Run to Stop
7. Helping people get fit and lose weight at Run Walk for Life in Bryanston
8. My best mate from school, Leanne, getting engaged. Even if it is to a Kiwi.
9. James, my best mate from varsity (and the best man at my wedding) getting engaged and married in 2011. Go you good thing.
10. A long time friend Poppie from my campus radio days getting engaged (just shows that there is someone for everyone). Love you Popster!!!
That's Poppie in the Bulls jersey. We all have our faults.
11. Marc and Sam & Lindsey and Hayley getting hitched this year too.
My name is Brad and I’m addicted to food. There I said it. Does food addiction have a name? It must have a name. I can’t be the only person who suffers from this addiction.
That’s number one of the seven things I plan on getting a handle on in 2012. Call it what you want to call it but the truth of the matter is food has ruled my life for way too long and it has to change. If you have been following my journey you’ll know that has been an issue I’ve been battling with for a long time my whole life. It is time to draw a line in the sand and get better. The problem is unlike drug addiction or alcoholism as there is no rehab (that I know of) for food addiction. I’m going to have to play this by ear as I go along.
Yikes!!!
One thing I have learnt by getting down from 165kgs to 110kgs in the last two and a bit years is that diets don’t work. Sorry to burst your bubble. If you are looking for a quick fix you’ve come to the wrong place. It didn’t take me a few weeks to put the weight on so I can’t expect it to fall off in a few weeks (unless I amputated a limb or two). It’s a process, a change in lifestyle and that is what beating this addiction is about for me.
It’s time to call a spade a spade. I managed to get down to 110kgs for Ironman 2011 by literally training my backside off. 2 sessions a day, 6 days a week. Swim. Bike. Run. Swim. Bike. Run. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. When you are training that hard you can almost eat what you want and you’ll lose weight but the problem is as soon as you slow down or stop you will just put weight back on. You I need to address the food issue. Ironman was on 10 April 2011, Comrades was on 29 May 2011. I was still running quite a bit in that 6 week period. I ran an ultra marathon (48km) and a standard marathon (42km) in that time. I wasn’t swimming and cycling though and I managed to put on 10kgs. My Comrades 2011 starting weight was 120kgs. I took a bit of a break from training after Comrades but not an out and out hiatus. I was still putting in the odd session. By August 2011 I was back up to 128kgs just because I was eating like I was training for ironman but without the training.
I put on 18kgs from April to August. In case you were wondering, that’s not good. That is why I need to take control and firstly admit I have an addiction and secondly to get it under control.
Here is the deal. One of the reasons I want to do the Seven Things is because I need to be accountable. As I go through the other six you’ll see what the plan is and how they all fit together. This is what the plan is for number one of the seven:
I need to get down to 90kgs for a few reasons. According to my BMI my ideal weight range is between 80 and 98kgs. I have a funny feeling 80kgs might be a bit low but 90kgs sounds good and I’ll never know until I get there. Secondly I have never, in my entire life, felt thin. I want to feel what that feels like. For as long as I can remember I have had a bad body image. Thirdly I want to know athletically what I’m capable of racing at 90kgs. More on that one later though.
This is how I’m going to get down to 90kgs in 2012. Accountability is the key. I am going to keep a food journal for the duration of 2012. Every morsel of food or drink that goes into my mouth will be written down. Every morsel. OCD much? Absolutely. You don’t get to weigh 165kgs without being obsessive. By keeping a food journal it will help me see where I am going wrong (and right) on this journey.
I am also declaring now that for 2012 I will not buy ANY fast food. No McDonalds. No KFC. No Debonairs. No junk. Period. This is going to be really hard to do. Especially pizza. Especially pizza after Ironman and Comrades. I might need to reconsider this on the 22nd April and the 3rd of June but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.
The next thing I need to do am going to do in 2012 is to radically change my eating lifestyle. By that I mean I need to re-educate myself with regards to healthy food choices, food preparation and in my case the correct portion sizes. I know Low GI is the way to go. I am dedicating myself to learning as much as I can in 2012 about the Low GI way of eating. I will learn at least one new Low GI recipe a week for the duration of 2012 and share them on here.
Part of the accountability will also include a once a week weigh in and measure (which I’ll post the results on here). Nothing quite like putting it out there that I’m on a mission to turn things around.
If you missed where the Seven Things idea came from you can read the origins of it here. I would love you to join me on this journey. I don’t know what your Seven Things are but if you don’t aim for anything that is exactly what you’ll get. Feel free to add your thoughts and your Seven Things in the comments section below, I’d love to hear from you. 2012 is the year to turn things around.
10 April 2011, Ironman South Arica, Nelson Mandela Bay – That date, event and place will be etched into my memory for a long long time. It was just a swim, bike and run. But it has changed me forever.
Training wise I was probably slightly underdone on the bike and in the water but was confident that I had done enough running. In the 3 months preceding the event (1 January to 30 March) I had done 50km in the pool, 1600km on the bike and 600km running.
The few days leading up to the race were pretty nerve wracking. I arrived in Port Elizabeth on Thursday morning and headed straight to registration to get the formalities of the weekend out of the way. The rest of the day was spent relaxing around the hotel and an easy 6km run along the beach front late Thursday afternoon. Friday morning I decided to go for a swim on the course considering the last surf swim I did was in January at the 70.3 in East London. The wind was pumping and the sea was extremely rough. I swam out to the first buoy, spotted the next one for race day and headed back to shore. I think I must’ve drank about a litre of water in that little 500m swim! It made me really nervous to think that if the conditions were like this on Sunday we were going to be in for a very long day. The rest of Friday dragged and the nerves were really starting to get the better of me.
Saturday was all business with the race briefing and bike check just reinforcing that I was in for a serious day out on Sunday. The weather had improved and I think every athlete was hoping it would stay that way for Sunday. Even though I was in bed early I didn’t have the best of nights. I tossed and turned all night and in the end probably only got about 5 hours of sleep.
The Sun Rises Over Nelson Mandela Bay
I was up at about 4am on race morning, which was not a good thing considering we were in a hotel across the road from the start finish area and the race only started at 7am. I got my bottles ready and packed my special needs bag and then headed down to transition to make sure everything was ok with my bike. I headed back to the hotel to get my wetsuit on and before I knew it was standing on the beach and was set to go. The tribal drums beating increased the tension as the minutes were counted down. The national anthem played and then the countdown to the cannon. 7am and we were off.
Ironman 2011 underway
Swimming Under The Rising Sun
I had chatted to a few people in the build up regarding the swim and the strategy I decided to employ was to stay out of trouble as much as possible. I headed out right as soon as we started and took a really wide berth around the first buoy to avoid the masses. I probably swan an extra 50 or 100 meters but didn’t get caught up in any punch ups which is a good thing! The sea was pretty flat and I don’t think we could’ve ordered better conditions for the swim. I got out of the water in 1:21:40 which was slightly slower than I was hoping for (was aiming at a sub 1:20) but felt pretty good when I got out of the water.
Out of the water & looking pretty knackered!
I took my time in transition to make sure I had everything I needed nutrition wise. I also took some time with the volunteers and got properly sun screened (which I am so glad I did as there were some toasted bodies on the road later in the day). I took the bike as easy as I could but I had one of those days where I just couldn’t get comfy on the bike. From early on everything hurt. My back, neck & shoulders all took a beating. Funnily enough my butt was the least of my worries. About halfway through the second 60km lap my feet started hurting really badly. It was very strange as it had never happened before so I’m not quite sure what caused it but by the end of the cycle they were really sore. I got off the bike in 6:34:12 which was a spot on to what I was hoping to do. I had planned on doing between 6:30 and 7 hours.
Hammering the bike
Cornering on the KTM Strada 3000
In the bars
Coming into transition on the bike
I started the run pretty well, although my feet were sore my legs legs felt good and I was feeling pretty confident that I had this one in the bag. It was just a matter of making sure that I kept going forward. I did my first 10kms in about 65 minutes which I was happy with but that is where things started to get tough. I mentioned in a previous post about what happened to me on the run (and you can read all the details here) but it was that little moment that really reinforced why I was doing it and kept me going for the rest of the run. The funny thing is I have subsequently found out who it was out there. Thanks @RobsGoalRunner for your unbelievable encouragement. As tough as the run was I learnt some awesome lessons out there and it was a great confidence builder for Comrades. I learnt that nutrition is vitally important and if you can you have to eat. It is a long day out there and ensuring that you put enough in the tank is vital. I stopped being able to take in any gels or bars about 5kms into the run because they were too sweet. I made sure that I ate as many sandwiches, potatoes and bananas along the way as I could and that made the world of difference. The funny thing is I cannot stand the taste of marmite but let me tell you the best thing I ate on Sunday were the marmite sandwiches they had at the aid stations!
Feeling the heat
Going down Marine Drive
First lap of the run
The sun setting on the run
I had been asked what time I wanted to do in the build up and I kept telling people I would be chuffed with a finish but if I dipped under 14 hours I would be over the moon. I did the marathon in 5:43.38 for a total finish time of 13:53:38.
I had been visualising that run down the red carpet for months. What a surreal experience when I turned the final corner and looked down the final finishing straight. The red carpet rolled out in front of me. It was exactly as I imagined it would be. The pain in my body disappeared. I felt as fresh as a daisy. As I got onto the red carpet the spectators in the stands were shouting and clapping. Paul Kaye was there, as I knew he would be. As I ran past him he high fived me and then ran next to me for a few metres, then stopped me, looked me in the eye and said the words I had heard over and over and over in my head. When I was hurting in training sessions I thought about them. When I wanted to give up I thought about them. When I would wake up in the middle of the night I thought about them. “Big Brad Brown, you are an IRONMAN!!!!” I clenched my fists and held my hands up as high as I could. It was like I had won the race.
Onto the red carpet with Paul Kaye about to high five me
The pain is gone!
The Ironman South Africa Finishers Medal
I need to say thank you to a few people for making this journey possible. Thank you to KTM South Africa and Cycle Lab for the use of the KTM Strada 3000. Nike for the shoes and gear. Garmin for the Forerunner 310XT and all the support along the way. The folks at USN for the supplements and nutrition. Oakley, Second Skins and Zoggs. The ladies at the PinkDrive for all their support and encouragement and then last and definitely not least you. Thank you for all the worlds of encouragement and support along the way. For opening your hearts and wallets for a cause that is so close to my heart. Thank you.
Below is the data collected on my Garmin 310XT on the day:
The Ironman run route in Port Elizabeth is a three lapper and there are parts of the 14km lap that are lined with hundreds of screaming spectators but there is one stretch of the route that is really quiet and lonely. The route takes you out through the university’s campus and then onto the stretch of road that heads back to where all the action is. I read something in the build up about that stretch that said if you’re not 100% sure of why you were putting yourself through this before you started that part of the course for the second time you were in for a long evening.
I started my run pretty well but by the time I hit the campus first time round I was feeling really flat. I walked a large part of that stretch and my mind was racing. All sorts of things were going through my head. Most of which I can’t repeat but what concerned me most was that I was feeling that way already and I was only on my first lap. With 32km’s of the run to go it was not a great place to be.
There is absolutely no one on that stretch of road. I walked most of that stretch first time round. In the distance I could see a lone spectator. As I got closer I noticed she was clapping for each runner as they passed. It took a while for me to get to her as I was walking pretty slowly but as I reached her she looked at me, clapped and said “Well done Brad. Keep going. Your mom is really proud of you”. I don’t know who she was or where she came from and I never saw her again on the day but at that point that was all I needed to hear. It was those 12 words that got me going again and to the finish. Whoever you were, thank you.
It is exactly four weeks to my first Ironman and I’m starting to get really REALLY nervous. 3.8km swim. 180km cycle. 42km run. An Ironman. Just writing that scares me. What an epic journey it’s been. Less than two years ago I was seriously obese (probably bordering on morbidly obese) clocking in at a whopping165kgs. Today I’m sitting looking at my watch thinking “this time in four weeks I’ll be zipping up my wetsuit/getting out of the water/on lap two of the bike/getting off the bike/finishing my first lap of the run/an ironman!”. If you had told me two years ago I would be writing this about what I’ll be doing in four weeks I would have told you to lay off the happy pills.
I can remember my first run like it was yesterday and I use the term run very lightly. It was about an 800m walk. Three times around a hockey field. It was uncomfortable, strenuous and a million miles away from even thinking I could take on an Ironman, never mind finish it. Ironman was never a goal. It never crossed my mind until 8 months ago. The goal was not to die before I hit 40. I wanted to run Comrades but I never even gave triathlons a thought. But as we stand right now it’s four weeks to go to the biggest race of my life. If I have to be honest I’m tired of training. The two sessions a day for the last 6 months have taken its toll and I’m mentally and physically tired. I have one more hard week of training left and then it time to taper and make sure I’m fresh on race day. The best bit of advice I’ve been given is to go out and enjoy race day, take in the atmosphere. Race day is a reward for all the hours of hard work that I’ve put in over the last 6 months. I am really looking forward to race day. I have no doubt it is going to hurt but I am looking forward to the reward. I’ve visualized those final few meters on the red carpet over and over and over again. I get goose bumps just thinking about it. Music pumping, crowd cheering and the announcer saying “Brad…….YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!!!!!!”. Four weeks from now I’ll be somewhere on the road working towards that one moment.
I love simple but innovative ideas that make a difference in other people’s lives. You may or may not know about my involvement with the PinkDrive and my passion for raising money for their education and early detection programs through endurance events that I am taking part in like Ironman and the Comrades Marathon but I often feel like I am always begging my mates to open their wallets and support the next wacky event that I am taking part in. I came across an initiative this morning that I absolutely love and hence this post.
Roxy Burger
I follow Roxy Burger (Currently of Survivor Maldives fame) on Twitter and saw a couple of her tweets this morning with a hash tag that read #40daysofzams and it kind of aligned itself into the way I was thinking the last or two any way. Not being that religious I have never been one to get give up things for lent. Although at my dik former self it might have been said that I had given up my neck for a long long time. Listening to the radio yesterday afternoon in the car with my 8 year old son Ethan there was a conversation about lent and what people were going to give up. Ethan was asking a few questions about it and asked if he could give something up. I told him it had to be something he really liked, he thought about it for a while and then asked if he could give up school for 40 days. I nearly crashed my car. He definitely takes after his dad. I said to him we would find something we could do. Then I saw Roxy’s tweet this morning.
Ham & Cheese Zarmie
Forty days of zarmies. What a cool idea. The basic idea is this: Make a sandwich every day for 40 days, find someone who needs it and give it to them. It doesn’t have to be a gourmet zarmie, it can be as simple as a jam sandwich. It’s as easy as that! Honestly, such a simple concept but if we can get a thousand people to do it, we’ll be able to feed a thousand people a day. That is 40 000 sandwiches handed out in just over a month! Small idea, massive results! There are thousands of people roaming the streets of this beautiful country of ours that are hungry and I love that an idea this small can make such a big difference. By taking part you don’t need to fork out hundreds of bucks, you don’t need to spend hours of your time all you need to do is make one sarmie a day for forty days.
It is so easy to do. You might make yourself a lunch every day for work, just make an extra sandwich, whack it in a sandwich bag and on your way to work give it to the mother who is begging at the traffic light just around the corner from home. If you’re a mom who makes school lunches, make an extra one and get the kids involved. This is my challenge to you. Get involved. For forty days let’s see how many people we can feed. Post a comment at the end of this post to let me know if you’re in. If you’re on Twitter you can also drop Roxy or myself a tweet to let us know you’re in and how the #40daysofzams is going (don’t forget to use the hashtag in your tweets!). Share this post and challenge your mates to do the same!
Mohammed Ali once said “The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses, in the gym and out on the road long before I dance under those lights.” and I’m starting to learn the same is true for Ironman. I’m learning triathlons, and especially the longer ones, take a ton of preparation away from “those lights”. I’m really battling at the moment with the solitude of it all. The long swims. The long rides. The long runs. Especially at this time of the year when everyone is talking about winding down and getting away and I’m looking to ramp things up and focus more. I actually just looked at a calender and it is only 16 weeks until Ironman South Africa. 16 weeks until I dance under those lights.
I have been visualising the red carpet and in particular the feeling of heading down that stretch of beach front in Port Elizabeth. The crowd cheering and going wild. Running towards the finish line you realise what you have achieved on that day. More than the 3.8km swim. More than the 180km cycle. More than the 42.2km run. Its the culmination of months and months of commitment and sacrifice. Doing more and going further than you thought possible. Everyone craves glory but few are prepared to put in the hard yards. Few are prepared to make sure the fight is won in the gym and out on the long road.
As you get closer and closer to the line the pain dissipates. The pain of the thousands of kilometres you put in away from the witnesses. When there was no one around to share a sunrise. Or a sunset. A rainstorm. Sunburn.
The first steps have gone unnoticed. The final steps to the summit will not. I haven’t been there yet but I have let myself feel what it feels like to cross that finish line. To the end of the red carpet. Arms raised. Skin crawling with goose bumps. You are an Ironman. Over and over and over again. 16 weeks until I live my visualisation. 16 weeks until I dance under those lights.
I can’t actually believe how fast this year is wrapping up. I looked at the triathlon racing after Comrades 2010 and plotted out what races I was planning on doing in the build up to Ironman 70.3 in East London in January and the Ironman in Port Elizabeth in April 2011. I only scheduled 3 before the end of 2010 and two have come and gone already. The next big triathlon on my racing calendar is the Prestige Ultra Triathlon in Vanderbijlpark on the 16th of December. 11 Days to go to my first half ironman triathlon. Just writing that scares me. I’m doing a half ironman having only done two triathlons up until now. My training has gone well and I am pretty sure I’ve done what is needed. I’ve got a couple of longish cycles planned for early next week but other than that it’s time to taper. I always get nervous when I start taking my body to places it has never been before. You never quite know how it is going to react to the stresses and strains you put on it. It was the same in he build up to Comrades this year every time I went up to a new distance I was nervous. The only time I attempted to double what I had done up until then was from an ultra marathon to Comrades. I am practically doubling what I have done to this point in triathlons. That is a huge step up and I think I’m understandably nervous. I’ve done more than the individual distances in training (except the run, I haven’t gone further than 15 since I picked up some ITB in August) but it is now a case of stringing it all together on the same day. I’m sure there is going to be pain on the day but I really hope I have a good race as this is my dress rehearsal for the 70.3 in East London which is just 6 weeks away. Now THAT is scary. 6 weeks away from my first surf swim. I’ll leave that for another post.
It is done. I can now officially say that I am a triathlete. I can also say that it was a lot tougher than I thought it was going to be.
My day started at 3am. Even though the start was only at 7am, I had a two hour drive to get to Sun City for the 11Global Triathlon. We arrived with enough time to spare that getting racked up and body marked was not rushed at all. My pre race preparation was as good as it could’ve been but in hindsight I probably should’ve eaten breakfast later than I did. Eating breakfast at 3:15am and only starting the race at 7:15am probably wasn’t the wisest decision I made on the day. I felt hungry on the start line which is not a great way to start your first triathlon.
Racking up in transition with my brother
Final Preperations
I got into the water a few minutes before the start. I had decided that I was going to try and stay out of the mad rush of the swim as much as could. I would hang back and Read more…
I have been asked this question quite a few times over the last few weeks. On the surface it was to lose weight and raise some money for charity. At the same time it is to be able to say I’ve finished the Comrades Marathon and to be an Ironman. But deep down there is a lot more to it. I came across a brief blog post this morning that I thought I would modify a bit and add to it a bit. Here is what I managed to come up with:
Why do I do this? To prove my ghosts wrong. That past failures don’t have to be an predictor of future performances. To prove the young blood that they’re not young enough and to prove to the old folk that they’re not to old to be there. To prove my past wrong and my future better, everyday. To make my weakness stronger in every way. To escape, to tell myself I CAN when its beyond safe, to show there is no limit, there is no such thing as good enough. To prove mind over body and body over mind. To achieve what was once unknown, unthinkable and in my mind unachievable. To enjoy every breath, sight, gasp, ache, sweat, sunray, raindrop, dawn and sunset. To prove that I can give my all. And then some. And then some more. Because it’s the best therapy and best of all its free. Because there is nothing I’d rather do. To me its completely normal to get up everyday to swim, bike and run. For hours at a time. Because only a few people know what it takes to get to the start line, knowing that even if its crawling, you have promised to get yourself to the finish and that’s saying something about yourself. To hear someone say “you’re not good enough” and have that push me to slash my times. To hear someone say “you’re crazy to even try” and have that push you to keep going when the urge is there to quit. To prove 4 hours 57 WRONG. To love doing what I do best. To be in that moment right there and not yearn to be somewhere else. To embrace the challenge and live the journey.
To chase down the person in front of me and show them how its done only to get passed and be humbled and inspired by them. To show life that I will not back down. I will not quit. And I will keep moving forward.
But above all to prove that limits don’t exist, boundaries are merely figments of our imagination – an oasis of our mind. Change can be made and the past can be left behind and to prove to myself that even if I can’t do it all right now, at least I can do this and just get better everyday in every little way.
