Kebabs for breakfast - Martin Williams IM France preview

There’s 10 days to go until I can once again drink with abandonment, when I feel like it, stay up guilt free beyond 9.30pm on school nights and weekends, and have kebabs for breakfast if I want to. You see, on Sunday morning of 28th June, at 6.30am (that’s 2.30pm on Sunday, here in Sydney) I’ll be hanging around on Plage du Centenaire (Centennial Beach, to you) in a rubber suit, with around 3000 other “athletes”, waiting for the gun to signal the start of the Nice Ironman.  

Nice, France. Think Cote d'Azur, the French Riviera. Twenty kilometers to one side is Monaco; just a little further going the other way to the Film Festival in Cannes.The French Riviera is renowned for its beaches or more likely for the beach goers. The swim follows the rich tradition of long distance racing in Nice. 3.8km into the Mediterranean.  

The bike course is, simply put, like no other. Allegedly, it’s unforgettable, sensational, scenic, hilly and arguably one of the greatest Ironman challenges. 180km in to the hills around Nice through St Laurent du Var, Gattieres, Carros, Le Broc, Bouyon, Gréolières. The total climbing altitude is about 1800m.  

Then the marathon - four laps of the famed seafront, which will hopefully quickly drown out the pain of the bike leg, the scenery, sights and beach side casting a spell on me and many other competitors. The finish, with its pageantry, fireworks and huge crowds will fittingly be located at the Promenade des Anglais.

I got my number through today, 1608, so if you’ve got nothing better to do, you can track me cheating death on line at www.ironmanlive.com.

The real trouble, of course, starts on 29th June, when I can be found mostly eating cheese and crusty bread, and certainly drinking red wine, and definitely talking myself up to anyone who wants to listen!

What do I expect? I expect it to be like a French duck… canard. How long? … I’m hoping to complete the race in under 14 hrs. The cheese, wine etc part will probably continue for the next 6 months.

Mange tout rodney. Bonnet de douche.

Martin

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