Cecil Wheeler's distinctive bib number in Kona caught our eye and we thus selected him for a random age grouper interview. Meet the South African who now resides in Switzerland.
Slowtwitch: Thanks for your time Cecil.
Cecil Wheeler: My pleasure
ST: Is the late fall in Switzerland treating you well?
Cecil: Yes! Foggy but good.
ST: What have you been up to since returning from Kona?
Cecil: I started a new position at a hedge fund at the beginning of November, after taking a few months off in the build up to Kona. So pretty busy at work learning the ropes.
My new office is 15 km away from where I live, and a very pleasant ride along bike paths and gravel roads. Commuting to work by bike is currently my main form of exercise.
ST: Does the fog add more excitement to the commute?
Cecil: Not really, its what they call Hochnebel, so sits around 100metres above the ground. It is very pretty to go up the mountains this time of year, as you then get to look out over the fog lakes. The Swiss have an expression for it - oben blau, unten grau.
ST: Back in 2002 after your first Ironman in Switzerland you kind of walked away from that distance because you ended up on a marathon death march despite being a fairly decent runner.
Cecil: I did the Ironman in 2002 more out of curiosity than through having any experience in triathlon. At that point I would have described myself as a keen cyclist rather than a runner or triathlete. I had raced at various levels on the road since my teenage years and also done some long distance bike touring.
About 6 weeks before that event, I made the beginner mistake of messing around with my bike position. I strained my knee on race day through not being adapted to that new position and ended up walking almost the entire marathon. I was intent on finishing so did at least achieve that goal.
ST: Did you change the position based on advice from others or was that your own doing?
Cecil: Entirely my own doing. I took my road bike, added some clip-ons, and based on some reading I did at the time moved the saddle higher and more forward to get more aero. Mistake!
ST: You ended up focusing on running for a few years and ran as fast as 2:49:54 I believe.
Cecil: Indeed. Family and career commitments took over, so running was simply more time efficient than cycling or triathlon as a main sport. I had a great training buddy at the time so we just got into the whole running thing – did Zurich marathon on multiple occasions as well as a couple of mountain ultra marathons.
ST: And were you or your training buddy running faster?
Cecil: He was. His marathon PB is around 10 minutes faster than mine
ST: Once you were hitting those sub-3 hour marathons like clockwork, what was the next goal?
Cecil: Faster PB’s!
ST: I think you dabbled again with triathlon in 2011 and did 70.3 Austin back then. What made you decide to jump on this wagon again and why that race?
Cecil: I moved to the States with my family for 18 months between 2009 and 2011. On returning to Switzerland I continued to work for my US employer, which allowed for more training time in the mornings, because of the time zone difference. My wife gave me as a birthday present a pass to train for an Ironman. I think she was managing potential midlife issues! As a result I entered Zurich Ironman for 2012 and as prep did Austin the autumn before, combining it with a business trip I was doing to the States.
ST: Have you given your wife a gift of sorts for that kind and thoughtful effort?
Cecil: For her next birthday I gave her a pass to get a pet dog or cat. As a result we have a Siamese cat called Olaf, who is a bundle of joy and claws!
ST: In 2012 you went sub-10 at Ironman Switzerland but did not get a Kona slot. Was that actually the goal or were you simply trying then to have a solid race with a run at the end?
Cecil: My goal there was to get under 10 hours. I was spookily close to my predicted times for each leg. A dangerous precedent as it made me think I was good at that when in retrospect it was more like fortuitous coincidence.
Any way got my sub ten with a slow motion “sprint” over the final kilometers which mostly involved friends shouting encouragement and me moving my arms as fast as possible as I had lost control of my legs. I then “decorated” the finish area.
Kona qualification was not a consideration at all that year, although having bagged a sub-10 I realized that I could have a reasonable shot at a Kona qualification the next time round.
ST: Were the finish line folks appreciative of your decorating efforts, and did you consider that as a potential new career?
Cecil: Ha ha, apparently my efforts were no longer in style, so no offers resulted.
ST: Earlier this year you did Ironman Nice and Kona came calling. Were you surprised that it rolled down to your 10:07?
Cecil: I thought it might, as the take up rate in the early age categories was running at about 50%. I think for a lot of French athletes, who do tend to do well there, Nice is already the race and not a qualifying event for Kona. I had hoped to go a bit faster on race day, but for better or worse had a puncture on the bike which probably cost me a sub 10, although it also gave me a forced rest at a point in the race where it was quite welcome.
ST: As you were between jobs you were able to focus on the Kona race. Was that indeed so and did you enjoy training like a Pro?
Cecil: I took about a month easy after Nice, cutting training volume to around half of what it had been in the Nice build up, and going on holiday with the family. I had 6 solid 20 hour average weeks from mid August through late September, which was similar to the training volume I did for Nice. Not training like a Pro, but certainly more than I could expect to do with regular work commitments.
ST: When did you start your current job with the hedge fund?
Cecil: 1st of November. The fund launched 1 April. My former boss recruited me. It is still in start up mode and its quite exciting to be involved in it.
ST: When you arrived in Kona, how did you find it?
Cecil: Unique! We arrived on the Friday before and Race hype was fully on. There are just so many fit people out on the roads, and it is always a buzz spotting one of the current or former Pros out and about. I did a few rides and runs and also the swim course the Saturday before. Plus the island is just an amazing place anyway, especially for someone who has never been before. My wife and 3 kids all came along and we got involved in the pre-race events. The kids did the dip and dash, and we all did the underpants run. Fun!
I also got to carry the SA flag during the parade of nations. Although I knew more of the Swiss athletes, who were the next nation in the parade!
ST: Did your family enjoy the experience?
Cecil: They did. In addition to getting involved in the pre-race events, we also a good week in Kona after the race, to see the sights. It’s a great place to take kids, with the volcanoes, and beaches etc.
ST: What was your goal for the race?
Cecil: After qualifying my initial thoughts were to just go to Kona and participate, and basically soak up the experience as far as possible. Recovery from Nice, and training went well and I changed my mindset about 8 weeks out and decided to give it a proper go. Hoping to do a time similar to what I had done in qualifying.
ST: Your bib in Kona was 1000. Did you like having a distinctive number?
Cecil: That was fun. Quite a few extra cheers because of the number and a few good chirps. Best one was – “there are a few too many zero’s on the end”. Also you picked me for the Random Age grouper interview because of it as I recall.
ST: That is indeed so. As the race approached were you nervous?
Cecil: No more than usual. If anything I had lulled myself into a false sense of security through some of the training I did after arriving. The day after I arrived I did the organized 3.8k swim in a 1:20. I had forgotten my swim goggles, got totally chaffed up from not applying body glide and had to stop swimming on the way back from a bout of nausea after swallowing a bit too much sea water. I figured if I got a 1:20 after that experience I was easily set for a 1:10 on race day. Wrong - or at least a 1:20 if everything went horribly wrong on race day. That afternoon we drove out to Hawi – no wind! On the Sunday I did a 90km ride out and back on the Queen K and It felt like a tail wind in both directions. So was really feeling good, and hadn’t experienced first had any of the notorious winds. It would probably have been better if I’d had a better taste of the winds beforehand!
ST: My wife always jokes she feels very much out of shape when she is there because of all the super fit folks on the Big Island. Did you feel that way too, or are you not so concerned about others?
Cecil: My wife and I were sharing similar conversations.
ST: I think your described your Kona experience as being fantastic, but the race itself did not go as you wanted. Can you talk about it?
Cecil: Sure. The first half of swim went really well. It didn’t feel as crowded as at Nice, and I got to the turnaround in around in 34 minutes. On the way back things fell apart though, again I started to feel nausea, and somehow managed to swim a few hundred meters further on the way back than I had on the way there, so ended up with the same time as in the warm up swim.
The bike started with some favorable tail winds so I had a strong pace on the bike in the first hour, winds then changed to cross/head and at around 70km my back tightened up and my pace dropped. The climb to Hawi was a slog into the wind, ride back to Kona went a bit better as my back loosened up again, but by then I was well off my worst case target pace. About 50km from home I started to cramp up so was forced to back off again.
The first half of the run went ok. I had a decent rhythm and was running 4:30 to 4;45 min per km which felt good. Once I got onto Queen K the Fatigue started to set in, and pace dropped off to around 6 min a km. I started walking all the aid stations. I had some good company from an Australian for a while around 25 to 30 km and that helped a lot.
ST: How did you feel when you approached the finish?
Cecil: Very happy to be finished. Physically I was exhausted – there was none of the 2nd wind effect I’ve had at other IM races I’ve done.
ST: Did you see your family there?
Cecil: They were a few meters before the finish line, waiting patiently! As it took me quite a while to get back to Kona. They had last seen me at the turn around on Ali drive about 8 km into the run, when I was running a bit faster.
ST: Now that you have raced in Kona, is that bucket list item checked off or do you want more?
Cecil: Yes and No. I think I could do better there, so there is a feeling of “unfinished business” on the other hand it’s a massive undertaking to prepare for 2 ironmen in one year, where one of them is half way around the world. So the most likely scenario is that I won’t do Kona again.
ST: Is there anything else we should know?
Cecil: I love the slowtwitch website!
