Cairns Challenge - TriathlonFull Ironman

Nothing like swimming 3.8km with about 600 other people to start your Sunday morning!!!

The swim course was like a giant 'M' shape, meaning there was lots of right angles, lots of turning, and a fair bit of biff in general. I copped a couple of hits to the goggles causing a partial dislodgement, and also managed to suck down a couple of delicious mouthfuls of the salty brew.

With regards to my performance I am incredibly happy. The swim was my biggest concern by far and I managed to do a time better than I could have possibly imagined - partially due to having a good wetsuit, partially due to some last minute stroke technique refining, and partial due to staying chilled, calm and managing to sit on some other peoples feet for a little while.

Not a damn thing.

Ran in, felt excited. bikebikebikebikebike!

I thought I put sunscreen on everywhere, but I missed two small areas on my bike under my shoulders. They are now red as a bastard. So I would put suncreen on them.

Had a great first 60-odd km's until the first turn-around and then there was a bit of a shite section (very gradual incline on chip-seal road into the wind) before turning around once or twice more.

I didn't expect a cracking time and was aiming for around 6hrs, and ended up doing a touch over that (although they told us at the pre-race briefing that the course had been extended out by 3 or 4kms, so if it wasn't for that I would have just clipped the 6hr mark I think).

The bit I enjoyed the most was definitely the uphills: I'm more than happy to get out of the saddle and climb, and although many many many people passed me on the flat sections there was no-one that passed me on any of the hills!

The last 30 or 40kms were pure torture. My lower back was starting to really feel it and my power output was just declining. The sun was well and truly pounding down and I was sucking back a heap of electrolyte but I was just getting over it.

My legs just need more long rides in them, it is that simple.

And I would steal someone's Zipp 808's next time before the race as well.

Getting off the bike was bliss!

I got in to transition and took 30sec to lie on the ground and crack my back. It felt glorious.

Be damn sure to reach around and get some sunscreen on those two areas under my shoulders that I missed!!

Coming out of T2 I felt glorious. In my run bag at T2 I had a snickers and bag of salted peanuts, and over the first km as I ate that it not only tasted great but really lifted my spirits. Plus the saltiness of the nuts was awesome after having so much sweet bars/gels on the bike.

It was bloody hot by this point, with no shade. I ran the first 4 or 5 kms really strongly and had to keep telling myself to chill it out and not die by halfway through the run. My strongest marathon prior to this was 3hrs 22mins, but I knew that with the conditions (not to mention the preceeding swim and ride) that any time under 4 1/2 hrs would be enough to satisfy me.

As I kept going I hit about the 7km mark and decided 'right, at the 10km mark I'm going to walk for a little bit', as at that point I'd only walked the aid stations, which were located about every 2km. However at that moment a fellow athlete who I'd passed a few times on the bike (typically on the uphills) and he'd in turn re-passed me (on the flats) caught up to me.

All I can say to him (Mark) is thanks. We got to chatting a little as we jogged along and with his encouragement/support I jogged to the halfway point before saying rightio, I'm now putting a run-walk plan into action to be sure I can finish strong.

So from that point on my strategy was to walk the aid stations and every time I hit a distance marker (which was every two kilometres) I would walk 100 paces, and the jog until the next distance marker. Every time I started jogging I knew I had less than 2km to run, and I knew that at the very least I could jog a couple of kay's.

As I got to the 42km mark, which said 'only 200m to go!' I decided I didn't need to walk that one... so I kept on jogging and as I turned into the red carpet finishing stretch with the crowd on either side and the big digital clock saying I was at 11hrs 35mins (which was the pro times, who started 10mins before us AG'ers putting my time at 11hrs 25mins) I was absolutely f*cking ecstatic!!!

To be honest not too much. Maybe refine my hydration/salt intake strategy a bit more: I didn't get any cramps but I felt a couple coming on just before I started walking a bit at the half-way point. Once again, considering my training schedule and goal (to do a sub 13hr race) I was very bloody happy.

Wow. I felt more crap than I could put in to words for that first 5 or 10 mins once I stopped moving. I passed on all the food options and went and sat down in the massage tent, and my GF came from nowhere and met me which was great. We chatted for a minute before she got kicked out of the tent, and then I spent the next 15-20min moving on in the massage line, talking to other competitors about the course.

By the time I had my massage I was feeling alright, my legs were ok although my stomach wasn't exactly great. I ate a little, then went and got my shirt + certificate and headed out to my mates.

The first thing they did for me was get me a beer, then I had a shower and by then was feeling pretty good. So it was time for pizza and more beers before heading back to the finish line and seeing a couple of the late-finishers come across the line, which was great.

I don't remember much of the conversations I had in the recovery tent, except talking with someone about how I am never doing an IM again. He laughed and said that is exactly how he felt immediately after his first one, but by the next day he was already thinking about when he could do his next one.

I've gotta say - I'm 48hrs past my first race and like him, am already planning when I can do my second.


The fact that there are times when life, work and family need to come before training, especially when this is just a hobby and not a career.


I have no other IM distance to compare it to, but the organisation, events, celebrations and volunteers here were incredible.