Ironman Australia - TriathlonFull Ironman

Please be upstanding for the national anthem .... WTF, I'm treading water ..."Bang", off we go ...ohh, ohh start the watch. Holy crap, it's an arm, body, leg fest with more rubber than a bondage warehouse. Settled into a pretty good rhythm, got some clean water (everyone went wide - so I stuck close to the bouys). Swam well and exited the water right on schedule (was hoping for 1.07 - 1.10) - so far the day was going great :)

with the prep and training I had done, nothing. I swam well, didn't go anareobic, wasn't too phased by the sea of bodies, thrashing arms and kicking legs.
Next year I would like to get some especific squad lessons and swim probably 8 to 10mins faster ..... shit ... what did I just say ....next year ..lol

head spin city. I didn't fall over (which I was pretty worried about)
Wetty off,shoes on, helmet on, gu's and food in the back pocket, suncreen ..... check got it all.

T1 was good. Somehow I saw a local guy and had a quick chat. That was pretty cool to take your mind of the next 6hrs or so on a bike seat

Light southerly had sprung up early so the first lap out into the breeze wasn't too bad. On the way back from the turn around you just hammered along at 40+ kph, then you hit the hills on the way back into town and the tail wind didn't offer any assistance. 1st lap done in 1.50, feeling pretty good. Nutrition was going well - 2 banana's a few gu's and a powerbar, water and gatorade aswell. Lap 2 - still powering out and the breeze was now a light wind with occasional gusts which made for a few hairy moments with the tri spoke Hed wheels as I hadn't had too much time on them and wasn't totally used to them. Nutritions was Ok, a few gu's, 3/4's of a powerbar (dropped the last bit of it) and water and gatorade liberally. Coming back to town with the wind was a good semi-rest so I didn't try to push hard, I just wanted to make sure I ate and had enough for the ride back out again and to conserve the back as it was starting to ache and I knew it would give me hell on the next lap. 2nd Lap done in 1.53 so I thought it was pretty consistent and I was very happy with that. Lap 3 and the wind had picked up to quite a stiff wind. Tried to stay focused and spin out along the flats in the headwind. Struggled to eat but forced myself to have another banana and 2 gu's. Took cola for the first time as well, which was such a great change from gatorade. Back was starting to give me some issues and by the time I got out to the turn around the strain of a different bike position had obviously taken it toll and my back was tight and very very sore but the worst fear was that I could feel the inside of my right thigh begining to cramp --- crap and I still have 30k's to ride and a Marry to run :(. Anyway, I think this menatly played havoc with my mind and I didn't eat much (well I couldn't eat because the saying of what goes down at 30k's may not go down at 150k's is crap because I trained hard on nutrition and the saying should be. What goes down at 150k's in training my not necessarily go down at 150k's on race day --- well that's how it was for me anyway).
I was just glad to get back to T2 and lap 3 done and dusted in 2.03. alittle slower than anticipated but still stoked to have a 5.49 ride.

Ride was good all things considered. The amount I had trained basically equals or reflects what my time I rode on race day. Nutrition and bike setup are two thing that need much more time spent on. But with only having 2 weeks and a longest ride of 60k's on the new bike I couldn't have expected anything more than what i got on race day.

aaahhhhhh, off the bike and into the change tent. I didn't change my tri suit all day, I had trained in it and was confident it would hold up and not give me any issues if I wore it all day, and I was right. It went the whole distance without a problen at all.
Sat down, helmet off, hat on, bent down to take shoes off and put the runners on and "WHAMO", thanks for coming to cramp city. sat back up and it subsided. Eventually go the shoes on and was busting for a pee (which by the way I had been holding on for most of the 3rd lap of the bike). Jogged out of the tent, hit the porter loo and did the biggest wee yet and it was conerntrated so I was sure I wasn't dehydrated (made me feel heap good). Grabbed a gu and got some sunscreen on and got passed a gatorade ... what a relief, a new flavour :).


nothing ... I was happy with the whole T2 deal.

42.2km's --- hhhhmmmm, never run that far before, wonder how it's going to go. Oh well, let's find out.
First part was OK, flat, got a rhythm, ran the aid stations and the back was pretty good ( considering it was killing when I got off the bike). 12k's down and I hit the hills ... and the wall :(. Had to start walking the aid stations, tried not to walk the hills (but would again pay for that later in the run). 2nd lap of the run and nothing would go down other than coke and gatorade so I didn't eat :( .. again paid for that mistake. Walked every aid station on the 2nd lap and basically all the up hills as well. Probably lost 15mins out of this. Fatigue and exhaution was starting to kick in but mentally I was still OK (I thought anyway ... because my wife later told me that she was standing on the breakwall when I was heading back out on my 2nd lap - she said she was yelling and I looked over and kept running ... I deny all knowledge of the incident :0 ....)

I think the lack of extended long runs and nutrition on long runs showed. Again, the training I had done reflects the performance on the day.
Longer runs, bigger bricks off the bike and eating on my runs will definitely prepare me better for next time.

Ha, ha, ha ....pssfftttt warm down procedure my butt. It was survival at most. If I had a video of me trying to get out of my tri suit and into shorts, jumper and put comfy shoes ... I deadset would have won funniest home videos.
Got my shirt and towel, a big bowl of icecream, a bottle of blue gatorade (anything but orange or lime :)) and just sat and contemplated the past 11 hrs. It took me 30 mins to get out of the finishers tent and get back to the crowd.


Performance on the day was mainly hampered by my obvious lack of experience over this distance (but that is to be expected seeing as thoutgh it was my first time :)). Nutrition issues late in the bike and again on most of the run probably lost me over 15mins. Cramping was a bit of an issue but probably didn't effect the overall performance greatly.


What a race, what a day, what an experience, what a way to spend 11hrs. It was an extremely enlightening event. I learnt so much about my endurance, mind control, pain and raw emotions. I thank my wife and family for the support and all the 4am start, the encouragement throughout the whole day and definitely the support over the 48hrs post race.
Will I do it again .... yep. It was just an total package, the knowledge I can do it, I've done it and I survived. It was no where near the best thing I have ever done (that will always be reserved for my wedding day and the birth of our daughter) but was still an awesome experience that comes totally recommended by me :)