Last Race of the Season

I am currently back home in beautiful New Zealand. It is great to be home, even if it is for a short time after a busy year on the road, training and racing. I have just finished racing the Ironman World Championships 3 weeks ago in Kona, Hawaii. It is the pinnacle event on the triathlon calendar and was my debut on the island.  The conditions out there are like nowhere you would have every experienced. The winds can blow you off your bike and the temperatures hit the mid 40’s with 80% humidity, let’s not forget the sharks!

I had spent the 7 weeks leading up to the event training on the island with the 2007 World Champion Chris “Macca” McCormack. His knowledge was invaluable and we had a great time drilling each other into the ground. I was ready for the race and as prepared as I was going to be. Race day soon rolled around and everything was unfolding great.  I came out of the 3.8km swim in a good position, road the 180km bike well and came off with the main group of guys and then it was off onto the 42km run.  I ran the first half in 7^th place and was on the verge of cracking into the top 5 when my body started to shut down and I started to run backwards. The hydration and nutrition was not going through my body instead it was just sitting in my gut. When I eventually crossed the finish line in 11^th position my whole body had swollen terribly.  All in all I had a great time in the race and learnt a lot that will help me in future years to achieve my goal of being the World Ironman Champion.

2009 has been an interesting year. I started off the season with the New Zealand Ironman down in Taupo. This was my first time racing over this distance. I had a great day and came in Second behind 8 time winner Cameron Brown.  From there I went up to America to get out of our Winter to train and compete. Between April and July I competed in 5 events in the USA (3 firsts, a second and a something else) and another Ironman in Germany which also doubled up as the European Ironman Championships.  The competition in this event was great, probably the second toughest Ironman outside of the World Championships, but the spectators where even more amazing. Hundreds of thousands of people lined the streets and there was seldom a quiet moment out on the course. I ended up having a tough day but still finished 9^th.

A good rest after Germany and I was ready to prepare for the big race in Kona. So after 4 weeks at home I was back on the road and off to the Philippines.  This was one of the highlights of my year.  We were treated like rock stars and the whole event, which was an inaugural event, was put on to a world class standard. The temperatures were a little hotter than the Ironman in Hawaii so it was good preparation. Among the top competitors racing where Cameron Brown and Chris McCormack. I managed to have a great race and come away with the victory.

I have been home for 3 weeks and leave for my final race of the season, the World Half Ironman Championships in Florida. I am returning to the event as defending champion but with the Ironman World Champs being only 5 weeks prior I am a little unsure of my expectations. I will be sure to fill you in on my return.

Regards

World IM Championships - 11th

Hey guys,

What a day! Just a quick update on the race, will have a more detailed one in the next couple days.

It was an amazing day and I loved it from start to about half way through the run, then I started to blow up big time, my pace dropped and every stride was a struggle. Until then I was working my way through the field and had top five within reach. Unfortunately the rest of the guys didn’t struggle home as badly as me and I dropped just outside of the top 10.

It was an unbelievable experience and I learnt a great deal. I left everything out there on the course and when I crossed the line in 11^th Place I was exhausted both physically and mentally. Not to mention the swelling, I looked like an Umpa Lumpa with most of my body swollen up due to my insides shutting down. Thankfully swelling has gone but chaffing and sore muscles are making up for it.

Congratulations to everyone who competed, it was a tough day and just to get through it is a major achievement.

Thanks everyone for the words of support and encouragement.

Already looking forward to next year

Get your engines running

So here we are, 3 days away from the biggest race on the triathlon calendar, The World Ironman Championships, here in Hawaii, Kona. The town has transformed over the past week from a quite, relaxed town with no traffic into a small Triathlon City with hundreds of athletes running up and down Ali’i Drive and cycling along the Queen K Highway… in their lycra and compression socks! I can see the local thinking “what the hell?”

Preparation has gone well over the last 2 months and the last 10 days have been mostly about recovery with a few small hard workouts to keep the engine running. I am fortunate to have one of my massage therapists from New Zealand, Ian McKellar up here with me looking after my body and making sure my muscles are ready to go come Saturday. He assures me my body is in a better place than before IM Germany! My Coach Jon Ackland arrived on the weekend with my folks and Kelly. It is great to have Jon’s help and expertise advice leading into the event and having my folks and Kel fussing over me and making sure I don’t have to worry about anything is the best.

Also a big thanks to Chris “Macca” McCormack for inviting me out to Kona in August to hang out and train. He is a great athlete and top guy who didn’t have to think twice about sharing any information with me.

There are a great number of supporters from back home and around the world coming over to cheer me on so thanks guys. I have also done interviews with TVNZ and TV3 so that should screen sometime this week

You can follow the race at www.ironman.com on Saturday 10^th October, we kick off at 6:45am Hawaii time, which is Sunday at 5:45 in NZ. Hope the coverage is great and you all enjoy it.

Thanks everyone

Kona Camp & Roughwater Swim

Hi,

We are about 3.5 weeks out from the big day and training in Kona has been going great. Chris Macca McCormack has helped a great deal in my preparation and has been showing me the ropes. What to do and what not to do come race day. Hopefully it should cut the amount of learning years down by a couple!

Last weekend we headed over to the main island, Oahu for the infamous Waikiki Roughwater Swim. It is the original swim race that the Ironman was invented from. See, there was and still is a 3.8km open water swim, a 180km around the island bike race and the Honolulu marathon. At a function after the events there where a group of guys debating on whose discipline was the toughest and they decided to throw them all together for the ultimate champion. So there was a lot of history in the event and a large amount of hype as it is world famous. We all crashed at a buddies place, Tim Marr, sleeping on couches and blow up beds was not the ideal pre race routine but we made it to the start line.

I felt like I had a great swim… I did have a great swim. Unfortunately my goal of beating all the girls out the water was not achieved, the first chick passed me at the last buoy and got 20seconds on me. I finished about 10^th in 47 minutes just at the back of a big pack. Just to illustrate the talent of the guys who competed. I am an okay swimmer, I have been brought up in the water, I come out in the front bunch in most triathlons. The young Australian who won was 4 minutes in front of me. That’s 1 minute for every 1 kilometer, that’s 6 seconds per 100 meters. I take my hat off, respect!

I have just finished a big week of training and my tan is coming along nicely. I have a few easy days before a big workout this weekend which will be a good indicator of where I am fitness wise. Macca has left the Island for the mainland for a couple weeks to catch up with his girls… I think he was struggling too much to keep up!!!

One of my training partners from New Zealand, Mark Cross arrives tomorrow. Looking forward to hearing the good old Kiwi accent again.

Will touch base again before the race