Epic Fail!

Well, as the title says....I am not an Iron Man :-(

Why, I had to pull out due to mechanical failure at about the 120km on the bike! Jesus, of all the things that were out of my control....mechanical was pretty much the only thing that would stop me after the weather was fine (hot but fine). At the 84km mark on the bike, I changed my gear from the large chain ring to the small one, and during that process the deraillier got entangled in my spokes and snapped off, leaving me stranded! I waited for the Shimano team guys to come for about an hour, they then made my bike a 'single' gear bike, which was fine because it meant I was still going, albeit now on plan C - just finish! Well, 5kms down the road, the cassette at the  back was pretty much stripped of its threads, so as soon as  applied pressure on the peddles, the cogs spun, but the wheel did not. So, I ran / walked about 6kms back to Lake Cathie (23km out of town I think) and waited again for the Shimano guys to come. 30mins later, they swapped my wheel out for a spare they had, I was still running a 'single speed', but I was on the move again, now over 2 hours since it first broke :-(. Still, I headed back to town, on my very expensive single speed bike, into a head wind, thinking, at least I will still be an Iron Man in 14odd hours at most. I just needed to go for 100km! I got back into Town, and the peddles essentially seized! My day was done! I walked / rolled back to where I thought I would find my family, and had to officially pull out. I nearly shed tears when I explained to them what the problem was. Its so hard telling them you have DNF'd when they have all made such huge sacrifices to be up here to support me. Everyone has sacrificed resources to make this happen for me, and I failed! Jeez its a hard and bitter pill to swallow, and unfortunately, its stuck in my throat! So, no 25th Iron Man medal, or towel, or finishers shirt for me, and 12months of preparation for a DNF!

So, thats the bad news. The good news. Iron Man is awesome! The whole build up to in from Thursday, seeing all the athletes milling around, preparing, discussing and just for the most part being great people. (believe me there are wankers there big time). Checking the bike in, being a part of the breifing, checking in on the morning is fun. Seeing all the competitors checking equipment etc was sensational. I was so nervous, and seeing my family at the swim start was great.

The start.....is unbelievable. Helicopters overhead, the national anthem, the cannon going off and us going for it...over 1500 swimmers! Unbelievable! I came out of the water in 49mins, apparently 7th in my age group, and 30th overall or something, which I am pretty chft with. I swam within myself as I was swimming with a group tucked in behind their feet to make it easier. With about 800m to go, i swam around them as they were slowing substantially, but I was very comfortable. I grabbed the wrong bike bag on my way to the tent, so had probably the slowest transition of the day, but I was having a hoot. I was onto the bike, and did the first 60km lap in about 1.44 (I think) which was a little faster than I thought I would be, but I was in control of my Hear Rate and very comfortable. There was heaps of guys flying past me on the first lap, but interesting enough I was starting to reel a few of them in on the second before disaster struck :-(. The rest is history.

The other guys....sensational efforts all round! I am so pleased for them to have finished in what became tough conditions out there. Hot and windy! Jase, Andrew, Matt, Tim and Jeff, supremem efforts guys, you should be proud of yourselves!

So, I have unfinished business now.....I am not an Iron Man, and unfortunately have to wait probably at the least 8months to try again, more like 12.Maybe Busso in WA, or I am thinking about Taupo in NZ in 2011. Regardless, that additional time on the bike in training will only prepare me better, and maybe, just maybe my bike will be repaired and running.....lets hope they replace the gear for free as a 1month old bike should not do that!!

Thanks to everyone who has read this blog over the past year, and for all the messages of support during that time, this essentially is the last blog. I am sorry it could not have been better news, and more exciting, but thats Iron Man, its a long day, and you cannot plan for everything...she dealt me a bad hand this time, but I aint defeated just yet.....

Over and out (one very devastated Iron Man wannabe!!)

Final Night before I pop my Iron Man Cherry!

Being considered a virgin again, and having this virginity status celebrated again by hundreds of my fellow competitors has been great! At the Carbo Loading party last night and again at this mornings race briefing all us 'virgins' were applauded by those who have been through this battle before. It was awesome to see what 1500 odd mostly very fit looking people looks like in a tent, all raring to go, most looking nervous or apprehensive about what is in store for us tomorrow. I am sure most are preying that their day just goes smoothly, no issues at the start of the swim, no punctures or cramping, and probably, have been keeping an eye on the weather as its gonna be a hot one tomorrow! 1500 crazy buggers (and buggeress's) are also I should point out be competing to perform some sort of disaster in the porta loo's tomorrow morning...the combination of all the nutritional aids and drinks consumed in the past 48hrs.....yumbo! Jeez I hope I am done and dusted in regards to that activity before I have to use those ablutions!

Anyway, I just thought I would let you all know, the past few days in Port have been great. I have done a few very easy sessions, loved watching all the posers out there, strutting their stuff, watching all the guys hammer themselves at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, in +30'c degrees 2 days before....what are you thinking you muppits!!


We have been lucky enough to have great weather, a bit hot, but pretty good. As I said its going to be very hot on the run course tomorrow, so fluid is critical.....

Its been great to have all the guys up here safely, and it was good to ride with them all this morning.
Its been great to have Rollo here, to keep an eye on us, and to no doubt provide feedback along the way...mate, tell it like it is okay!!

Its obviously awesome to have my wife and kids here, and of course my mom over from the UK! Just the rest of the family are missing, and boy it would be good to have the rest of the maaaaaaaaates to!

As I said before, to follow me live on the web (its not video but it does update my times and distances as the race goes on) here is the link :


http://www.ironmanoz.com/ironmanoz/race-day-coverage.htm 


Remember, my number is 687

Also, below is the list of the guys whom I have trained with over the past year, and have been nothing short of sensational training partners, they have become really good mates and I am so chuft to be sharing this experience with them (Vlad is not in the below list as he is not doing it, but soon mate..soon!!)

Andrew M : 946
Jase F : 519
Matty P : 1111
Tim F : 524
Jeff A : 48

Best of luck lads, its been truly great to have you as training partners along the way!

So, tomorrow is the day I will become an Iron Man, I cant believe its been 12months of training, rain, freezing or hot conditions, but its been awesome. Thanks to everyone that has messaged and called me to wish me luck, its been unbelievable to receive all the good luck and well wishes today, really, I am so grateful for all your support, and of course for you following my weekly blog.

So, tomorrow I will finish this jounrney, I will have evolved from a Fat Bastard to an Iron Man, and I shall certinaly provide you all with the details on Monday!!

Until then, enjoy!

Hi ho, hi ho its off to Port we go!

With a smirk on my face, very very excited, quite relaxed at the moment, and just really chomping at the bit to get there, take in the atmosphere first and enjoy the lead up. I have not been stressing as much as I thought I would be to be honest. I honestly thought I would be far more stressed by now, but for some strange reason I am not. Not yet anyway. probably when I get to Port later this coming week and see all the other crazy buggers, all tanned up, posing with their bike bling and shaved legs! My legs are remaining hairy for this event. Michelle drew the line on that particular form of self improvement. I think I will be one of less than 10 who have hairy non shaved legs. Hair or no hair, I am gonna be out there loving it, hurting a fair bit, probably hating it at times, but its gonna be awesome! Jase, Andrew and Matt seem to be doing well to, a few nerves here and there, but I think as a group we are pretty god to go, very excited for each other, and just keen to get to the start now. The taper is really hard. Its hard to understand how an 'easy' week in terms of training can be hard, but it is. We are not doing anything stressful, all the sets have been short, and its really just waiting....very frustrating! YOu start to feel the odd creek and niggle in the joints, every little pinch or sniff makes me concerned, and even the ride yesterday, the focus was completely on survival! Making sure I (we) came through the set all good was the priority, which we did so that was good!

So the past week has been pretty good. I collected my mom from the airport on Friday, got through all the sets with relative ease, have not stressed myself out too much, and was on the end of some serious generosity from a chap I met who has lent me some race wheels. So, its been pretty good I must say. Its been very very busy to which is probably why i have not stressed so much about the race just yet. I only have 2 days at work this week, I wish I had taken these 2 days off as well to be honest, just so I can relax, do what I need do in terms of training and preparation, and just generally kick back. Ah well, next time......(there will be I am sure!)

The sets for the week were as follows :

Swim : 7.5km (3hrs)
Run : 51km (5hrs)
Bike : 135km + 45mins TT (5hrs)
Total : 13hrs (I think)

So not bad, pretty solid week for a taper, lots of fun and now really excited to almost be there.

I think I will post a few small blogs during the leadt up to Sunday, just to keep you in the loop as to how I am going, how the other guys are going, some of the sites and the atmosphere in Port Macquarie itself.


Until Thursday.....

Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?

The answer is not quite, but....as of today, we have pretty much wound up our training and preparation. Although I still have a pretty busy week in terms of training, its really just some shortish sharpish sessions, just to keep the legs and arms turning over. The prep in terms of fitness is done. The strenght training is done, there is nothing more I can do in the next 2weeks thats going to make me any fitter. The one thing I (and the other blokes doing) is to stay safe, and keep thinking about how we are going to race, what we are going to do, and preparing for th trip and the day. FUN! Its actually unblievable that there is only 2 weeks to go. During todays run with Jase and Andrew, we kept reminding each other that we would be either warming up, or in the water, or on the bike, still on the bike etc. It was a crazy thought to consider, we had just run 20km, and had another 22km to go if that was the race.....jeez! The funny thing was I went to a mates house this afternoon to give me hand with my car, and when I was leaving he asked when the race was...i was told him 2 weeks, and then realised, I would still be going at 4pmish....man, I had already run, swum in the ocean, gone to Erina to get lunch, gone to buy bulbs for the car, home agian, and then out to his place, and to think, I will still be out there at that time in 2 weeks time....crazy! It will be interesting to listen to what my family get up to whilst I race, its a tough day out there for them to I reckon. Lets hope I dont keep them waiting too long huh! The 2 drivers for me....family and beer....it was a close run thing, but definately the family at the finish line cheering me through would be sensational! Family with beers in hand............whoa!!
Come to think of it, I dont think I will want beer, in fact I know I wont. not for a few hours afterwards anyway. Beer has not even crossed my mind after any race, so thats just nonsense talk from me. I will probably hunt down coke and fruit salad and ice-cream....hhmm!
My mom arrives this Friday after much stressing about her passport being delivered in time with the visa. It seems a long time ago that she said if I was to do the Iron Man she would come over....and now I am going to pick her up in 5 days.....awesome. Its just a pity dad could not come over, but maybe next time. I am actually happier that she will get to see my kids than the race, but having her there is great. I am very grateful for the sacrifice she has made to come over. This race really is not just about the person racing. Everyone around them sacrifices something in some way....thats why I will celebrate my finish with them when I go down that chute.....man thats gonna be fun and emotional!


So this past week was supposed to in my thoughts be lighter, however it worked out to be pretty heavy going, pretty hard to finish all the sets, and involved me getting little sleep! I had to pick up kids and take to preschool on thursday and friday which meant all my sets had to be shuffted in order to fit everything in. It meant I was up at 2.45am on Tuesday to take the car to sydney for service, and then ride for 3hrs, it meant my wednesday I was riding by 4.45am in sydney, and again running by 5.30 on Thursday. Saturday our long ride started at 5am from jases, and the run this morning 5.15! Man those are some very early starts! The hjighlight of the week though was yesterdays long ride / run. The set was only 125km with 8km run off the bike, but cast your mimd back to last week and remember how I felt, terrible headache, very weak, feeling terrible all round because of poor hydration. This week, I was much better. I still think I need to consume about 1liter per hour instead of the 600mls or so, but I felt 200R% better than last week, and, I was able to run off the bike keeping my heart rate in the 140's at sub 5min pace easily (last week at slower pace it was in the 160's - it was though much hotter.) Regardless, I felt a heap better, and it gave me more confidence that I am able to control my race. I will have to watch myself on the bike. I had race pace sets again, and I was keeping my heart rate in the 130's, which is quite low, but I felt my legs were not strong enough to sustain that sort of speed. Hopefully I will remember that on the day. On Friday, I swam a bit with Matt (hurray he is able to swim), and I pulled the pin at 1800m. Thats a first. It was weird, i just could not breath....I could not suck in enough air each breath, so I was stressed I was coming down with something. I could still feel the tighness on the ride on Saturday, but nothing today, so thats good. I did though get up this morning feeling pretty snuffed, so will take something for that.

The totals for the week are :

Swim : 6.5km 3hrs
Run : 65kms 7hrs
Bike : 230km + 45mins TT : 9hrs
Total : 19hrs

Thats a pretty big week for me, and much bigger than I expected 3 weeks out. I do however feel a lot better for it, more prepared, and pretty excited to be counting down the days now. Its good to know there is a heap of blokes going up to support us all doing it. Rollo, Eddie and his family, Matts wife anne, Allen ALM Peasro, Smithy to name a few....its awesome! Many thanks to all of the people making it up there to support.

The count down is really one now, I am truly excited to finally really know that the end is right there, not long at all now!!

Timely Reallity Check!

Yesterday was our last long ride (by long I mean more than 120km), and the last time I could test my nutrition for the race. I have switched my nutriotion plan from taking solids on the bike to using Hammer Perpeteum. I decided this last week after seeing the product at Huskisson, and then talking to Jeffinator about his experience with it. Anbyway, the stuff certainly works, so I suggested Jase tries it as well, as he has concerns about his nutrition during the race. So yesterday was his fist test of it. With Perpetuem you dont need to take any solids on the bike...crazy huh, but you dont. We weent pretty much 6hrs yesterday on the bike, including 5 x 15km race efforts, and had no food or Gels for the entire ride...sensational. Its so important to sort out what you can control for this race....nutrition is one of those most critical, and to now have a plan I am confident with is great. The only thing, and this is the going back to the title of this blog is making sure you get enough nutrition and fluids into you during the race. I got the nutrition right, but the fluid intake wrong, and by the 5th race effort (about 145km) I was starting to feel it. I had a slight headache which got worse over the next 25km, and by the time we began our run off the bike my head was thumping, I was thirsty as hell, and hot! My heart rate was through the roof and I could not bring it down, if this happened during the race I would have had to walk to bring it back under control! So, I am going to have to remember to drink enough fluids, and stay hydrated right from the word go. Its also important (as AndrewM rightly pointed out) to ensure my days before the race are used as prep to. I told Rollo about this, and he agreed about the dehyrdation factor taking its toll, but its also comforting to know that he understands that the volume of training we have done over the past few weeks does play a part, and of course we will be ready and tapered on race day. Its so good having a good coach to provide you with the training required, and who without fail is there with good feedback and advice.....sensational!

So apart from what really was a great session with Jase and Andrew yesterday, this past week has been great fun. I again struggled for motivation with the swims, but as long as I can maintain my fitness levels with that over the next few weeks thats good enough. I did a brick session with Matt on Tuesday before he choofed off to China, he is still struggling a bit from his fall, and has not been able to swim or run since (3 weeks) so i hope the time away heals his ribs and he is able to use the last 3 weeks to somewhat prepare. Not ideal, but to have him out there with Andrew, Jase, Jeff and Tim would be great. Just one person missing really - Vlad! Come on son, late entry!!! Speaking of the race (yes again), our numbers have been released. I am jealous, Matt has been given a cracking number (sorry matt hope you dont mind) : 1111 - hows that! If you are interested in following the race live on the internet, you can through the following :  Athlete Tracker  

(http://www.ironmanoz.com/ironmanoz/race-day-coverage.htm)
I'll post the link again just before race day with the rest of the guys race numbers (mine is 687 by the way!)

Wednesday I had a really tough turbo trainer session which got the blood really pumping, and then ran a solid 25km with Jase on Thursday. I kept my heart rate low for that which was good.

So this week coming is the last of the solid weeks before the race, the last 2 are full taper. Its so strange to think that I have been training solidly for this for so long now (nearly 12months), and to think its all done in 3 weeks.....

So this weeks totals :

Swim : 6.5km (2.5hours)
Cycle : 280km (9.5hrs)
Run : 55km (4.5hrs)
Total : 16.5hrs

Until next week!