2 Poles, 7 Summits, 13 Ironman's and 196 Countries

Ironman European Championship - Frankfurt, Germany 🇩🇪 The morning did not start well, I was up shortly before the alarm went of at 4:00am, stretched and spoke to Elle, who was supportive till she joked see you four hours. This played on my mind as with sore knees I was concerned about finishing the bike. A bee then flew through the window. It was a big hairy buzzing bee 🐝and it landed in my tri gear.   Food and everything ready I was out at 4:30am and at the bus 10mins later and on the way to the swim start.   All went well there, the early rising sun made things seem less difficult. Tyres pumped, nutrition in, checkin in Street Bag and I was done. Down by the river I sat, ate and banana and wondered where all the other athletes were. Seemed they must have been still fiddling. Still about 45mins to go, maybe I came to early. Checkin closed and the Athletes started coming down. All 3000 odd of them. I went for a small warm up swim, tried to stomach a gel and t...

Ironman Asia Pacific Championship - Cairns, Australia 🇦🇺 Woke up 4:00 and tossed round till 4:30. Today is the day, of we go again. Ironman Cairns begins. Stretch, breakfast, pack, water and a walk to the bus. 5:30 on the bus to Palm Cove. Mark and I chatted on the way in, all was going smoothly. 35mins and we arrived. Into the transition and all went well for both of us, tyres pumped, nutrition in and wetsuit on. Down by the beach we stretched, ate the last of the food, banana and dates and watched the sunrise over the beach. SWIM The water was brown and there were strong waves. The 70.3 started, the commentator announced it was time to start, into the pens, nerves built, the pros soon started. Ten minutes later, 7:45 we began, a single file start, a few minutes later and I was off. Running into the water I dived into the murky depth and began swimming over the waves. It was a tough swim, being pushed around by the waves, sighting was difficult. Tried for the small m...

Ironman Africa Championship - South Africa  2017  🇿🇦 Woke just before 4:30 myself, before the alarms and with 8 hours sleep. Began the ritual, worried about my stomach, I was in the bathroom twice, had porridge, dressed, sun cream, chaffing cream, wetsuit, chip. Bottles in the freezer. Everything was going to plan. 5:00 out the door, walked to the start about 15mins, all was good there, special needs in, bike computer was on, wheels were still inflated. Bottles.....where are my bottles? They are in the freezer.....still time I walked back home and picked up the bottles from the freezer. Walked back again, put them on the bike and was set. Toilet break, wetsuit on and down by the beach for a stretch. No queues anywhere, the organisation is amazing. The atmosphere was electric as African dancers and cheerleaders sang and danced, the sun slowly rose behind them and the ocean came to life. Swim Into the pen, I went for under an hour, seems impossible but I did not ...

Ironman Taiwan 🇹🇼 Waking up at 4:00am we were fed dressed and downstairs and on the bus in 30mins. It was the pro bus we caught and there was a French guy living in Perth who had a bit to share about drafting from the Canadian two seats down that he blames for costing him his prize money. He told of the tough life of pros, having to pay there own way and race for the prize money. US$8k for a win. Checked in and it was down to the beach, a quick swim and soon the pros were of, then the woman, followed by us. A rolling start into the ocean, it was beautiful clear water, over the waves and out into the ocean. The current was not too strong, it seemed to push at across the 600 meter top of the T swim and was against coming in. Two laps and all went well. Onto the bike and I was moving well at 31km/h, eating well every 10mins, then my stomach started churning and consuming food became harder. The water bottles were only half full from the drink stops and the lids fell off. I be...

Ironman Port Macquarie, Australia 🇦🇺   Woke up at 4:30 stretched, ate, visit to the boys room and it was soon 5:00, Graham was waiting outside with another friend and we were off. Still dark we walked to transition where I did the last of the packing, in with the nutrition. The tires were still inflated which made me happy, the money spent on redoing them seems to of been well spent. To the swim start where a long queue for the toilets was well worth the wait. The rolling swim start began at 6:38. In the second wave I skipped over to the first, walked down to the ramp and was off. The water was warmer than I expected, though could not see much as sand was churned up from the swimmers. Out between the boats I was conscious of keeping with the group, drafting and staying on course. Success was mixed but it was not too bad.   Turning at what I dreamed of being the half way point was a dog leg into the next stage, shortly after it was a walk over a bridge, into a...