Ironman Asia Pacific Championship - Melbourne, Australia 2012 🇦🇺

🇦🇺

25th March
It begins.  4:00am the alarm goes of and as quietly as possible I leave the bedroom, as not to wake Orlando or Elle.  Though I am quite sure I have.  Breakfast was porridge and a banana. Last preparations though most were already done. With almost no cold weather gear, so hard to pack for cold from Singapore a small jumper is all I brought, I wore my wet-suit with my only jumper on top.

At about 4:45am the knock came on the door, it was my brothers, Jonathan and Chris, it was time to go.  The slow walk down to the St Kilda foreshore, we discussed how we all slept, I had slept quite well all things considered, Chris  dreamt that he had already done the race, finishing but unhappy with the time.  We all laughed how nice it would be to have already finished, the butterflies gone replaced by the high of accomplishment.  But that was not the case, there was a long day ahead.

The buses were lined up at the foreshore, each displaying the Ironman sign.  There was no queue and we on the bus and shortly on our way.  It was a silent ride, everyone once again lost in there own thoughts.  Arriving at Frankston it was cold and dark, the commentator was building up the race, the music was playing, two hours to race start.

All our gear was set up, tyres pumped, water bottles filled, nutrition in place, stretching, wet suit's on we were ready to go.  Before leaving transition we took advantage of one of the great things of Ironman, going down and chatting to the pro's.  Craig Alexander wore the number one and was surrounded by camera's as he readied his bike.  Wondering down the line we had a chat to a few of the other pro's who mostly seemed relaxed, they all looked fit.
It was lucky we were there early as the transition area filled up quickly and was soon crowded.  Amazingly there was no water to be had, and soon the bathroom queue seemed to go for ever.

Race start was delayed 20 minutes due to low light.  Up on the wharf, we watched as the professionals were introduced.  It was an impressive line up with eight of the top ten finishers from Kona last year in the men's and also a big line up in the women's race.  It was difficult to find a spot, we stood on a lamp post as each athlete was introduced, a huge roar reserved for the Australian's.  Each waded into the water to swim out to the start line.

Swim:

Swim Course Map

It was soon our turn and the hundreds of athlete's slowly began wading into the water.  The sun was still not up, it was cold as we went into the water, but shallow so sticking together we walked out seeing the two huge Ironman buoys about 100 meters from the shore.  Looking at our watches we thought we had plenty of time, still we wished each other luck with hug and began out swim out to the start.

 By the time I was there an air horn sounded and the race began.

Visibility was still really low, I could not find a buoy to swim too, it meant swimming in the general direction with everyone else.  The water was not clear at all, I could not see anything underwater.  Remembering the course map I knew it was about 500 metres to the first buoy.  The first turn when it came was a relief, the sun was a bit higher and I hoped that once I turned a buoy would be visible.  It wasn't.  All I could see was the lights of the short pier, so I picked the last one and began swimming towards it. A long swim, I seemed to be alone for  a period, which was a worry as i was quite sure I was not coming first.  Finding some people I re-aligned, however by following the lights, my only guide, I was soon alone again.

Athletes swimming out

Reaching the pier was great, as that meant I was half way, I was still feeling good, but the struggle for direction and something to sight was what was creating difficulty and I am sure making me zig zag through the course.  Past the wharf I was quite excited to spot a yellow and red buoy, I swam towards it for about 500 metres and as I closed in was a little disappointed to find that I had been swimming towards a life saver.  Damn.

The Peir

Continuing to what I thought was the next buoy and trying to stay close to the group it was not long before I reached the final two turning points and was heading back towards the wharf.  The water cleared up and the current was with me on the way back so this part of the swim was great, not to mention the psychological boost of knowing the end was near.  I felt really good, knowing I could keep swimming, the training had paid off.  At about 1hour 13mins exiting the water, I ran up the chute towards transition looking for Elle or the family, unfortunately I could not see them, I hoped they had no trouble making it down.  Into the tent, wet-suit of, cycling shoes, helmet on and out to the bike.  Time for the second leg.

Transition into the Bike

Bike:

Through the transition and onto the bike.  A little cold it was good to be moving.  There was five to six hours of riding ahead of me, the road was nice and smooth and quickly I built my speed up to 30km/h and was down on the aero-bars. There were large groups riding together, bordering on drafting, staying with a group was a good start.  Interestingly I was soon in an argument with a guy, let's call him x, who was saying I was drafting......I was but not off him and worrying about himself would be a better option.

Riding out of the tunnel

Going out on the highway was a little repetitive as the scrub on the side rolled pass, some bridges above, the highlight was flying down a hill at the end and into a tunnel, quite spectacular, a good feeling.  The pro's rode past about halfway through my first lap.

Bike Course

The way back was great, even though it seemed flat, it must have been slightly downhill or the wind was behind.  The 30km/h was soon 40km/h, fantastic!  I saw Jonathan and Chris, they looked good and were riding happily together.

Into the town and the crowds cheered, soon I saw mum, the family and Elle, a huge boost for a few minutes before going back out.

Second lap was similar with no hiccups, Mr X came back, he had been penalised for drafting by the officials and served a 10 minute time penalty.  Absolutely hilarious.  It seemed the marshals were serious about drafting and my good friend found out about where to focus on the bike.  Well done Mr X..

The rest of the bike went pretty well, I felt good and came in under 5:40hr, that was already an hour quick than my bike in Busselton.  Best ride yet.

Run:

Run Course

It felt great to be on the run, Elle and Orlando were the first people I saw, then mum and Emma.  I felt really good, fast and strong, along the boardwalk, back and then down the paths and onto the road.  Plenty of people out to run with and even have a chat too.  Was under 11 hours possible?...maybe.

10km in and things started to go south as the course moved onto the road.  The road had a slight slant which soon started to play havoc on my feet, things were becoming hard, pain shooting up my feet and into the leg. I tried moving from the road and onto the footpath and the grass to lessen the impact.  It was better but not great, dodging trees and garbage bins was not good for the time either.

Each of the party points were good, though now I was walking the drink stations.  It took till the course moved onto the track and down by the beach before things improved, some spring back in my step, but hard work none the less.  A small hill really struck my muscles as I felt the shutter of tightness.

Orlando in his support gear with Emma

Things were soon in a weary zone as the km crept away and I played the mental games with myself on how much further I could go, where would I run to before I walked or if a nap on the side of course would be acceptable.  Drink stops, distance signs each slowly past as I did my best to keep on running.

At about 35km I could see the finish, a chute opened up and a couple of km later I could here the noise from the finish, I was nearly there!  A bit more energy came back and the pace picked up for the last of the km and soon the crowd built up and there was Mum, Emma and Orlando then Elle, cheering and screaming as loud as she could.  I made it!!! An Ironman for the second time.a 4:20 marathon to give me a 11:19 Ironman over an hour quicker than Busselton!

Crossing the Line

Next was some food and drink to recharge, the tent was huge, the recovery looked like a warzone with bodies laid out everywhere.  Though eating was just fantastic.  Soon I was out of the tent, medal round my neck and towel round my shoulders.  Where was Chris and Jonathan?

Looking at the phone, we started to worry as the pace they were doing suddenly dropped of, a 2 hour 10km to 21km, something was wrong.  At that pace they would be another 4 hours.  It would be round the 15 hour mark they would arrive, they had run the whole way, the timing on the course had been wrong.  They crossed the line together with a huge look of accomplishment and relief, three brothers, three Ironmen, a fantastic accomplishment and a great day!