Kona delivers again - Looking forward to 2011.

This week brought the end to the current Ironman season, culminating in the race of champions, all of the qualified professional and AG athletes in the greatest racing spectacle in our multi discipline sport.

The 'IRONMAN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS' in Kailua Kona, Hawaii

Congratulations to Chris McCormack and Mirinda Carfrae for their wins.

For anyone that follows triathlon I don't need to elaborate, its triathlon, its the pinnacle, enough said. And what a race this year produced.

For those that want to remind themselves, this is the link to the entire 18 hours of coverage, I have no idea how long the link will be valid but it works as of today. Highlights include -

3h55m into the video is the point where the last swimmer is informed she can't carry on as she has missed the swim cutoff - gutting.

9h11m is the finish for Chris MACCA McCormack, great to see him triumphant again after winning in 2007 and then his mechanical in 2008.

9h57m is the point where the lovely Mirinda Carfrae takes her first world title, awesome result

In light of Chrissie Wellingtons (current world champ) withdrawal on the morning of the race Mirinda will always be questioned by the press regarding the question, 'would she or wouldn't she have won if Chrissie had raced ?' who knows, thats not the point, she won an awesome race, on the given day, put in a great run again and deserves every accolade a true champion should, well done the Aussies, made for a great night of viewing.

Can't believe its over for another year but the race was epic and watching it and knowing every inch of the course just makes the desire to return burn more.

Well done to some of the Brits that I follow too, links to their reports may interest others to see what athletes go through in this, one of the toughest races in the IM calendar. Steven Lord, Jo Carritt, Russ Cox, Iain Hindes.

Nick's 2011

Now to my own masterplan on how to get to this amazing dance floor in the next 2 years.

Its a dilemma that has until this week prevented me from entering any race for 2011. I am working on the assumption that I will do enough to be on the cusp of qualifying at the race I pick, I am not a 'top' age grouper, that title is taken by the group of athletes that have the enviable position of calling themselves 'full time' age groupers. Yes, its an oxymoron but its a common sight in IM racing. I know a couple of guys that have this privileged existence, they might not think like that, as its a job to them, but to people like me its a great job and one I would love to have.

To the choices then, we now have 2 IM races to choose from !! Not something you may have heard 2 or 3 years ago in the UK but true. The 2 in question for me are.

IMUK - 31st July 2011 - 50 slots for Kona 2011 (up from 30 slots in previous years)
IM Wales - 11th September 2011 - 50 slots for Kona 2012

With the wedding coming up in June, we are saving all of our money for this, I want to race IM with the intention of qualifying, the best way to try to qualify for Kona without costing a fortune is race one year (2011) and qualify the following year (2012)
This type of qualification was until 3 weeks ago only possible if you travelled to North America or Mexico. Then came the news of IM Wales on 11th September 2011.

All my prayers answered on my own doorstep. Or are they ??

Alongside this announcement, the astounding (read - controversially timed) news that IMUK upped their allocation from 30 slots to 50. I qualified in 2009 when there was 30 slots overall and we had 3 slots in the M35-39, with this news there could potentially be 7 in my new AG. This would however, qualify me for the same year, racing the 'worlds' 11 weeks later. More cost.

Scenario 1

IM Wales fits our plans for 2011, if I qualify we have 12 months to save and we get to visit a truely remarkable group of islands again with a better understanding of what to get out of it as a holiday as well as the race of a lifetime once more.

Problem is, the race is going to attract athletes who wouldn't have set foot in Wales had the race been staged pre Sept.
It will attract many top AG'ers from Europe that would have gone to the US for a late race to qualify, no need now, stay in Europe, cheaper, no jet lag.
It will attract more of the professional AG'ers that will want to qualify early for 2012.
Finally, I believe it will be used as a back up race for a large number of top Euro athletes who may miss out on qualifying in say, Austria, Germany, Switzerland.

On the plus side, the date will eliminate anyone who has qualified already and wants to race well in Kona 2011 as the 2 races are too close to each other to recover.
Also, most people who want to race IM in 2011 will have already entered a race by now in Europe or the US as they fill up so fast the decision had to be made early, mostly 12 months in advance.

Scenario 2

It has got to be the best year for a qualifying chance at IMUK. The race is right on my doorstep, no travel costs, roll out of bed on race morning and be there in 30 mins, its a tough course, no drafting, no let up, just how I like it and I think the best chance to qualify is in 2011.

With the new race in Wales taking a lot of the top age group athletes looking for a late qualifier, IMUK may well be overlooked, IMUK has over the last few years been tagged with a slightly negative vibe by certain groups in the UK and has already forced many into the arms of the Outlaw and the new Challenge Henley race. Personally, I loved the experience of IMUK and this year they made in roads into the moans levelled at them in 2009 and won over plenty more support. I think in 2011 the race will be even better.

With the extra slots the attraction for someone who can afford to go to Kona 11 weeks later is a massive draw. The catch 22 is, even if you can't afford it, you would be mad to turn it down. Ask anyone that's tried to qualify and just missed out, what they wouldn't do to get there, its about picking the right race primarily, then getting there fit, making the decision to say 'yes' is for after the race, it won't dawn on you til the awards/rolldown about the decision that needs to be made. By then you have already talked yourself into it and taken out another credit card !

The downside for this scenario is the calendar of races that need to be entered and paid for to follow this path.

31st July 2011 - IMUK (£350) - qualify - pay out £350 for Kona
8th Oct 2011 - Kona

Thats a lot of money in 2011. £750 in race entry before the £3k for Kona. And if you need the fall back option of IMW, thats another £350.

They have worked this so that if you want to book a slot for this year at IMUK, its pretty impossible to do IMW successfully to qualify for 2012. If you do IMW you miss the opportunity to go to Kona again via IMUK.

Bugger.

The decision

The two major factors for my decision are the wedding, the cost of this pretty much prevents a family trip to Kona in 2011. Secondly, how I think I will do against increased competition in Wales.

I also have a few good friends that I know will be racing at each race, that has also swayed my decision a little, smackdown to follow, you know who you are !

The answer, you have to beat the best to qualify, no matter where you are, decisions are made for you to a certain degree by current circumstances and finances and you go with the flow, I have thought about all the options and I only really have one unless someone leaves me a LOT of money in the next 6 months.

Ironman Wales it is. I just hope some people will have the same thought process as me and go to IMUK as an option to race well and ignore IMW. We shall see.


The Garmin DIY disaster.

Be warned, having a training device that can be maintained by you is a bonus, gone are the days of having to send your Polar away for 2 weeks to be serviced, now you can change your own batteries in the HR belt of a Suunto or a Garmin of which I use both.
There is a danger though and this image is the result.
Please pay attention, when replacing the battery use a coin to get the retaining plastic cap off the belt, I used a screwdriver, flat head but not wide enough, as it slipped a few times it created 2 little spikes each side of the groove, didn't seem too much of a big deal at the time, 10 miles later after my run, the picture is the result !!


Training this week

Going well, 12 hours this week spread evenly over the bike and run. My swimming is still coming on but only 2 swims this week means I won't have improved, just maintained a feel for the water, if I am serious about this improvement I need to be looking at 4 swims a week, something I will be discussing with Lawrence.

Sunday brought a wonderful ride in the sunshine, you won't hear that for long, its getting colder by the day.

After 2 hours I got a puncture, no big deal, pull over, take off tyre, most of the time after feeling around the inside of the tyre you never work out what caused it, this time was different, I almost impaled myself, it was so big I had to take a picture, much to the amusment of the cyclist who passed asking if I was OK.

The hedge trimming has started, looks like I will be packing 3 tubes for each ride for the next few weeks.

Anyway, sorry about the ramble and the lateness of the blog, I promise not to be so tardy again.

Oh yes, Fegan ! you are going down dude !

Aftermath to Kona 2009.

Well, its now 3 weeks after the race and what are my thoughts ?

Gutted !!! But still a happy man.

So, why am I gutted ? Its over, Kona is now a distant but utterly amazing memory.

If you have ever got married or planned a day for so long you may know the feeling, you put your entire effort into something for months, nay years, then in 10-17 hours its over. I know I always have this down feeling after every IM holiday but this one is different, a lot of effort went into this one, 3 years of IM efforts, family sacrifice, early mornings, disappointments, addition to the family - that was most certainly a highlight, I definately got my return out of it, I think you can tell that, but I still feel like I am hanging onto something, maybe its because I have decided not to do IM next year, 18 months until summer of 2011 sounds a long time.

I will concentrate my efforts again but from a greater height and distance, well actually the same 3 years it took last time, from now til 2012 hopefully, until then nothing in triathlon terms will replace the feeling I had the first 2 seconds of that race, and certainly nothing in a race will compare to the last mile. Life, however moves on and there will for me hopefully, be another Kona, it will just have to wait til 2012.

So, to the memories.

Race day, what a day !!! Seeing all of the athletes all day on the course, for me, bobbing around waiting for the cannon to go off was just breathtaking and awe inspiring yet scary and exciting. The Queen K, the media caravan following the pro's all day, the desolate lava fields versus the mass of spectators on Ali'i Drive, all brilliant.

You are not supposed to have regrets about racing, or at least make them positive, I have spun this into a positive but I still only have one regret around the whole race, and this happened in the last minute, you can see in the finisher video I have put up that Mark is right in front of me, he is the one that looks like he is trying to throw up and struggling to get to the line, you can also see his slow response to turn round when he hears my name, disbelief that we were that close all the way round myself. If you read my race report you know what I was feeling at the time. We discussed it afterwards, all I had to do was call out his name in the last 50 yards and we could have crossed the line together, it would have been a great end to his race and mine, travelling all that way to finish together after all the racing hours done over the years and on that day, not to be, but we are still talking about the finish line so its left an imprint, magic.



Support, to have people supporting you half way round the world is an amazing feeling, quite surreal hearing your name shouted as you come out of transition 8000 miles from home, friends appearing when you least expect them, Andy and Jeff on the Queen K, Sian out as far as the Energy Lab (how the hell she got there I still don't know - if she walked, good effort !!) All my family and friends at various points in town on the bike and run course. And lastly the online support, RW pirates, family that couldn't go and various forums following the GB athletes, thanks. As an aside to the race, the support I had from Kelly all year and my mum and Roger while we were there means I could do what I did, it wouldn't have happened without them so thanks to them as well.

New friends, we made many, it was great having other Brits around to chat to, Glyn and Vicki who we met at IMUK and then spent time with in Kona, Liam Dolan who we met thru Mark, Bevan and John from IMTalk, infectious enthusiasm, although I didn't really need any myself, the parade of nations brought a few of us together but it was more international than that, many people are there for the same reason so conversations just grow out of brief eye contact, the odd wry smile here when you pass past another athlete, trying not to be too obvious when you are stood behind Timo Bracht in the Walmart queue on Sunday after he has just had a top ten finish in the World Champs lol !!

The holiday, well at the end of the day we were in Hawaii, it would be rude not to have a look around ;-), a beautiful place even if the race wasn't on, we are after all there to enjoy ourselves as a family.
As Kelly doesn't race she puts up with a lot before and its only right to correct that afterwards, she is the best sherpa ever but still has requirements out of our travels.


The island is amazing and I am glad we got to see a lot of it the week after the race. Speaking to the local islanders its very quickly obvious they are so welcoming of tourists in more than a cash cow way - well thats how it seems, I am sure Kona relies on the revenue of those 2 weeks for most of its year but I loved the friendly people and we weren't just in Kona, the whole island is lovely. Travelling around the island in one day was a great adventure with my family and the lads, 220 miles in one day, fuelled by intrigue and caffeine lol !
The helicopter ride and helping Kelly fulfil one of her lifes ambitions to fly in one, seeing her nervous for the first 5 mins and then relaxing into a great 45 minute voyage.

The wedding, Paul and Jans wedding day on the Friday before we came home, we were lucky enough to still be on the island and to be invited to spend their superb day with them, the ceremony was lovely, the priest (i think) was so into the whole thing he really made it. I have put a picture of the happy couple, we loved being part of the day and wished we were staying afterwards for a few more days as we were just getting used to relaxing lol !


Seeing Teya grow over 2 weeks, she was amazing over the holiday, still the princess we took away, only complaining when we get feed time wrong but smiling forever, everywhere we went and winning over hearts of strangers and friends alike.



Finally, as always, my love and thanks to Kelly, for putting up with the endless training, the ruined weekends, the travelling and supporting me, the endless triathlon sh*te that I talk (secretly she loves to talk tri sh*te as well), my triathlon mates - of which they are all her mates now and for just being ace xx


Sitting here now its all good, I am setting out onto a challenge for November which I will post about later but for now IM will take a few weeks out.

Til next time.

Ironman World Championships 2009 - Race Report

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