Dawn, the 10th of October in Kona was the same as all the others had been in the 2 weeks leading up to the race. Not a cloud in the sky, calm pacific waters and thousands of trim looking athletes from all over the world hovering around the peir. The only difference was today was the day to get down to business, yah finally after 6months of hard slog. But the Kona ironman was not like any other race day, I knew Madam Pele the island god was cooking something up when a local volunteer at check said "be careful out there today it is going to be hotter than hell", apparently she could tell by the way there are no clouds around the Volcano that stood nearly 9000ft above Kona. Boy was she right.
Swim Start: 7am
2000 athletes just does not go into a area no wider than 50 meters and I was made very aware of this over the first 2 km of the swim. After getting my ear drums blown out by the massive cannon that started the race I was caught in a frenzy of athletes fighting for the same peice of water.
After an eventful swim that invovled a few kicks and elbows to the head I was out in the late 1:04's which wasn't to bad but still 5 or 6 mins slower than what I know was capable of and wanted to do. I can put that down to a tactical error as where to start the race, next time I start further left. Next up 180km of Hell on Wheels across lava feilds.
On to the bike and I went out hard, as I usually do for the first 20 to 30km, by that time we were well out of Kona town and on the Queen K Highway heading out to Hawi. Having trained on the course for two weeks I became very familar with the next part of the course through the lava feilds and into the feirce trade winds. This was a part that if you went to hard early could ruin your day further down the road so I settled into comfortable pace up to the turn at Hawi. Things turned a little pear shape here when my specials needs bag with my special nutrition for the last half of the bike didn;t turn up. Oh well these things happen but it meant I rode 7 miles with out any fluids and 14 miles with out food. This may have been the beginning of the end but I soldiered on and actually put the foot down heading back into the lava feilds for the run home. At this stage tempratures had been turned up, 43 - 46 degrees according to tempreture readings on my SRM and the famous head winds had come to play. By the time I had got back to town and T2 I had been oven roasted nicely by the Kona conditions. My Bike time was 4:59 and I rode within 
myself the whole way staying below my watt targets. I knew I would need this on the run.
myself the whole way staying below my watt targets. I knew I would need this on the run.Next up a 42.2KM Marathon run through the gates of hell (ok maybe an over exageration but it was probably as hot).
The run didn't start great when I seized up in T2 and required a bit of medical assistance. For those of you who may not have been aware I was carrying a back/hip injury into the race which had forced me off all running up till Sunday before the race. This started to give me some trouble at this stage, but some treatment and some time at transtiton helped that and I headed out on Ali'i drive for the first 10 mile out and back section. I was running pretty well to start picking up alot of places. But at 8 miles things started to un ravel very quickly and at 9 miles I new I was in trouble when I started to feel bad. Then at the top of the big hill up Palani rd !BANG! DENTONATION!!,OH THAT HURT. Everything went at once, my legs felt like they were going to fall apart and was not going to be able to walk to the finish. But I did not come all this way to the World Champs to pull out, so the next 16 miles was a long lonely walk along the Queen K highway through the lava feilds and back to the finish line along Alli drive. I did manage to run over the last mile, the presence of the huge crowd and the prestige of this race had me determined to run the last 800m down Ali'i drive to finish, that hurt alot but it was worth it.
After a 4hr plus marathon I finished in a time of 11hrs 1 minute. A little dissapointing as I knew close to 9hrs was a possibility. But as Mark Watson said to me after the finish, "you should be proud you have finished the hawaiin Ironman" he was right and that alone made me alot more positive about the experience, also alot more determined to come back in future and make up for unfinished business.
Finally let me say what an amzing experience the whole trip was, one that I enjoyed from start to finish. I must give a big shout out to my fellow house mates Craig Kirkwood, Richard Swan, Andy McKay and big Jo Carrel thanks for all the laughs and good times. Also to Kylie Kirkwood and Leslie who turned up on the Thursday before the race and were a fantastic to have around in the days leading up and during the race. Thanks for the support.
Also to my sponsors ENZA in Association with Turners and Growers, Bay Canvas, Young Read and Woudberg, Smiths Sport Shoes Tauranga, Jamis Bikes, Leppin Endurance Products and Bodyzone Health and Fitness with out your support this all would not of been possible.
Now it is rest time, then bring on 2009/2010 Season.
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