Race wrap up - IMWA 2009 - Pt1

Well, December 5th has come and gone. It was a big day for all. Here are some of my thoughts as my day unfolded with a 10:29 Ironman race. This may take a while!

Pre-race
My Polar RS800CX heart rate monitor watch decided the day before race day to run low on batteries. I was spewing because I wanted to monitor my HR (with the weather forecasting wind) and particularly my run pace with it. Anyway, I rang Phab and he spoke to Roddy who was down promoting SRG at the Expo and so I ended borrowing Rod's Garmin 405Cx watch (with GPS). So that was great. I did feel better about it and Rod showed me how too use it. It was pretty good and I was impressed. So I decided to start with both, just in case. More on that later.

The weather was warm and windy and Butch gave me the latest forecast and with his spin on it. Max 31 deg SE winds shifting S about 20 knots. Butch reckoned lighter in the morning. Well that was going to make my 'best case scenario' race plan tough. Anyway, I was still prepared to roll the dice and see what happened.

I got a lift into transition with James, a mate from work, who was staying in the same joint as us. Bussleton Beach Resort was awesome - right on the bike course and with a great kid friendly playground and pool and nice big spa. Great joint to stay at. We got in there around 5am. The next 45min just flew by. I set up my bike with my bidons and nutrition etc checked everything over and before you know it it is time to put on my wetsuit...

I met Scott at his bike and he was his usual bundle of nerves. But seemed OK. We got lubed up and sun screened and headed down to the water. On the way down to the start, John MaClean was rolling on down to the water as well. I don't know exactly why - but he looked at me and said something like "good luck mate" to me. We were surrounded by 100's of people and he picked me out to say that to! I luckily recognised him instantly and said "Thanks John, you too" or something. That spun me out. A good omen I thought.

I went for a short, very short actually, warm up swim. The water was lovely. Very flat and not cold at all. It felt great. But then couldn't find Scott on my return. Just as I was about ready to give up, he appeared by my side. That was comforting. Even though I knew I would not see him again until the run, it was good to start with a mate by your side. We have shared a fair few hours together in training and many conversations and emails about IM and training etc etc. So there we were, a couple minutes before the start. Our destiny in our hands. I felt calm but very keen to get going. The atmosphere was electric though. I knew exactly what I had to do and was very focused. It didn't seem like such a big deal as last time though. I think I knew it would hurt a lot more! I gave Scotty a hug and then the gun went off. We walked through the waist deep water for a few strides and wished each other well and the dived into IMWA 2009.