I Knocked the Bastard Off

Just a very quick post to say that I am no longer semi-ironman, I am an ironman (even if it is not an ironman branded race).

Race conditions have been described as the worst for an iron distance race ever and the winds were worse than Kona. It was simply brutal.

For me it became simply a battle to survive, even though I had done extremely well on the ride (142nd overall of almost 400 starters). At the 8 hour mark I started to cramp in my inner thighs and after the first kilometre of the run it was with me constantly. I was forced to simply walk/jog to manage the cramp which came on everytime I went up or down hill, which on an undulating course made for very slow going. My marathon was 2 hours longer than it should have been and I am pretty gutted about that as, besides the cramp, my legs were feeliung great when I dismounted the bike.

A full run down of race lead up, race day and post race will follow over the coming weeks, but for now all you need to know is I finished in 15:07:13 and, because I was forced to walk the marathon, I have a bit of unfinished business.

This is not the end, it is just the beginning.