Kona - The Unexpected Journey

The Start

After Ironman Cork, family time and recovery were the focus. A weekend at Kaleidoscope music festival, the family friendly event in Russborough House (highly recommended by the way) was followed by a few weeks in France relaxing, eating and drinking wine. While away, I did some recovery runs and swims, but no records were broken. That was the plan and I rigidly stuck to it.
However, this is the week to kickstart the next block and build the training hours up again.

Someone asked me recently what did I do this year that was different to any other year and how did that help me get qualification. It was something I thought about for a while and the truth is I didn’t do anything drastically differently. While the training remained fairly much the same as my approach to previous Ironman races, I was ‘lucky’ the last 18 or so months as I remained injury free. I say lucky in inverted commas as while there is always an element of luck involved in avoiding injury, the key reason I was injury free was that I took responsibility and did something over the last 2 years about my previous injuries. In the past, I rocked up to a physio, lay on the table, got the treatment, listened to them prescribe my homework of exercises, skipped out of there and then proceeded to do the very same things that were causing the injuries. I wasn’t very good at doing my homework and therefore didn’t own my issue. I expected the physio to fix me in the 30 minute session on the table. I was more focused on getting quantity in over quality. A change in approach was brought about when I went to see Anthony in Anatomy in Motion and he explained what the issues were and what I needed to do to resolve them. It was a helping hand to self-resolving the issues. For anyone with long term issues, I would highly recommend him. https://www.anthonyclaffey.com/what-is-anatomy-in-motion . I continue to do my homework also, so you have to be willing to do that.
Another thing I have done is sorted out my nutrition, not just for race day, but in general. Over the last few years my nutrition was never brutal, but now I understand more about it and what works for me.
So injury prevention, nutrition and consistent training are key. No magic bullet there, just common sense.
I’ve also been asked a number of times ‘would you have qualified if the swim wasn’t cancelled?’. That, I’m afraid is anyone’s guess. All I can say is I raced the race that was put in front of me, same as everyone else, got the slot that was offered and grabbed it with both hands.

While putting together my plan for the next block of training (self coaching by the way, but leveraging off plans, experience and guidance from previous coaches), the only thing I felt I needed to do differently was train for the heat.
So I reached out to Altipeaks in J6, Blanchardstown, where they have cardio rooms that are 35 degs, 15% oxygen and simulate an altitude of 2800m, ideal for my training. I had trained there earlier in the year to kickstart my training and I felt it paid dividends. After a conversation with Chris, I was delighted that Altipeaks offered to support my training with full access to the facility in the run up to Kona. I’m looking forward to getting started and training in the heat.

Training plan is in place for the next month, that’s the easy bit, just need to get out and do it. Motivation is very high at the moment, so I can’t see it been an issue.

Training actually feels like the easy part, when you consider the logistics of planning a trip to Kona. #firstworldproblems

Week 2

Monday – You can’t beat a good rest day, so that’s what today was. I did a gentle 30 min stretching routine in the gym. This is a session I do regularly and feel it really benefits me. I focus the session on lower legs and back as these are where I get the most issues, or should I say used to get the most issues. Thankfully, nothing too serious in recent times. My back still gets tight out cycling after a few hours, but without this routine, it would be a lot worse.
If you are after a good laugh, then get yourself tickets to Coppers:The Musical. We went to it tonight and it is hilarious, it’s been a while since my jaws hurt from laughing. For anyone who has ever set foot inside the door of Coppers, this show is a must.
Who says it’s all training and no play?
Tuesday – Back to Altipeaks and thankfully my HR was on display this morning so I was able to gauge the session a bit closer. Still a tough session, but I spent the right amount of times in the right zones, so a better session overall. For the moment, I am focusing on running during these sessions, as opposed to the bike, as I feel I need more prep for the sufferfest that will be the marathon in Kona.
Today was a double run day, so I incorporated the second session with the club opening of the new 400m tartan track in Dunboyne. A great turnout by club members on what was a wet miserable night. The track is a huge credit to all committee members who worked so hard in planning and fundraising to get this in place.
It was great to run on the track for the first time and I couldn’t stop myself from doing the 400m club session (I had planned on doing an easy 8km). If it proved anything, it proved I have no speed in the legs.
Wednesday – It’s not very often I get to do a long spin mid week, but with the children spending quality time with their grandparents this week, I got to head out on the bike for good spin this evening. I mentioned in my previous post about some muppets on the road, but today really took the p*$$. Coming up to a roundabout, a truck overtook me in the right hand lane and immediately pulled left to take the first exit on the roundabout. First reactions first, I managed to bunny hop onto the footpath, so got out of the way of the trailer. Thankfully it was a sunny evening, so the driver heard me calling him a nice pleasant name as he drove with his elbow out the window. He proceeded to stop his truck and jump out of his cab to tell me that cyclists think they own the road and to get off it. He also tried to tell me that he was going to stop to let me through the roundabout, yeah of course you were. To cut a long story short, I stood, bike in hand in front of his door so he couldn’t get in, until he apologised (I don’t think he meant it but it was a moral victory for me ��). I might have caused a traffic jam in Dunshaughlin but I really don’t care. Joking aside, I actually think myself lucky after that incident, as he came damn close to sweeping me off the bike. Seriously stupid manoeuvre by him. There are too many of these incidents every day on our roads, just wish common sense would prevail, for cyclists and motorists alike.
Anyway, enough about that, the spin was great other than that, it was great to get out to the Hill of Tara on a summers day and rolling hills around Summerhill.
Thursday – The usual early morning rise for my beloved swim session. There is no denying that swimming is not my first love, but I do enjoy the sessions and get through them. It’s just the constant learning to be done (as a result of my sh%te technique).
This morning was drills followed by a 1900m TT. TT time was 33.30, no records broken but I am happy with time and the maintained pace throughout.
Friday – Altipeaks session #3, another good tough session, but it was made all the easier by having Shane suffer on the threadmill beside me. It’s always easier doing a session when you have some sharing your pain
An open water swim at Low Rock on Friday evening. The water was glorious and a beautiful evening for a swim. Damn wetsuit cut the back of my neck worse than ever before, so that hurts like hell. I think I’d have preferred to be stung by the jelly fish.
Saturday – An actual lie in was had before I went out for my long spin. The wind was sharp today on the bike, but far from the worst I’ve been out in. I ventured onto new routes today to mix it up a little and all was relatively uneventful, just got the work done. One section of the route that I don’t ever plan on doing again is the road from Kinnegad to Trim (at least the first 10km of it), it was like trying to cycle across a row of washing machines on spin cycle. Obviously, no money for roads in this neck of the woods.
Sunday – Very warm out for this morning’s run and I don’t carry water for any runs up to approx. 22/24km, as I just hate carrying anything. This mornings run was 20km through the bogs at home in Tipp, and I slightly underestimated the terrain (the hills/drags feel fine in the car) and felt it on the last 2km. Legs were tired after this run.
Sunday afternoon was my favourite session of the week, and probably favourite in a long while. It involved the bike, but this time for a family spin along the Waterford Greenway from Kilmacthomas to Durrow. A great spin and enjoyed by all. Highly recommended day/few hours out for the family.

Week 4


A bit of an indifferent week this week, felt training was going well, but energy levels were lacking and didn’t really have a reason for it early in the week as sleep was ok and recovery was ok. On Wednesday, despite drinking plenty, I felt dehydrated which for me is a sure sign of sinus issues flaring up. Alas they did, and from Thursday onwards I had a full on power drip from the nose, very pleasant. Thankfully it didn’t stop me pushing on with training, just lowered the effort a little.

Monday – Altipeaks session. Fell the body really adjusting to the heat, so sessions going very well.

Tuesday – Plan was for a swim this morning, but when the alarm went off at 5.50, I just couldn’t muster the energy to get out of bed, so I ‘accidently’ hit the stop button instead of snooze and turned over for another hour. I know it’s not right, but it is so much easier for me to find an excuse for a swim session than any other session. I need to revert to evening swims when swimming alone as mornings just don’t work. I had a Wattbike session in the evening, tough session of 7 x 7 minute efforts with 3 mins recovery, legs were weary at the end but I do enjoy these sessions.



Wednesday – Steady run, legs feeling heavy but good to get the session done as energy and motivation were low today.

Thursday – Felt like crap this morning when I woke up, but I had a club session so out of bed I got as these are the sessions where I really push myself. Thankfully I did, as a great session it turned out to be. 4.5k in total and while I was wiped at the end of it, I was happy with the times. If the sinuses were starting to give issues before today, today clinched the deal for the full on dose.

Friday - Struggled out of bed, struggled through the session, struggled to the day. Felt crap all day long.

Saturday – Initial plan for today was 160km, with a few hours of Ironman effort, mixed in with half distance efforts and some easy spinning. Woke up early and felt horrendous, decided to go out for an hour and gauge it from there. I have a rule of thumb that if sickness or a dose is not down on the chest, I’ll go do it. Pushed through the first hour, felt ok, so pushed on through the next 4 hours also. A nice 160km in the legs for a Saturday morning felt great and I felt the legs were in good shape.

Sunday – Still feeling no better, the sinuses were getting worse, but legs were good, so went out for a long run. First 10km were tough and felt I was working too hard, was going to call it a day, but not sure if the sinuses decided to get with the program or whether it was my ignorance, but I pushed on and managed to complete the 32km planned session.

Later in the day I arrived at the conclusion it was my ignorance that got me through as the sinuses rebelled. However, Tipp beating the Cats in the All-Ireland final put everything else at ease.

While not the biggest training week I’ve had, I felt the legs really reacted well this week. Mid week they were heavy and I felt I was struggling, but they felt great for the big weekend sessions. I love been able to finish a long bike or a long run and have the feeling that the legs were capable of much more.

Week 7

This was a bitter sweet week. Training sessions were all completed and in hindsight were completed to plan and to target. However, during most of the sessions I felt crap, felt I wasn’t delivering, felt like giving up. The motivation wasn’t there. I think what contributed to these thoughts was I started looking at some of the pro’s sessions on their Instagram stories, plus some of the top amateurs also and I think I may have got slightly overwhelmed at what they were doing and started doubting myself been on the same stage as them. That coupled with feeling exhausted all the time is not a good combination. I just need to refocus on doing what I can do and balancing training with everything else.

Monday – Recovery run in Altipeaks. Legs felt good, body felt rested. Left this session feeling very positive.

Tuesday – The beloved Wattbike. If there’s anybody with a few spare grand reading this, feel free to purchase a Wattbike for me, I’d be forever grateful �� I know I’ve said it lots, but I really enjoy these sessions, they are not easy but there is something about them that is very rewarding. Said I better get some bricks in the plan also, so did a short run off the bike.

Swam at Low Rock this evening with Thomas, who is fine tuning for the 70.3 World Championship (Go smash it pal. Update: He just did. Nice one). Weather on the way out to Malahide was miserable, wet and windy, but when we got there, it was like a micro climate, sun shining and calm sea. The water was glorious and made for a good swim, happy with how it went, even managed drafting practice. If I recollect correctly, that’s 3 good swims in a row. Breaking records here.

Wednesday – Another manic Wednesday. Got out at lunchtime to for 8 x 1km efforts. The wind was brutal, so didn’t enjoy this at all.

The Grant Thornton 5k race was on in the evening, and work had two teams entered. I lined up with the full intention of not racing this as I have done very little speedwork in the months gone by, plus I had done my main session at lunchtime. But, I’ll never change and once the start was signalled I hared off. Ran just behind David Gillick for the first 1.5km, then took the opportunity to overtake him, not everyday you get to pass an international athlete like that (even if he is retired and this is not his distance ��). Crossed the line in 18.33 which is my fastest 5k in years and was totally unexpected. I even felt there was a lot more in the tank. Not the best of sessions when training for long distance, but sometimes you need to deviate (just to keep the motivation going)

Thursday – Woke up this morning, feeling exhausted and first thought was to turn off the alarm, but I didn’t. Got up and headed to the pool, on the way all that I was thinking was ‘why the f&*$ am I doing this’. Got to the pool and two people told me I looked wrecked, so that’s never a good sign. Having said all that, this was a fourth good swim in a row, really felt good in the water this morning, felt the speed, the form, the positioning were all good.

The afternoon was another Wattbike session consisting of 40 x 45 secs with 15 secs recovery. Session was an absolute sweatfest. I don’t think the person on the bike next to mine was impressed with the water stream going under their bike.

Friday – Altipeak session this morning and I really felt the heat. Hoping it’s just a combination of tiredness and a relatively heavy week.

Saturday – Lucy’s birthday party today, so swapped the bike and run days. Headed out solo for this run as timings days etc weren’t matching up with anyone else. The first 2km of the run felt like running in quicksand, legs were heavy, breathing was heavy, everything felt heavy. I felt like pulling the plug with only 10 mins on the watch, but then copped on to myself. In the end, I really enjoyed the run, the legs opened up, they felt good and they got me around in my target time with relative ease in the end. The Phoenix Park was great this morning, hundreds out running, definitely a lot with DCM on the agenda.

Sunday – Felt sick this morning with tiredness, yesterday was a busy day but I was asleep early (not in bed but asleep on the couch). Today’s plan was a 5.5 hour bike with a short run off. The bike was completed with 166km on the clock, but the legs were too shattered (or maybe it was the head) to run, so I opted out. I say opted out, but I actually had justified it to myself for the last 2 hours of the bike, so it was definitely a case of mind over matter. I did walk around the zoo for a few hours, so that was a workout of sorts, even if I was refueling on ice cream.

EC1000 wrote: »

Do you mind sharing what you started at and where you are now weightwise? Just curious given the volumes you are doing at the moment.

I'll not go back to the START start as suggested by BTH. Nobody wants that image in their head.

At the start of this year I was hitting the scales at 80kg, but that was after Christmas binge eating and drinking. In the training block to Cork IM, I found it hard enough to shed the weight, but still hit the start line at ~75kg, not where I wanted to be but not far off either.

At the start of this block I was just over 78kg, but on Friday last I hit 72.4kg on the scales. The lightest I have been since I was a teen I reckon.
Thankfully I feel the power is still there so no compromises. Target now is to lose no more.

Week 10

Tiredness hit a whole new level this week and as a result, the doubt crept back in and I questioned if I was up to this at all. Even so, in my maturing years I listened to the body and eased off a lot on the training. I deemed at this stage that I was not going to increase the fitness a whole lot, but I sure could destroy all the good work done to date by pushing too far and getting sick. There were no planned rest days this week, but I ended up taking two.

Monday – Alarm went off, then was turned off and I rolled over and went back to sleep. Just could not face a session this morning as I felt physically sick with tiredness

Tuesday – Felt just as tired this morning, but couldn’t take two days off in a row, so out I hopped from bed. I didn’t even wait for the snooze to go as I knew this would be another option to opt out. I’m glad I did get up as I had a good solid session on the Wattbike of 6 x 10 minute sessions with 2 mins recovery between each. I jumped on the threadmill after the bike with a plan for 5kn, but the left calf didn’t feel quite right so I jumped off after 1km.

Swim plan was 4km this evening, but I only managed 3.2km. A combination of getting to the pool later than planned, been starving and just feeling tired in the water. The tiredness was brought on more by going out too hard in the first 1km of the swim and never really recovering.

Wednesday – Legs felt ok for the run, not great but ok. However, the motivation was low, in fact the lowest it has been for a while. The session was 4 x 2km intervals. Despite the legs only been ok and the motivation been low, the session was a successful one (in numbers terms anyway). This was only an afterwards realisation, as during the session itself I wasn’t looking at the watch and was running on feel. I did this as I thought if the numbers were not good, the motivation would be floored. Maybe I should have looked at the watch. Got bloody soaked again, should be getting used to this rain by now.

Thursday – Club swim session this morning and was probably my best swim set to date. Session was 6 x 400, then 6 x 300. The times I hit were the best I have ever hit, so massive thanks to the lads in the lane for dragging me along, as I definitely wouldn’t hit these numbers by myself. At times I felt I was just about hanging on for dear life, but I got the session done. I feel that the changes that the swim coach has enforced on me, some subtle but mostly brutally honest feedback on how crap my stroke was, is finally paying dividends. Thanks PK.

Thursday turbo was the beloved 40 times 45 sec session with 15 second recovery. This is a brutally tough but yet thoroughly enjoyable session.

Friday – Only a few weeks out from Kona and I got a massive kick in confidence with managing the heat this morning. It was like the heat in the room engulfed me, chewed me up and spat me out with no mercy. Really suffered on this session and I just couldn’t get enough air into my lungs. Uh oh, hope this was a once off. Jumped on the bike for the final 10 mins but that wasn’t any better.

Saturday – After a terrible nights sleep, I was up and out the door at 7 to try and get back for some of the rugby. The run from start to end was labour some and I didn’t enjoy it at all, even though the pace was relatively ok. Not much more to be said about it.

Sunday – Woke up this morning feeling like I was hit by a train, so I skipped the long bike ride. I said I’d hop on the turbo later in the morning but that never materialised either. A few months ago I would probably have suffered through and pushed on this session, but as mentioned earlier I have nothing to gain from putting the body under duress at this stage.

It was the best decision I made, especially as I got to see Katie debut for CFC U10 girls, with a resounding victory.

Race Report

Bike Check In
As usual for Ironman events, the bike check-in is done on the day prior to the race start. This bike check-in was very different though. Officials checked your wristband and helmet then under the Ironman banner you pass. On the right was a row of tables from a number of bike and bike parts brands, ENVE, Ventum, Cervelo, Shimano plus others each giving a free gift to athletes using their products. Unfortunately, I wasn’t using any of their kits, so no freebies secured by me. Then onto the next checkpoint, where officials again check over your bike before putting a Kona sticker on the frame, they even asked where I would like it placed. All along the walk in route, outside of the area, there were dozens of people with clipboards, each one recording the specific numbers of bike types, wheel selections and components used. It was nearly like you were been assessed and judged all in one. Next it was onto a mat for a photo of me and my bike, then they had the cheek to ask me to step aside as they wanted one of the bike by itself. I wondered were in love with my beauty as much as me, but no, it was just a security measure. Finally, it was into another line (they don’t do queues) and to wait for a chaperone to take you into transition. I was met by a lovely lady, who insisted on carrying my transition bags, before welcoming me to Kona and to the famous pier and also congratulating me on making it to the Worlds. She then walked me through transition, explained the flow of traffic on the day, she even made sure I had my markers for spotting my bike on exit for T1. As if things weren’t going well enough, she pointed out a pod of dolphins that were in the bay. I then racked my bags, I had to do this part myself, had a look around the transition area, soaked it all up and existed the area. Without a doubt, the best transition experience I’ve ever had. It’s going to be tough on the local race scene next year, been roared at by some fella in the midlands that you have 2 mins to leave transition.

Race Day
The alarm was set for 4am, but I woke at 3 and couldn’t get back asleep. I didn’t mind though as I had 6 hours sleep at that stage, relatively unbroken. As race days go, it was one of my better sleeps. In a break from the norm I didn’t have my usual porridge for breakfast, instead I had a bagel and eggs. The reason for this is the few mornings previously, the porridge didn’t agree with me for whatever reason, whether it was the milk I had or what I don’t know, but I wasn’t taking the chance today. Eggs are a mainstay in my diet anyway, so I wasn’t fearful of any side effects from those. Also had 750ml of water and Precision Hydration salts to ensure hydration was on point. We were staying just over 2km from the pier, so we hopped on the shuttle bus into town. Into transition, arms wiped down to ensure the body marking would be ok. Then onto the body marking, which was a waste of time as mine started peeling off straight away, then on to the weigh in station, up on the scales I stood, 164lbs, which is 74kg in real measurements. I’ll take that for race weight, as I had 2kg+ of clothing on. Although I don’t think they were there to give athletes an ego on achieving race weight. Somebody told me that they record your weight in the event you collapse on the side of the road so that they know how much fluid you’ve lost since the start. Oh, how nice. Then into transition proper, oh sorry only after getting lathered in sun screen, reef friendly sunscreen at that. Transition was a buzz, I was a bit awe struck at first when I stopped at the pro racks. Matt Russell, Heather Jackson, Tim O’Donnell, Jocelyn McAuley all setting up and all looking super relaxed. I could have stayed there for hours just looking, but said I best get on with my own set up. Got to the bike, drinks and food onto the bike, tyres pumped, soaked up the atmosphere again and existed out of transition to meet Laura once again. This was the first year that the swim start was by age group, so we all had to get into our pens nice and early. I left Laura and headed into my pen for 6.10, 50 mins before my race start, but I saw no point hanging around outside, plus the pros were starting at 6.25 so wanted to see that. No sooner was I in the pen that I realised I never put Vaseline on my chest where the trisuit zip rubs against. Thankfully the ever-reliable Laura was just across the way and hounded passerbys until she found someone who had Vaseline. Sorted.
There was an eerie nervousness in general in the swim start area, I was a ball of emotion, I could barely talk or look anyone in the eye, I felt like getting sick, I started to worry, not quite panic, about the swim but I don’t know what the worry was about as I had been in the water loads in the lead up to the race. I think the thoughts of the non-wetsuit started to play on my mind. At the same time I just wanted this to start. The Star Spangled Banner was played, a few words and a prayer from an indigenous Hawaiian, which made the hairs on the back of my next stand up , the canon went and the pro men were off. Where we were in the swim start area we couldn’t see the actual start, but we were able to watch it on a big screen, then it was the pro women off, followed by the para athletes, these individuals deserve the utmost respect for really showing there are no barriers in sport. Next up it was the 18-39 age group, before us auld lads were moved along and into the water. In the lead up to this race, many people told me to enjoy the moments and soak up the swim start. I swam out to the swim start line which was probably 200m out and then I took a good 360 look around. Wow wow wow, the bay wall was crowded with people, multiple helicopters overheard, paddle boards, surf boards everywhere you looked, it was a phenomenal view and one that will live with me for a long time. Thankfully I took the time to savour that, as generally it’s just a case of getting in and going.

Swim
Finally, the conch horn sounded and the race was on. The first 300m was a battle, bodies, feet, fists and elbows everywhere. Thankfully, I’ve swam many a fight club session with AMS on a Thursday morning, so I was relatively used to this. It was like having 300 Colm’s in the water together. I had my goggles embedded so far into my eyes that I initially thought I’d need them surgically removed in T1. That didn’t last too long, as a kick that Martin would be proud off lifted the goggles off my eyes completely. I did manage to get them back on with relative ease, but the rest of the swim was done with the right eye mainly closed as a result of the salt water getting in deep. I found good feet and drafted ok for the firt half of the swim and I felt good and strong in the water, sighting was decent enough too on that first half. When I caught a glimpse of the boat for the turnaround point, I was thinking this is not at all bad, but then it took what felt like forever to actually reach the boat. When I eventually did, I had a quick look at the watch, 35 mins on the button, and I thought to myself, not too shabby at all, I could be in with a chance of a 1.10 swim here. That’s when the forces of nature remind you who is boss around here, the swim on the way back in was choppy and while I felt I was working harder, I also knew I wasn’t making as good progress. This wasn’t helped by been swam over by the next wave of swimmers, those guys are fish, in fact I even had a quick check to ensure some of them weren’t wearing flippers. The rest of the swim was relatively eventless until the last 200m, when I came across some dude doing about 10 front crawl strokes, followed by a few breast strokes, nothing wrong with that and each to their own, but I bumped off him while passing him and the asshole decided that this was his space and caught my two legs and pulled me back. A swift sharp kick, rolled onto my back, told him he was a Richard ceann and off I went. Oh, I did flip the bird too for good measure. The joys of crystal clear water meant he must have seen that also. Out of the water in bang on 1:15:00. Not the time I was hoping for, but considering the conditions on the return leg, I was ok with it. First thought on the way into transition was ‘what will PK say’. Actually no, the first thought was I hope I get the salt cleared out of this right eye, then the thoughts turned to PK. Into T1, I drank plenty of water to try get the taste of salt out of the mouth, that Pacific sure is salty, nearly as salty as a good rural spud dinner.
To show that the walk through transition on the previous day was not a once off from a service perspective, I had a guy help with getting the shoes out of the bag, providing a towel to dry my feet, help putting the arm coolers on and putting my tailwind sachets in my rear packet. He even packed all the swim gear into the bag. I could really get used to this.

Bike
Out to the bike, despite the big pole marking where my bike was racked, I had a brain fart and I managed to run past it, quick turn on the heels, grabbed the bike and out onto the road. There were a lot of bikes exiting at the same time and it was quite crowded for the first 10km or so. I was afraid of my life of getting a drafting penalty so I kept out of harms way as much as possible. I passed Laura, gave a wave, down to the turnaround point, passed back, another wave and I could nearly see the smile that said ‘sucker, you are going out on your bike in this heat and I’m just going to lay by the pool’. Up Palani Road and onto the Queen K was as awesome (yeah I picked up the local slang) as everyone had described to me. I can see how you’d be tempted to burn all your matches pumping up Palani with the roars and the cheers that greeted you from the crowd, but I kept all under control. It was warm on the bike and in the first 30km I had gone through two bottles of fuel, one tailwind mix that I had in my aero bottle, and one that I had in my spare bottle. I had grabbed a bottle of Gatorade on the first aid stop also, to ensure that I always had fuel on board. I was wearing arm coolers to cover as much skin as possible to avoid sunburn, so at every aid station the routine was, grab water and pour it over the arms and legs as fast as possible, grab a bottle of Gatorade and put it into the holder, grab another bottle of water and spray it over the head, slug back the rest and discard before the end of the litter zone, military precision most of the time. There was one stop where I thought I was going to be cleaned out of it by a fellow cyclist, but I swerved right, roared at a volunteer to step back, apologised to him and managed to dink around the cyclists. If I had gone left, I would have taken others with me. The joys of a busy route. The crowds on the Queen K and the infamous draft fests that I have seen on TV watching this event for the last number of years didn’t appear as bad this year as a result of the wave swim start. However, you still got the odd group working together with about a 12mm, as opposed to 12m, gap between bikes. The referees were out in force though and I saw a number of penalties been handed out. I work to HR on the bike and after the first 30km or so, my HR elevated and wouldn’t come back down, I eased off on pace to see if that helped but it didn’t. To put it into perspective, I got my VO2 Max tested last February and my HR zones are as follows – Endurance 122-136, Tempo 136-155, Intervals 155-161. On this cycle, I spent 4.5 hours in the Tempo zone and I even maxed out at 160bpm for 11 mins. I’ve never seen HR readings like that on an endurance spin either racing or training previously. There were times during training when I struggled to get my HR above 140 on the Wattbike, but I averaged 146bpm for this cycle. The wind didn’t help either and it was as unpredictable and strong as I could have imagined. Prior to taking the turn off for the 20km climb to the turnaround at Hawi, the cross winds were crazy. After that turn, the cross became a tail wind and this was a reprieve, at one stage clocking 74km on a slight descent, Shane D would have been in his element. The climb to Hawi, while long, was a great cycle, probably best enjoyed out of a race scenario though. To the turnaround, into a head wind and it would remain windy, as either a head or cross wind, for the remaining 80km. It never let up and some of the gusts from the cross wind were hairy, at one stage I was regretting having 90mm rims on the rear, that combined with reaching target race weight meant there wasn’t much meat on the bones to keep that bike on the road. There were two notable occasions where I thought I was gone, the bike was practically at 45 deg but thankfully I stayed upright. There were a number of crashes out on the course, and it was a sobering sight to see one poor guy on a spinal board, surrounded by paramedics, on the side of the road. Fingers crossed that guy is ok. Nutrition on the bike went fairly much to plan, I had snickers in my bento box, which were frozen from the night before but weren’t long turning into squidgy chocolate melts, still food and still did the job though. The only issue with the nutrition was when I put my hand back at one stage to get my bottle of concentrated tailwind from the rear holder, only to discover it wasn’t there. No need to panic though as I had a few sachets of tailwind as a backup, fail to prepare and all that lark. In total, I drank 12 or 13 bottles on the course, this wasn’t including the water that was taken while passing through the aid stations, so the guts of 10 litres of liquid over the course of the 5.5 hours. Yet I still felt dehydrated and I knew I was in a tad of bother when I didn’t pee once on the bike. That’s just not right. The last 30km of the cycle was a slog, I felt all energy gone from the legs and it was a real sufferfest on the way home. It seemed lots around me were suffering the same faith, but that offered no solace for me. In off the bike in 5hrs 29mins and some change. My A goal for the bike was a 5.15, but considering the wind I was happy(ish) with the 5.29.
Off the bike and into T2, volunteers took the bike so no racking required, I could really get used to this. The run through transition was torture and the fear I had coming in those last 30kms was realised when the legs felt like jelly and had zilch zero nada energy in them. Again the service was exceptional. I was asked if I wanted an ice cold towel on my back, which I greatly accepted, then he offered me one for my head, again greatly accepted. On with the runners, the visor, the race belt and off I popped to a portaloo. I stood there for what felt like forever, pleading with my bladder to force something out to prove that things were still functioning. Eventually, a trickle came, it wasn’t of any significant volume, but at least I knew the system was working. The colour was like a glow stick, which proved I was dehydrated. Sorry if that’s too much information. Anyway, stopped at a table on the exist of T2 and drank a few cups of water, a cup of Gatorade and two cups of coke. In hindsight, I probably went through T2 too fast considering the elevated HR and the jelly like legs. Another couple of minutes might just have helped settle things down.

Run
Out onto the run, initial thoughts were that the legs weren’t actually too bad. That didn’t last long and I walked up the hill, on a normal day I’d call it a bump, then started running again once I reached a downhill section. The first km passed ok but once I got onto Ali’i drive, the legs were shot, there was nothing in them, I stopped at an aid station and poured ice down front and back, sponges everywhere sponges would go, water and coke down the hatch and I tried to run again, but it wasn’t to be. At that stage I knew it was going to be an extra long day, but I fought hard with myself to get running again. It was a very slow jog and it was in stops and starts, lots of stops and starts. Again, I walked up the hill to where we were staying, said hello to Laura, told her I was suffering (I don’t think I needed to say anything as the look on the face and the shuffle of the legs said it all). At that stage, my HR was still high and I was very tempted to take the approach of ‘if I throw the monitor off here, maybe I won’t notice it is so high’, I didn’t though. Out to the turnaround point and I passed by Laura again, running this time as it was downhill. All sorts of things were running through my head at this stage ‘how long will it take to walk a marathon’, ‘do I have reflective strips on my shoes or suit for after dark’, ‘ will the legs hold out’, ‘jaysus, I still haven’t gone to the loo’, ‘is it bad to drop out’. Basically, you name it and I was thinking it.
Not long after those thoughts, my mood changed drastically and I actually turned everything around, it was like I made peace with myself and I totally accepted I was going to be out there a long time and it didn’t bother me. I was on a course that many have dreamed about been on, I was there with the best of the best, more importantly I was there with the help, love and support of so many people. This was for them as much as it was for me. So what if I didn’t achieve my target time, let’s just get around this and savour the moment. Now, don’t get me wrong, it was still a sufferfest for the rest of the way around but at least it was a sufferfest I was mentally prepared for now and I wasn’t under any pressure. Back to the race (or from hereon in the event, as I sure wasn’t racing it). Up Palani Road again and the support here was phenomenal. I decided to walk up this hill as there was no way the legs were going to run up it. Half way up, another Irish participant, John, came along and once we got to the top, we ran together for a couple of km, before I started burning up again and told John to go on. Out the Queen K and I stopped at every aid station to restock on ice, sponges, cold water, coke and Gatorade. Still no pee. On the last aid station before heading into the Energy lab, I stopped and instead of putting ice down my tri top, I dived head first into the ice barrel down to my elbows. Some poor volunteer at the aid station thought I was after falling and ‘helped me’ out of the barrel, before I relaunched into it. I needed to get cool somehow I told him.
Considering how I felt to this point, I was dreading the Energy lab, but as I approached it, the sun went hiding behind the cloud and you could feel the temperature drop. As a result, it was nowhere near as warm as it is capable of reaching, oh how I loved this. The multiple tricolours flying around this section was very inspiring too, plus the Waterford flag for Emmet from the kids. I wouldn’t normally embrace the Waterford flag, but it was a great sight today. The one drawback from this section though was they had no ice or cold sponges at the aid station as I passed them. I did have a special needs bag though, with a banana in it, so that tasted great. One huge relief was I even managed to pee in the energy lab, so a win win for me in here. Out of the Energy lab and back onto the Queen K for the last stretch home. The approach I adopted here was run the downhills, push the uphills as much as possible, continue to take on as much ice and fluids as possible and come home happy. Taking on the ice on this section led to one of best memories of the run. At one aid station, I overdid it on the ice and not long after the station all the ice gathered just above the knee in the tri suit, one by one the cubes started to fall out. Just as I passed a few spectators, a lot of ice fell out and one of them shouted ‘look at this guy, he’s so cool he is sh1tting ice cubes’, it gave me a good laugh. This was the only section of the run that went to plan, not Plan A mind you, nor Plan B actually. Come to think of it, it only went to the plan that was formulated on the return to the Queen K. Nevertheless, it went. The final 2km was mostly downhill, so it was a relatively easy run in. Turning onto Ali’i drive towards the finish line was amazing, the wall of noise was immense, I high fived the whole way down, again I soaked up the atmosphere, I turned the hat around, I zipped up the tri top, I wiped away the tears (yes there were some), I made sure I was photo ready, because I was going to savour this moment, I was going to ensure that the photo memory was more reflective of the journey to here and not the race itself.
I loved crossing that line, it was the culmination of years of efforts. It was one of my proudest moments.
The time on the clock was 11.02, a long way off my A target (which was 10.08) and a good bit off my ‘happy with’ target of 10.37. However, I’m not going to consume myself in times or post mortems from this race. I know I put in the effort in training and preparation. The heat and the wind combined to test my every resolve, but they won out. It was the same conditions for everyone and while some succeeded, some of us suffered. Considering how I felt 8km into the run, I am happy with an 11.02. At one stage during the day, I had braced myself for a 12.30.

A quick synopsis
Ironman may not do everything well, but the treatment and care of athletes throughout the course of this week was exceptional. It is the closest I’ll ever come to been treated like a pro. The locals of Kona and all the volunteers come out in force to support this event.
It was an honour and a privilege to be part of the Ironman 2019 World Championship and the entire journey in getting to Kona and across the finish line. My experience from the moment I landed in Kona was amazing, it was fantastic and it was all that it was built up to be. The weeks event from the Hoal’a training swim, the Parade of Nations to the Underpants Run were thoroughly enjoyed. Walking behind the Tricolour with the other Team Ireland athletes and supporters was a very very proud moment.
It was a pleasure sharing the journey with friends and family. While I have thanked those who have supported me along the way, again I want you to know that I will be forever grateful and this wouldn’t have been possible without you.
In Cork, back in June, before I accepted a slot, Laura said ‘This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, you may never get this chance again, so take it. But it is a once off opportunity and you won’t be going again’
In Kona, in October, I was asked multiple times about the event and would I return. I was adamant that this was a once off event for me, that the box was ticked. I had suffered too much in the heat and wind.
Now, five days later, somewhere in the skies over mainland USA as I write this report, all I’ll say is ‘I want to return’. There, I said it. Will I ever qualify again? I don’t know. Will I go out of my way to qualify? No. Will I take the opportunity in the future if it is presented to me? I’d like to think so. It will be a few years at least anyway, so don’t panic Laura.
For now, it’s home to family and to family time. The planning for next year will commence soon ��.
Alas, the unexpected journey comes to an end, but what a journey it has been.

Mahalo Hawai’i.