Jacqui's Kona

Well, I finally did it! I conquered my dream, achieved my personal goals and finished the Hawaii Ironman!

My goal was firstly to qualify, then to train as hard as i could just to finish. If all was to go well on the day, I set myself a time to finish under 11hrs. Along with this I was aiming to finish in top 20 in the world, plus to be 1st Aussie within the 30-34 age group (of 75 competitors).

Gratefully I accomplished all of my goals with completing this tough race in 10hrs 48mins;
- 3.8k Swim 1hr06m
- 180k Bike 5hr55m
- 42.2k Run 3hr41m

My time placed me in 16th in the world (of 75 competitors) and 1st Aussie, within the 30-34 age category.

Drilling down even further I was 85th female (including all 52 pros) of approx 600 females (beating 4 pros!), and 707th of all 1800 competitors (men and women - pros & age-groupers).
http://www.ironman.com/events/ironman/worldchampionship?show=tracker&y=2007

Even though I didn’t win the race or even get a podium, but knowing I did my best leading up to this event and particularly on the day, to just be a part of a World Championships and race against the ‘best of the best’ was the most amazing experience!

The race started off at 7am, with the professionals already under way 15 minutes earlier, from 6.45am. I was warned the swim was going to be very messy with arms and legs everywhere, pushing and shoving and being swum over - worse than any other. So I prepared for this and set myself back a little from the start so I wouldn’t get clobbered. Whilst waiting in the water till the cannon sounded there seemed like there was loads of space. I thought to myself, “what are they talking about…”. Then the cannon sounded, a little tear in my eye after hearing the American anthem, and we were off. The crowd caught up with me and I wasn’t left alone for one minute! I was trying to mix it up a bit by trying to spot some fish (beautiful scenery down there – like one big aquarium!), and then I saw about 8 fish perfectly lined up side by side right beneath me. I thought “wow, look at that”. I put my head down again for another look and thought “hang on a second, that’s pretty bloody deep”….OMG it was 8 dolphins all deep deep beneath me! Just awesome! Lucky I only saw those, because a friend of mine honestly spotted a Shark (reef or tiger??) forcing him to do an accelerated b-line so he would be swimming near other competitors to avoid being singled out. Anyway, no one got eaten and I left the water in 1hr6mins with cuts and bruises on my hands, arms and feet from the identification bands (like hospital bands) we all had to wear, and a bruised bottom lip from another competitors foot trying to remove my goggles!

On to the bike, feeling absolutely petrified, as I was warned we would be faced with the worst head and side winds, which this island was renown for, but all seemed ok! The bike leg is not my strongest so I was passed by loads of excited people in the first 20-30k - I think forgetting they had a further 150k to go. Due to so many people passing me, I got a drafting penalty as I didn’t drop back “quick enough” (only 7 secs to do so in this race) so the first 50-70k for me was disappointing and very conservative.

The turn around point on the bike, at the 104 k mark, ended with a 30k continuous climb up into a town called Hawi (pronounced Har-vee) providing us with forceful head and side winds. Although this was quite tough and challenging, our winds during Sydney’s crazy winter, out at Kurnell and Buli, had mentally prepared me for worse than this. I ensured I kept hydrated (very hot with no cloud cover), as it was drilled into me to “save yourself for the last 30k of the ride….and save yourself for that 42k run!”, so I was drinking more regularly than I ever had in any race and got through all my food as planned – perfect! Finishing my bike a little slower than intended in 5hr55m but I felt ready for my run…..my favourite part of the race! :o)

Off the bike I came (i think around 25th in my age but i didnt know), into the transition tent for a quick change of shorts, a sun-screen top up, grabbed a fresh pair of sunnies and my cap to keep the sun out of my eyes still no clouds) and filled my hands full of caffeine gels. My belly felt full of fluid so feeling a little worried it may cost me time to stop at a toilet but thinking positive as this is a good sign as it meant I was keeping hydrated. Due to being in such a hurry to get out there, I sub-consciously decided to wear two pairs of sunnies, not realising till around the 14k mark! Of course I had already passed my spectators and any camera that took my photo…looking a bit silly, never mind!

The day was damn hot with no cloud cover the whole day but just dry and windy in areas. The temperature reached up to 50deg celcius on the highway during the run and up to 45deg in the famous ‘Energy Lab’ which is the turn point of the run where you know you’ve got approx 17k’s till the finish! A little annoyingly I had to make 3 toilet stops but I think I set a world record here as I was truly super quick!

This run would have had to have been the most mental of any run course I have ever competed in. Determined to run under 4hrs I kept chipping away passing a fair amount of people including 7 girls that were in my age group. 2 of which unfortunately were in the last 2ks so regretfully I didn’t get to enjoy a slow jog down the finishing chute (as i dreamed about) to give mum, dad and james a hug and kiss nor to wave the Aussie flag....damn! Instead I ran hard till the finish basically collapsing once over the line but completed my run in a goal time of 3hr41m - woo hoo! Not the finish I visualised, but still an amazing memory that I will never forget ever!

Doing any endurance type of event like this certainly involves so many people and after all the support James has given me and sacrifices he has made to help me achieve this goal I really look forward to taking a long break from Ironman, however hope to always keep fit, and enjoy our time ahead including our wedding coming up in January!

Thanks everyone for all your messages and support, as it truly meant the world to me - it was my dream!

Thank you!

Jacqui xo