I guess it’s about time for a post-Ironman report, eh? Besides having very little time to write
while touring the two fantastic countries of Australia New Zealand
It started at 2 a.m. Although the plan was to have gone to bed by 6 p.m. the night before to get a full night of rest,
that obviously didn’t happen. So after
about 5 hours of sleep, it was time to get up and get some calories into our
bodies to be processed in time for a 5:45 race
start. With some concern about a backup
of traffic on our way into the little town of Busselton 3:15 . And, of course, there was no traffic, so we
had plenty of time to complete our equipment preparation, take some photos,
re-check the equipment, take some more photos, and waste some more time until
we needed to head towards the water for the swim start.
 |
| The Jetty - looks shorter from this angle |
The 2.4 mile swim course starts on one side of the Busselton Jetty and heads out
around the tip of it then down the other side.
The jetty there in Busselton is amazing.
It is the longest timber-piled jetty in the southern hemisphere,
stretching to 1836 meters - over 6000 feet long. You’d think that the water would be fairly
deep a mile out into the ocean, but at the end of this jetty, it’s only about
26 feet from the surface to the ocean floor.
In contrast, the Malibu Pier is only 780 feet long and is similarly deep
at 25 feet. A mile out from the Malibu Busselton Indian Ocean . Because this bay is so shallow, the Busselton
jetty needed to be built extremely long to allow ships to dock.
The water was fantastic that morning in Busselton. The surface of the water didn’t look like a
lake by any means, but for an ocean swim, the swell was almost ideal. Additionally, the water clarity was fantastic
and the temperature was nearly perfect for racing too. With those three factors
in good shape, the next thought might go to the other creatures that could be
in the water with you. There had been a
rash of white shark (“pointers”, mate!) attacks in southwestern Australia in
the final quarter of 2011, so the bad thoughts could become a little more prevalent
when normally you may almost completely dismiss them. One piece of good anti-shark news is the shallow
water there. Although the limited depth
doesn’t mean there aren’t any sharks there, it’s not the typical cruising
environment for a pointer. The other way
to quell the fears is to go have a good look underwater. Fortunately, Busselton has an underwater
observatory at the end of that really long pier. Walking down the stairs a couple of levels
and seeing nothing but fish of shorter than a meter in length has to make you
feel good! |
| Swim Start Corral |
So, the first gun went off at 5:30 a.m. and the pros
took off. Feeling confident with all the
good news of the previous paragraph, all we had to do was wait. It’s typical to get a little warm-up swim in,
but with 2.4 miles to go, we weren’t going to be sprinting anyway, so as the
pros DID sprint away, we got into the water to re-acquaint ourselves to the
water temperature. With a little water
in our wetsuits, we were back on shore for the 5:45 notice to begin
our race. Ironman races are a mob start,
so as the second gun went off, over 1,000 of us began our journeys together.
Having tested the water current with a practice swim a couple of days
before, I knew I’d be fighting a slightly right to left flow on the way out –
left to right on the way in to shore.
The jetty was to be on our left the entire time – great for a left-side
breather like myself – so I aimed to the right of the jetty tip. Eventually, the current would take me directly
to the last buoy. Thankfully, I didn’t
have much trouble with all of the flailing arms and legs around me - well,
except for the one time early on when somebody hooked my head with their elbow
and held my head underwater for a few seconds.
Besides that, it was gravy. I
guessed correctly with the current, made the turnaround tightly around the
buoys and headed for shore, aiming a bit left this time.
It was such a great feeling to come out of the water in good shape,
mostly because I normally don’t, but also because that long swim, the weakest
of my three triathlon skills, was over.
My parents, Scott, and Mara, who had traveled all the way to the west coast of
Australia
The bike course is shaped a bit like an “H”, although with arms and
legs that weren’t quite the same length.
We were to do three laps of 60 km (37 miles), each time returning to a
loop near the bike start where we got a chance to hear our fans cheer us along
– huge help! The longest section is parallel to the beach and is flanked by an
estuary alongside the entire length, so the view wasn’t so bad. After crossing the short part of the “H”, the
course heads into a state forest.
Although we had seen a few grey kangaroo in the forest as we drove the
course a few days earlier, there were none to be seen during the race – or
maybe there were and I just didn’t feel like looking! There were four aid stations scattered along
the route and I made sure to hit each one.
Despite the fact that not everyone mixed Gatorade as per the directions,
I was extremely thankful for the volunteers at those stations who tried to keep
us hydrated. 
Even though there were fewer than 1500 racers on the course, spread
over the 60 km loop, the roads did seem to be packed at times. Part of that may have been due to the
triathlon drafting rules of
While it was a beautiful ride, it was tough to enjoy because we had the
unlucky fortune of 30 mile/hour headwinds.
I had wanted to put in a solid bike ride without overdoing the effort,
so that I had energy for a strong run, but the wind sapped it out of me. This was one instance where being tall and
light worked against me as I turned into a bit of a sail for my bike! What I couldn’t feel as much while riding was
about to really do me in.
Hello H-E-A-T. It seemed none of
us were ready for it, and it greeted us harshly. 93 degrees and no shade. I was really hoping that we’d get the cool
weather that we had been used to in LA for October and November. Instead, we got the double-whammy of wind and
heat. Both of them did a number on
me! I arrived, exhausted, into the
changing tent for transition #2, bike to run, and again took my time getting on
to the next phase. After running back
and forth looking for an arm cooling sleeve I had dropped, I was on my way out
of the chute to the marathon. This run
was about a 10 km (6.2 mile) loop, done four times. It traveled along the coast for the majority
of the time, including through some neighborhoods where the locals cheered,
played music, sprayed us with hoses, anything to help us along.
Despite being tired, I shuffled along pretty well for a while, stopping
to walk through the aid stations that were placed at nearly each mile
mark. I couldn’t tolerate any more gels
or dry foods, so ate an orange wedge and drank water or Gatorade at each
stop. Along the way, I’d get applause
and high fives from my support group who had found a nice spot on the
patio of a restaurant near the water and along the route. Again, HUGE help. As the miles went by, the walks through the
aid stations started to get longer. I
was really burning up. Those arm coolers
weren’t working at all - should have let them stay lost! I started seeing some of those classic
exhaustion-type symptoms in other racers, you know, the
leaning-over-to-the-side foot-dragging walk, the hands-on-knees resting stance,
the nausea. It was starting to set in
that this was turning from racing to surviving.
I did not fly all the way out to 
Lap #4 was all walking, that is until I reached the final stretch. We had been given an black wrist band each
time we completed a lap. A few hundred
meters before the finish line, I wore three black bands and had finally earned
my orange one, meaning I was allowed to head down the finish chute. At that point, I could force myself to run
and could pass out after the finish line…which is exactly what I did. That final stretch was fantastic. I had walked with my father for some of the
last lap, then saw my mom and Mara along the stretch to the
finish. I heard the magic words: “you
are an Ironman!” and fell into the arms of two volunteers. Despite attempts by a very excited Scott Pulcifer to get me
on the phone to the USA
It was hardly the glamorous finish that I had imagined, but it was
over. I had achieved Ironman status and
could look forward to another three weeks of remarkable travel. There was no soreness the next day, so I
guess the training was done well. I
certainly didn’t perfect the nutrition and fluid intake strategy, but I wasn’t
among just a small group in that category.
It was an unbelievable experience, one I had told myself I would never
do, then one I said I would never do again.
In the days immediately following the race, I left a small window open
to trying another Ironman (hopefully in better conditions!) as I wasn’t
entirely satisfied with my race, but as the days go by, I accept the effort
more and more. For me, and 1177 other
finishers, it really was rewarding day, one that I’ll never forget, and one
that I’ll never regret.
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At this point, I have to reiterate my appreciation to my Mom and Dad, my girlfriend, Mara, and the "mayor of Busselton", Scott Pulcifer. It was a completely different event because you were there. I don't know how it would have gone without you. I'm so happy that we shared one tough day and a bunch of good days after. I love you all.
Additionally, I want to thank my friends that supported me through training and sent me off with good wishes. I felt all of your support while racing too. You're all awesome. I look forward to some free weekends with you.
For any of you who want to see pics from Australia and New Zealand, you can go to the links below (Picasa). Sorry that there isn't an accompanying story for them, but maybe I'll throw something together to talk about the trip soon.
Kangaroo Island: https://picasaweb.google.com/103049868877847811665/KangarooIsland?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCJKo8fKS8o6K1AE&feat=directlink
Franz Josef Glacier: https://picasaweb.google.com/103049868877847811665/FranzJosefGlacier?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCJCL-NGcz_-sxQE&feat=directlink
Christchurch: https://picasaweb.google.com/103049868877847811665/Christchurch?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCIDVvr_b25rTOw&feat=directlink
