At 7.55am on 16 April I turned on my mobile phone. It pinged to tell me I had a message. The message read
"Shit u got a lottery spot into Hawaii!!!! I am so jealous".
With those words I let out some very unmanly noises, waved my arms around, wiped a tear from my eye and dashed to the computer (hoping that the internet would be working) and went straight to www.ironman.com. Could it be true? Could I have been given the chance to fulfill the dream?
Sure enough - there was my name on the list. It was real - I was going to Kona!!
After a couple of days I got an email which started "Aloha lottery winner" and the formalities for registration and payment would begin. Having done Florida 70.3 world champs, IM Western Australia and Geelong 70.3 - I had met the criteria of doing at least a 70.3 event - so by the end of April... I was all set. The formalities were over.
I had a fantastic response from friends who were all really pleased for me - although of course all were really jealous. After all, I have never finished in the first half of my age group, so there are plenty of better triathletes than me. That said - a lottery is a lottery and it doesnt rely on skill. Luck, maybe some passion and I am sure having done 12 ironman's probably helped too. Most importantly I entered the lottery and gave myself a chance...
The rest of April was spent being competely stunned and excited, watching a few old ironman races and sobbing on the couch, getting a little scared, and focusing on getting my training right for the world championships to be held in Vancouver (Olympic distance) on 7 June.
2008 is sure going to be a big year!
A few years ago I set a goal of doing all 4 world championship triathlons
- olympic distance
- ironman 70.3
- long course, and of course
- the Hawaii Ironman
I had no idea I would have the opportunity to complete that quadrella as early as 2008.
Winter / spring 2008 will be serious training and I have made a few key decisions. No more alcohol until after Kona. No more subway until after Kona. And the hardest one of all - no more chocolate until after Kona!!!
Firstly I now need to finish the world championships in Vancouver - have a couple of weeks off - and start training for Kona in late June, which gives me about 16 weeks to get as fit as I possibly can be before the race starts goes off at 7am on Saturday 11 October 2008.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Background
Everyone who has ever done a triathlon knows of the Hawaii Ironman. The annual highlights package always shows the best of our sport - the men and women having their greatest days and winning the event or their age group, through to the people who survive the day trying to get to that finish line inside the midnight cut off.
Many a tear has been shed watching those annual highlights packages - watching fantastic images of Julie Moss, Bob Jordan and the unbelievable crawl for 4th spot in 1997 between the two female pros along the finishing carpet.
I have always wanted to be out there - experiencing the most famous triathlon in the world - and after recovering from stress fractures in the late 1990's, took up the sport again in 2000, did my first half ironman in October 2001 and did my first Ironman at Forster in 2002. I finished in the darkeness with my glow stick in 13.00.52 and it was one of the most memorable and satisfying days of my life.
I have subsequently done a further 11 ironmans and (eventually) improved that PB set at Forster in 2002 at my 12th ironman in Western Australia - where I finished in 11.52.44.
There are two ways of getting into the Hawaii Ironman - being incredibly good and finishing in the first few in your age group at an Ironman event - or being incredibly lucky and being drawn in the annual lottery process for 200 spots (150 to US citizens and 50 for the rest of the world).
On 16 April, the opportunity to fulfill a dream came true when my name was selected in the ironman lottery. This was the first year I applied. This blog details my thoughts and progress towards competing at Kona on 11 October - and on living the dream.
Many a tear has been shed watching those annual highlights packages - watching fantastic images of Julie Moss, Bob Jordan and the unbelievable crawl for 4th spot in 1997 between the two female pros along the finishing carpet.
I have always wanted to be out there - experiencing the most famous triathlon in the world - and after recovering from stress fractures in the late 1990's, took up the sport again in 2000, did my first half ironman in October 2001 and did my first Ironman at Forster in 2002. I finished in the darkeness with my glow stick in 13.00.52 and it was one of the most memorable and satisfying days of my life.
I have subsequently done a further 11 ironmans and (eventually) improved that PB set at Forster in 2002 at my 12th ironman in Western Australia - where I finished in 11.52.44.
There are two ways of getting into the Hawaii Ironman - being incredibly good and finishing in the first few in your age group at an Ironman event - or being incredibly lucky and being drawn in the annual lottery process for 200 spots (150 to US citizens and 50 for the rest of the world).
On 16 April, the opportunity to fulfill a dream came true when my name was selected in the ironman lottery. This was the first year I applied. This blog details my thoughts and progress towards competing at Kona on 11 October - and on living the dream.
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