It's really hard to pull out of events when you do them with friends.
TUESDAY, 9 SEPTEMBER 2008
OH! MY! GAWD!
I have just sat through 1 hr 30mins of reality TV! There is no beating about the bush here. Kona looks gruesome! Savagely hot lava fields, not one iota of shade, long lonely bike sections with nothing to look at, completely deserted roads to run on and where did those hills come from …….nobody said anything about hills!
You see, Ange (my coach) lent me his DVD of the 2004 Hawaii Ironman, in which he competed (there is a snippet of him on it actually!) and I have just watched it with the kids. It’s got dramatic booming commentary, harrowing pictures of people flaking out left, right and centre on the run and bike sections, and people looking as rough as a box of frogs as they cross the finish – and that’s just the pro’s. I’m sure it’s specifically designed to put the willies up any potential Hawaii Ironman competitor who might be watching from the comfort of their sofa (while it gently rains outside I may add!)
Apart from scaring me ever so slightly, the DVD also profiled three amazing competitors. One was Tracey Richardson, a Kiwi mother of four kids, two of whom have cystic fibrosis. She overcame severe depression, lost 25kgs and raised money for kids with cystic fibrosis, whilst completing her Hawaii Ironman dream. (Her book, Going the Distance, is a great read).
Another competitor was trying to become the first amputee-athlete to finish the race – she missed the cut off time for completing the bike section by 15mins and was therefore not allowed to start the run – so sad. They also showed a guy who got wiped out by a scooter with 10k to go to the finish of the bike. In true Ironman spirit, he picked up his mangled bike and walked with it to the transition area (you have to rack your bike to be able to continue on the run). He then ran/walked the Marathon and passed through the finish within minutes of the 17hr cut off time – I clapped!
The kids kept asking why I was crying and doing the ‘my Mum is bonkers’ sigh! It was all so emotional! All these incredible stories, all these people with the one goal of crossing the finish line, some failures, all that passion, all that drive! I tried to explain the personal significance of completing the race during one particular camera shot, which panned over a lava field of complete black, with a single rider on a tarmac road. My youngest son listened intently and then he said, really sincerely, “Good luck Mum!”
You want to know what I was thinking? “I wonder if I can get my money back on the entry fee?”
OH! MY! GAWD!
I have just sat through 1 hr 30mins of reality TV! There is no beating about the bush here. Kona looks gruesome! Savagely hot lava fields, not one iota of shade, long lonely bike sections with nothing to look at, completely deserted roads to run on and where did those hills come from …….nobody said anything about hills!
You see, Ange (my coach) lent me his DVD of the 2004 Hawaii Ironman, in which he competed (there is a snippet of him on it actually!) and I have just watched it with the kids. It’s got dramatic booming commentary, harrowing pictures of people flaking out left, right and centre on the run and bike sections, and people looking as rough as a box of frogs as they cross the finish – and that’s just the pro’s. I’m sure it’s specifically designed to put the willies up any potential Hawaii Ironman competitor who might be watching from the comfort of their sofa (while it gently rains outside I may add!)
Apart from scaring me ever so slightly, the DVD also profiled three amazing competitors. One was Tracey Richardson, a Kiwi mother of four kids, two of whom have cystic fibrosis. She overcame severe depression, lost 25kgs and raised money for kids with cystic fibrosis, whilst completing her Hawaii Ironman dream. (Her book, Going the Distance, is a great read).
Another competitor was trying to become the first amputee-athlete to finish the race – she missed the cut off time for completing the bike section by 15mins and was therefore not allowed to start the run – so sad. They also showed a guy who got wiped out by a scooter with 10k to go to the finish of the bike. In true Ironman spirit, he picked up his mangled bike and walked with it to the transition area (you have to rack your bike to be able to continue on the run). He then ran/walked the Marathon and passed through the finish within minutes of the 17hr cut off time – I clapped!
The kids kept asking why I was crying and doing the ‘my Mum is bonkers’ sigh! It was all so emotional! All these incredible stories, all these people with the one goal of crossing the finish line, some failures, all that passion, all that drive! I tried to explain the personal significance of completing the race during one particular camera shot, which panned over a lava field of complete black, with a single rider on a tarmac road. My youngest son listened intently and then he said, really sincerely, “Good luck Mum!”
You want to know what I was thinking? “I wonder if I can get my money back on the entry fee?”