KENMARE 1/2 IRONMAN 2007

Well where do i start with this Madness...!!!This is my 3rd year doing Triathlon's & what started out a bit of fun has now turned into me versus Triathlon & to see how far i can go..I decided at the start of this year that Competing in the Half Ironman was my goal this year. Half Ironman consists of a 1900m Swim(1.2mile) 90K Cycle (52miles) 21.5k run (13.5 mile). The thoughts of the run alone scared me to bits... I started training for this way back in February as i was going to be doing a few sprint triathlons during the summer months to keep me tickingover.. Training is mostly on the bike so a lot of weekends are spent on long4/5hr cycles over the Dublin mountains. Swimmimg has been my downfall but this year i've put a lot of hours in the pool & i've improved no end.. Swimming seemed to be very important as drowning can hinder your progress inTriathlons.....!!!! Anyway with all my training done over the summer months the long spins on the bike endless hours swimming & running the streets of Dublin like a lost soul Kenmare was upon me...We headed down to Kenmare on the Friday with Leila (My Grilfriend) driving as i need to rest up. Eventually after a 6 hour journey down we made to to Kenmare at 9 that night which was not ideal as i had such an early start thenext morning. We headed straight to registeration to get my timing chip & race number. Registeration done & booked into the B&B & at this stage all i wanted was bed. As i had all me gear prepared from the Thursday night it wasjust a matter of getting some sleep & up & out.4.50am my alarm woke me on the morning of the Race. Quick shower & bowl of Porridge & a quick cup of coffee. Got all my gear from the car assembled my bike & pumped my tyres & checked i had all my spare tubes taped to the bike & all my food was on board... Headed down to transition to set my bike up & it was still pitch black at this stage.. Setting up the bike was pretty uneventful food sorted runners sorted & all ready to go. You could sense thenevousness of the 260 people partaking when we headed over to the swim start. Wetsuit on & ready to go. It was now 6.45 & i was in Kenmare Bay waiting to swim 1900m & thinking to myself what the f**k was i doing here. Ishould only be coming home from the night before as i have done on MANY occassion... AT 1 min to 7 we all got ready for the off & all of a sudden itwas go.. Arms & legs everywhere & it looks like a huge washing machine in front of me a few digs & feet in thye head before i hgad clear water in front of me. I had hoped to do the swim in 40mins but to my surprise i did it in 29mins & came out of the water in 45th place.. Happy days & running tomy bike taking my wetsuit off in the process. Bike jersey/socks & shoes on &of we go on the bike. The ring of Kerry here i come. The cycle was from Kenmare via Healy Pass, Glengarriff & Caha Pass. Hills lots of bloody hills.The cycle was amazing taking in some breath taking views of Kerry especiallyup Healy Pass & Caha Pass these were all CAT 1 climbs on the recent Tour of Ireland so you can imagine.. I ate every 30mins on the bike to keep my energy levels up & it was all going really well so far. The cycle seemed to pass quicker than expected & eventually i see a sign for Kenmare 13k to go thank God all that was ahead of me now was a 13.5mile run... I had planned a3.1/2 hr cycle but i ended up doing it in 2hr 52min.Back to Kenmare bike back in the rack & runners on & started off on the run & actually felt great starting my run. It was an out & back run & it was allbloody hills. The first 6 mile went well for me & i was on for a 1hr 45min run but i started to get sore & after 8 miles & slowed up a little. More Energy gels into me & started to get back into my stride. The encouragement from fellow competors & supporters was amazing & really pushes you on. Eventually i saw the crowds & finish line. I had hoped to do it all in 5hr 30min & the clock was at 5hr 29min when i finished. I had done it. I cannot explain the elation at finishing this until you do it yourself. I finished in 109th place. Not bad for a former Rugby player against all these athletes. All the training had payed off the hours & hours on the bike & it was over.Roll in IRONMAN GERMANY (3.2k Swim 195k Bike 42.2k Run) next July... Way i do not know...!!It's a long way from my Rugby playing days but it's great seeing some lads you played Rugby against competing in Triathlons & beating them like i did playing Rugby...!!! Some things never change...Derek (Del-Boy)McCabe