By the way a collier on race morning is something you have to see. it's like having a human tigger. se you on friday if you are in the pub

Well done zilla - you did brilliantly, great write up and as you say you'll be back in future.

"...oddly enough it makes me want to go for an IM in 2006 even more..."

same here amanda, very strange that, shows what a grand experience all this pain sounds like.

Three cheers for godzilla. That was a great race report and a very brave race by you, very well done.

PPB.

Bad luck zilla, enjoyed the report.

Very well done, Zil, on what must have been a real ‘life experience’. You _will_ beat it next time!

Good effort Zilla, you'll be back and you'll skin it raw next time.

Well done mate, great read and glad you are already looking to the future.

Great report Zilla and well done! sounds like you went through hell. Glad you're OK and looking to carry on.

Top report Zilla, and I hope you aren't too disappointed - you have done far more than most other people even dream of. You have my total respect - if I ever meet you (not in the Carl and Oxy sense) I'll buy you a drink, and you can hold me to that.

Good to hear that you are ready to come back for more this soon after the event - sounds to me like you are hooked ;-D

Well done mate, glad you are OK, raring to go and totally up for it.

If everyone's report is half as good as yours someone ought to pull them together and publish them - not a massive target audience or great money spinner granted, but some very select and special people might be interested, and you are one of them!!

Well done and enjoy the rest - we all look forward to your many future reports....

IR - WTF is going on in your picture? Is this your homage to the master, The Count?

There's a good book called "Becoming an Ironman" which contains reports of a wide range of abilities of people tackling their first ever ironman race:
Becoming An Ironman

Zilla - fantastic report. Sometimes it takes more strength to admit defeat than to carry on, and that's admirable. I still want to do one, but I would need extra time because I'm in that fat old wifey category!!

is this the race report thread? i have to say that the past few days were utterly fantastic, what a wonderful and inspiring group of people.

the run up to the race was fun, lots of piratey group meals and video shows and swims and rides, great cameraderie and laughter and general bonding between friends taking on an awesome challenge.

i also noticed what a great team they are, lots of people helping each other out with niggles and problems and sharing tips and advice. and it was necessary, given that only three of us had done ironman before and that most of the team were tri novices. i know the fuss that garr went to to get some endurolytes sent over from the US, and then when it became obvious that it was going to be hot, he shared them all out between the team. there were loads of other examples too.

saturday was the zueri baby tri, 1500m swim, 40k bike and 10k run - great performances from petal, nic, courtney, tish and -on his first tri and first open water swim- daniel from runners world. spectating was tiring, running from bike to run and back so we could cheer on our guys as many times as possible, and it was great.

race day came and there were lots of nerves on show, but loads of excitement.

LOL - TC was p!ssed off this morning when i mentioned that rosey did 10:45 at switzerland - TC thought he'd done 11:30!!!! oh dear, he'll have to come back next year now...

you couldn't miss the pirates when racking, or just milling about. there were lots of back slaps and jokes, trying to relieve the tension. i went for a warm up swim then saw zill on the beach, so stood with him in a state of hyped excitement. i love doing ironman.

the gun went and we were in, the swim was quite rough and it was difficult to get into a rhythm, but it was all good natured really. if you are assertive, people don't push you around. i found a great man to draft, fat and splashy and swimming straight. paradise. i was doing a super draft, so close that i got his feet in my face a few times, but he was my man and i was sticking by him. a few times some other boys tried to latch onto him, but i fought them off with a few jusicious elbows to the head.

after that the swim was easy, if a bit boring, and it seemed to drag on for ages. i think the swim was a bit long, since it took me exactly the same time as lanzarote, but then i wasn't drafting, it was in a rough sea and i kept zigzagging. never mind, out of the water in one piece in 1:27

something like a 3min 45 sec T1, which is amazing to anybody who knows me, because i usually dawdle about like a daydreaming numpty

Grizz, haha, not quite but I am sure he will like to think so.

the bike was fun - could see loads of pirates, kept exchanging waves and a few words.

when you do an ironman you'll have problems, the test is how you deal with them. the first was of our own making - the night before TC and i had come up with the ultimate plan - to use the "all your bike gels in 1 bottle" nutrition idea, but with the gels in an aerodrink bottle with the top taped up. that way, there was no danger of dropping the gel bottle and using all your bike fuel down a ravine.

the flaw in the plan was that you couldn't see how much you were drinking, and as a consequence i drank 18 gels in 3 hours, plus a litre and a half of powerade picked up from the aid stations, and i had to get off the bike for 20 minutes to throw up in a drain. never mind, "always try something new on race day" is my motto, and i will continue to stand by it. the only down side was that in the heat, the drain smelt like baked sewage, so maybe i should have done it in somebody's garden instead.

ratbag rode past while i was layed flat on the floor throwing up, which was embarrassing.

some bloke pulled up for a chat, he was in a real bad way saying he'd have to pull out at T2. i made him promise to take on some salt, fluids and energy, sit down for 15 minutes, and see if he could walk the marathon. i directed him to where my bike had been racked, and told him where he could find water and pringles, and he promised to give it a go. i feel bad about not going with him because i don't know if he quit or not, but at the time i didn't think of it.

"LOL - TC was p!ssed off this morning when i mentioned that rosey did 10:45 at switzerland - TC thought he'd done 11:30!!!! oh dear, he'll have to come back next year now..."


haha, I was keeping schtumm but now he is aware I can give him some grief ... thats what happens when you put competitive people in the same room ... you day will come TC, jus remind me never to do a marafun with you, oops Lochaber, forgot about that !!

sorry CO, carry on