Nutrition -

Got up at 4am and made Breakfast

2 Slices of Toast, Butter and Apricot Jam - 300 Cals

2 Gerber Apricot baby food . 160 Cals

1 peach Low Fat Yoghurt 100 Cals

2 Cups of Coffee.

20 ozs Gatorade Endurance before race start 150 Cals

1 Gu 100 Cals

Total 810 Cals

2 Tylenol 8 hour

On the Bike

2 22 ozs Accelerade 400 Cals, 2 22 ozs Hammer Perpetuum 400 cals, 10 Hammer Gel, 10 Good Glugs 6-10 ozs Water 1000 cals packets of Cliff Shot Blocks 400 cals. Total 2200 Cals

Transition 2 Tylenol 8 hour

Lava Salt Tablet at start of run and every Hour Walked every drink stop and sucked down GU, Gatorade Endurance, 3-4 Half Bananas, Special Needs Bag at mile 17 Gummie Bears ! ( saved me) Started to drink Cola. Both are a real 'pick you up'.

Race Start 7am

We had to tread water for about 30 minutes as the Pros went off at 6.45am. National Anthems ( a couple of prayers, Mum, God, Madame Pele) and then go.

The swim wasn't as rough as the previous days had been. I don't know how I was doing at the turn but felt pretty good as I didn't feel sick.

Coming back was tougher though as there was a pretty strong current against for a while. Out of the water at 1.15.23 ( vs 1.24.05 in 2001 )which was pleasing as my target was 1.15.00

Transition 5.20 could have been faster but didn't swim in my race suit so spent some time putting my Challenged Athletes strip on and put heat patches on my Glute.

Bike

My left Hip and Glute was sore from the start and I lost my chain going up Palani Hill. Thought- 'Stay Positive'. Got to the the Queen K and realized my HR monitor wasn't working so had no idea of time. My Cat Eye bike computer worked so just focused on mph and how I felt . My aim was to stay over 19mph average to get me back around 6 hour.I expected the nasty winds at any time. Some cross wind kicked in around 35 miles but nothing like my last race in 2001. I was still averging over 19mph. The

18 mile climb up to Hawi was harder. Wind kicked in and at times I was moving at 10 mph. It was great to see Norman Stadler hammering down from Hawi followed a long way back by everybody else. Shelley also looked great with a big smile as she passed about 6 miles ahead of me.

I hit the 59 mile turnround having averaged 18.6 mph but that started to pick up straight away on the return with the wind behind. As the bike was much easier the pain in my glute/hip had gone.

Back on the Queen K I started to enjoy the bike and the last 12 miles started passing people and ended up averaging 19.3mph which worked out as 5.48.33 ( vs 6.53.50 in 2001)

Run - " When you are going through Hell, just keep going ". - Winston Churchill.

Right from the start my butt,hamstring, feet, whatever you wanted to pick on, hurt. I managed to get my HR monitor going again and my Heart Rate started around 155. I train at 135-140 and was very hot on Alii Drive.

My stride was more like a fast shuffle but my strategy in the last couple of IM distance races has been to walk every drink station and keep running in between. At the 5 mile turn on Alii I'd averaged 6.2 mph which was pretty good but from there it was very tough. It was good seeing faces I knew . Shelley and Martin who both looked great, and Courtney Cooper and Shelley's husband Carey who were the loudest supporters on the course.

Finally 10 miles had gone and I was back in Kona at the bottom of Palani Hill. In 2001 running up this destroyed me so I walked up and guys who ran were only about 100 yards ahead of me at the top but at least I could start running on the Queen K.

The Queen K to the Energy Lab is about 6 miles and is the worst part of the run. It seems to climb all the time and this is where on numerous occasions the thought came ' why not walk for a while? You would still probably break 13 hours'. This is when you have to remind yourself why you are doing this. You remember your family and supporters and remind yourself about all the effort you have put in to get to this point. I then saw Natasha Badman running towards me way off the lead with her fantastic smile beaming across her face. She was having a tough run but it didn't matter to her. I heard after the race that she was even smiling while being sick during the run!

I managed to keep to the 1 mile run/shuffle plan and 50 yard walk through nutrition stops but by the 17.6 mile turnaround in the Energy Lab my average speed had dropped to 5.6 mph.

In my Special Needs Bag, I'd put a big bag of Gummie Bears as a reward for getting that far. I had a handful of those and cheered up immediately as did an automatic message from my daughter on a motivational text screen that is activated by your running chip ' GO RAZOR!'

At the top of the Energy Lab/Queen K food stop, Peter Reid, who has retired from Ironman, was a volunteer handing out drinks. That was cool and I took a Cola from him and thanked him. Cola + Gummie Bears seemed to do the trick. The last 8 miles from the Energy Lab was a completely different feeling in my legs.

I actually got a stride going again and the pain went from my glute and for the first time I felt like a runner. The next 6 miles seemed to go very quickly. From 2 miles out I could hear the noise from the finish line and see the lights. That pulls you in.

I felt great coming off the Queen K and down Palani Hill and don't feel I could have run faster. The turn onto Alii Drive gives you another surge. Under the Banyan Tree, Crowds of supporters, Noise, Lights and the sight of the best finish line in the World. 100 yards out and my daughter was there with a Union Jack flag which I took across the finish line with me in 11.45.01 ( vs 13.44.39 in 2001 )Redemption for 2001. I had given this everything available on the day and very happy.

My fundraising target for Challenged Athletes this year was $10,000 and with this race I have moved through $11,000 . Thank you for your support.

I'm feeling good and the sorest part on my body is the new Tattoo!

Looking forward to Ironman Florida on November 4th.