Have not been posting for a while.
Have not been training...
Was under the weather for most part of the last two weeks which includes some holidaying.
A lot of thoughts were going through my mind.
I was glad that I was not doing IMWA this year given the health conditions.
Am glad that I completed the ultimate experience in 2011.
****
9th December 2012 - IMWA 2012
Pretty excited for my friends who are doing IMWA.
A lot of first timers and some old timers.
I have faith that most of them will come in before 15 hours.
A handful before 16 hours.
When evening rolls by, I got 2 bitter news. 2 of my friends pulled out of the race due to flu.
Rest well, bros.
Tracking friends is fun but not when the clock hits 10pm.
I still have 4 friends on the course and it seems like they still have 8km to go!
Of the four, Samuel gave us the "keep you on the edge of the chair" experience.
He was pulled out from the race last year after he vomited on the 3.8km swim completion.
This year, he finished the swim in 2:19:05!!!
If that has not raised your heart rate yet, he did a 8:05:33 for his bike!!!
He need all the mental strength to push him through the race...
A 6:11 run saw him completed the race with 8 minutes to spare.
Congratulations, Samuel!
A friend finished on the wrong side of the clock and felt extremely gutted.
I feel partly responsible for encouraging him to take part in the race when he contacted me last year.
Did my best to comfort him. Hope that is enough.
It was a hard day with choppy waters and hot weather.
He experience stomach discomfort and cramps 4 km into the run.
He still went on to complete the Ironman Distance which takes a lot of courage and mental toughness.
All the best, bro. Rest well and plan for your next race.
*****
In truth, I never felt anything after completing IMWA 2011.
To me it is just another triathlon, albeit an extremely long distance one.
Yes, I keep talking about IM. But in my heart, I felt that everyone can do it.
Why? Cos all my friends completed the race. Only Esther ended up on the wrong side of the clock by a mere 4 minutes.
IMWA 2012 put a lot of things into perspective.
Tracking my friends told me that not everyone can have a good outing.
It takes a lot of perseverance to complete the race.
A lot of things can go wrong and I have an extremely lucky day.
Will I attempt another IM again.
I most probably would.
But I have not really keen to do so, mainly due to the costs involved.
Secondarily will be the training time which meant a lot of family time will be robbed.
When it comes, it will come...