Feeling pretty shagged today.

And I suppose that's fair enough. Though I'm not as sore as after the Taupo Ironman, I think that's mainly due to running a slower marathon here, by about 25 minutes. A faster pace always hurts later!

It was so nice going out this morning with Teresa for a big cooked breakfast, eggs benedict with 'extras', thanks goodness for good old American supersizing...It was nice to having the pressure off at last, goal achieved. Its felt like a long time coming.

So, the race. Everyone, pros included, are saying how much harder yesterday's race was than recent years. And, yet, Chrissie Wellington sets a new womens' record. Unbelievable. I don't know how she could do that.

I was happy with my swim. I started at the back of the field, and hard right. I was determined to avoid the 1800 strong fight, and was quite prepared to give away a minute or too to avoid the stress of fighting for space. As it turned out, it was only partially successful, as my more direct line took me well up through the pack, but by that stage, after about 1km, it wasn't too bad. My time was a little slower than anticipated, but that was mainly due to being unable to swim at my pace for the first few minutes. Overall, however, I got out of the water not having wasted mental effort, or being bashed up.

It was hot as soon as we started cycling. I was planning on building into the pace over the first 60km, as its just too easy to go too hard too early, and really suffer later. It was all going pretty well up until about 75km, when I started to feel quite nauseous. The cause was most likely that what i was eating and drinking just wasn't getting absorbed; the extreme heat was making my stomach shut down. It was like cycling on only half-charged batteries, and it felt pretty horrible. Worse was that I stopped sweating as the lack of absorption meant I wasn't able to sweat. I was pretty worried about then that the day wasn't going to work out that well. My coach has talked to me about this being a possibility if it was an especially hot day, so at least I had a plan to work through it - this consisted of simply slowing down, and drinking only water to try to reduce the concentration of what was in my stomach. Well, it took two hours and another 60-70km, but it worked. From 150-180km I came back to life, and rode the sort of pace I should have been doing all along, and despite the wind. It was too late though in terms of the race, as I was around 30-40 minutes down on what I was capable of doing. In some ways I was lucky though - lots and lots of people ended their race on the bike, with the same problem I had. It was a tough ride, hotter than I'd experienced here, and the wind was testing.

I started the run in reasonable form, but knowing that as I'd not been able to take in the fluids and food on the bike that I really needed, I'd have to be more conservative in my pace. I was able to run strongly, if not super fast. That said, my 3:41 was an OK sort of time under the conditions, and I wasn't passed by anyone, but I passed perhaps 200 people.

Even so, the run is always a bit desperate. The body is fair aching by then, and by the half-way point of the marathon, it sure isn't pleasant. Its a significant challenge to keep running, and not give in and walk. You also seem to be on the verge of cramping, and keeping cool is a constant battle. Ice was a pretty constant companion being put down my race top and bike shorts. Not very pleasant, but effective.

Teresa and I went back down to the course at 10.30 last night to watch the final finishers come in before midnight. It was a carnival atmosphere, and pretty special.

In some respects, I'm more pleased with how I came through the challenges of the race, than if I'd set a faster time. I faced some considerable demons, and stuck with it. That is pretty satisfying in retrospect.

Well, done and dusted so to speak. I can't see myself coming back to this race again in the near future. I have satisfied my curiosity as to whether I could again qualify, and complete, this race, so its time to move on to other challenges.

A huge thanks you to everyone who has offered words of encouragement over the last few weeks. The support is much appreciated. The biggest thanks though has to go to Teresa, Jordan and Corrie for putting up with my ambition to race here again. They have been unlimited in their support. Mahalo for that.

I'm going to make one final post in the next few days from Honolulu; perhaps some lessons learnt from the experience, and advice for anyone wanting to race an ironman. Now, its time to head down to the awards ceremony for the party.