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I've had a week since the race to reflect on both how I went, and what it all means. The awards ceremony/dinner on the Sunday night (day after race) started that process. Our good friend Jon Ackland grabbed us some seats with Terenzo Bozzone and his family, and we had a good night. It was pretty interesting comparing notes with Terenzo about how his race went.

Terenzo was NZ's best placed male at 11th, and this was a pretty solid result in his first appearance at Kona, and only his 3rd Ironman. He's the reigning world half-ironman champ, and defends his title at Clearwater, Florida, in November. Jon has been Terenzo's coach for the last 5-6 years. Jon and Teresa worked together at the Institute of Sport in Auckland in the late 80's, and Jon and I did most of our training together for our Ironman NZ and Kona campaigns in 1988. Whilst I've seen a bit of Jon in recent years, Teresa hadn't seen him since we left Auckland in 1991!

Jon and I talked some about where things like Ironman fit into life, and if anything, that is the theme for this post. We came to the conclusion that its all about living life to its full, but having balance in that process.

Sadly, and this is certainly only my opinion, far too many people meander through life without much to show for it. I'm not talking material possessions. I'm talking experiences. I think humans are explorers; we have an instinct that propels us into wondering things like just how far we can go, what lies around the next corner, how can we do things better and so on. Essentially its about harnessing our initiative and our imagination - what's possible.

Many people seem to be satisfied that they have enough on their plate with job and family, and fair enough too. For me personally, that's not enough. Sports and recreational pursuits provide me the extra dimension, whether its competing or completing in triathlons/multisport/other athletic events, or flying, or tramping or kayaking and so on. Its hard to put into words where they fit in, and I can only imagine that these things to a degree satisfy the explorer/inventor/hunter-gatherer instinct we all share.

Back to the ironman. Jon and I talked about how to the vast majority of age-group athletes at the world champs, their actual placing and result is almost immaterial. Even now, I'm only vaguely aware of my placing in the race - I actually don't much care to be honest. Racing at Kona is just the final act in a play that lasted a number of years. Most of the challenge really lies in just getting there, from making the decision to try to, through the hundreds of hours of training, through racing one or more qualifying ironman races to qualify, and then completing the final training block for Kona itself. Its a bloody long process. At the end of the day, its actually really about putting a goal in one's mind, accepting and committing to the challenge, and then doing what it takes to achieve the outcome. In that respect, my satisfaction in completing Kona is really about having completed the bigger journey of thinking about, and preparing to get there; the race is to a degree just the conclusion. That the process takes at least a year makes it just that more memorable and special. Its the journey, rather than the destination that provides the most satisfaction.

But its a great metaphor. Nothing of value come easy, and closing this chapter is satisfying in that I have completed my dream to race at the world champs again after wondering whether this would be possible, and giving me confidence that almost anything is possible given desire, planning and commitment. This is a pretty handy reminder as I plan my transition into establishing my own business in the near future.

And as to tips for anyone wanting to do something like the ironman (or any other significant project or challenge), I'm only going to offer one piece of advice. Simply, you have to really want the goal, and believe that it can be achieved. If we don't really want it, or believe in ourselves, we are almost destined to stumble at the first hardship or hurdle, and give up. Wanting something, and backing yourself through all the challenges and hardships, is surely the key. So, get out there and do stuff.

I've enjoyed writing this blog. Its made me think about quite a few things, and of course many of these I've kept private, naturally enough. Its been an interesting journey, and I hope that you've found it worth the read, even if only for curiosity's sake.

Over and out.