Hello everyone,
I just finished my final race of the 2009 season in Western Australia. It was a challenging year from an Ironman Standpoint, my first Ironman in China I went off course to be disqualified while feeling strong and ready for a great race, then Ironman Japan I got destroyed from racing a tough race in Korea just one week prior. Now it was time for redemption for my 2009 season. The trip started out very smooth with a very long flight from Hawaii, but it was with a group of friends which always makes travel that much easier. We arrived and headed down to our new home for the week, it ended up being a sweet house straight out of MTV Cribs. Busselton is a very quiet country town with no Traffic or People. It made for easy days of getting around the small town and fun bikes and runs.
Race day Finally came after a slow moving 4 days in Aus. The water was pretty cold which made for a wetsuit swim, the weather was picture perfect which was going to make for a great day of racing. The cannon blasted and I went straight for the front, about 400 mtrs into the swim I was in the front but having a short Panic attack in my wetsuit due to the cold water. This was very frustrating considering I wanted to come out of the water with a good lead to stay away from the main pack on the bike. I had a good talk with a friend Jimmy Johnson about riding together in the front. The plan was for me to swim off the front and for him to ride up to me at a very fast pace. But with my problems in the swim it looked like the plan might no work on my end. And sure enough every time I pushed the pace I would get that feeling of wanting to stop and tear my wetsuit off like the Incredible Hulk. But I would just relax float on my back and take some serious deep breaths, to say the least I had lost my lead and was now leading the big pack. Two guys actually swam off the front with my exact plan, I hit the beach in a group that I would normally out swim by minutes, but there was nothing I could do about the bad swim and it was time to hit the bikes. My partner in crime was on his bike first and did his part by flying off the front at an incredible pace, I did my best to chase him down to form our two man pack but I started to suffer. I just couldn’t keep my heartrate down and match his pace, I had to let him go and rejoin the lead group. It was now a group of 10 athletes which is very big on a flat course.
The Bike ended up being very uneventful with many athletes riding too close for comfort. But oh well it was the race and I had no choice but to continue on and attempt to race my best. I tried to make the pace hard at the end of the bike but nothing seemed to work. I was hoping to have a stellar marathon and really put in a good show. We hit transition and we all bolted toward the changing tent as if it was an ITU race. I have never been in a race like this for an Ironman, it was interesting to see the dynamics of a pack in such a long race. We all bolted out of the changing tent at a wicked fast pace, I ran the first 6 miles at a 6 min 15 second pace and I was about 1 min down on Patrick Vernay and 3 min down on Jimmy the leader. I felt comfortable and I was very confident that I could pull off a top 3 for the day. But as I hit the Half marathon Point I really started to struggle, my pace slowed dramatically and I started to overheat. I Told myself that its just a bad patch and I will come back to life and feel strong as ever. That never happened and I basically struggled from there to the finish line. I was still in the top 5 and hoping to pull out a decent result even with such a struggle in the run. But with two miles to go the worst happened and I got passed, and with just 1k left I was past one more time and I was now just trying to reach that finish line. The final 10 miles I felt like the slowest runner alive, I was running horribly. I still finished 7th overall in 8hr and 40 min, not too bad but I was looking for more. I felt I could have been in the top 3 of this race but it just didn’t come together for me.
I am happy that 2009 is done and I am very excited for 2010. I have training plans with some great athletes and racing plans all over the world. I can’t wait to start my build, my dedication will be at another level and I hope my results will shine strong! In the meantime I will enjoy my time off with some good fun surfing and hanging out with my boys and my Beautiful Wife. I want to thank everyone for their support in my tough season and I am thankful for your faith in me to bounce back in 2010!
Cheers,
Tim Marr
