my third trip to cairns with the last being 9 years ago in 2014. the day it rained. this event has grown into being totally awesome. very much on a equal footing with new zealand for crowd support. nz has the better swim but the cairns bike course has better views. the runs come out about equal. while my result was very slow (the slowest so far) i had a great time. i loved where i was staying and enjoyed the town and the race was just fantastic.
landed late on the wednesday and grabbed a taxi to my hotel. bike survived flight and was okay so i started to unpack as i had to get to the bike shop early. had booked into the giant shop and they were great. expensive but did a great job. while waiting for the bike headed down to the esplanade and grabbed some breakfast before wandering across to the expo and then to check in. same backpack as busselton but with a nicer coloured cairns logo. picked up the bike and then headed off of to the shopping centre to grab some supplies. i am staying in a great central spot but still had to do a bit of walking. dinner down at a local brewery bar with fantastic burgers.
friday was an easy day with relaxation and just getting things organised for transition bags and gear as saturday was going to be busy. went for a ride early to make sure the bike was running smoothly. then had to drop it off to be transported up to palm cove. once that was done then drop off run bag at the transition in cairns before catching the bus up to palm cove to check the bike had arrived okay and drop off the bike transition bag. back to cairns and just rest up. pretty well organised so ironman have it set up well. first time staying in cairns central and it works well. then just rested up, had pizza and tried to get an early night. didnt feel that stressed at all so that was a good sign.
up at the crack of dawn and with wetsuit, drinks etc it was a five minute walk to the bus stop. didnt have to wait long and we were on the move. pretty quiet on the bus so a few nerves maybe. i was feeling okay. got to my bike and set up drinks and food then headed down to the swim start and the porter potty. the water wasnt as flat as the above pics taken on the saturday which would have been nice. had to wait around as the 70.3 people go first. got the wetsuit on and waited in line talking to a guy who was doing his first ironman and his first triathlon. crazy person. didnt sound like he did that much training and i never saw him again. before long i was in the water and the day had begun.
same old murky water and people swimming all over the place and not keeping a straight line. i think i swam around 1.17 which seems standard for me. once in transition not much to do but wipe the brown sludge off the face, grab shoes and helmet and on my way. still took 12 minutes. WTF ?
the ride wasnt too windy and most sections are protected. not really hot either but probably swaeting more than i realised and felt that when i got off the bike. they have changed the course so we do not go into port douglas but take a detour to a plantation estate that is quite surreal. we do this part of the course twice including riding over rex's look out twice. the worst part for me was my back. this hasnt happened in a very long time so i was surprised. but it fucking hurt and was very painful for probably 75 % of the ride. as per usual the last 20k back in to cairns was heading into a nasty wind and was quite an effort to keep up the pace. bike time was 6:53and mainly due to the back. stopped a few times to stretch. last time i rode just under 6 hours. bit disappointed with this. felt terrible in transition so took my time - a whole 13 minutes. who gives a fuck. i am not there to win anything.
so out on the run and it was just fucking awful. i felt like shit. there was alot of walking. some running. then a bit of shuffling. the crowd were awesome. especially the drunk girls out the back part. everyone was calling out your name and cheering you on. no stupid comments about hanging in there or not far to go. the view of cairns looking over and across the wharf at night was spectacular. i loved this run but i have to admit i never felt very good. i dont think i drank enough on the bike or even ate enough. i didnt count on sweating so much. i was covered in salt. talked to a few people who were not having a great day or just hadnt trained enough to run the whole marathon. no matter how bad though i had a great time. the triathlon alley was great fun and support. i would have to put this event up with new zealand. last time it rained so much the crowds were very quiet but this was a whole new experience. i did not feel like i was away racing on my own but had alot of people cheering me on.
so finally crossed that finish line in 15:11:52. first time i have a fifteen hour finish. whooo hoooo.
so that is two 12 hour, 2 thirteen, 3 fourteen and one fifteen hour finishes. i have to make sure it doesnt keep going up.
After the race i managed to grab all my gear and head back to my room. so glad it was close. my whole body was pretty sore and back spasms. next day up and collected the bike. started the packing and managed to enjoy a nice swim in the hotel pool. back to the brewery bar for a giant burger and a beer. basically had a great race and a great trip. really enjoyed this little adventure. back home the next day and the bike made it so the trip was perfect. ironman number 8 done.
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