So for dinner, would spectators having dinner and who don't have to go to bed before 6pm want to bring children, or is it tin-lid-free? Any idea on likely numbers? I'll make a booking in the next few days for somewhere everyone can get to in the middle of town.

I agree totally Z - the women's race is going to be where the action's at this year. Major, Keat and Wellington.

mind you, look out for local Tim Berkel in the mens He's been training phenomenally well

I thought Keat injured herself at Huski?

And regarding the mens, my money's on Patrick Vernay! I don't think Berkel is fast enough yet..

Book in tiger angel, Owl and me. We won't be adding to the sprog count, no problems if anyone else does

I can't make it up there this year, I use all my leave pass playing on trails most weekends, but I will be following CRs on Ironmalive.com.
I have a few colleagues here too who are competing.
Enjoy the taper guys.

Lets us know where and when, running chick and I could be interested.

Not many are giving time estimates... Come on guys!

Will - i'd be too nervous to say it out loud... cause I may jinx myself

K

I asked Helmet if he wanted to post an estimate and he said "no thank you".

I think he will do extremely well - but I am a biased wife.

I didn't want to post an estimate as I feel embarrassed next to the other superstars times !!

In the last few days I have scaled down my times so to reduce my humiliation.

As a newbie I don't really have any idea. Originally I was thinking under 15 hours would be fine but now I have borrowed a faster bike many thanks to Marie and Grahamn and I will say it out loud 13 hours would be my greatest wish time if everything goes spot on.

1.30 swim
7 1/2 hrs bike
4.00 marathon

I will confess I did just double my PM 1/2 to get those numbers and I am sure it doesn't translate that way but I need something to go off

You have great endurance ERB, so I think in your case it might be a good estimate, go for it! You may suprise yourself

But from experience, you must get as much as possible of your food into you on the bike! Every 30 minutes EAT EAT EAT, this will enable you to get that 4 hour marathon, it's a long day before that run even begins.

I am tin-lid free myself, but very happy if they're invited too.

Good to see time goals out there, but I'll expect them to be exceeded. (We all have our secret, secret goals don't we? )

Am yet to get confirmation from Ingrid (and maaayyybee her husband???).. however suspect that we may also be up for supporters / cheer squad dinner Saturday night.
And we are definitely child free - but no objections to rugrats!!

Keep us posted about location and time

52 min swim
5.25 bike
3.25 run
3 min T1 + T2

or at least, that'd be nice

Bunny

I have heard that a good "rule of thumb" guestimate is to double your HIM time and add 1 hour.

Not sure how well this actually works though!

wt

anyone heading up on Saturday evening? I've got to work Sat in Sydney but did want to go up to see the event.

"You know what you have to do, and your mind if you are about performing, about placing overall you have to be willing to sacrifice." - Scott Tinley

Time to put it out there. My goal for this year's Ironman is simple. It is measurable, it is challenging and it sets a clear line of success or failure.

Complete Ironman Australia 2008 in a Personal Best Time
(sub 11:09:19)

I will do what it takes to achieve this.

GOOD LUCK to all those competing this year, and a thank you for the support already experienced from all those barracking from the side lines.

Looks like we'll be running down the chute together Will, though we might be leapfrogging during the day.

My goals: 1:02
6:30
3:45

Plus whatever for transisition. I am planning on a very conservative bike, as I know I could go as hard as possible and only gain 30 mins there and end up hurting all day. I am coming to enjoy it - I'll leave having a crack at racing for another day. I still don't know any of you, s0 look out for me int eh Nunawading Tri Club top *(though there are 19 of us from the club racing, so it might not help much).

good luck all

Yes Shankate,
I'm in for the cheersquad dinner, and (still maybe) my husband too. No kids on our part, but no objections to them either! Sorry if I've missed anyone, also please feel free to add your name

So just for an idea of numbers so far:
Miners
Miss Z
Tiger Angel
Owl
Sfgnome
Running Chick
Steely
Shankate,
Ingrid+ (maybe husband, Doug)

I am a maybe at this stage - will confirm next week.

I should be up for the dinner, and of course cheering on the day.
The kids will be staying home for dinner on Saturday, but no doubt I'll be dragging them around during the race on Sunday. No problems if it's a kid friendly dinner though.

I imagine that Mango & I will be there for dinner.

Hey all,

what plans have been made for a venue regarding the dinner. Is a BBQ an option? It would be kid and adult friendly and people can drift in and out depending on their schedules (and I will be there on a tight budget )

milov

I don't think I'll stay for dinner, but will pop in to say hello and have a quick drink.

Just tell me where and when!

thanks Ingrid - but with milov's suggestion, we now have to decide over a sit-down dinner in town, or a BBQ at a suitable location. Short of starting a Poll, what are everyone's preferences?

note that I can reserve a table at the Town Green Inn for a 12-15. The obvious alternative would be the Beach House, which is the place nextdoor with the open beer garden right on the run course, but tables only seat 6-8. 2 tables back to back might work though.

For a BBQ, Shelly Beach is a popular and well set-up spot (competitors from the '05 HIM might recall the road down there which featured on the run course). Otherwise, Settlement Point or Town Beach could be good spots. Nearly guaranteed that for each BBQ selection, everyone would have to drive however.

Not that I am attending but I would pick the Inn over the beach house for such a gathering.

Hi Ingrid and all other supporters,

Please include me for dinner on Saturday evening.

I look forward to putting faces to CR names.

See you

For those numbers Miners, I think the Inn might be more convenient for most & a bit easier to organise. (Is that where we went last year?)

Right now I think I'm more excited than Mango with a week to go

Or maybe that's cause I get some time off work?

Town Green Inn sounds great to me !!

I should make it for dinner, so if you could pencil me in too please. TG's sounds good. Never been there before but heard good thing about it. I'll be kid free (mine have a better social life than me these days!!)and prob. hubby free too. Be great to see TG's full of CR's..the town won't know what's going on!!

kazz.

BTW- I've just been told my 15yo son has a footy knockout comp (rugby league of course) on Sunday at Taree but I should be back just after lunch to join the CR cheer squad. I remember the same happened last year (although I also had a work meeting to attend as well in 2007)

The Town Green Hotel is the easiest option I think.

We might pop by for a quiet beverage. Well, beverage for me and lemonade for Helmet

After a conversation I had with Aunty this morning we think someone should tell Milov that the words "tight budget" and "Ironman" don't belong in the same sentence

wt

That's what you think !

Prelude

Ironman Australia is on 6 April 2008.

With less than 8 days to go and as a first time Ironman, I felt I should pen a few of my thoughts along the journey towards a day that has, up until now, been nothing more than a crazy, far-fetched idea that would never crystallise as I couldn’t fathom how anyone could subject themselves to such pain and suffering.

Yet here I am reflecting on the events of the last 12-18 months leading to this day and contemplating what the actual day will bring…

I will apologise now for the length of this post as I don’t have a blog or do Facebook. However, I felt I needed to (probably for my own sanity during this taper period more than anything else) download these thoughts and share them with you.

My IM journey has not been dissimilar to others who have gone before me and made the decision to commit to what is arguably the toughest one day endurance race in the world.

The decision to commit to IM doesn’t come easily. Everyone that arrives at this decision does so for a plethora of reasons but not usually without a bit of soul searching and a healthy dose of questioning one’s own sanity.

Whilst the reasons are diverse, in the end they all serve the same purpose.

• They motivate you to get up at 4am to complete two hours on the bike before getting ready for work;
• They drive you to keep following that mind numbing black line in the pool; and
• They force you to keep the legs turning over towards the end of a 180km ride + 30km run brick session.

When I made the decision to commit to IM I mentally couldn’t grasp the enormity of the task ahead or how I was going to manage or survive the inconceivable amount of training required.

What I did know was that I was COMMITTED and I was going to do everything possible to arrive at the start line knowing I had prepared to the best of my ability. I was going to be as ready as I could be to accept the challenge that would push me to my physical limits and test my mental fortitude.

In relative terms I am still only a beginner in this triathlon game. I was conned / persuaded / encouraged by my brother and a mate to enter my first tri (Nepean) less than 17 months ago in November 2006. At that stage I had been running a while with two marathons and a number of shorter distance races under my belt but I had also delved into the cross training benefits offered by swimming and cycling.

I competed in the Nepean Tri and have been hooked on the sport ever since. I immersed myself in the latest training techniques, bikes & gadgets; I entered as many events as I could and I salivated at the sight of carbon bikes on show at various races . Triathlon had taken me in a ‘Christmas hold’ and it wasn’t about to let go.

In triathlon the Ironman distance is generally considered the pinnacle of the sport whereas the Hawaii Ironman World Championships in Kona is universally accepted as the Holy Grail.

In March 2007 I decided to go to Port Macquarie to see what this IM caper was all about. I had watched it on TV and read about it in books and magazines. Yet I wanted to see, feel, hear and touch this intriguing phenomenon called Ironman.

It started with the simple act of planting a seed.

The seed was nurtured through well chosen words of encouragement.

The seed began to germinate with inspiring images of everyday people running down the finishing chute because they dared to dream.

I had little idea at the time but the person that planted the seed and incidentally was someone I barely knew, has now become my soul mate, life partner and future wife . Thank you Mahal for planting the seed and thank you for coming on the journey.

So here we are with less than 8 days to go and the one ‘scene’ that continually replays itself in my head is one that I mentally captured at the completion of the 2007 IM.

On the way out from the grandstands I had to walk across the start of the finishers chute. As I looked up towards the finish line I saw the bright lights and blue carpet. I experienced a shiver down my spine like never before and for a fleeting moment I thought ‘What if…..’

Good luck to all my fellow CR competitors. I hope you all achieve your goals for the day. You’ve worked hard and deserve the reward.

To the CR cheersquad, you guys rock ! Thank you in advance and I will see you out there

beautiful Rom.

Congratulations on your journey and all that's left for you to achieve on April 6th. Been a pleasure to occasionally join you along the way

Thankyou so much Mango, for sharing your experiences thus far. It is truly inspirational to us mere mortals.

I got goosebumps and tears in the eyes watching videos of previous Ironmans, and hence am sooo excited to be going to IM this year!!

I will be looking out for all of the CR participants ( a little unsure as to what I'm looking for though.... !) and wish you ALL the very best. It will be a privilege and an honour to catch a few of your bikes and be there to experience a life-changing event

There is NO feeling - none - to equal actually crossing that blue carpet under those lights at the end of your first Ironman.

I look forward to seeing you do it next Sunday Mango, and also to welcoming you to the Ironman family.

Thanks for sharing. Enjoy the whole experience!

M

Mango, thanks for sharing your story and good luck in your first Ironman.

Well written Mango.

I'm looking forward to reading the last chapter after the 6th!!

kazz.

Please could I have the address of the Town Green Inn
as I don't know the Port Mac area.

Thanks

Shankate

I think its very good of you to be volunteering at Ironman. Its a shame that we missed last years and we are going to miss it again this year.

Bike catching will be fun. Just be careful what you touch. I can never relax enough to go to the toilet while still riding. But I know many others that can..... and do.

You will have fun

FFP.

Mango

Reading your story - gave me that shiver down my spine, knowing how much training and committment that you have endured to get where you are now. It may be a story that is repeated by almost every IM competing but it is your story, your seed, your committment.

Everyone competing - YOU GUYS ARE JUST AMAZING - I HAVE SO MUCH ADMIRATION FOR EACH AND EVERYONE OF YOU

I too have dabled in triathlons for a few years now, nothing big but that seed you talk about it's there. I would love to watch an IM live to be there and feel the atmosphere - my goal next year go see a live IM. Like you Shankate I get the tears when I watch it on TV (have fun shankate - helping out, to be there right in the middle of it all - fantastic!)

So good luck Mango and the rest of CR's competing next weekend.


Although I can't be there I will thinking about you guys!!

Jo

Ok guys - a table for 16+ has been booked at the Town Green Inn for next Saturday night under the name of "cool running". The table is booked upstairs which has a great outlook over the Town Green and Hastings River. Nice spot for a drink (for those so inclined), and pretty good food with mains ranging from around $15+. Coopers Pale on tap too

Their website is here, and for those who are looking for the place, it's dead-set in the dead-centre of town.

Sorry to be pesky Miners - but what time did you book for? (I'm presuming we can't lay claim to a table that big for the whole night!?)

Thanks

Miners,
Hubby will be joining me and all other CR's for dinner Sat. now,, so I'm guessing the + means you booked for more than 16???

oh damn - 5.30pm, sorry

and yes Kazz, we should be able to sit up to 20!

I guess a few of you thought the race was this morning

Yeah that was weird, my Garmin went back an hour this morning. I guess everyone elses did too.

Mango, top stuff! You captured the feeling so perfectly. I don't know (and won't won't won't every ever ever know) the feeling of finishing an IM, but I do know the process of consciously putting yourself in over your head, doing the work, and then coming up trumps. You've done the work, now you're doing the waiting (and I'll bet that you've already run the race 5 thousand times in your head) and very shortly it'll be your turn to walk/run/laugh/cry down the blue carpet...

I can't wait to see you and will and helmet and all the other CRs do the blue carpet bit. It doesn't get any better than that

Did the last hit out at R4TK this morning and felt pretty good.

Heading off on Tuesday and will be arriving in Port on Wed.

Looking forward to it. Not nearly as nervous as I was for my first one, but that will probably change when I get there.

Good luck to everyone.

Paul and I will be pre-race carbo loading at our accommodation, but intend to stroll down and say hello after dinner. Hope to see you all Saturday night if not before!

Yep, lemonade for me sounds good also.

See you there!

Diane - looking forward to seeing you & Paul also.

Getting very excited now