Well, first of all I must apologize for the lateness of this race report, but I do have a good excuse- firstly, we only just arrived back home on the Sunshine Coast on Monday after taking a bit of a break in Kona after the race and then in Sydney catching up with family and friends. And secondly, I decided to sneak in another race over the weekend- yes I am a sucker for punishment!

Hawaii-

The race and the place never cease to amaze me. This was my 5th outing at Hawaii, and I become more mesmerized and addicted to it every time I race. I must admit I had huge expectations of myself for this year's race. I had started training with a new coach twelve weeks before, based myself in Switzerland, had worked harder than ever, and really felt like I was ready to step up. My preparation leading into race day had been solid- maybe a few too many International flights and time zone changes, but other than that the training had been great.

There was a really strange feeling in the air the week leading into the race this year. Of course we had the earthquake which really startled a lot of us, but even before that the weather had been weird. After talking to a few of the locals, they told me that there had been no trade winds for weeks, and I could not believe how much rain we were getting. Add to that the amazing swells, and everything just didn't seem normal, but hey, that is Hawaii- always mysterious. Luckily race week goes by quickly, and this year it just seemed to fly by. I had my husband and my parents supporting me this year; I just love having my family around to support me as it just makes the whole process so much more enjoyable and special.

Race morning- I awoke feeling great. I had a great night's sleep and was really looking forward to the race. I quickly went about my usual pre-race rituals.

After 21 IM distance races, I am a bit of a pro at this now. Before I knew it, I was treading water and waiting for the gun to go off. I knew I was having a really solid swim as I could see Jo Lawn beside me and Karen Holloway just in front. These girls normally beat me out by a few minutes, but today I was swimming with them comfortably. I exited the water with my favorite training partner Lisbeth Kristensen by my side. I knew this was perfect as we had done so much training together, and we were both riding really well. Straight away the two of us were able to put a big gap between us and the other girls. I felt amazing on my Bike; I had my brand new BMC TT01, and it was simply the most perfect bike I had ever ridden. I kept checking my PowerTap monitor to make sure I wasn't overdoing it, but my watts were fine, and the speed was great; it just seemed effortless.

Heading out to Hawaii, I was given time checks, and I could see that I was rapidly making up time on Michellie and the girls behind were losing time. This was the perfect scenario for me. Coming back into town, Jay Pashun from Triathlete magazine came by in a car and asked me how I was feeling. I just smiled and said 'awesome- almost too good to be true'. At this stage I was less than 2 minutes down on MJ and in second place. That was at about 140km into the ride. At 150km my face told a different story. A small group of age-group men came flying by me. I knew the guy on the front as he was an 'Aussie', so we had a brief chat before he took off. That is when I realized he was towing about seven men behind him. I slowly dropped back- they were riding much faster than me anyway, so I didn't think it was much of an issue.

Unfortunately a race official who had not been following my race thought otherwise and decided I wasn't dropping back quickly enough and gave me a 4 minute penalty to be served in T2. I was devastated. I just didn't think it was a fair or accurate call. Even the race official that had been following me for most of the day thought it was a 'rough call'. But that is racing and sometimes you have to take the bad with the good. I must admit, I read-lined it for the next 30km as I just wanted to get to T2, serve my penalty and move on- I should've known better.

Out onto the run I didn't feel too bad. My legs were heavy but that is normal. I quickly got into a steady rhythm and made my way down Alii Drive. It was so incredibly hot and humid. As it had been raining on and off all day, humidity levels were extremely high, and it almost felt like you were breathing in hot sludge. I thought to myself 'just get down to the turnaround, and then we will assess where you are and how you are feeling'.

At this stage I was in 4th place. At the turn I could see all of the girls coming at me like bulls to a red blanket. This is what makes Hawaii so different to any other Ironman race in the world. There must have been 15 girls all within 2km of each other. It is just so hard to stay calm and in control.

I soldiered on, feeling great for a few kilometers and then feeling terrible. Heading out towards the Energy Lab, I started to feel really good-'OK, this is it!' I thought, and I actually overtook three girls. I was now in 6th place and catching 5th- this was more like it. I headed in and out of the Lab and was homeward bound- only 10km left. I could do this. But with about 7km to go I began to fade again. Justin was there to encourage me to dig deep. I tried as I desperately wanted to hold my position. Unfortunately Kate Allen and Jo Lawn both re-passed me, and there was nothing I could do about it. I ran down Alii Drive in 8th position- my 4th consecutive time in the top 10- I suppose I get points for consistency! Even though it is not what I wanted, I am still satisfied that I am able to crack the top 10 even on a bad day.



As soon as I crossed the finish, all I could think about was next year. Even my coach, Brett Sutton, wrote me an email the very next day, and it read- 'today is the first day of training for Hawaii 07'. It was as if he could read my mind- bring on next year!

I must give HUGE thanks to all of my sponsors, family and friends. It was just so wonderful to have so many of my sponsors in Kona this year cheering me on. Believe me you make such a difference. To Morgan from Oval Concepts; Greg from Oakley; Suzette from Fi'zi:k; Fleur, Emma, Zibbi and the crew from Powerbar; Ben from Asics; Shane, Rod and Gwenda from Tri Travel;Peter and Alan from Headsweats- you guys ROCK! And to my other equally as wonderful sponsors back home and OS-to Jaggad, Dirtworks and BMC, Shimano, Vittoria, PowerTap, Limar, Blackmores and TYR- thankyou for your continued and invaluable support.



Port Macquarie: IM 70.3-

Well after spending a few days in Kona 'partying' and relaxing and then a week in Sydney doing pretty much the same, I decided that I would race the inaugural Ironman 70.3 in Port Macquarie. Do not ask me how I came to this decision, as it was only two weeks after Hawaii, but it was just a gut feeling, and one I decided to run with. My coach thought it would be a 'good experiment' to see how quickly I had recovered after IM Hawaii. It was also the perfect opportunity for me to test out my BMC TT01 on the Ironman course for next year's Australian IM.

Well I awoke at 4am on the Sunday morning to torrential rain, cold and mud! Pretty soon I was thinking 'maybe this wasn't one of my better decisions'. But I had committed myself to the race, so I quickly dispelled any negative thoughts and went about my usual pre-race business.

I was actually quite surprised at how calm I was. The gun went off at 6.30am, and I quickly established myself in a good swim pack and made my way around the course. Onto the bike, and I was amazed at how good I felt. The first section of the bike course is full of hills, and I really thought I would struggle. I felt great, and my new bike loved the short hills- note to myself 'definitely using this bike next April!'.

The 90km went so quickly and before I knew it I was onto the run. The first half of the run is dead flat, which was good as it gave me time to settle myself and get into a nice, steady rhythm. I knew that if I was going to suffer in this race, it was going to be the back half of the run, which was very hilly. I wanted to make sure that I had some reserves left in the bank.

I must admit, I did struggle on the hills; luckily I had built up enough of a lead after the bike that I was never really in any danger of getting caught. In the end I won the race by a mere 31 seconds- maybe a little too close for comfort, but this race was all about doing what I had to do to cross the finish line in 1st place. Yaaa- my first IM 70.3 race and win!

I am now taking it easy for the next 10 days before getting back into it again. My next big event is IMWA in Busselton, Western Australia- not as a competitor but as part of the commentary team on race day. I am also the #1 support team member for my husband Justin who is racing.

Until next time Belinda x