Kimble was here to take on his 1st ever Ironman. Just in case you forgot.
Ironman (IM) = Swim 3.8 km, Bike 180 km, Run 42.2km [226kms in a day]
Juice my number #1 IM supporter. And one of the reasons I'm doing the IM.
The day before the race they had a parade of nations. Over 32 SA competitors entered the race.
5:15am
The morning of the race.
5:45am
Kimble and Juice heading down to the start.
6:00am
Race brief to the life savers before the swim - I can hear it now "If you see a great white - paddle to the beach as fast as you can, you don't want to be around for the early feeding"
6:15am
The fog horn sounds and we're off, only 225.9kms to go.
I had a great swim. I never pushed to hard just relaxed as I knew it was going to be a VERY long day.
07:18
After 1h02 I was out the water and into the transition tent to put on my bike gear.
7:25am
I headed out onto the 180km bike leg of the race. At last I was going to be able to cycle through the town centre - I knew Juice was going to be there to cheer me on.
We had planned a few motivational cheers for me.
1. You doing an Ironman!
2. This isn't softy man this is IM!
3. Suck it up buttercup, this is IM!
So when I saw Juice for the first time in town after 60km on the bike she shouted out - "You doing and IM!" clearly I was very emotional about doing the race as I cried for the next 2kms on the bike. I was just so proud that I had got to start and was actually doing an IM.
I got to see Juice once more during the next 120km of the bike, she cheered and I'd wave and give a thumbs up. We were happy.
01:16pm
6h02 later I was off the bike. I had been on the go for 7h10* the wind was blowing and the sun was beating down with no mercy, it was 38 deg with nowhere to hide.
*(You have to subtact 15min for the time in the above picture - as the Pro's started 15min ahead of us.)
01:20pm
After a quick change it was into the sun and all I had left was to run a marathon 42.2km, something I had not done in 20 years. Juice had chalked a special message for me on the run path. A true supporter.
All things being equal I felt fairly good so I decided I'd run 2km at a time and walk through the water stations taking on as much ice and liquids as I could and run 2km to the next station - repeat x 20 and we should be able to finish this race, sounds so simple when you put it like that.
The run course was great because I got to see Juice twice every lap (3 laps) just seeing her made me feel strong. I'd smile no matter what when I saw her and give a big thumbs up. Juice would return the favour by shouting "Suck it up buttercup, it's IM!"
After each lap they gave you a coloured scrunchy - Orange lap1, White Lap2 so if you had 2 scrunchies at the end of lap 3 you could enter the finishing chute.
6:36pm
I had been running for 5h04 and on the go for 12h20 when I entered to finishing chute. The last 2kms had felt amazing, I knew that I was going to make it. My race plan was to take it really slow in the chute (250m) and soak up all the cheers and screams.
What an amazing feeling crossing that line. Truly spectacular, crowd were cheering just as I had expected.
Glory! 12h22:58 I have just spent over half a day doing one race.
In a word - Brutal!
Seconds after the finish I saw Juice, she had slipped into the finishers area. To make a recording of me crossing the line. I can hear it over and over again - "number 580 from waverton, Kim Jardine, you are an Ironman!"
(push the play button, it has sound) You can also hear my number #1 fan.
It was tough holding back my emotions as I had entered this race for 3 reasons:
1. For Juice, I knew she'd be proud of me if I pulled this off.
2. To complete my 10th year of remission by proving that my body and mind are strong.
3. For all those who I met in hospital who lost thier battle with Leukaemia.
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