Well I have had an eventful last two weeks to say the least. I have just returned from Malaysia where I was supporting my girlfriend Amanda in the Ironman in her attempt to qualify for the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii.
We flew to the beautiful Island of Langkawi a week before the race so she could acclimatize to the heat and humidity and go over the course. I took my bike as well and enjoyed some training for myself while I was there.Race day was soon upon us. It was very different to be supporting for once instead of actually racing, but I really enjoyed giving my support to Amanda.
She raced so well and lead in her age group (25-29 years) from the start. She exited the water in a fast 1 hour flat swim and increased her lead to 15 minutes after the bike on her next competitor with a great 5.40 split. This also had her 12th overall female on the course and she was beating several well known pro's!!!
Having my bike with me it was great to keep track of Amanda on the marathon and she was running very solid and well within herself holding off her nearest competition at around 15 minutes. From the 20km to 30km mark she started to pull away and was now 20 minutes plus in the lead and well on her way to her Ironman Hawaii slot waiting for her at the finish line.Around the 35km mark I noticed her step get a little out of wack and her head starting to wobble. She began to slowly strat going up and down on the spot and I could tell she was in trouble. I incouraged her to take on more gels and electrolyte drink but she had gone incoherient. I pulled up beside her and suggested she walked but it was only a matter of seconds before she collapsed at the 36km mark into the arms of fellow competitiors. She was "out of it"! Her race was "over"! So close yet so far to her dream of going to Hawaii! We had to rush an ambulance to her on the side of the road and get her to hospital. The next 2 hours scared the hell out of me .... she was in and out of conciousness and when she came too she didn't recognize me or even know my name! At the hospital she slowly began to realise what had happend to her. It was so heartbreaking!
She has since recovered and after a few days of depression and frustrastion of getting sooo close to her dream she is focusing ahead to try qualify at another race. I am so proud of her, so showed sooo much heart and determination!I have been back into my training and really looking forward to the year ahead.
I will begin my racing season in June with the Hawaii Ironman 70.3 event before I head to the USA for Ironman USA Coeur D'Alene where I hope to qualify for Hawaii as well!
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