My journey to the start line of Ironman Arizona 2007

2.4 mile swim
112 mile bike
26.2 mile run

That's 140.6 miles. In one day.

When I say I'm training for an Ironman, these are the types of comments I typically get:

- "Is that the one in Hawaii?" to which I reply "no, that's the world championship of triathlon, you have to be really good to race Hawaii", or
- "I did a sprint triathlon once" to which I reply "uh, the Ironman is a little bit further than that, but good for you doing a sprint!", or
- "Yeah, I could do that, I just can't swim" to which I frankly, have no reply and am simply dumbstruck, or my personal favourite,
- "Is that the Danskin?"

But of all the things I've heard, no one has ever asked why. Why do an Ironman?

I did my first triathlon on Sunday June 9th, 2002. It was the Danskin sprint triathlon - 800m swim, 12mi bike, 5km run. When I crossed the finish line (subtract 1hr17min from the picture, my wave started later!) I said to Gordon that it was the hardest thing I have ever done. I meant it. I also knew that I wanted to do another triathlon, but not an ironman. The idea did not even enter my head at that point.

But over the years, as I finished 5K's, 10K's, half marathons, a marathon, sprint triathlons, olympic triathlons, and then half-ironmans, I found myself finally starting to think about what it would be like to do an ironman. Could I really do one? Surely if I trained properly I could do one, couldn't I? So that's where I found myself back in May 2006. The registration for Ironman Arizon 2007 had just opened up. It seemed doable. The timing was perfect. So I signed up! Oh, and I signed Gordon up too because there was no way I was going to do this on my own.

So I guess my reason for doing an ironman is simple: because I can. Because I want to see exactly what I'm capable of, to discover my physical and mental limits. Because I love the training, the people, and that feeling when I cross the finish line. There is no other feeling like it.

Our training program started on 1st November 2006. Right as the weather started cooling down. I'll be honest. It was tough at times. For those of you who have been following my blog since then you know that I've had some tough rides, some mental battles, and a brief flirtation with injury. But through it all I've persevered. I've ridden in the rain, the wind, the cold. I've ridden my trainer for hours on end when the weather was too nasty outside. I've done long runs on very tired legs. In the cold, the rain, the wind, the early morning hours, the late afternoon hours. I've swum when the pool deck was covered with ice, when the sane people were still sleeping in their nice warm beds. But oh what a feeling to be gliding through that warm water while the rest of the world was sleeping! I've toughed out the long rides that took up the entire day, and celebrated with the post-ride brunches and meals at times of the day that simply do not make sense. I've had a great time chatting to training buddies during the long rides and long runs. I've biked and run on my own. I've seen myself getting stronger week by week. I've developed new mental toughness that I never had before. I've had some of the best times I've ever had in Austin, these past 6 months.

So now I find myself 7 days from the race. It seems like just last month we were into our first week of training. I am excited. I am really excited! I'm not nervous. Not yet, anyway. There are moments when I catch myself thinking about race day and my heart beats with excitement and I can't wait to be out there enjoying it. Seeing Gordon and all of my other friends out there on the course, cheering each other on. Soaking up the energy. Pushing my body to the limit. Overcoming the mental battles that I am bound to face. I want to know what my limits are and push beyond them to that finish line. I've done the training. I'm ready. Now I just need to go and do it.

The race starts at 7am Phoenix time. The cut-off time is midnight, meaning I have 17 hours to complete the race. I'm hoping to finish closer to 13 hours, but I really just want to finish. The Ironman Arizona website has an athlete tracker, so that you can track Gordon and I on race day:

www.ironmanlive.com

In "The Latest" box on the right hand side they will have a link to the Ironman Arizona race coverage (the link won't be up until 24 hours prior to race start). My race number is 2114, Gordon's is 694. Or, you can just type in McGregor.

Below I have given some estimated times for when I hope to finish each segment, and how that translates to Adelaide, Helensburgh and Austin timezones.

Swim: 8:15am Phoenix / 10:15am Austin / 12:15am (Mon) Adelaide / 4:15pm Helensburgh
Bike: 3:00pm Phoenix / 5:00pm Austin / 7:30am (Mon) Adelaide / 11:00pm Helensburgh
Finish line: 8:00pm Phoenix / 10:00pm Austin / 12:30pm (Mon) Adelaide / 4:00am (Mon) Helensburgh

They will also have a live video feed of the finish line, so if you log on around the "finish times" shown above you may just see us finish!

For Gordon's take on the whole thing, click here to visit his blog.