3 Race day, I was excited and nervous. A bit surreal that the day was finally here. Doug and I met up with Jeff and Marc to head down to transition at 5:00, did a final check on the bike, pumped up the tires then drop off the special needs bike and run bags. After waiting at the condo with our teammates, we headed down to the water around 6:15 to begin a long day.
2 The announcer boomed out "Enda Moran, you are an Ironman!" as I bounced down the finishing straight on my own. Boy, that felt good! After 12 h 22 min of scooting around this beautiful Whistler course in brilliant weather competing in my first Ironman,
International Triathlon Union (ITU) World Championships is by far the biggest race I have competed at. It was a full week of racing and excitement. I have never seen a whole city get shut down for a race. Everywhere you looked, whether it was on the street or in the hotel there were triathletes in their country’s uniforms and banners advertising the race
3 In a previous life, I had lived in Orlando (don’t ask me why I decided to move to freaking cold Massachusetts), and although I usually tried to avoid Disney World like the plague, the marathon was something I wanted to do some day.
It has taken me five years to return to the Big Island. I am beyond excited about being here. So the race on Saturday is just about getting out there and enjoying it. Sure, I certainly want to give it all I got, but there is no pressure, no need to hit a certain time or certain place. There are no expectations except crossing that line on Ali’i.
I was confident in my training leading up to Lake Placid this year. My early season problems as usual involved my anxiety in the water which was especially bad at Patriot. I also had some problems with flats at St Croix. Outside of those issues my bike legs and run legs had been solid, for me and right around were I expected.
Well, I'm going to KONA! But before we get to that, let's back up for a moment…
I want to thank my family for all of their support. Kelly, Mackenzie and JP have been great through all of the training and it always lifts you up when you know you are going to be seeing them on race day as you come in on the bike or the run.