What now then?

I've decided that I won't be updating my blog; this is the last post. In all fairness it was dull as **** anyway (certainly compared to the NZ blog)!

And in all honesty, I don't actually want to update it anymore - I've got better things to occupy my time with.

I won't be doing much training over the coming weeks either, so North Barrule is out of the question too. I feel I'm not fit enough to break the record and in fairness I don't even want to try.

There are a number of personal things I'm putting ahead of training, so for the near (and perhaps distant) future I'll be doing sport just to put a smile on my face, not to fulfill some all-consuming obsession!

-AC

More Pictures

Teammates Russell Collister (foreground) and Andy Bell (background), slugging it out on the bike in the 30+ degrees heat. The support from the Manx contingent in the crowd was phenomenal.

Jacqui pushing hard on the tough bike course.

Niall leading the way in the early stages of the race.

And on to the run (my favoured discipline) and it's a case of spot the white-boy who's been avoiding the sun all week! Note the look of pain on my face and the dirty patch on my right hip where I met the tarmac with some force on the first lap of the run.


-AC

IG Pics

A few minutes (or hours?) before going into the ancient stadium for the opening ceremony.

The swim stadium featuring a 25 metre (+6") swimming pool that had to be cleared of algae before the swimming could start!

Pre race nerves showing in the transition area before the big race. Pictured here (left to right): Andy Bell (on my right shoulder), Me (center), Gav Quayle, Juan (bending over in foreground), Graham (with his back to camera) and the youngest member of the squad, Niall Shimmin doing his best Pop-Eye impression!

The start of the 3-million-mile swim. I'm the one at the back of the pack wondering what the hell hit me. In foreground Cat Dryden is bending over checking out the 26 deg celius water, and Eve O'Hare has her back to camera proudly displaying the Three-Legs-of-Man in the process. I think that's Jacqui on Eve's left shoulder.

-AC

Glory?

I finished 11th in a time of 2:12 hrs. A full 11 minutes behind the leader. No individual medal (not even close), narrowly missed out on a team bronze. So basically I failed what I set out to do.

But glorious it was! Despite the worst swim of my life and a drastic start to the bike leg, I managed to slowly claw my way up the field from near last to 11th with a decent-enough run in incredibly hot conditions.

The reason why I didn't quit when it was all going wrong? Because supporters were there lining the course cheering as loud as they could; they believed, they made me believe. It was magic crossing that line with the Manx flag around my shoulders. Magic.

It was glorious!

And now? I'm glad it's over, time to play for a bit!

-AC

Feeling hot, hot, hot...

Been in Rhodes since the early hours of Saturday morning, following a trip from Hell to get here. We were greeted off the plane at 0730 by temperatures of 29 degrees; miles hotter than the hottest summer's day in IOM.

The opening ceremony was on Sat night and unfortunately it went on until Sunday morning. With travelling through the previous night I pretty much got no sleep and felt pretty bad. It's now day 4 and I've got a full-on cold. Ironic really, given how hot it is here.

The heat makes running a nightmare. Swim and bike aren't too bad because the water is fairly cool and the wind on the bike helps to wick sweat away. Just that run...

I'm here now and there ain't no point worrying about it, just got to get on with it and go as fast as I can. Hopefully I'll be fast enough.

Apart from that Rhodes is very nice, if you want a holiday spot with guaranteed sun and heat then this really is the place for you. The town of Rhodes itself has got an old medieval centre too with surrounding walls which is worth a look. It's just a shame I hate sun bathing eh?

-AC