6 months ago, I did something I never thought I would do: I signed up for a full ironman. Those few months flew by and I now found myself in Busselton, the same location where Jerry did his full 4 years ago.

We arrived to Perth on Thursday night and drove 2.5 hours to Busselton. We arrived at around 2 am and quickly went to bed. The next day, I attended an amazing event hosted by Women For Tri, an initiative that aims to increase women’s participation in triathlons. We had a q+a session with some badass female professional triathletes and also heard the inspirational stories from multi-time breast cancer survivors, coma patients, and physically handicapped competitors. I left the event feeling more moved and inspired than ever.

The next day was a busy day of last minute bike maintenance and bike and gear bags check in. Jerry signed up for the 70.3 super last minute so we also had to get some nutrition and bottles for him. It was so crazy to me that tomorrow was finally going to be the big day. Months and months of training had led to this moment and I was filled with excitement and nerves.

My race started at 6:45 but Jerry’s 70.3 started at 5:20, so we woke up together and made our way to the race start. I was still feeling quite calm but once Jerry took off, the nerves started. Luckily there were many friendly people who I chatted with, including one older lady who has done 10 Ironmans! The line was swiftly moving forward and it was time to go!

The swim course had been altered because of multiple shark-related cancellations. Instead of swimming around the jetty, the swim course is now a two-lap course that goes under the jetty. I was hoping I could draft someone but people around me were either too slow or too fast! The water was crystal clear and I soon settled into my own rhythm. Unfortunately one of my goggles was super foggy but I was unable to fix that and just used one eye to sight. I think my sighting was quite decent except for one leg of the swim where I kept loosing the buoys! The swim did not feel that long at all and I felt great coming out of the water going into T1 (but I found out I swam an extra 300 meters later)!

I ran out of the tent only to remember that I didn’t put sunscreen on! This was a huge mistake because the sun was incredibly strong and I would soon turn into a lobster.

Now it was time for the bike course! The bike has always been my weakest discipline and I have vivid memories of numerous competitors whizzing past me on previous races. Preparing for this race, I spent countless hours on my trainer and followed a strict training plan. I was not going to let this be my weakness again. All that hard work paid off – I felt amazing on the bike. I was blitzing by and my legs felt like they were moving on their own. I was even passing lots of other athletes! Now I know how it feels.

Unfortunately I had a silly fall in the first loop (two loop course) of the bike course. I went to the aid station for sunscreen, then slipped on my handlebars getting back on the bike. I finished the first loop and unfortunately had a bad fall in the second loop as well because of a tight u-turn with a downhill. The second fall really rattled me and my hands and knees had chunks of skin missing and were throbbing with pain. However, I reminded myself of how well I had been doing and how I could not let this slow me down now. I had 2-3 more u-turns after this, and the fall definitely made me nervous as I approached them, but I took a deep breath, focused, and got to T2 without another mishap.

Now it was time for a “little run”, as some people like to joke. The run was a 4-loop course and I was surprised by how smooth and strong my run was after swimming and biking. I did not feel like I had even done those things and I was energetically running down the road. For the first 17 or so km, my pace was from 6:10-6:45 and I was absolutely shocked. I felt like I could go on forever. However, soon my knees started to hurt and my pace slowed down. I was worried that this was the beginning of the end.

However, I kept checking my Garmin and made sure that I was not letting myself slow down too much. We received a lap band after the completion of each loop and I was so jealous of the people who were already getting their band for lap 4. I could not believe that I still had 2 more loops to go. However, the crowd was so incredible and I could not stop smiling and giving high fives to the sweet kids who came to cheer us on. Many people in the crowd made comments about how much I was smiling and it made me even happier and run faster. I started to feel impatient as the skies turned dark and winds started to pick up, CAN WE END THIS ALREADY? At times I was completely shocked by the sheer time it took for this race. I had been racing for over 13 hours by now and the 4 loops run course was starting to take a heavy toll on me mentally.

Finally it was time for the last loop! I suddenly got a surge of power and started speeding past everyone on the road. While there was still around 10 km to go, not something I could sprint, I had a crazy boost of power and my eyes were firmly on the prize. As I made the turn, I could see the finish line with blasting music and flashing lights. It was the most incredible feeling in the world. The cheers and clapping of the crowd filled the air and as I sprinted past the finish line, I heard those 4 magical words – YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!