It’s been a day since I finished IMNZ, and surprisingly, I’m feeling almost no physical damage at all. I’m really amazed. Today, I went to watch the Kona roll down ceremony — for those unfamiliar, it’s the event in Kona, Hawaii, where qualifiers for the Ironman World Championship are officially announced each year. While there, I tried a light run, and to my surprise, I was able to run normally.
During the race, I felt like I really pushed my body hard, so this recovery feels like a big improvement in how I’m using my body. 😊
It was my first time attending the Kona roll down, and it was quite an emotional experience. Although I’m still far from qualifying, it definitely sparked a strong desire to one day race fighting for that coveted spot. I ended up chatting with the person sitting next to me about yesterday’s race, and when the roll down started, it turned out he was the winner in the 55–59 age group — I was shocked! He said even he struggled to swim straight, so it seems many people found the swim quite challenging. But he also mentioned that the pros swam comfortably with solid times, which reinforced that technique really makes the difference.
Now, before my memories fade, I want to get started writing my race report. This will also serve as my personal record, so I’m not sure how long it will become, but I’ll take it one step at a time. 😊
After all the long preparation leading up to this big event, quite a few things happened before race day. Let me start there.
In Taupo, for about two weeks before the race, the weather was incredibly stable — no wind at all and the lake as calm as a pool — perfect race conditions. But I knew such a perfect spell couldn’t last forever, so I had this uneasy feeling and was praying hard that it would hold until race day.
As expected, the forecast changed to predict a front passing through right around race day. 👀
That said, local weather forecasts here are often uncertain, especially when it comes to wind, so I decided there was no use worrying and tried to relax. Even though the wind noise was getting louder, I managed to fall asleep fairly easily the night before the race.
On race morning, I’d set my alarm for 4:40 am, but I woke up just before 4 am and couldn’t get back to sleep. Since I’d slept well, I got up. The first thing I noticed was the strong “whooshing” sound of the wind 😂 The wind was definitely much stronger than the day before! When I checked outside, it was the dreaded west wind, exactly as forecast.
I remembered riding the bike course in this wind once — the headwind on the return leg took about twice as long as the outbound leg — and I almost wanted to cry.
Still, I decided to stay positive as a proud member of the “Positi Club” (©Luminowink), hoping the wind would ease by bike start, and began my preparations. But maybe because of race nerves, despite good sleep, my mind felt foggy and I struggled to focus. 👀
When the time came, I left with my family, but a nagging feeling told me I’d forgotten something.
Sure enough, as soon as we arrived at the venue, I discovered my first forgotten item! It’s daylight saving time here in NZ, but days are shortening and dawn is close to the 7 am race start, so it was still pitch dark before 6 am. I’d prepared a headlamp for this, but it wasn’t in my bag. I was shocked! Fortunately, the transition area was well lit, so it wasn’t a problem. Still, anxiety grew that I might have forgotten something even more important. 👀
The energy at the Ironman venue was far greater than the previous 70.3 race, and my spirits naturally lifted.
Calming myself, I started putting drinks and nutrition into my race kit.
Then I found my second forgotten item!! The gel I planned to tape onto my bike was missing 😂. Although I had the tape, the gel itself was nowhere to be found. I felt pretty disappointed. But since most of my gels were already loaded on the bike, I did some quick mental math and figured it should be manageable, so I carried on.
By then, I must have been flustered — the aero bottle cap wasn’t screwed on tightly, so it spilled quite a bit while riding. I planned to tape it down but completely forgot. That small issue did affect my race slightly; I’ll share more in the bike section.
My local rival, R-kun, was racked next to me, and we chatted during preparations. He said the wind was fierce last night, and jokingly (or maybe seriously) suggested canceling the swim for a duathlon instead.
I hadn’t really thought about the lake conditions since I was focused on the bike, but when I tried swimming the day before, the water was perfectly flat, so I reassured myself, “It should be fine,” and returned to my family, still pretending to be a dedicated member of the Positi Club.
After meeting up with my family, I dropped off my special needs bag (nutrition to be picked up mid-race). Just as we were about to head to the start line, I found yet another forgotten item! I’d left my sports drink in the car — the one I planned to drink before the start!
At that point, I was completely baffled by myself and felt like giving up. But my wife calmly instructed my son to run and get it, and he came back in record time, saving the day again 🤣
With all preparations finally done, we headed to the start line. By then, I’d lost almost all confidence in myself, so I nervously checked my essentials — cap, earplugs, goggles — and thankfully, they were all there. Looks like I could still start the race. 😊
(Though I hadn’t realized it yet, I had forgotten one more very big thing. I’ll tell you about that when I notice it during the race.)
Well, that’s already quite a long story just about pre-race forgotten items — surprised? I’m sure you’re getting bored, so I’ll stop here for now and continue next time.
Thank you as always for sticking with me through the long story. 😊
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