Ironman 70.3 World Championships & 2008 in Retrospect

It's the start of April 2009....  a bit too late for previous year's musings one might argue. However, if I don't write this now, I never will, and certainly no one else will write it for me.  :) Ah, the day when someone else write's my year's musings for me...!

It was certainly not a year for "plans".  I'm repeating myself if you've read my previous 2 posts, but I feel that a complete picture is necessary for an annual retrospect.  :)  It all started with a a job I didn't want in the south of France, Pau.  It all went a bit mental from there! L'Etape du Tour, Alpine Raid, Ironman 70.3 Monaco, and the crowning glory of Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Clearwater, Florida!

I am humbled by the opportunities that life has presented me with, and 2008 was no different.  Having accepted that I was stuck in Pau (not a bad place to start with, see pic below of Boulevard des Pyrenees in Pau), I decided to make the most out of it.  And make the most of it I did.

It all started with that fateful (completely unprepared!) cycle up to Gourette, the ski resort closest to Pau.  The 50k cycle that would change my life forever....

Having nearly completely died on that first attempt up a French Pyrenean mountain, I then decided to take on L'Etape du Tour.  Why not, I was living in Pau, the start village to the race after all.  And so it began.  Months of cycling up Cols (mountain passes) in preparation for the big race.  Weekend cycles became 8 hours cycles across multiple mountains, the best memory of which involved cycling over the Pyrenees, into Spain, across Spain, and back over the Pyrenees into France (2 weeks before the race!).  :)

By the time I did L'Etape du Tour, I had done many "big"Tour de France mountains that most cyclists can only dream of.  Marie Blanque, Tourmalet, Hautacam, Pierre St Martin were nicely under my belt to name a few...

L'Etape du Tour was a blur, a very long 8 hour blur!!  Nothing like finishing ahead of 5,000 men in a serious race.  :)  

Having completed the challenge I was bored, and decided to go on a cycling holiday.  One that involved 800km of cycling, with 18k of uphill, no less!  That led to Ironman Monaco 70.3, where I qualified for the World Championships in Florida, the real reason I started this post (oh no).

Where do I begin.  To start with, my parents flew 30+ hours across the planet to support me in this race.  They came armed with Malaysian flags as instructed, and there was definitely a patriotic feel to the whole thing from the start.

On race day, I found that every country represented had their flag flown.  Which meant that the Malaysian flag was being flown, for me!!  I was the sole representative for Malaysia, it was an emotional moment...

The race was very American, very rah-rah, very feel good.  A very grand occassion that had a beginning marked by the Colours Ceremony (probably spelt Colors in America)....

The race was set in the beautiful Clearwater, where the water, was clear!

Being well organised, the event came complete with wetsuit strippers!!

I love how everyone looked soooo serious at the race (maybe even me)!!

But what can I say, I had the opportunity to race with the world's fittest and fastest people, and even managed to not come last.  I am proud (5 hours, 5 minutes, 39 seconds later)!!

This was certainly not how I planned my year to be, but it was great.  Absolutely fantastic.  It taught me that you can plan life to the nth degree, but you can't control it.  C'est la vie.  :)