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I AM IRONMAN!

December 1, 2010 by keiron 3 Comments

Finishing Ironman Cozumel
Crossing the Finish Line

Wow, holy cow, oh my god, *add your own exclamation here*, was that hard! But I’m pleased to report I am officially an Ironman, 140.3 miles in 14 hours, 44 minutes and 38 seconds…the hardest 14 hours, 44 minutes and 38 seconds of my life.

What started 10 months ago reached fruition this Sunday with completion of race # 11, Ironman Cozumel. That’s a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and 26.2 mile run, back-to-back.

It’s hard to describe how intense it was. It’s obviously been quite a build up to this point and spending the 5 days prior to the race acclimatizing in Cozumel all added to the experience. Come Saturday night I went to bed at 9:00pm, alarm set for 4:30am. Unfortunately, I was wide awake at 1:00am, sleeping fitfully through to 4:30am…not unusual for race day, but a little more sleep would have been nice.

Ironman Cozumel Water Start
Starting the Swim

After a quick bowl of cereal and cup of tea off we headed on the shuttle bus to the race start at Chankanaab Park. And what a crazy start it was.

I’d setup for the swim/bike transition the day before, so prior to the start all that had to be done was check the bike, walk the transition and then watch the pros head off at 6:40am. As soon as they left 2,500 competitors jumped into the sea ready for the mass in-water start. I now know what it feels like to be a fish in a shoal as we bobbed around waiting for the start…and then all hell broke loose and it was every man/women for themselves. That’s the largest mass start I’ve ever done and to be trying to swim in a sea of bodies was challenging to say the least.

The upside was the beautiful, crystal clear, aquamarine sea and 80+ fahrenheit temperature. Looking back now the swim seemed to pass quickly, if an hour and 27 minutes can be called quick, that is. Actually, I’m very pleased with the swim, I was hoping to complete the 2.4 miles in an hour and a half, but thought that might be too optimistic, so I did well. Along the way you get to thump and be thumped by your fellow competitors, watch the divers below blow “air rings” up at you and do your final turn as you reach the submarine…yep, a little different from your average triathlon.

Biking Around Cozumel
Biking Around Cozumel

After the swim it’s a short run to pick up your bike transition bag and into the changing tent to get dried off and into your bike gear, the pros are all done in under 2 minutes, me, more like 13…but, hey, what’s the rush. With the swim done, 112 miles on the bike beckoned. This consisted of 3 laps of the island (yep Cozumel ain’t that big).

I started out feeling good, my first lap averaged over 17 mph, but for about two-thirds of each lap you’re peddling into wind (head or side wind). To give you an idea, normally, when training on level terrain, I’d be in the large cog on the front, here I was having to pedal in the small one (I only have two). It was as if you were constantly going uphill and the best part was, with each lap, the wind picked up, so by lap two I only averaged 16.5 mph and by lap 3 I was down to 16 mph. I’d hoped the bike might take between six and six and a half hours, it took me 6 hours 46 minutes (that did include a pee stop and rest stop to restock my nutrition) and I’d definitely used more energy than I’d figured into the process, which didn’t bode well for the run.

Start of the Run
Start of the Run

Once you finish the ride you hand your bike off to be racked and grab your run transition bag and head to the changing tent, by way of the porta-potty, of course. The run transition is usually the quicker of the two, but for some reason it took me longer than my bike transition, nearly 15 minutes…must have been one long pee! Anyway, after changing and putting on more vaseline (don’t ask) and sun block off I went for the run, full of vim and vigor…and that, ladies and gentleman, is where a tough race turned really tough.

The run also consisted of 3 laps, the first 8 and a bit miles weren’t too bad, I ran for nine minutes and walked for one, probably averaging around a 10:30 / mile pace. Approaching the halfway point of 13.1 miles I’d slowed to a 12 minute / mile pace, running 4 minutes and walking one. I managed to drag myself around to complete the second lap, but, knew I was toast as I came around the turn point for the last lap. I saw Kerry, who’d be out supporting me the entire day, and told her I was well and truly pooped!

Ironman Cozumel Run
Start of Lap 3, is it over yet?

As I approached the 18 mile mark I hit the proverbial wall. In all my races to date I’d never reached the point were I felt I just couldn’t keep moving. For the next 8 miles even walking was hard, my pace slowed to 18+ minutes / mile, time dragged on and only sheer will power and determination kept me moving forward. I knew if I stopped I likely wouldn’t start again, I just had to keep putting one foot in front of the other and let the finish line come to me.

Post-Ironman Ice Bath
Post-Ironman Ice Bath

I can tell you waves of emotion wash over you at that point, you’ve been going 14+ hours, your legs ache, your back aches, your feet ache, heck even your aches ache. The sun had set several hours ago, the winners crossed the finish line just as you were starting your run, the field has thinned out so it’s just you out there, maybe occasionally someone who can walk faster than you passes you by…that is why they call it an Ironman.

You just keep moving forward.

And so it was that after just over 6 hours since starting the run I reached the finish line, not pretty, but then again Ironman is not about being pretty, it’s about grit and determination, perseverance and will power, conquer or be conquered. To all those that have trained for and completed an Ironman I salute you, it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done…but I am IRONMAN!

You can view more pictures of my race on Facebook


By making a donation you will directly help a challenged athlete in need.

Help me raise $10,000 for the Challenged Athletes Foundation

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6 Days and Counting

November 21, 2010 by keiron Leave a Comment

10 Months, 10 Races & Lots of Medals
10 Months, 10 Races & Lots of Medals

T-minus 6 days to race day, Ironman Cozumel here I come.

It’s been 10 months, over 30 miles swam, over 2000 miles ridden and over 420 miles run. I’ve completed 3 triathlons, 2 half marathons, a full marathon, a 70.3 mile Ironman and a few smaller races in between for a total of 10 races to date…with one race to go.

I’m so ready to get this done, since completing my 9 hour brick workout (2 hour bike, 1 hour run, 3 times) 2 weeks ago my motivation level has definitely been waning, fortunately my training has been tapering off since then. I know I can complete each of the distances individually, I can swim 2.4 miles, I can bike 112 miles and I can run 26.2 miles…can I do them back-to-back, that remains to be seen. The one variable not under my control will be the conditions on the day, what will the sea be like, will there be a headwind on the bike, how will the temperature/humidity affect me…other than this I feel confident I can do it. The question is how long will it take?

The race starts at 7am Sunday 28th, if I’m really fast I might be finishing around 7pm (I’d love to do it in around 12 hours), more likely it’ll be closer to 9pm and the cutoff time is midnight. Last year the winner completed it in a little over 8 hours, so don’t think I’ll be in contention for any medals!

Thanks to all of your generosity I’ve raised nearly $6,000 for the Challenged Athletes Foundation that will help other challenged athletes, children, adults, service men & women, achieve their athletic dreams…a big thank you!

So wish me luck, send me your well wishes for next Sunday and I’ll keep everyone updated on the day via twitter.


By making a donation you will directly help a challenged athlete in need.

Help me raise $10,000 for the Challenged Athletes Foundation

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Starting a Startup (So You’ve got an Idea)

November 17, 2010 by keiron Leave a Comment

As a first time entrepreneur you face a daunting task when it comes to actually getting your new venture of the ground. You might have a great idea, but you know that it takes a whole lot more than that to be successful.

In those very formative times you need to be patient, idea gestation and team formation just take time, rush it and you’ll risk betting your future on a half-baked idea or a half-committed team. It’s hard to emphasize how important both of these aspects are for a startup, a great idea without a committed team will remain just a great idea. A great team with a half-baked idea, arguably may still be successful long term, but will waste a lot of time an energy and jeopardize their success by heading off in the wrong direction.

[contentheading]Kitchen Cabinet[/contentheading]

I give all credit for this process to Manish Chandra, my business partner and then CEO of Kaboodle. You see when Manish had the initial inspiration for Kaboodle back in early 2004 he didn’t just sit on it, after he kicked it around and bounced it off a few friends over a month or two he built enough internal belief in the idea that he decided to take it a step further and importantly took action. As a first time entrepreneur he decided the best way to vet the idea and begin to form a team was to pull together a dozen or so people over the ensuing months who were intrigued enough by the idea to meet each week for a few hours on a Saturday morning at his house, in what he called his ‘Kitchen Cabinet’.

[contentheading]Co-Creation[/contentheading]

While drinking chai tea on a Saturday morning, open discussions led to many viewpoints and insights being shared, the idea was vetted and refined so that it was no longer just Manish championing it. Going back to the 6 needs of a startup, Manish was addressing the first need, the need for co-creation.

[contentheading]Team Formation[/contentheading]

Different people came and went, not everyone turned up every Saturday, not everyone shared the same passion or interest in the idea, but as time evolved Manish was able to identify not just his potential co-founders (myself included), but also those who were willing to commit time and energy to get the venture moving, even if they couldn’t ultimately join fulltime.

Appropriate NDAs, IP assignment and advisor agreements protected the business and also ensured that should the venture have a successful outcome, which it did, those individuals that put-out at that early stage were rewarded for their energy.

[contentheading]Decision Making[/contentheading]

Finally, going back to the second need of a startup, it came down to Manish to have the courage and conviction that the idea was viable, the team was viable and ultimately to make the decision to start Kaboodle with myself and Chetan Pungalyia…and that’s when Kaboodle, or Chaboodle Labs as it was back then, became real.

It took over nine months from initial idea to the point when all three of us had quit our jobs and were committed full-time. From a dozen or more people who had been involved in the process it had been whittled down to three. So as you see, it takes time, but time well spent!

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A Kelp Crawl at Lover’s Point

September 20, 2010 by keiron Leave a Comment

Pacific Grove Triathlon Start
A Foggy & Kelp-y Swim

It was a foggy start to race #7, the Triathlon at Pacific Grove. Not only that, but the kelp seemed extra thick this year too!

It was great to be back in Monterey, the location of my first triathlon 2 years ago and a great benchmark to see how much I’d improved over the last couple of years and see if I could finally beat the 3 hr mark (my previous time here was 3 hrs 24 mins).

The Triathlon at Pacific Grove is renowned for its kelp crawl, the swim at Lover’s Point means you spend as much time crawling over or through the kelp as you do actually swimming. Last time around my wave didn’t start until 8:30am, so earlier waves of swimmers had cleared a channel through the kelp, this year, as a challenged athlete, I was in the first wave at 7:00am…that’s right, let the challenged athletes clear the kelp for everyone else!

One Armed Swimming
One Armed Swimming

Despite that I completed the 1.5 km swim in just under 38 mins, nearly 5 minutes faster than previous. After a quick run up the beach it was time to head out for the 40km bike. The bike loops around the course 4 times, which was very handy for pacing my ride as I aimed to beat 1 hr 20 mins – I had to do each loop in under 20 minutes.

Out for a Ride
Out for a Ride

The first loop was 18:01, nicely done, the second was 19:56, needed to pick up the pace a bit there, the third was 19:43, not too bad and then the final loop was 20:37, definitely starting to feel tired, for a total time of 1 hr 19 mins, just scraping under the 1 hr 20 min mark and beating my time of 2 years ago by about 7 minutes.

Now, if I wanted to beat the 3 hr mark then things were getting a little tight, last time it took me 1 hr 3 min for the 10 km run and as I started out the clock read 2 hrs 8 min – I had to pull the run in under 52 minutes, ouch!

The run consisted of 3 loops, so that meant each one had to be around 17 mins 30 secs.

Crossing the Finish Line
Crossing the Finish Line

Well the first was 17:42, that was cutting it fine, the second was 17:14, made up a few precious seconds and then I had to go all out for the last loop, for a 16:44 and a total time of 2 hrs 58 mins and 48 secs, beating the 3 hour mark I’d set myself and beating my previous time 2 years back by about 25 minutes…very happy with that!

First in Class
First in Class

I also finished first in class again, out of two of us this time…so if you’re a physically challenged athlete you just have to come and turn up at these events and you’ve got a good chance of getting on the podium, plus it’d be fun to have some competition out there.

You can view more pictures of my race on Facebook or watch me cross the finish line below (you’ll need to fast forward to the 3m 44s mark).

On the fundraising front, I just want to say thank you to my top donors this last month, Ken, Christian and Mike, thank you so much. I’m at the $5,500 mark with 8 races done, inching closer to my $10,000 goal.


By making a donation you will directly help a challenged athlete in need.

Help me raise $10,000 for the Challenged Athletes Foundation

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