- [Air Traffic Control] Flight 229
you are clear for departure.
(upbeat music)
- Aloha we've made it to Hawaii on Kona.
So it's like we landed last
night we've got 10 days
of a pretty jam-packed schedule ahead.
Hopefully time to squeeze
in a bit of training
and then at the end of
it, well the whole reason
we're here is the Ironman World Championship
and I'm going to be racing.
I can't believe that I'm actually here.
But this is where my road to Kona ends.
(upbeat music)
So it's time to go an
check out the swim course.
As you can tell I'm not
actually going for a swim today,
but gonna have a look at it at least.
And the swim starts and finishes
at the transition zones,
so T1 and T2 so we're getting
pretty familiar with that.
It's just good to get my bearings and
start to put everything together.
(upbeat music)
Oh I found a beach.
It's the smallest beach in Hawaii.
This is the swim course right here,
and today is the first,
like, really sunny day.
And I so wanna go and check
the course out for real.
Just looking at it is like
torture, it's so hot here,
and the water just looks
absolutely stunning.
(upbeat music)
Looking at the far buoy, it's
ridiculous how far away it is.
I can hardly see it, and
it's just kind of making
me realise how far 3.8 miles
is when it comes to swimming.
Also this course is gonna
be a mass swim start and
I've only ever swam in the
sea, well not swam in the sea,
I've only ever raced in the sea.
Once before, which was the Ironman I did for the first time
and that was a rolling start
so just seven people at a time.
Though this is gonna be all
the women, or all the age group
women starting at once just behind me,
going straight out there, and yeah,
it's quite real just sitting here.
It's hard to imagine,
like, how do you negotiate,
how do you even get your
head around such a start.
And then you are just going straight,
for 1.9 miles, turn around,
come back, sounds easy.
(laughs)
(upbeat music)
Happy with the swim
course, it all seems fairly
straight forward and that's
not the bit that worries me.
It is the bike ride that I'm
slightly concerned about,
so we're now out on the
road, and actually recording
a piece today of the course
preview so I'm using this
opportunity to get a good
look at the bike route,
because I'm not gonna be cycling
112 miles before race day.
And yeah, it's a long way,
it's literally straight out,
and back again, and it's
hillier than I expected.
And just in the car we're
struggling, we're not struggling,
but feeling the wind
moving us across the road,
so I am to be perfectly honest,
pretty scared about that.
We've been in the car for about 20 minutes
and I've just seen this
incredible landscape
and thought I need to
actually get out and see
what it's like cause it
looks pretty windy out there.
I'm gonna go and see for real.
Well yeah, as you can
see it is pretty windy.
And right now the wind
is blowing this way,
down the hill, now that's
gonna be great on the course.
But it's also slightly daunting because
this hill goes on forever,
but actually it's gonna be
the going home bit that's gonna be tough.
Because it's, you can't quite
see now, but look at that.
In the distance this just
continues to go downhill
for miles and miles and miles
and the wind is blowing you.
You'll fly down there.
It's really excited about that.
But then you're gonna have to turn around,
and crawl back up here,
so I'm not really sure
that flying down there
quite compensates for the
crawl back up into the headwind.
But hey, it might be
different on race day,
you never know, so just
getting a bit of a feel for it.
(upbeat music)
Well we've been doing some filming here,
cause it is such an iconic place.
We're trying to work out where it was
and asked in the cafe and she's like
"It's out here, this is actually
the turn around point.",
which is mad, and it's a
little bit sheltered here.
But it's the first time
we've done some filming
actually on the bike
and I was supposed to be
in my arrow position and I just got blown
across the road so I had
to come back onto my bars
and to be honest it's giving
me a bit of a reality check.
That I love this arrow
helmet but I'm not gonna be
particularly arrow on
race day I'm gonna be
holding on I think for a lot of it.
(upbeat music)
Well we've just checked out the course and
well it's pretty full on out there
and I've left with loads of questions
and I need to try and
sort of process it all
and work out exactly
how to prepare myself.
But I found somebody
who's very kindly offered
to give me some tips
so I'm off to find her.
(laid back music)
Well we've come down to the Zipp house and
I'm looking for Michellie Jones who has won
the World Championships here at this race
and as a first-timer I'm
in need of some help.
So I'm gonna see if I can
find some good advice.
Hello!
- Hello!
Good to see you.
- Yes well I've got to say
I can't believe I haven't seen you since
I've now done an Ironman,
having never done one.
We actually, got to
train, well I got to train
and someone very kindly
introduced me to Michellie
and I'd never, had no
idea what I was doing and
now I'm here so I'm definitely
gonna pick your brain.
So we've actually set some
chairs up if you wanna.
- Yeah let's go!
(laid back music)
- Race day, and it's only
my second ever Ironman,
it's my first time here, any advice?
I'm sure you've got lots.
- Yeah, you know, exactly
what you did before your first
Ironman, that routine
that you have, you know.
That's what keeps you from
thinking too much up here.
You know you want to
go through the process.
Going down to the transition area,
getting your equipment all ready,
making sure you have the
correct tyre temperature,
making sure that your
brakes aren't rubbing,
even though you've checked
that the day before,
you know, recheck it, got through
everything that you need to do.
Okay when I get outta the
water this is what I wanna do,
when I get onto my bike
this is what I wanna do.
What do you put in your special needs?
- See I've never used them before.
- You know it's so funny
because a lot of the Australians
when I've been in Australia they
don't do special needs either.
This is one reason why I
recommend special needs.
- Okay, tell me.
- It's a back-up plan.
So for one, you could freeze your bottles.
And nine times outta ten
they're still quite cold
when you get to them, if there's
something that you've lost
on the bike, maybe some extra salt tablets
or your favourite candy, mine
was like sour gummy worms.
That was my little present
when I got out to...
So you know it's just nice
to have a back-up plan.
It's also finishing an Ironman, but a Kona Ironman
World Championship finish,
is just, unbelievable.
- Whooo.
- Yeah.
- It's gonna be this time
in two days, not quite.
(laughs)
- But yeah, I mean, and
I tell everyone, okay,
you know don't so much
think of the time that
you're trying to achieve here in Kona.
- Yeah I've already
sort of put that to bed.
- It's like yeah, the
first thing and only thing
you should think about all day is process.
Have the best swim that
you can have on the day,
have the best bike that
you can have on the day,
have the best run you can have
on the day, and get to the finish line.
(upbeat music)
- Yeah it was just really
cool to see McKelly again
and just have a bit of a chat.
She's made me feel more relaxed but also
has just made me think about
things that hadn't really
occurred to me before and things
that are specific for Kona.
So obviously I've done one
Ironman and I did research
for that and knew how to, or
do know how to prepare for
a general Iron Man but
it was very Kona specific
with some great little insights and
how to deal with the heat how to
deal with the long lonely stretches
and a lot of it's mental preparation which
doesn't surprise me but
then there's a few tips
like freezing your water
bottles the night before
and having them on your bike
so they're gonna be cold.
I would never have thought
of that, it's a great idea.
I guess in the UK we don't
have that problem so,
not so good at preparing for the heat.
And actually, speaking to Michellie,
I got, I really got goose bumps when
she came to talk about the finish line.
And I, the rest of the
way through the race
I was listening to the
process and you know,
what it's all about and how
you're gonna deal with it.
And then she started to
talk about that finish line,
and I could see she was
even getting emotional,
and she raced here 10 years ago,
and it gave me suddenly
that, like, wow moment.
And made me realise that I, it
is actually really exciting.
Cause the last couple of days I've just
I've been exhausted and I've just
been a bit stressed and genuinely
if someone had said to me
"Do you wanna swap and
I'll do it in your place?",
I would've said yes, and just
that chat has turned it around
and I'm still tired but I've
suddenly got that hunger
in my belly and oh my goodness imagine
what that finish lines gonna be like.
This is Kona, and I think
that's what I needed.
It's suddenly not only
real but exciting as well.
(upbeat music)
Thank you very much, cheers!
Oh sorry.
- We're waiting for you to go and do it.
- Oh, are you racing?
- No, he's
- I am racing.
- Good stuff!
Good luck!
- Thank you.
- Nice to meet you.
- You too.
- Awww, I love the fans, that's cool.
(upbeat music)
- Okay I have you all ready
to rock up, how you feeling?
- Yeah, I'm feeling more
relaxed now I think.
Because there's not much else I can do,
so hopefully I've remembered everything.
I thought you could get to
your bags in the morning
and apparently you can't so, I'm hoping.
- So they're ready that's the main thing.
- Well I hope so. (laughs)
- So we've got you racked,
so you can chill out.
- I know, I'm already
starting to chill, so, cool.
I'm gonna go in and that's it,
I can't come back out again,
can't come back out to your
bike or back to your bags.
But I don't really have enough hands,
I'm not sure how I'm supposed to do this
and not look like a clumsy idiot.
Okay, I'm gonna go do this,
half an hour til it closes.
This is early for me. (laughs)
(upbeat music)
(laid back music)
So, yeah, it's more just
tryin' to remember everything
and I find that I just
go through a process
and I guess that's coming
back a little bit from
my race days in pentathlon
that you just control
what you can control and the
rest just happens I guess.
Ask me that later, I might change my mind.
(laid back music)
Whoo, alright see you later.
(helicopter whirring)
I'm actually getting excited,
properly, for the first time.
There's the screen it's heaving, wow.
Oh, I've got goose bumps!
I've actually got goose bumps, wow, yeah.
There's the start line!
(laid back music)
Oh, my, alright, I think
I'm one of last people
to drop off my post-swim bag
and I'm not gonna be seeing
this for a while, hopefully
there's nothing I need in it.
Can I have some sun cream please, ladies?
(laughs)
Yeah you might spot me in the
water, I'll be the white one.
I was white enough before this.
Wow, this is what it's all been for.
I think I'm gonna digest
that for the next 12 hours.
As I'm, I was gonna say
plodding, but not plodding.
As I'm making my way
around this epic course.
This is Kona and like, this
time last year I'd never
done an Ironman, I didn't
know anything about Kona,
and April this year, I did
my first ever Ironman.
I've still only ever done
one, this is my second ever.
And it's in Kona!
(inspirational music)
- This working?
I'm infiltrating Heather's
blog while she lines up
to start the Ironman World Championship.
We're gonna be tracking
on the Ironman Tracker,
and her Quarq collector, the Quarq Live,
and good luck Heather, let's go!
(upbeat music)
Whoo, we've had a pretty tough
morning so I'm just getting
the fluids in, but in all
seriousness we are currently
in the Lava Java Cafe overlooking
the run course beneath us.
And we're keeping track of
Heather on the live feed.
And she's doing superbly, she's
sticking to her game plan.
She's currently around
the 70 k mark on the bike.
(inspirational music)
Okay Heather's gone through
the 140 kilometre mark
so she should be dismounting
her bike fairly soon.
We are ready on the run course
we're at the mile one marker.
We're gonna go try and
find her and cheer her on.
It's getting hot here, so she's
gonna need everything she can get.
(upbeat music)
Okay Heather's in off
the bike onto the run.
And here she comes, come on Heather!
Well done, awesome!
(upbeat music)
This race is long.
Yay!
Go on Heather!
Good work!
- Go Heather!
(inspirational music)
- Yeah, there's Heather coming in now.
Bouncin' around she's
still got too much energy!
(inspirational music)
Are you alright?
- Yeah.
Long day.
- Go on then Heather, how did it all go?
- Oh, the bike was horrendous.
At the run, frustrating,
although I absolutely loved it.
I was flying the last few miles.
But I just kept getting a stitch
and I literally just
had to hold my stomach,
and try and make the pain
worse from my fingernails
than it was in my stitch, but
it's just such a long way.
I mean, I've run before, and
it just got longer I'm sure.
- Well you looked super
every time you passed us so
we're super proud of you Heather.
- I know it's kind of cheesy,
but the crowd and just seeing
like even just you guys
seeing people that I know,
every time it was like Oh! (laughs)
Yeah it's weird like, it's
like flying at altitude
when you watch a sad film. (laughs)
- Well a big well done
from all of us a team.
(clapping)
- Thanks guys.
- See you in a bit.
(inspirational music)
