Going deep...

I would have loved to stay in the hotel room and watch TV all day. My head was so sore from the last couple of days of drunken debauchery.

Instead, I "sucked it up" and did the family vacation thing, we spent the afternoon deep sea fishing. It didn't take long until I felt "a little sick". I'm not sure if it was the smell of diesel from the engine, the rocking of the boat, the beers I had since boarding or the hangover.

It was so bad I had to stop drinking at about 5 beers and had my head over the side of the boat for a while. I couldn't even eat. Eventually, I dozed off and on for a little while and that seemed to help.

I was still sun burnt from the Ironman. When I got up in the morning, I saw the skin under the race numbers was lighter than the non-marked skin. On the boat, in the direct sun it was fairly unbearable. I was also bloated, my toes looked like sausages.

We didn't catch any fish. Reid was our designated "reel-er inner" and I really wanted to see him have to take two hours to reel in an 800lb fish. I wanted to see that "fear in his eye".

The upside was we did see at different times about 20 different whales very near our boat. It was very cool. We spent 4 hours out in the boat with "Captain Bob" and it was relaxing and fun. He drove up top and the three of us hung out below waiting for a fish to bite. It was a great way to see the Island from the Sea and the water is amazingly blue.

When we got home, we showered and Alice and I went for dinner. Reid wanted to stay at back at the room. We had the worse service I can remember having. Whoever hired our waiter, should be fired.

This guy took our orders, then got us our first round of drinks. Then I didn't see him for a while. Our drinks were empty for so long I though we were going to dehydrate. When he finally came to the table, I said, "I was wondering where you were, I thought you were MIA". He then said, he'd check on our food order with no personality.

I was worried, it's not wise to give a waiter a shot until after you get your food. I was stewing on it until he came back and said the kitchen had lost our order. Alice figured something was up when a table that came in after us had already gotten their order twenty minutes ago. I didn't care about the food as much as having a full beer in my hand at all times, that's where I draw the line.

The waiter then came back to our table and apologize and offered to buy us a round of drinks. When he returned, he had a Bud light for me instead of the Coors light I was drinking. Eventually, we got our food and the order was wrong, he forgot my french fries and had to put in a new order.

He then asked me if I would like mayo for my burger and I said, "sure". He then went to the table beside us and was talking to a girl. I could tell within seconds that he had already forgot he was to bring me mayo. I kept eating and was near done the burger when he returned 10 minutes later to ask how things were. I said, "what about that mayo?"

I had about three bites left and asked him "how's the mayo coming" to show him how much of an idiot he is. He remembered and apologized and got me some mayo. He then offered to also pay for the fries and give us 10% off the bill.

That sounded good until it took forever for him to get me the bill after I asked for it. At one point, I truthfully asked Alice if she thinks we may be getting "punked". I still think the $4 tip I left him was too much.

After dinner we hooked up with Dave Anderson, his wife Anne and friends Tom and Mary. Dave is a follower of the blog, a PFG and two time Ironman Wisconsin finisher. The four of them were in Kona on vacation and also volunteered at the Ironman. We met up with them all after the volunteer dinner for beers.

Dave made a bet with me and lost and the deal was he'd have to buy me a pitcher of beer. Which he more than did, I think I had 3 or 4 Coors Lights. Thanks again Dave. Dave and friends are from Michigan and they were a fun group to hang out with and I didn't get too crazy.

If the service was faster and any of us had more energy after the last couple days of Ironman to stay another hour or two, there could have been the potential for "wheels up". I was too tired to go three days in a row.

The rest is history, Alice and I went home and it was lights out. It felt nice getting to bed early.

No training - Recovery

13

The day after...

Post-race I didn't get to bed until 3:30 am. I would have stayed out later but there was no one left to play with that didn't have a yellow security vest on and working.

I was pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty drunk and Alice said that when I got into bed I did it "commando style". No, not naked. Rather, I "slithered" into bed like I was on my hands and knees going under the wire in an army obstacle course. She had NO idea of why I was doing that and I have no memory of doing it.

I woke up at 8:30 am foggy and sunburnt. I guess it really was hot out there on the course yesterday because even with sunscreen it took its toll. It hurt to the touch.

After getting up I looked on twitter and Johan mentioned that I better get down to the expo early if I want to get finishers clothing, it sells out quick. I'm so glad I saw that tweet and moments later Alice and I were walking down the street to the hotel.

As I'm walking, I hear someone yell at me from behind I look and it's Sonja and Michelle with big smiles on their faces. The timing was fate. We only know each other through each others blogs and twitter, it was "awesome" to finally met them in person. The best part was we got to hang out and talk in the long line while waiting for the store to open.

Both Sonja and Michelle are killer triathletes. Both raced Clearwater last year and Sonja did Kona this year and Michelle did the Nationals and broke a 2:20 in an Olympic distance race in the 40-44 age group and qualified to represent Team USA at the World's in China. Michelle came to Kona to watch, volunteer and support Sonja.

Sonja "crushed" the course and did a 10:17:53 and came in 15th in her age group. She deserved it, the level of commitment to living an Ironman healthy lifestyle and training hard is insane. I think I could do the training, but the "lifestyle commitment", no way.

Next year I wouldn't be surprised if Sonja is back, if not to race, to support Michelle if she qualifies for Kona. I am very jealous of both of them, not because of their triathlon abilities, I'm jealous because of their "rock hard abs".

Sonja "blew me away" when she told me she was a PFG (Previous Fat Gal). She said she used to be 180 lbs on a 5'7" frame and showed me pictures. I couldn't believe it, this is a girl that ran a 100 mile race this year and not far apart qualified for Kona at Coeur d'Alene . Never in a million years would I have thought Sonja was a PFG and now I got to get her to write her story and give pictures so I can put them up on the PFG Triathlon Club blog to inspire others.

As luck would have it, they opened the Ironman store at 9 am and most of the good stuff was still available. I'm so glad I got Johan's tweet. I was fairly selective on what I got with Alice helping to "vet" whether it looked good on me or not.

Had she not been there, I probably would have got one of everything like some of the other guys were doing. It was the funniest sight, guys had little shopping baskets filled to over capacity with every piece of finishers clothing offered.

As we were standing in the long line to pay, a really outgoing woman was talking about her husband and his Ironman obsession. He's in the Executive Challenge, which is another word for rich guys that can pay $5000 a race, get the VIP treatment and can qualify for Kona easier than most due to a less competitive field. In my age group, if I would have payed the XC Challenge big bucks, I would have won it all by 3 minutes and got the first place bowl.

The interesting thing about the guy who won the XC challenge in my age group, who's name is also "Guy" was he qualified at IMLP and I remember talking to him on the bike and then I passed him on the run in Kona and asked him "if he was the guy I met on the bike at Lake Placid" and he said, "good memory". Like me he had a really fast Lake Placid race and a respectable Kona finish.

Back to the women standing in line. She was joking that if she tries to give her husband a "bad time" about his training or constant Ironman talk, he'll give it back to her with "would you rather I be at the bar drinking, or would you rather I was fat, or would you rather I was having an affair".

She then said, "and all he wears is clothing with an Ironman logo on it and he has way too many t-shirts that need to be thrown out to make room in his closet". I started laughing and I said, "that's me too, to a tee". It was funny to hear there is more of us out there. In total, I probably spent about $700 on my new wardrobe.

Also at the Ironman store I ran into Heather (@heatherkrug) and Iain again. Heather is just a little ball of fire, I told her that from her avatar I thought she was taller. I also said, "I'd hire you any day". She's one of those people "that just gets it done and does a lot".

Heather is the person that asked me to send in footage for the Wheaties video about nutrition, apparently I made the cut, I'm on the video talking about my smoothies and they are going to be showing it regularly for at least the next four months. I think, I was a little drunk when she was explaining it to me and I may be wrong.

Iain and I are like magnets here in Kona, we keep running into each other. I saw him five times yesterday and twice today. At 2 pm, I invited all the blog and twitter buddies for beers and he was the only one who showed up, which was fine, him and his better half Shelly were fun to hang out with.

We left "Humpy's Bar" around 5:30 pm to get back for the Award Banquet at 6 pm. Along the way we stopped in at a Tattoo shop. I wanted to get another tattoo to remember this trip. The guy helped us come up with an idea and I'm going in on Thursday to get it done. The unveiling will be on Thursday's blog post. And no, it's not a "full back" tattoo of the Captain, like Steve O did.

The awards banquet was again overpriced, but I was glad we went. I really enjoyed it. It was cool to see the age group winners and hear their "off the chain race times". It seems in the age group categories there is lots of Germans. For the "big prize" the overall male and female winners were Aussies.

I was MOST impressed with the categories over 40 years old. In my 45 - 49 age group, the winning time was 9:16, which is "sick". Who are these "freaks of nature". The older the age groups, the more impressed I got.

As luck would have it, we were sitting beside two older gentleman. Gary Elmitt raced in the 70-74 age group and finished 16:13:33 and Neal Henderson was in the 75 - 79 age group and DNF'd on the run after finishing the bike. The amazing thing is the winning time of 70-74 was 12:41:33 and 75-79 was 13:59:26.

After talking to these guys and seeing the smaller field of competition, I think I have a good shot on making it to the podium in Kona in the 70 plus categories. I'm sure the current fast guys in my age group will wear their body parts out by then and retire, hopefully. Mentally, I know I can finish at any age, my challenge is to live that long.

The guy who won the 80 plus age group in 15:48, was the only one in that group. His acceptance speech was awesomely funny. I got it on video and will post it when I get back. I think it was his 21 Kona Ironman and he looked much younger than Eighty.

The older competitors REALLY inspire me. It's almost like Kona has two races within a race. There is the "Young Uber athletes" and the "Older Athletes". Rarely do you see the two camps mingling, but I was lucky enough to get to hang out and talk with them.

I asked each of them how old they felt inside and Gary immediately said 14 and Neal was 29. I told them I was a mature 17 year old and Gary laughed and said, "see I'm even younger than you". I too believed him when he said he felt 14 years old inside, he had a bit of a devilish eye to him. Sitting with those guys was another highlight of the entire Kona experience.

I also really enjoyed hearing Mirinda, the female winner, and Chris, the male winner, give their speeches.

I felt good for Chris, he was there in China and was staying just down the hall from John and I and he too came down with food poisoning and dropped out of the race at the 50 mile mark on the bike.

Then I read on his blog about his China experience and he too had a virus and wasn't able to train for a few weeks and had to redo his entire race schedule. Like me, he ended up having one of his best seasons ever. Maybe both of us picked up some super bug that hurt and helped us. Even John Barclay who got sick in China set a PB at Syracuse. His only triathlon since China.

At the awards Banquet they were serving FREE beer and I had a LOT. I was just stacking the cups up and always had two or three on the go in front of me. I was afraid they'd run out or close before it was over. I was feeling no pain when I left and we went back to the hotel and sat outside on the patio having more.

Before we left there was a German group of people beside us and the cameras came out for a group photo. I was behind one of the guys at the back of the picture and couldn't resist putting the "peace sign" above the back of his head. I wish I was there when the eventually notice someone "punked" their photo.

Last night as I was talking to my Security guard friends I had my first celebratory cigar, tonight I had my second and I even gave Reid one. I was surprised he took it, he rarely takes it anymore and I was amazed how fast he smoked it down.

At one point I wanted to go out and party some more and I'm glad Alice convinced me not to, no good would have come from it. I couldn't even tweet "coherently".

Recovery Day - No Training

25

Ironman Kona - THE OFFICIAL RACE REPORT...

First off, I hate having to read through a long blog post to find out if someone finished or not and what there finishing times were, so I'm going to save you the trouble.

I finished!!!!

Swim - 1:15:05

Bike - 5:47:01

Run - 4:12:34

Final - 11:24:33 (1150 of 1926 overall / 136 of 198 Age group)

I woke up at 5 am and the day started off odd, I wasn't nervous or feeling rushed to get down to the start. Actually, I was "too non-chalanent" and it almost bit me in the ass. I was very close to missing the "body marking" cut-off time and I was worried about the transition zone closing before I could put my water bottles on my bike.

I got all the way to the body marking area and the "eagle eye" volunteers noticed I did not have my timing chip. Doh!!!

The volunteers at the "Big Show" are no-nonsense, they volunteer with "authority". They wouldn't even body mark me until I had my timing chip. I asked if they could body mark me and then I'd go get it. The answer was, "No, you MUST have your timing chip before we can body mark you. Go back to your hotel, get it and we'll hold your pre-race bag".

I figured, "okay, no problem, I'll be back". The problem was they didn't tell me there was a body marking time cut-off. I was back with my chip in less than 10 minutes and they were "tearing apart" the tables and there was only a few volunteers left.

The women who told me "I MUST have my chip" then said, "Your lucky, you just made it under the cut-off time". I thought to myself, "What the F#ck, why didn't you tell me about a cut-off time BEFORE I went back to my hotel room?"

She then said, "I can't believe how relaxed you are". I really was relaxed, except I was still worried that the transition zone was going to close before I got to put my water bottles on my bike. Internally I had lots of anxiety until I saw the the transition zone was still open.

As I was going into the transition zone I ran into Iain (@devonian). He noticed me right away. It was "cool" to finally meet in person after twittering back and forth for so long. It was the first of five times I'd see Iain throughout the day, which is amazing odds considering the number of people at the event.

It was a weird morning, for the most part I didn't "have my head in the game". As I stood in the long line of people waiting to get into the water, I saw a fellow Mark Allen athlete who got in on the lottery. She said she ran into Mark this morning and asked for advice and he said, "enjoy the buffet, there's lot's of food and drink on the course". I thought that was good advice.

As I was standing in line I looked to my right and there was a guy beside me who had "thick, permananet marker" writing covering his entire forearm. I looked closer and it said, "Flight $2,000, Hotel $1500, etc, etc". I loved "how he motivated himself to finish" and went over to him and told him so and we shared a laugh.

For the most part, I wasn't amped until I got into the water and swam out to the start line. Along the lower part of the pier, some athletes were holding on to the big tracker tires that are used for boat bumpers. Some had even climbed up and were sitting on them resting.

As I was about 100 meters off the beach and "treading water" I looked around and started "soaking it all in" for 10 minutes before the gun went off. I was amazed at the "pom and circumstance" all around me. The crowds of people around the pier and down the seawall along Ali'i drive was never ending and deep.

Everywhere I looked was spectators. Even on the roof of the host hotel, which is about 8 stories high. It was amazing and the energy outside of the water was electric.

In the water, it was "quiet". Not a lot of talking. People were getting cold treading water and the extend of my conversations to a couple people were, "I'm starting to get cold, I can hardly wait to get going so I can warm up". That was it, nothing else was said. I didn't sense any "fear" or "anxiety" in anyone, it was more of a subdued "confident anticipation".

The minute the Cannon went off to start the race I remember vividly getting excited, I had a big smile on my face and said to myself out loud, "This is THE Ironman, lets do it!!!!" and I was off.

True to Training Payne fashion, I went for the direct line and was only about 5 rows back from the lead swimmers at the start. This race was full of "full contact swimming". I loved it. I was kicked a couple times in the nose, hit all over, slapped AND "kicked in the nuts". A guy swam under me and kicked his heel up into my "family jewels". All I thought was, "ouch that hurts and that's going to be a good story for the blog".

At one point, I got hit from behind so hard I thought I was rammed by something. I was right. I looked up and it was on of the lifeguards on a surf board that ran into me. There was "a ton" of support people all along the swim course on surf boards.

I had to laugh, most Ironman races don't have anywhere near the water support that Kona does, yet the worst swimmers are in those non-Kona Ironman races. The probability of someone drowning in Kona is about 0% and they have the most water support I've ever seen.

I swam fairly hard, I sighted well and thought I swam a lot faster than my time showed. For the last kilometer I drafted off a couple of swimmers. It was the first time I ever did that. I was so into the race I didn't even look at the fish below, all I remember seeing was feet and bubbles in front of me.

One guy was an "aggressive" swimmer and we swam the first half near side by side. He'd constantly be swimming into me with "unnecessary force". He kept pissing me off, but I got back at him in the end. For the last 500 meters I swam in his slip stream and constantly was hitting his feet with my hands. I'm sure it drove him nuts and if it wasn't him I would have felt bad about constantly touching his feet.

I never know how well I'm physically feeling until I get on the bike. The swim is just the warm up. I got out of the water and ran through the showers, which are garden hoses that hang down with water coming out of them. I grabbed one and took a little time to flush the salt off my body and out of my shorts.

My transition was slow, I had trouble putting my jersey on and needed volunteer help. I also wanted to make sure I put sunscreen on, I was still burnt from Tuesdays ride. The volunteers were fantastic and couldn't be more helpful.

When I got on the bike, I wasn't feeling it and mentally, I wasn't prepared for the first part of the course. I didn't realize we weren't going onto the Queen K immediately and I ride better when I mentally know what to expect.

From the beginning, I was being passed, which rarely happens. And I was being "chicked" big time. Which means, passed by girls or Simon Cross. The first 20 miles were the hardest, I wasn't into it, I was riding fairly strong and being passed more than I was passing.

The worst part was my "ass was sore". I don't know why but I was strangely uncomfortable riding on my seat. It hurt.

It was a moment of truth and I had to have "a come to Jesus talk" with myself. I was an hour in and knew how my body was responding and now it was time to determine my race strategy based on how I was feeling.

I drew strength from the blog followers and the word that came into my mind was "celebration". That I needed to enjoy myself. At that moment, I new what my strategy was going to be.

I decided I was going to go as hard as I could, "without going into the Hurt Locker". I was not going to take it easy, I was not going to feel inferior or get down on myself for being passed. I realized that this was not an ordinary race, this was "the best of the best" racing, there's no dishonour in getting passed.

I knew I needed to "race my own race" and forget about the others. The one thing I really liked about this race was they didn't put your age on your calves. It was nice not having to constantly look at the ages of people your passing or being passed by. It allowed me to stay in my own zone of thought.

It felt like the bike course had more aid stations than any other Ironman I've ever done. If you were dehydrated it was only because you were lazy, it wasn't from lack of available liquids.

It was hot on the bike, not Ironman China hot, but hot. I made sure I was drinking constantly and ate every hour. I started with my Ensure out of the swim and had three Power Bars, a banana and a couple of gels on the bike.

After 25 miles, my state of mind changed. I tried something I've thought of doing, but had never done before. I started repeating to myself, "There is no other place I'd rather be, there's not other place I'd rather be".

Forget about lying on the couch, forget about watching TV at the hotel, forget about drinking at the bar, I'm out here doing the Ironman, "there's no other place I'd rather be".

I used that line and added to it later in the race on the run. When it got tough and I wanted to walk, I kept saying to myself, "there's no place I'd rather be" AND "there' no other mental state I'd rather be in". I decided to "embrace the pain".

I figured, "it's not everyday that you can live on that mental pain edge". "Embrace the state" and "there is no other place I'd rather be" were my mantra's throughout the day when I felt I needed them.

The bike was a lot harder than I though it would be. It was windy, hilly and hot. It was also scary for about 8 miles up to Hawi and back. The winds were "wicked" and I came very close to being blown off the bike a few times. Once I was going down a hill in my aero bars at 59 kph and a huge gust of wind almost "took me out". It scared me.

I then started talking to myself out loud and saying, "wind, you are not going to beat me, you can knock others down, but not me, not today". For those 16 miles, my arms were tensed and I was so relieved when I saw we were almost out of "wind alley".

I could tell when the wind was going to end because the white caps in the ocean stopped dramatically. It was a cool sight seeing flat water and then "boom", as if it was on a line, there was white caps. For part of the road to Hawi I also had some rain droplets fall on me.

At times, over the last 50 kms, I could feel the heat coming up off the road. I was later told that at the road level it was 121 F. Throughout the day it was hot and sunny, although it didn't overly bother me. I made sure I didn't go 15 minutes without drinking something. I think getting here on Monday and doing 7 hours of training in the heat also helped.

It was cool watching the pros go by in the opposite direction as I was climbing to Hawi. They were just flying and I saw McCormick, he was in about 7th or 8th place and a bit of a ways back. As they went by, I was thinking, "this is the IRONMAN, it's going to be on NBC, this is big time, there's no place I'd rather be".

Throughout the ride, I was thinking of my "blog buddies" and when I say "buddies" I mean "guys and gals". I played a bit of a game with myself and tried to remember and say everyones name in my head. The list was LONG. I was surprised how many names I could remember and how many online friends I've made.

As I rode, I had the gps on and envisioned others watching my progress and I didn't want to disappoint. I wanted to have a respectable race. I was drawing on all my B.B's (Blog Buddies) energy and well wishes. I must say, "there as great karma in the air, it was a tough day physically, yet mentally I felt fantastic". It was the strangest sensation.

The one thing the race course didn't have was many porta-potties, I saw none at any of the aid stations. I was fully prepared to stop and take a pee within the rules and I couldn't find a washroom.

I was able to pee as I was close to finishing my swim and now with 25 miles left on the bike I had to pull over to the side of the road and pee. I decided to go after I saw the "drafting Marshall" drive by on their motorcycle and were out of sight. I figured the odds of me getting caught were now "low".

Drafting wasn't too much of a problem, but I did see one guy "Werner" with bib #280 blatantly drafting for about 3-5 minutes. I wanted to pull up to him and say something like, "must be easier drafting, eh?" It never fails, any of the guys I see drafting are aways European. I just can't fathom why someone would "cheat an Ironman". I personally want to know "I did it on my own".

Seeing the names of people on their race bibs was cool as well. There was a lot of different European names. The Japanese had either a crazy name I couldn't pronounce or the name "Ken". I laughed to myself when I saw the name "Ken" and wondered why "Ken" is such a popular North American name chosen by the Japanese.

Throughout the last 20 miles of the ride I was playing some head games with myself. Primarily I was counting how many miles I'd have to walk or run if I had a catastrophic bike failure. As the miles wound down, I got happier and happier knowing I'd have to walk less and less.

Physically I gave it everything I had in me on the bike. My ass was SORE, yet I felt mentally fine and in control. I was still in control of this race, it wasn't "owning me". Everything was going according to race plan.

I also "sucked in" as much of the bike course as I could. In all honesty, I remembered "NONE" of it from 22 years ago. I remembered it being flat and I didn't even remember seeing the ocean. In 1988 I think I was so in "the hurt locker" that I wasn't looking at anything but my front tire and road.

When I did this race last time, my longest bike training ride of the year was 80 miles and my longest run was 2 hours. I came totally "unprepared" and it was a "struggle" to finish. It HURT. I remember doing a lot of walking in the dark and not being able to walk after I crossed that finish line.

The one beautiful thing about doing 24 bike rides over 100 miles this year is "you know you will easily finish this bike". It's not even a question if you're going to finish. Other than my butt hurting, my mental strategy having to be refocused, the strong winds to and from Hawi, almost getting blown of my bike and the heat, the ride was fairly uneventful and not too bad.

Getting off the bike and running was scary. My butt hurt so bad I was having trouble running. I'm normally a great runner off the bike and now I was having doubts if I was going to be able to even run the marathon.

The transition zone is a long run and by the time I ran to the change tent, sat down, put on my runners and began the marathon, I was feeling much better, I was relieved to know I'd be able to run the marathon.

It was hot and I started running strong, I got to the 5 mile marker at a 5:00 per km pace. The crowds were huge coming out of the run and there was constant patches of spectators as we ran out and back down All'i drive. There was a lot of "Go Captain" or "I like the hat" cheers going on. The spectator support in Kona was great. It was not subdued like Clearwater. I'd put Kona right up there on the"Go Captain" Cheer meter.

After 10 km's I started slowing down, it was hot and I just didn't have it in my legs. At times I even thought of walking, that it would be so much easier.

The one similarity between Clearwater and Kona is the caliber of athletes, they are the "elite", it was MUCH less people walking than any other Ironmans I've done.

When it got tough, I started my mantra, "there's no other place I want to be" and "there no mental state I'd rather be in". It's amazing how quickly it helped. I also saw Iain on the run course twice and the first time we exchanged a low high-five.

For the last 32 kms I walked through the aid stations and ran the entire course. I'm proud to say other than walking briefly up a steep hill to the Queen K highway, I ran the entire course.

I played some "head games" with myself along the way. I always think of walking time and distance. I hate walking and I walked 13 miles in China and "hated" every minute of it. When you run it is so much better, you get to finish faster and the "suffering" ends sooner.

I'm actually "afraid" to have to walk long distances, I think it would be hard. My muscles are trained to run, not walk and I figure walking long distance would eventually hurt more than running.

The toughest part of the run was transitioning from the walk through the aid station back to a run. Once I was running, I was good. The walk to run transition was painful.

For the first half of the run it was HOT. As I ran along All'i drive I'd try to hug the side of the road and get some shade from the buildings, trees and bushes along the road. As I got out on to the Queen K the sun started to get blocked by clouds. It was a godsend.

I primarily drank water and it tasted "GREAT". When I do a long training session in the heat and come home and have that "first" glass of water, it tastes like HEAVEN. During the entire last half of the run at every aid station the water tasted like HEAVEN. I've never had that experience before, every cup of water tasted like it was the first time I've drank water that day.

As I ran, I kept counting down the miles and doing the math on how much walking I'd have to do if I stopped running now. At mile sixteen I decided that for the last 6 miles I was going to have the "Celebration Six".

I came up with the idea of "giving thanks to all the wonderful things in my life for the last six miles". For the last hour, I was just going to "Celebrate Life". At times, I'd start to think about positive things and then I'd bitch slap myself and say, "not yet, you still have four miles before you can start the Celebration Six".

When I got to the energy lab it was the first time I saw people walking and I felt good. I wasn't fast and I couldn't go faster, but I was mentally feeling "fantastic". I was so looking forward to getting to mile 20 and "Celebrating".

Eventually I got to mile 20 and just thought of the best things that have ever happened to me. Things like Alice and the kids were the first thing to pop into mind and it went from there. I even had a moment of paying homage to "the original Captain", my grandfather Neil. It took three miles and I couldn't think of any more great things. At one point I got a little "verclemt" going through my blessings.

At that moment, an idea popped into my head. I thought of the blog followers and decided to celebrate and honour them. I decided to "channel" all there well wishes and karmic energy that they gave me and pass it on.

For the last 5 km's I cheered on every athlete that was coming my way or passed me. I'd yell out words of encouragement. There was a lot of "whey to go, keep up the good work, looking strong, your almost home, etc, etc, etc". I also played it up big with the spectators and thanked as many volunteers as I came in contact with.

Those last 2 km's was "the Captain" cheering back to the spectators. I was saluting and thanking people for there cheers continuously. I could feel my speed picking up naturally. It was the most AWESOME 2 km's I've ever run.

Along the way I heard a cheer and looked behind me and it was Sonja. She looked so fresh I thought there was problem and she didn't do the race or had to drop out. I found out later she killed it with a 10:17.

Not much farther, I heard another female cheer and said "thanks sir", then I realized it was a women and said "I mean mam" and then I heard, it's Michelle (@Michelleford6p). Another twitter buddy, Sonja's friend and an awesome triathlete. I yelled back, "hey Michelle".

As I ran I had one other mantra, it was "no glowsticks". Last time I was here I spend a LOT of my time on the Queen K Hwy walking with glowsticks. The sun was almost down and they were just starting to hand out glowsticks, my motivation was to get to the finish before being handed a glowstick and I'm proud to say, I made it without a glowstick.

As I was coming down All'i drive, the crowds were cheering like mad, it was amazing. About 150 meters from the finish I had arranged for Alice to meet me and give me my finish line props. I had a Canadian Flag for one hand and a Prop Beer Glass in the other. She had the props, I apologized to her for being "a jerk" over the past week, gave her a kiss and continued on.

I can't tell you how many times I read the rules to make sure I wouldn't get DNF'd for crossing the line with a prop in my hand. I almost didn't do it, but I figured that so long as I get the medal and finishers shirt I could care less if they DNF my results.

For the last 150 meters I was estatic. I was waving my flag and yelling "It's beer time!!! It's beer time!!!, It's beer Time!!! Over and over and over. The crowd loved it, people were laughing and taking pictures and I couldn't have asked for a more "memorable" finish.

When I crossed the line I even pretended to take a drink from the beer glass. I felt amazing. It was a tough day, I had a respectable race time and more importantly, I felt GREAT!!!!! I couldn't have asked for a better race mentally and spiritually. It was MORE than what I even expected.

I started the day off "non-chalanent" and "not hyped" and finished "on Cloud nine". It was one of the GREATEST DAY'S OF MY LIFE!!!! I couldn't have scripted it any better.

When I crossed the line I had two catchers, a husband and wife team from Calgary who were on holidays in Kona and also triathletes. It was awesome, a Canadian being caught by a couple of Canadians. We had a great conversation as they lead me to the athlete and family area.

All I kept asking them was were I was to pick up my finishers shirt and medal. That's all I cared about.

I couldn't find Alice or Reid and waited in line to get a finishing line photo. I had them shoot three different poses. Afterwards I went for food and all they had left was ice cream, they ran out of Pizza.

My only complaint about the Kona Ironman was the food. The pre-race banquet was bad and the post-race food was non-existant. For the money they charge, it should be had "hot buffet". I'd even pay extra to have good food at the end.

In the end, I had a cup of vanilla and chocolate ice cream that I ate with a wooden spoon. Thankfully I felt great and wasn't near a bonk state.

Instead, I went to pick up my bike and gear. I couldn't find my run gear and found out Alice and Reid picked up my stuff, except for my bike transition bag. They lost it. Until I realzied they took my stuff, I thought my run gear was "misplaced or taken by mistake by someone else".

When I got back to the hotel I was hungry and Alice and I went out for a nice dinner. I had a 16 ounce piece of prime rib and ordered two beers at a time and told the waiter to keep them coming. I was starting to semi-bonk until I got some food in me and I then got my second wind.

Alice was tired from spectating and I still wanted to go out and party. I also wanted to watch the finish. I checked my email and twitter and Heather (@heatherkrug) asked if I wanted to hang out and I accepted the invitation.

It turns out that Heather is the PR person for Wheaties and she got me into the Wheaties private party that overlooked the finish line. It was the best location ever to view the finish and I had a birds eye view.

Later on Iain and his better half Shelly showed up. I'm sure Heather thought I was "trailer park" when I showed her I had two beers in the side pockets of my shorts. She was buying me beers and I was to lazy to go order more, so I'd pull one out, open it and start drinking.

Watching the finish was one of the most magical experiences I'd ever seen. The crowd was huge and the energy was electric. Even the pros showed up to congratulate the last place finisher. I recorded it all and will post it shortly.

It was the first finish I've ever attended and I don't think I'll ever miss another one. It was just awesome.

After it ended, the bar ran out of beer and no one wanted to "say out and play". I ended up going to a younger persons bar and eventually left or closed it down, it was a bit of a blur. I was probably 18 or more beers into it.

I didn't get back to the hotel until 3:30 am and ended up talking to some of the security personal as the race site was being "torn down". It was amazing to watch how in a matter of minutes the Ironman went from "everywhere" to being seen "no where". There was an army of people taking everything apart and loading it in trucks.

I would talk to one guy, he'd get sick of talking to a drunk and then make an excuse to leave, then I'd walk down the street and find another guy and the process would repeat and then I talked to a third guy before heading home.

All the guys I talked to couldn't believe I did the Ironman, I was walking fine and "up late". If I didn't have a finishers shirt on, I'm sure they wouldn't have believed me when I said I was one of the finishers.

Overall, it was a great day and I had a blast. Heck, it was "a great week". It was the most incredible experience and I'd recommend to anyone and everyone that they need to experience it. If they aren't fast enough to qualify, I'd suggest they enter the lottery every year. I think it's something every triathlete should experience at least once.

It exceeded every one of my expectations and "I'm still waiting to wake up from this dream".

Swim - 1:15:05

Bike - 5:47:01

Run - 4:12:34

Final - 11:24:33 (1150 of 1926 overall / 136 of 198 Age group)

20

Kona - Finish Shot

Quick update. I did it 11:24:33. I'm super happy, lots to say and post race video will be posted in the next few hours. Hopefully. (My internet is slow).

Here's the finish line video that Doru captured of me finishing. In one hand is a Canadian Flag, in the other is a Fake Beer. I'm drinking the real stuff now.

Kona race report

Kona - Day Four - Ironman Eve...

For those that want to follow the Ironman tomorrow, my information is as follows: Bryan Payne, race number is #759, 45-49 age group.

The race starts at 7 am Hawaii time / 1 pm Eastern Time Zone / 12 noon Central Time Zone

There's a few online options on how to follow the race and me.

Ironman.com

1. Athlete Tracker and put in bib #759 at http://tracking.ironmanlive.com/tracking.php?race=worldchampionship&year=2010

2. Watch the race unfold "live", there will be an all-day streaming webcast. You can find it by linking on to http://kona.ironmanlive.com/

And, via "Track My Athlete"

You can track me live via a gps devise I'll be wearing. With a Web browser and iPhone you can track via http://www.trackmyathlete.com/vemap.aspx?name=033899 or with a Handheld PDA/Blackberry/Palm you can track via http://www.trackmyathlete.com/pda.aspx?name=033899

I found some old photo's from my last visit to Kona in 1988. Alice and I were married that year and the Ironman was part of our honeymoon.

I "loved" being here and experiencing the Ironman 22-years ago and this week it hasn't disappointed. It may even be better. Now all I need to do is cross that finish line and that will be the last little piece of magic that will "capture lightening in a bottle for a second time".

I don't think I can be any more ready for Kona than I am now. I feel I'm going into this race with "no regrets", other than a "stress induced cold sore" and weighing 3 lbs more than my Ironman Lake Placid race. Minor stuff and as "Coach Gord" says, the extra weight will help riding through the wind.

I've done all the required training, I've eaten relatively healthy and have not drank any beer for the past couple of weeks. I've slept well, I've gotten into the Ironman Spirit and "I'm looking forward to racing". All that's remaining is spending the afternoon and evening resting in my hotel room.

This morning I was up at 7 am, after a "solid sleep". Before I went to bed last night I said to myself, "you are going to have a good sleep and wake up completely rested". I learnt that technique at a workshop and it worked. I woke up feeling great with no back tightness.

Before I did my pre-race bike and run, my standing resting heart rate was 53 bpm. If it's like that tomorrow morning, I'm going to have a good race.

I'm still stressed and today may be the worst of it. My cold sore is blowing up and simple questions from Alice or Reid make me irritable. As much as I try to "chill", it's not working. The only thing that is going to relax me is crossing that finish line.

This morning I did my pre-race bike and run early, then had breakfast and walked around the town a bit and went to the outdoor expo. There was NOT a lot of athletes out and about. I assumed most are "holed up" and resting in their hotel or condo. My plan was to rest after gear check in and go for an early dinner of pasta in olive oil and garlic.

I was in the first wave allowed into the transition area to drop off our gear, between noon to 2:30 pm. It is one highly organized event with over 5000 volunteers. The transition is beautiful, fully carpeted and the bikes aren't "hung" on metal racks. Instead, they are wooden racks that the back wheels fit into and the bike stands up nicely.

As I was walking my bike into the transition, Dave Anderson, a blog follower, said "hi". I didn't realize it was him until I had to go back into the transition a second time because I forgot to put the Captains Hat in my run gear bag. It was still on my head. He said "hi" again and this time introduced himself. We chatted for a while, great guy. The plan is to together after the race for beers, he owes me a "pitcher" for a bet he lost.

Before I packed my gear into the bags, Alice, Reid and I went to Wal-Mart to pick up some Ensure, Beer, Salty Snacks and water. A pre-race axiom is the saying, "you should race like you train" and that's what I'm doing. To load up on salt, I bought some Salt & Vinegar Chips, Taco Chips and Sunflower Seeds.

I've posted often that "I can't believe I qualified", almost in an undeserving way. It's not that I know I don't deserve it, that's quantifiable. It's likely I would have qualified at St. George if I didn't have stomach troubles and I did qualify at Lake Placid, arguably one of the most competitive fields, making it a tougher place to do it at.

I guess, why I can't believe it because I remember where I was four years ago as "a fat and unhappy person". I find it "surreal" that I'm here. My initial goal was to lose weight and get in shape, it was "never" to get to Kona. It wasn't even a "fantasy".

I'm also thankful that my "blog buddies" who set me straight about "deserving to be in Kona". In retrospect, I did earn my spot and do deserve to be here as much as the next guy. Looking back, "I have put in a LOT of training". I even remember asking myself during many long training sessions how many guys in my age group were putting in similar training volumes.

As time went on and I started doing well and placing higher and higher in the results, I attributed it to "my training volume". I knew my progress was a direct result of my commitment to "get out that door and not mail in any workouts".

The disbelief I have is that "even me, never an all-star athlete and someone with a party-lifestyle, can make it to Kona". In light of the blog comments, I agree, I do deserve to be here, "I've worked my ASS OFF!!!"

Those 6 and 7 hour indoor trainer rides were the toughest thing I think I've ever done in my life. Real character builders.

I've often said, "If I can do it, anyone can do it" and it's true. From a physical DNA standpoint, I'm not a "natural triathlete" and if anyone else puts in the time and miles that I did, they too will get to Kona, eventually.

The one personal characteristic I am proud of is my "mental strength" to train hard and not miss workouts. The second personal characteristic I'm proud of is my ability to "have fun, party and enjoy life to the fullest".

I also want to say that the support I've gotten from my "blog buddies" has been great. I think I have the best blog followers on the planet. When I get off the rails and need a "hug" or a "smack" they are their to deliver it. There has been many a time that I've done a workout because it was harder to have to write about missing a workout than actually doing it.

In many ways, I feel my "Journey to Kona" is not just mine. I've never felt alone. In many respects I feel it's my blog followers journey as well. From day one, I've felt the "cheering" from the sidelines, that people are living vicariously through me and want to see me succeed.

There hasn't been one training session since starting the blog that I've felt alone. Even though I primary train alone, I've always felt my blog readers were with me. In the beginning, it was only John Barclay following and he kept me honest and posting on time, or I'd hear about it.

Without getting too mushy, "I'm dedicating tomorrows race to my blog followers", even C.C. You have helped me in so many ways that you weren't aware of, nor intended, and I want to return the favour.

During tomorrow's race from the beginning to end, I'm going to celebrate this race with you in mind. For those I know, or see your avatar regularly, I'll be visualizing you. For those who I've never met and "watch from a far", I'm going to draw from your spirit.

When you check in and see where I am, consider "me" you. I'm going to try to give it my best and "give you the race of your life". It may not be my fastest race, but it will be the best race I have in me for that day".

I HOPE it's uneventful and we have a "great race". However, if the world falls apart and I'm limping along, it will be "you" limping along and I guarantee you, "you will not surrender".

YOU WILL CROSS THAT FINISH LINE TOMORROW!!!!

Pre-race Bike -19:02 / 8.96 km / 28.25 km avg

Pre -race Run - 15:08 / 2.68 km / 5:38 per km pace