Champions

I really admire these guys. Peter Reid (on the right) is incredibly consistent. This year he came second. But both of them have been on top, lost it, and then fought their way back. They have a great desire to do well in this sport. Tim deBoom (on the left)actually passed a kidney stone during the 2003 Ironman. I have actually seen it on video and he had to pull out on the run because the pain was so intense he passed in and out of consciousness! Incredible.

Nina Kraft, from Germany was this years women's Ironman World Champion at least until she was found to have used EPO or Erythropoietin. So her title has been stripped away. She can not be feeling too good these days. This substance allows the blood to carry more oxygen. She won by over 16 minutes this year after being the runner up a few times. I wonder where she will go from here.

There are no short cuts in this sport.
I am really aware that it is going to get tougher and tougher to train in Korea till Christmas simply because it is going to get colder and colder. One option to make it easier to train is gym, and the other is to do a bit more swimming. Let's see how it goes. As long as one does a little every day, and begin to build up some fitness, that's something. I will have almost 3 months once I leave Korea to get myself completely ready. Just need to be patient and positive.