I am an Ironman

Every muscle hurts. I watched Superman 2 on the eve of Ironman and there is a scene where he blasts himself with red rays to make him human, and then reverses the process, but it still takes a while to get his full strength back. I feel a bit like that, but also sunburnt and chafed, but I also feel triumphant.

I spoke to Raynard at the Awards Banquet and he said that PE, home turf, is a good place to attempt your first Ironman.

I had no idea what to expect, but was thinking, close to the time, that I might do it in 13 hours. In the end I did:
12 hours, 41 minutes and 12 seconds.
Swim was 1h10:35 (actually about 1h08 without the 100m run)
Cycle was 6h00:27 (29.6km/h - quicker than my Argus time over 109km)
Run: 5h17 (about 40 minutes slower than my last marathon time.

353rd overall.

Muscles in my shoulders cramped after the swim, which made me think, at the time, that the whole race was possibly a pipe dream, but kept on with baby steps, stayed positive and ended up having a nice bike ride, and although I had cramps in the transition heading toward the run, felt quite fresh starting the run, and my 3rd and last lap was probably the fastest. Want to race like that more often - save the best for last and finish strong.
Would like to do my next Ironman in under 11 hours. Just need to choose a venue.
Am flying to Johannesburg tomorrow morning, and then to Hong Kong and Seoul.

Still very tired, but happy.
Thanks for the support and interest from everyone, thanks Daniel for your emails and interest too, but got quite a few calls from various people. Immediately after the race the battery on my phone stopped working, wouldn't even charge, so haven't been able to use my phone. Sorry about that!
The race itself was awesome, awesome support from the crowds, great food - the food on the course was even better than my own special needs stuff. The boiled and salted potatoes saved me a lot of pain!

I will keep the blog going. Maybe my next major ambition is buying a house. This is why I need to continue working in Korea to build up the old bank balance.
I won't train or think of the Ironman for the next 4-8 weeks, and then will start gearing up again when my body starts to itch and scratch in that direction. I will take a while and then set some new goals in terms of the Ironman.

What new title will I need for the next season: THE ROAD TO A HOME