Chris McDonald

If you asked me 9 days ago that I would be writing about my second Ironman Title I  may just have laughed at you.

The day After Ironman Louisville Marilyn and I packed up team McDonald in the van and hit the road for Wisconsin.  I had decided to do back to back Ironman’s around three weeks earlier but had kept it pretty quite and I just wanted to give everything I had for a title defense in Kentucky.

We arrived on Tuesday morning in Madison and really were just enjoying the company of some great friends and being at another Ironman event.  Allot of people were asking me “Why? “…. I say, “Why Not? “   When John Collins thought of the Ironman People thought he was crazy, look at the sport now.

I spent the 6 days between just getting the blood flowing in my legs and generally just Chilin.

Race day dawned and it was a cracker!  The lake was like a billiard table and the temps were perfect!  I once again went about all my little quirky pre race duties and just felt so relaxed. I was just here because I love the sport.

I was one of the first people into lake Monona to get a nice long swim warm up in, in hopes to really loosen up. Before I knew it we were off. This was by far my best swim to date. I had a belter of a start, jumped right inline and basically sat happily third in the pack for the best part of the swim.  As we started to lap the age group wave things started to get a little hectic. There was a small pack of us heading into the last buoy and it just so happened we all took a different line through the few hundred people trying to round that same buoy.  It was basically like a school of fish and we were trying to make our way up stream. I popped out on the other side and was pleasantly surprised to see that I had actually made a little gap on the group. I hit the shore of the lake with a huge grin on my face and was happy to be leading another Ironman only 7 days after my last effort J

To say this put a different perspective on things would be an understatement. I now had the opportunity to make several decisions on how I would go about the day.

After the first 10km or so on the bike, Fachbach , Norbert and myself had cleared away from the rest of the group and I am pretty sure we all wanted to build a nice gap on the fleet foot  Jason Shortis.

To save you all the details I rolled with the boys for about 60 km and then ended up just moving away from them. I didn’t really get any info until I arrived back to Monona terrace again. I was pleasantly surprised to hear I had just over 7 min to Markus Fachbach , 13 min to Shortis and 16 min to a smaller group.

A quick T2 and to me this is where I was going to feel my little jaunt from 7 days earlier.  I was just waiting for that pain in my legs and to look at my first mile and think,” well it was fun while it lasted”, But it just didn’t come, I felt so much better than then the week earlier  and found my rhythm within the first few miles.

Long storey short, I went through the half way point in 1:27 and still felt very fresh. I could see that Markus had put a small amount of time on me and was still running in second and Shortis had moved up into third but was over 12 min back after suffering a flat on the bike.

The next I saw of the boys was at the final out and back section at the 21 mile marker at this stage I had 10 min on Fachbach who was still holding down 2^nd , however he had some serious company.  I knew I just need to stay upright and keep moving forward and it was mine to loose at that point.

I can now tell you I am over the moon to be a two time Ironman Champion and the new course record holder and Ford Ironman Wisconsin. J I finished the day with a 2:56 marathon and a 12 min winning margin.

The podium really changed itself up in the last 4 miles with Serge Meyer running his was into 2^nd place. Jason held on for third after a tough day and the fastest runner of the day Bernhard Keller moved his way up into 4^th place. Markus had a very tough last few miles loosing 3 places, but I do have to give him big credit for taking the race to me all day

The person I have to thank the most is my number one supporter and loving wife Marilyn  , this whole two weeks was a huge team effort.

Thank you again to all my supporters and family

Advantage Packaging Inc. , Jaggad , Spiuk , Team TBB , Cep sports , Newton Running , Blue Seventy , Fuel Belt , Rotor Bike , Infinit

 Cheers Chris

Hi to all,

there has not been a lot of adventure to report about since we landed in the US .  I did race a half IM last weekend and got a great hit out for my upcoming race in Louisville.  I was chatting with a great friend here a few nights ago and he reminded me of a classic moment a few years ago on a ride in Arizona.

To paint a picture for you … we were on a 180+ km ride in the desert of AZ and there was myself our buddy justin and M ,  we had been slowly picking up the pace bit by bit  and before we really realised it we had been hammering for about 3 hours in silence .  The next thing little M comes up beside us and is the first person to say a thing in HOURS….  it was  ALL MEN A WHIMPS!!  Justin and I looked at each other like….WTF…

M then procedded to let us know that men are always….. I am tired  , I want to ride easy , I have to keep my power under X amount of watts , my HR is to high…. then says  ” i have been sitting back here hammering for hours  , I cant get a drink cant get anything to eat.. ” you know when you eat that bar an hour ago… well I wanted one to!  but I cant because I cant catch my breath!!!!

Justin and I just cracked up and said…”well why didnt you say something ” :-)  since that day when I feel like say I am tired…. I think  ” all men a whimps ”

:-)  happy training C

HI to all,

I hope that the season is treating everyone well.  After a solid start to the first third of the season with a second in Challenge Wanaka and then a mechanical marred 4th at Ironamn China , I ventured to Europe for my second third of the season .

This past weekend I took the short drive over to Murten from Leysin to take part in the VW  national series . It was essentially a half IM with a 3k swim.

The race for me was a little bit of a role reversal to the norm .  After getting a cracker start in the swim all the work I have been doing is starting to come to the fore , I managed to get a brake and led out of the 3 k Fresh water swim by 1:40.

Onto the bike and I forget how tough the euros like the course’s . We started the 4 lap course with a 4 k climb right out of transition . ” nothing like warming the legs up! ”

I held the lead through the first two laps and was then greeted by a descending maniac!  I thought I was pretty good at descending until I was trying to stay with this guy down a hill.  Over the next two laps he proceeded to pull away on the descents and I would ride back up to him on the flats.

After an Ironman like T2 I was around 100 meters back From my riding buddy .  From the first step I felt like I was going to run OK , so I just put my head down and ran as best I could for the next 20k .  It was a beautiful little course with 18 of the 20 k being on forest trails , just what I love!  I ended up coming in with a 1:16 on the run and a victory of around 5 min.

This was a great hit out before my next major race at Challenge Roth.

Thanks again for everyones support.

Hi Guys,

 well it has been nearly two weeks since Marilyn and I arrived up in Leysin and I can say that this little village has really grown on me. just a beautiful plasce to be spending some time training. the riding around here is some of the best I have seen in the world , and it sure is great to be surrounded by some very motivating people.

 So back to the title ” Chicked ”

you hear it so many times guys saying they just got chickedin a race or just missed out on being chicked , well boys it  happens on a daily basis here in little on leysin!

so here I am running around the track thinking ” I am moving ok here I feel comfortable good rythem and nicola just went by me like I was standing still…

so the next day we hop into the pool I jump in with Chrisse or Nicola or Hilary … “do you want to lead chirs ?  no no I will just swim easy on the back……” my toughts  … easy my ass I will be hamering”  then the paainfull sight after every turn they are pulling further and further away

then My lovely wife and I head out for a ride with rito Hug a few days ago ,  rito and I excange comments about wow man I am tired yeah me to ,  we start up col de mosses..  I hear the gidyup!  and then my caring wife decides Rito and I are a couple of slugs and proceeds to drill the shit out of us all the way up the climb.  butI must say in true bike racer form she sat on on the flat and proceeded to do the same to us agian on col de pillion.

I headed down for a nice “easy ” ride to evian yesterday  ( I should have known better)  with Chrissy , belinda , Marilyn and dona.  like I mentioned above ( easy my ass ) we are just ticking along at somewere between 37-40km per hour and I hear belinda say to chrissy   yeah I just really want to take it easy these first few days so I dont get sick then I can open it up.  remind me not to come on that ride !

 so I guess what I am saying is being chicked is ok guys it happens on a daily basis in my little world

have fun training

Hey guys

 well it has been a month to the day since Im China and I am well and truely back into training.  After race day in Haikou I headed back to Aus to pack up the life for the next portion of the season. After about 48 hours of travel I am now sitting in the swiss alps.

This is my forst trip to leysin and it is one little beautifull corner of the world.  it is great to be back arounf the team again and to rip into the training.

I will keep you updated on how things are coming along on my mission to Roth.

 Cheers Chris

Hey Folks,

Well it is about 5 am the morning after IM china and as per usual I have slept about three hours and now I am sitting here just staring at the ceiling.

Wow yesterday was one of the most bizarre days I have ever had in my IM racing.  I will be honest … I came here to win and felt I had good enough form to give it a good crack.

After all the same old pre race rituals we lined up on the beach at 7 am and waited for the canon. I never did here the canon though it was just creep…creep and then it was on  one person took one stroke and we were off.

the swim…well… it sucked for me…this was the start of my very interesting day… I got a decent spot in the group but just ended up drifting off the back and swimming solo… there was  CRAZY current flowing sideways through the swim course and it took me so far of course it was almost ridicules … I hit the beach for the first lap around 100m down from the turn around… back out for the second lap and now it was pushing me to the wrong side of the course….to not make a long story longer I ended up swimming what felt like 5 k and had the worst swim time I have had in 4 years….onto the bike..

Sweet!  this is my game now… I jumped on and just felt awesome from the first pedal stroke…. thee major group was 5 min up and by the 20 k mark it was down to three min and I really felt in controll…. 21k Boom flat..” that’s OK Chris you can get this thing changed in about 90 sec… Tyre off Tyre on C02…EVERY WERE but in the Tyre…. my co2 had just gone very were and here I was on the side of the road with about 50 psi in the Tyre… so I jumped back on and rode standing to the next aid station were I could get it pumped with a tracky…  OK game on again .. I got back into my rhythm.. rode past the people that had riddin by me… caught the group ..rode through the group and was making great in rodes into  the lead guys…..  as I finished the last climb through the villages of Haikou I made the turn for home at 160k ….onto the free way and …BOOM ..   flat 2 … so here I am 160 k no spare no tech support in sight ….I did a little run through… stand on the side of the road for 10-15 min   or ride it flat , anyone who knows me knows I hate waiting so I just kept going .

that last 20 k was really tough mentally and scary to boot.  so I hit T2 with a split of  4:43 .

Onto the run ….what can I say HOT.. HOT ..HOT… I was told it got to 38deg and 80%humidity….no real storeys on the run other than it was basicaly 21 x 2k reps  aid station to aid station …. this was one of the toughest mental runs I have done… I just kept thinking of what could have been and how god dam hot it was…

I crossed  the line in 4th place in about 9 :20 and change ,I can say in was harder to go 9:20 today than any sub 8:30 time I have ever done.

Thank you so much for all you support. and thanks to my sponsors

Chris

Hey guys,

it has been a long time since I have posted ( Sorry ) Things are coming along well , I am back in Albury now and training hasbeen coming along well. To be honest other than boulder I would say little old Albury hasthe best training we have found and the groups are awesome.

you will notice the title say why I’m tired…… I have been reading this on the back of thte toilet door since i was a kid and I just think it is great.

WHY I”M TIRED

Boy I’m Tired!
For years I have blamed it on middle-age , poor blood, lack of vitamins air polution and other maladies that make you wonder if life is worth it.
But I found out it’s not that - its becuase I am overworked.

The population of this country is 51 million. 21 million are retired, that leaves 30 million to do the work.
There are 19 million in school. That leaves 11million to do the work.
Two million are unemployed and four million are employed by the government.
That leaves five million to do the work.
one million are in the amred forces,leaving 4 million to do the work.
Three million are emplyed by councils leaving one million to do the work.
There are 620,000 people in hospital and 379,998 in jail. That leaves two people to do the work, You and me. And you sitting on your arse reading this –
NO WONDER I’M BLOODY TIRED!!

I hope your having a good week.

CHeers C

well I am in the KL airport at the moment on my way home from a disaster trip to aisa, as I wrote in an earlier blog I got quite sick before IMM but thought I would give it a shot anyways…..let me tell you this race is not the kind of race you can do at 60%.
to cut a long storey short I was unable to finish the race …this is the first IM I have not been able to finish in 21 IM and let me tell you it is the last ..the feeling of unfinished bussiness to me is the worst feeling in the world.

I will keep you posted to what my plans are from here. lets keep our fingers crossed I get beeter and bring in home the same as last year.

see you at the races
Chrispy

Hey gang,

well iti has been a busy few weeks after racing in Wanaka… M and I had to fly back home to Aus for my brothers wedding … we did manage to get some really good qualtiy training in there on the IMOZ course… then the long flight over to the phillipines and now we are in Subic bay.  we have only bee here a week but it looks like it will be great little base for heat training camps…  I am here just f a quick stop over this time as I have to head back to OZ after IMM  for a few commitments that I have had for a long time.  i will be keeping you all updated on how things are going for me right here on the TBB blogs

 Cheers C