Cummins - Chasing Kona

Acknowledgements

There is one person without whom I never would have even started. My wife, Aisling believed I could qualify for Kona long before I or anyone else did. I started this journey with blind faith in her belief in me. Along the way she pushed, cajoled, supported, nursed and trained with me as I attempted to turn a back of the pack engine into a Kona one.

There have been days in the last half a dozen years where she pushed me out the door when I was so tired and unmotivated I wouldn't have trained otherwise. There were days when I left the house at 7am to go to the pool and arrived back to find her waiting to eat dinner and talk to me about how I got on after an eight or nine hour training day.

She pushed me past every limit I thought I had, physical, emotional and mental. She helped me become the athlete and more importantly the person I am today.

When I line up to race I start with Aislings voice in my head telling me to go hunt those motherfuckers down I race to make her proud and to thank her for getting me here. I don't think there are many athletes who get to where they are alone. There is always someone behind or beside them helping, teaching or supporting. Ive been lucky enough that for me that person is Aisling. She is not only an extraordinary person and athlete but also the best coach, mentor and teacher Ive ever known. Not to mention friend and wife.

When I handed this book off to my editor he sent it back with the same correction throughout. (Actually there were a lot of corrections, grammar, sentence structure, spelling and worse) but what stood out the most was the fact that I constantly talk about we rather than I He had notes all the way through which started off just as corrections but eventually turned to comments which looked quite exasperated who is we??? You and the coach??? You and Aisling??? Stick to I!!

The thing is this is a we story. I don't think of me as an athlete, rather I think of as us as a team, even when Im racing alone for hours in an Ironman. When Im racing Kona or any other Ironman I have Aisling with me inside me head and heart and I think of the result as being ours. I never want to have to admit to Ais after a race that I gave up, quit or stopped trying because that devalues her contribution to getting me to the start line.

Im always racing with the thought that I want Ais to be proud but also that I want to be able to stand in front of her after a race and tell her I raced honestly, that I emptied the tank, that I never once gave in to the hurt and quit. The result is much less important than the way that it was achieved. A Kona slot won comfortably by drafting on the bike isn't worth one tenth of the one thats fought for tooth and nail right to the finish line. I want her not to be proud of my result, but of how I achieved it. I want to have earned whatever the outcome is.

This book might look like its my story but really its ours. You will inevitably find places where I still talk about we instead of I I just didn't think it was an I moment (To Dermott my editor I apologise) but the truth is that this is a story of us, not me. If its confusing I apologise.

This is my first book and as such I am learning a new craft. Any mistakes are mine and I hope you can enjoy it regardless.

Oh and for all of you non Irish readers Aisling is pronounced Ash-ling or Ais is pronounced Ash. Ais and Aisling are both the same person.

There were plenty of people who helped me get to Kona. Coaches, training partners, family and friends. There have been just as many who encouraged and helped with this book. Im not going to name them all here as Im sure Ill forget someone.

I hope you know who you are and how much you helped.

Thank you.

Rob C

Table Of Contents

Chapter 1 Bolton August 2011

Chapter 2 Smoker

Chapter 3 Discovering cycling

Chapter 4 Falling in love with the bike

Chapter 5 Hooked on Iron

Chapter 6 Losing my triathlon virginity - Dublin city triathlon 2003

Chapter 7 Learning to swim - Winter 2005

Chapter 8 A mountain bike race

Chapter 9 Ironman France June 2008

Chapter 10 Life changes and Ironman Switzerland 2009

Chapter 11 100k Ultra

Chapter 12 A coach and belief

Chapter 13 Simple not easy

Chapter 14 Training camps, pushing limits

Chapter 15 The Last Push Hell of The West Triathlon Kilkee, 2011

Chapter 16 August 2011 Ironman U.K Bolton 2011

Chapter 17 Not so invincible after all

Chapter 18 Ironman Florida 2011

Chapter 19 Off season, Ultra, Half Iron

Chapter 20 Race the Rs 2012 prologue: pre-race rituals

Chapter 21 Ironman UK (IMUK), July 2012

Chapter 22 Kona 2012 The trip and race week

Chapter 23 Ironman World Championship, Kona Hawaii 2012

Chapter 24 Becoming an athlete

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I write a twice weekly blog about Ironman racing, training, lessons Ive learned as a coach and athlete and what Im up to with my regular training diary. You can check it all out here

Ive also written a mini book which examines how Ireland, a country where triathlon is a fringe sport and Ironman is an even tinier proportion of that population managed to produce some of the best Ironman athletes in the world.

Its the story of seven Ironman athletes who between them currently have over 80 Kona slots and two Kona podium finishes not to mention dozens of podium finishes at qualifying Ironman races around the world.

You can download it FREE by going here

If you're feeling motivated to get out and train you can check out some of my favourite swim, bike and run workouts here

Chapter 1

Bolton August 2011

My legs hurt. My neck and back both ache. My backside is in a lot of discomfort.

I shift in the saddle as I slide forward, dropping down two gears and spinning my legs faster, trying to relax the muscles that are overworking and desperately trying to get some relief from the pain. I'm trying to hold my average speed constant, something that is becoming increasingly difficult to do. It's getting harder to keep pushing as I tire. I think of my coach back at home watching the results popping up live on line and I wonder what he's thinking. When we started working together he didn't believe I could do this and only took me on as a client reluctantly. It's been one of the things that has kept me motivated over the last four months... the thought that I'd prove him wrong. I shift back up a gear. I accelerate. I hold on to the hurt. I won't slow down. I won't fail. I look ahead and see someone in the distance and focus on them.

I remember Aislings advice to focus on the next one and go after him, then the next and the next. Her exact words were to hunt those motherfuckers down. I can hear her now in my mind telling me to push, to stretch myself to reach further than I believe possible. And that makes me shift another gear and push even harder. I look up the road and work out the time gap to the next athlete. Hes just over one minute ahead. The road rises a little and I shift up a couple of gears and get up out of the saddle, stretching my back and giving my aching legs something else to shout about. I settle into a rhythm on the climb, the bike swaying in time to my pedal stroke. My world shrinks down to just the spot ahead of my front wheel and for a while the pain fades into the background. I shift gear again and accelerate. My legs protest slightly then decide they will cooperate and settle. And then I've found that sweet spot below my threshold that I feel I could hold on to all day. It seems like I'm dancing. I feel light on the pedals. For a moment it's effortless. I look ahead and I'm surprised to see that rider is now right in front of me. I've closed the gap quickly. I pull out and ride by him. He's labouring on the short hill and I realise that he's blown his lights. He's cooked. Probably started too fast and now he's paying the price. I flick the fingers of my left hand in greeting as I overtake. He doesn't respond. He's inside his own head and doesn't seem aware of me.