Kona -the truth is out there...

Kona waits for no man, you're either in or you're out and we've trained hard, really hard in a bid to see how close we can get to the enigma that is The Hawaii Ironman Championships. We both knew while we out there on the run that Hawaii was almost certainly slipping from our grip as we dug into the murky depths of ourselves to keep going. What I'm really proud of (in both of us) is that never once did it cross either of our minds to break when the going got tough and in Ironman there are people dropping like flies all around you, stopping, stretching, sitting, puking, walking, pulling out. Not once did we ever think about that even though we hurt like we'd never hurt before and we knew (seperately) that getting to Hawaii would have to wait... yesterday just wasn't our time.

Today we're both exhausted both mentally and physically. All around Frankfurt there are people wandering around with broken bodies but huge smiles. The sense of achievement when you dig deep, when the demons are telling you it's okay to stop and all you want is for the pain to be over, it's huge, I can't possibly explain in words how that feels when you NEVER give in, that's achievement. And that's why not making it to Hawaii is not in anyway a disappointment. Of course it was our goal and our dream but that still hasn't gone. Yesterday we both stepped up to the plate ready to take it on the chin and on July 6th 2008 we weren't good enough. We are good enough to get there one day though and it's this belief that will see us through.

We went to the awards ceremony this morning to see those people who made their dreams reality, the buzz and tension in the room when people's names are called out to see if they want to take their slot is electric, especially when someone either turns it down or just hasn't turned up (you have to be there in person to accept a Kona slot) because then if the slot isn't accepted it rolls down to the next person. The whoops, cheers and whistles when someone takes their slot gives me goose bumps, you know they worked hard for that and they deserve it 100% yesterday was their day and one day we'll have ours, just watch this space...

H & T. x

P.s I'd just like to say that the messages we've had both on the blog, facebook and by text have just been brilliant, you've all been a huge part of our journey, thank you.

Night night from two very tired Ironmen...