OCTOBER 17, 2004:

It's 6:43a.m.and I am about to start my 11th Hawaii Ironman. The hardest part of the week is about to end - the waiting. I can't wait until that gun goes off so that I can begin the event that I think about the entire year. Sometimes everything works out with my training and I show up in top form. Other years everything seems to go wrong like this year. Last year was a perfect build up. This year has been a rough one with injuries. It just seem like I was never going to get consistent training done: one problem after another. Regardless, of how the year went I am going to do my best once that gun goes off. The body is an amazing machine and you just never know.

I am in the water close to Luc Van Lierde which I think is the best place to be. No one seems to want to key off of him for the swim start because he hasn't had a good result in Kona for quite a while. I on the other hand decide to stay close to Luc. He always has good swims in Kona. There are a few other top pros around us but all the big guns seem to be starting close to the Pier. Luc and I are closer to the Body Glove boat. The pro field including Luc and I seem to be drifting more and more on to the official course. We are well past the start line but no gun. I figure it will be any second and I keep focused. All of a sudden someone does one swim stroke and the chain reaction set's us off. I never heard the start gun. I hang close to Luc but we miss the lead pack. The swim groups are decided within the first 400 yards of the race. I miss the lead group.

I am in the big pack and we seem to be swimming all over the place. I look up to sight the turn around boats and they are to the left of me. A few minutes later I sight again this time they are to my right. We are clearly swimming all over the place. I am in the middle of the group so I follow. It is better to be saving energy and swimming a bit crooked with the group than swimming in a straight line solo wasting energy that I will need later on in the day.

The entire swim is an "S" pattern. I feel pretty relaxed swimming with this pack. So far so good. I am not with the top guns but at least I am still within striking distance

I exit the water and I need to make up some ground quick because I am down on all the favorites (Lessing, Tim, Luke Bell, McCormick, Al Suttan, B. Anderson, etc.). I blast thru the transition zone. I found out after the race that I had the fastest T1 of the day. I make up some time on the first out and back section on Kuakini Highway; but, I am still down. Norman goes by me close to the airport. Last year we rode together until 6 miles from the Hawi turnaround. He went by hard this year and there was no way that I was going to be able to ride with him. I just don't have the strength on the bike. I had two pretty serious cycling injuries in August which meant that hardly rode for the month. August is one of the most important months of training to get ready for the Hawaii Ironman. Luckily, I was still able to swim and run. Anyway, there was no way I was riding with Norman today; but, I really need to get up to Tim and the lead pack.

I am going to get there but it is going to take a lot longer than Norman. I manage to ride up to the lead group of favorites but it took a long time. I catch them just before Kawaihae. I am going pretty good when I catch them so I decide to blast by and see if I can ride away from them. For some reason the boys picked up their pace and don't let me go. I guess that number 1 on my bike makes me a marked man. I can't remember which mile marker it was when Norman went by the other way; but, I have not seen someone that far in front of me at the turn around since I first did the race in 1993. This is not good. Norman was flying! As I keep riding toward Hawi Farris goes flying by just behind Norman then a bunch of other strong cyclists.

I am in trouble. In my head the race was going to be decided on the marathon. The plan is to have a decent swim, ride solid with all the favorites then give it everything I have on the marathon. I hadn't planned on such a big effort by the strong cyclists. By the time I hit the Hawi turn around I realize that I am in really big trouble. Norman is solid on the run and so is Farris. I try to give it my best shot from the turn around. I am trying hard but I just can't do anything. By the time I hit 90 miles on the bike my legs are toast. Chris M. and Cam Widoff easily ride away from me. The only guys around me are Rutger, Tim, and Stephan Sheldrake. I am out of the top 10: way out of top 5.

By the time I hit T2 I get an official split. I am more than 24 minutes back on Norman. Ouch!

In all honesty, I entered this year's race with my least amount of fitness. I had not been able to train properly for all of August. I was actually thinking on pulling the plug for this year's race the first weekend of September. Before I called Ironman to say that I was pulling out I gave Mark Allen a call. Mark has helped me a lot over the years with training ideas. He is a mentor. Luckily, Mark had some amazing words. He told me about Scott Molina in 1988. I guess Scott was in the similar situation that I was in at the beginning of September in '88. Scott decided to go to Palm Springs for a 3 week psycho training camp that would get him fit quick. I could do the same.

Mark agreed to write my get fit quick training schedule that I would do on the Big Island. The first week didn't go well. I really suffered. The second was better and the third week went really well. I flew back home to Victoria, BC after the 3 week intense training block to recharge and begin my taper. After a few days in Victoria Mark had me fly down to Santa Cruz to meet up with him and his Shaman Brant. Mark and Brant gave me a private sermon. It was amazing. By the time I got back to Victoria I knew I could win. My mental strength was stronger than it had ever been in the past.

As I head out on the run my legs don't feel too good. Actually they feel horrible; but, I wasn't going to let dead legs stop me. I focus on a simple task: run down the guy in front of me. I have something like eleven guys to run down. By 5 miles on the run I am in 6th place. A German spectator screams out to me "Peter, if you keep running the way you are doing second place is a possibility". I turn to him and said, "No, first is!" The look on his face is awesome. He is in total shock. There is no way that I would have this kind of determination at this year's race without Mark's help. I am stronger mentally than ever before. My fitness was off yet my mind isn't.

I keep focusing on each athlete and by the time I enter the Energy Lab there are only three to go. The bad news is that while I enter Norman is running out. I am really far behind; but, second and third are just a few yards in front. I focus on them and block out the lead that Norman has even though I am running everyone else down. By the time I pass Farris for second I start to crack. My legs are really dead. Every step off that bike is hard and it gets even harder. I am no longer gaining and I am not pulling away from Faris. I manage to hold pace and force myself to go hard all the way to the finish line. I won't let myself go easy until I cross the finish line.

I am pretty sore when I cross that line on Alii drive and I am extremely happy with my second place. Considering I almost didn't show up to race and basically all the media favorites cracked on race day I did pretty good. Plus, Norman did it his way and won. He deserved the win this year.

I really want that win No. 4. Mark is going to help me beginning in February rather than damage control in September. Now, I have to wait another year to get another shot.