2XU's Co-Founder/Director and Head of Product Development Jamie Hunt, is lining up for his first IRONMAN (IM) World Championships (Kona, Hawaii) on October 13.  In the M40-44 category; Jamie made his full IM debut in Melbourne earlier this year - not only finishing in a cracking time of 8:58:06, but winning his Age Group.  While Hunt originally left the circuit to establish 2XU; he's now back and determined to show what his highly acclaimed technical 2XU Compression + Triathlon garments can do.  Starting Wednesday October 3 to race-day eve, Jamie will be checking in with a daily journal entry.  

Here's DAY 6:

After a solid day yesterday, today is a nice relaxing one.  Last night I still felt like I was fighting something - had a heavy head and just felt tired. This morning I felt better but not great, so headed down to the gym with the family for a 30min treadmill run with a couple of stride outs, which felt ok. 

I have to say, leading into big races, you do become overly anxious - every little issue requires analysis! Given the sacrifices you make for an event like this, you just want to hit the start line feeling 100% ready and confident.  With six days to go, even if I was to be fighting an illness, I still have plenty of time to reach peak health.

After reading through the official Event Guide for the first time, I’ve mapped out my week.  I’m looking forward to a few Official Sponsor events and the NZ Team breakfast on Tuesday morning.  Ironman doesn't really have a strong country focus like the ITU Word Championships, however Jane Patterson (NZ Ironman Director), goes out of her way to ensure we’re kitted out for the Parade of Nations (Tuesday afternoon).  All Kiwis will be wearing 2XU NZ polo's and caps. 

It’s still early in the week, so ‘Kona gossip’ isn’t quite in full swing.  Word on the street is the usual suspects like Macca and Crowie are in good shape, but the outside money is on Sebastian Kniele; winner of last month’s Vegas 70.3. This guy can bike!  He out rode Lance in a race earlier this year, and smashed the bike leg in Vegas, however with no Chris Lieto in this year’s line-up, it’s going to be pretty hard going it alone on this course.  It would have been amazing to have Lance, Sebastian and Chris out there together – a completely different race!

I’ve also had a quick look at the times from my Age Group last year. The winner went under 8.50 which is a little outside my current ability, however you never know what can happen on race day. A top five in my Age Group would be an incredible result, however just to get here and compete is more than enough for me. Looking forward to ticking it off my bucket list.

 Aloha,

 Jamie