Well after 12 months of preparing for the big day, his big day is now just around the corner. Gino Nardella will compete in the THE MELBOURNE IRON MAN – Sunday 24th March.
All the training has been done and various strategies for Sunday have been analysed. It is now down to this: Swim 3.8kms. Ride 180kms. Run 42.2kms
But Gino was a West Preston man before he was an iron man.
Gino began playing at West Preston in the juniors as a 15 year old. He came to West via East Brunswick. Gino remembered ending up at West because Paddy McVeigh had become the U/15s coach and he and Paddy had met whilst playing seconds cricket for Preston YCW Districts.
Gino played at West for 7 years and was coached by Paddy, Blocka Irving, Chris Clifford, Banjo, Ducky & Greg Fyffe.
The highlight of his football career was his one senior game under Greg Fyffe. He only remembered 2 things from the game– (1) he hardly troubled the statisticians and (2) having Icey come over to him in the change rooms pre-game and almost breaking his hand as he wished him good luck and then saying – “If anyone gives you shit out there, let me know!”.
He played low grade amateurs after West at Uni Reds and West Brunswick but West Preston will always be his home!
Gino says it’s great to be involved back at West with his son and with some old team mates and their sons.
But, back to his dilemma
He heads into Sunday’s Big Dance as well prepared as he could be, having done everything he could possibly do to ready himself for what lays ahead. He has, however been experiencing a fair amount of anxiety as race day nears.
Unfortunately with Ironman, there are no full dress rehearsals and there are no practice matches. On Ironman day, there are no fluke wins. The Hawthorn’s of 2008 just don’t happen. If you’ve done the hard work leading up to the day, you will be rewarded. If you stick to your plan on the day, you will be rewarded. He is confident he has delivered on the first part & will be able to execute the second part.
Ironman is a numbers game – Time, Kms/hr, Heart Rate, % of Maximum Heart Rate, Training Zones, etc are always flashing before your eyes during training sessions. Some of the other numbers& stats that he has recorded over the last 12 months give you an idea as to what the journey has involved:
- Over 500 training sessions
- > 500 kms of swimming
- > 14,000 kms of cycling
- > 2,500 kms of running
- > 500 litres of Gatorade/Powerade/Staminade/etc
- > 150 Energy Powerbars
- > 150 Energy Gels
- > 200 Electrolyte/Magnesium tablets
- 16 kgs of weight loss
- 6 months of NO alcohol, NO pizza, NO chocolate and NO chips/fries
The above stats will guarantee he will cross the finish line on Sunday and in the process, produce a decent time.
From all at the West Preston Lakeside Football club (both jnrs & snrs) we would like to wish Gino all the best for what can only be described as a life changing experience.
"May the wind always be at your back and the sun upon your face.
And may the winds of destiny carry you aloft to dance with the stars."
Last Modified on 01/09/2015 16:38
