Well after the disappointment of getting sick at Ironman China, I have to say that my past few days in Singapore have brought a real smile to my face. I arrived in Singapore on Monday straight in from Haikou China, and was still very much off color. I had picked up a stomach but 4 days prior in China and had really felt rundown. It put a stop on me finishing the Ironman as I got only 50km into the bike ride before having to retire from the race. I had no energy, was seriously dehydrated and despite being in 2nd place, decided it best to head back to the hotel and sleep. I was empty and had nothing to give. I had a bug in my system that was ripping my energy from me and keeping me very close to a toilet at all times. I was upset I could not finish as I had come so far.

I was planning on coming to Singapore with an Ironman in my legs and spending my week here raising money and awareness for my MaccaNow foundation, that is focused on raising money for Breast Cancer and its related illnesses. The aim of MaccaNow is to raise 1 962 800 dollars for our cause. This number represents 100 dollars a day for every day my mother was alive. I lost my mother to the disease in 1999 at the age of 53. My family was a family of 4 boys, and our mother was our life. This disease stole her from us in the prime of her life, and as a man I wanted to do something. Breast Cancer may be a disease that directly effects women, but as men it takes our wives, daughters, mothers, sisters and friends from our lives. I wanted to do something and with the birth of my two daughters my desire became even bigger. I set myself the goal of setting up my foundation after I won the Ironman World Championships in October of 2007, and gave myself the target of raising the 1 962 800 dollars as a celebration of my mothers life. I had achieved so much in my career, and my mother had missed so many of the big events I had won. We had talked about me winning world titles, World Cup races, Ironman titles and European events when she was alive. She was my biggest supporter and believed in me when I didn't. I had represented Australia in 10 Teams since, and my mother saw none of this. She watched me win my first World title in 1997, and knew I was on my way, but crossing the line in Kona the year I had won, I was elated and empty all in one emotion. My mother would have been so proud, the icing on a career that has seen me win every major title in our sport. she had always told me I could do it and when I crossed that line in Kona, the last title on my list of races I wanted to win in my career, I missed my mum.

It was at this time that I decided the rest of my career would not just be about winning events but racing with a higher purpose. I wanted to set myself a target outside the sport that would see me go to events and raise money and awareness for this disease. The MaccaNow Foundation was born with the motto "No opportunities Wasted," and I began slowly chasing my goal of raising money. I met some amazing people who have some incredible foundations and began working with them. The Talbert Family Foundation was one such organization, and the snowball began. I had never done anything like this in my life, and when I opened myself up to help, I met some of the most amazing human beings in the world, all with their own stories. I was empowered myself and my desire to do more snowballed.

Since 2007 we have raised 287 000 dollars for selected charities and in Singapore on Tuesday night we added another 12005 dollars to our cause. Our MaccaNow Website is currently under construction and will allow people to follow our progress and donate and help us achieve this goal. My vision is to empower other athletes to set the same goals and use our Foundation to help them achieve the same goals for charities that have a purpose to them.

At Fitness First Singapore on Tuesday 15th March 2010, we held our first "Spin for Life" Charity ride to raise money for Breast Cancer Singapore. We sold off the spin bikes in the class for a minimum price and had 59 bikes to sell. Our only limitation was the amount of bikes, and they were sold out in less than 4 days. The demand was just awesome and The Breast Cancer Foundation of Singapore was super supportive of the evening. We could have sold the night out 4 times over, which really made me happy. I turned up to a room full of energy, many women who were Breast cancer survivors themselves, and a buzz like no other. We had a set 90 minute session planned and it was an awesome evening.

I cant say enough about how happy I was with the night and how much fun I had. After the disappointment of my race in China and getting sick, my evening in Singapore really lifted my spirits. Perspective is an amazing thing, and the 2 hours I spent here in Singapore on Friday night with our Spin for Life group was so much fun. Thanks everyone for turning up and supporting MaccaNow. I will achieve my goal and your support is a big part of this. Please check past our MaccaNow website in a couple of weeks to see some video and photos from the night, and see our schedule of events that are growing each week. You will also be able to donate to our Foundation and we will have a list of Charities that ALL our money goes to. Also if you are on facebook and want to help, one of my sponsors has agreed to pay 50 000 dollars to The Power in Pink Foundation if I can reach 50000 fans on my http://www.facebook.com/maccalive fan page by June. We are getting close so please help out by joining or getting your friends to join. It costs nothing and will be a big chunk of money to donate to a great charity.

My race season will kick off next week in Hawaii when I compete in the Olympic distance classic Lavaman on the big island of Hawaii. I am still a little weak today but am hoping to get back on the bike and running again this week. I have given myself a good week of relaxation to give my system time to recover. I am very much looking forward to hitting Hawaii, and then back to the USA for my 2010 racing season. This year will be a big one and I am pumped to pull on my race numbers again.

Enjoy your Journey,

Macca