A message from Matt McCune following his IRONMAN World Championship experience. ********* Kona Race Report Im a big believer in the 24 hour rule before posting anything to social media, but for an Ironman that didn’t go so well, I thought a week would be appropriate… The theme of my day, not unlike many others who endured the most windy race day on the Big Island in 15 years was “Keep Calm and Carry On.” Nothing really went for me. My goggles were brushed off by random elbows or hands twice on the swim. Not a huge loss in time there, but I never felt comfortable and never really found my stroke. The ocean swells and waves made it difficult for me to navigate, and I found myself distracted and without the ability to really feel like I was competing… was more like a survival swim as opposed to a race. Swim time was a labored 1:06… 5 min slower than IM Canada. On the bike, my 8 gels and electrolytes (salt pills and magnesium) were sucked out of my pockets around mile 15 by the wind. It’s possible to replace the calories from the gels with stuff provided on course, but I’m very much cramp prone and need to electrolytes to fuel my run. About 10 miles later, I was hit with a 5 min drafting penalty for not passing someone in 20 secs. I was by no means purposefully sitting behind someone but the winds were so crazy, that I literally could not pedal hard enough to get around them. I technically deserved the penalty, but it was just another thorn in the side. I rode about 25% harder than I should have the back half (Hawi to Kona) of the bike to try to make up some of the time I lost. I knew that this increased effort coupled with my lack of proper nutrition could make for a long walk of a marathon, but I felt like I had no choice and decided to roll the dice a little bit. A 5 hr ride on this day without my mishaps would have been acceptable… my time was 5:13. First 10 on the run were great. Ali’I Drive is shaded, and is jammed packed with fans, including my parents and GF. I felt really optimistic during that portion and thought that maybe the electrolyte loading I had done pre-race would last another couple hours. However Ironman, especially Kona, is unforgiving, and everything has to go just right in order to meet your goals / expectations. My last 16 miles was essentially a walk run with debilitating hamstring cramps every few min. I couldn’t care less about how fast I was going, or what my time was, and was only concerned with making it the next aid station without going into zombie mode. A 3:15 marathon was my goal going into the race, but we had a ton of cloud cover so something under that would have been a decent run for me. My run time was 3:33. Total time 10:01. With all of that being said, I wouldn’t have traded this experience for a podium finish (well maybe I would.) Ironman at its heart isn’t about time, expectations, or trying to place a certain rank in your age group. It’s all about dealing with adversity, doing the best you can in that moment, and learning how far you can push your body / mind on that day. There’s no question that I found my limits, fought some demons, and I’ll be better for it next time… Ironman Coeur d’ Alene June 28, 2015. Thanks to many of you for support and words of encouragement. Thank you to my sponsors Crawford Hoying, Piada, Strategic Impact, Classics Eagles, and Short North Fitness. A special thanks to my main sponsor EAS for providing the much needed nutrition for my Kona build, as well as my pre-race meal and post-race recovery.
Posted on: Thu, 23 Oct 2014 02:12:40 +0000
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