RACE REPORT: 2013 KONA IRONMAN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP My Ironman went AWESOME!!! For those who don’t know, life has been pretty action packed for the last couple of months. Lisa and I got married 2 weeks ago, and with that we moved her from her house to her condo, and I moved into her condo as well. Between work, the moves, the wedding, and Ironman training, Ive been pretty maxed out. The day started off well enough. I had a decent nights sleep for the 2 previous nights. One thing I concentrated on for the days leading up to the race was to make sure that I drank enough and was well hydrated. Mission over-accomplished; I was 8 pounds heavier on race day than normal. That was more than I would have liked. The swim was great! I made it into the water about 15 minutes before the start. I seeded myself at the back of the pack just to stay away from all the feet and elbows flailing about. I saw no reason to risk an injury that early in the day. I ended up starting back too far, but not by much. The first half mile or so I passed a lot of people, and then found my place. As usual, I did not draft as much as I should. Again, the more people around, the more hitting and bumping that goes on. The course is 1.2 miles out and back in a clockwise direction. I have a natural tendency to veer slightly left, so I spend most of the swim about 30-40 yards outside the direct swim lane. That added a little bit to the 2.4 mile course, but to me it was worth not having to worry about others. The swim out was fine with the last half of the out portion having a strong current at our feet. That of course means that it was in my face after the turn. I know the course well enough to know that this is the usual current, so I was ready for it. I made sure to save a little before the turn and pushed my hardest in the current. Most of the swim I just maintained my slower pace to conserve my energy. I finished the swim in 1 hour and 15 minutes. That’s a pretty decent time for most races. But this is the Ironman Championships, and most of the people here qualified by getting first or second in their age group. Usually I’m in the first 25% of people out of the water, this time I was in the LAST 20%. I knew to expect this, but it was still a bit shocking to see almost all of the 2,000 bikes gone at Transition 1, when I usually have to try to find my bike. Starting the bike is a lot of fun. There are so many people in town cheering you on, that it totally pushes you! It was amazing. Not amazing was seeing my first friend who is also racing, Sam Brown. He had a flat less than ½ a mile into the race. I offered assistance, but he graciously let me go and took care of it himself. I saw him later on the course and he recovered just fine. I got to see all the Coffee Talk Riders in town cheering me on, and I got to see Lisa two times on Palani. After that, we headed North to Hawi. No more cheering masses of people, no more friends to look for on the side of the road. Just me and the bike for 6 ½ more hours. We had a 10 mph tail wind to Kawaihae which was nice. There were no trade winds at all- but as many people here know, no trade winds is not the same as no winds. I almost got wrecked at the Hawi aid station by another rider who was over geared after getting her water and could not hold her line. Luckily I made it through that, which was my only dangerous moment of the day. On the way back from Hawi, I had noticed that my power (measured in watts) was a bit lower than I had expected. I’m normally a pretty consistent (and weak) 136-139 by the end of a 100 mile ride. I had expected to be about 6-10% higher on race day just because of the excitement. In actuality, I was about 6% lower than normal by the end of the bike. Not 100% sure why, but I think I was WAY over-hydrated. In addition to the 8 pounds of water weight before the race, I was beginning to suspect that I had been drinking to much on the bike. The good thing about that is that I was not dehydrated (much worse) and being hydrated will help prevent injury. The bad part is all the weight I had to carry and general discomfort. The last 30 miles really sucked. At that point you are riding in the black lava fields. It’s hot. As the sun heats up the black lava rock, the air rises. That causes the winds to be sucked up from offshore to replace the rising air at about 25 miles per hour. So, with a 25 mph headwind home, all the hope I had for a good bike time vanished. Again, this being a championship race, all the other riders seemed to be way ahead. Riders were about 50-150 yards apart, but at times it felt like the next person was miles away. My run plan was to walk for 3 minutes then run for 3 minutes, over and over. I did the math, and that worked out to a pace of 12:30 per mile. I could live with that. It was on the run that my suspicion that I had over-hydrated on the bike was made obvious. I could see how my shirt was fitting- it did not look normal. I asked a few friends if I looked bloated- they said “a little”. If a friend tells you on IM Kona race day that you are “a little” bloated, then you can bet your bloated butt that you are seriously bloated! If you were only a little bloated they would definitely lie to you just for your confidence’s sake if nothing else! I’ve seen my race photos both on the bike and run, and I look really bloated - like insanely bloated. In the first mile I decided to eliminate my nutrition for a while. My stomach had plenty of water and energy in it (that’s why its bloated) and I just needed to process it. I had one Bonk Breaker bar until mile 18, or wherever the bottom of the energy lab is. My 3 walk/3 run was going well until the Energy Lab. At that point it was pitch black dark. There was no moon because of cloud cover. It felt very alone. You could not really see other runners, just the little glow loops around their necks. It was a little surreal. After one 3 minute run set, I had resigned myself to walking the rest of the night. I was in pretty bad pain and my energy was low. I reached the special needs bag at the bottom of energy lab and ate my 3 caffeine free energy gels all at once, and put on fresh socks. I continued to walk the 2 miles out of the Energy Lab, and once I got to the top, I started feeling pretty good. The energy gels had done their job, and I decided to have one at every aid station the rest of the way in. For the last 7 or so miles I ran way more than half and felt pretty good doing it. The last hill one mile from the finish I walked, saving my energy for the final mile of running through town and all the people. The run down Alii Drive was amazing. It went by so fast! There are people everywhere until you get to the chute, and then it’s like Monday Night Football -people all over, screaming and cheering, bright lights, loud music-it’s a pretty incredible sight! This race was an amazing experience-but it’s not for everyone. If you are a guy (or girl) who really thinks you are tough, physically AND mentally, then give it a shot. This race is not like a local Ironman though; unless you are really good, you will be very alone. But, know this: you do not do this race on your own. Your significant other does it with you. If you don’t have someone in your life, then you are fine. If you do, you had better have great support from them. I was incredibly fortunate to have Lisa with me. Her strength was in putting up with me. We both moved, we got married, she worked her normal 50-60 hours a week, and I was working about the same. Add in the 20+ hours a week of training, and you will be at the maximum you can do. When you find yourself maxed out like that, your greatest weaknesses are brought to the forefront. For me, it’s patience. I found myself very edgy, snappy, quick to criticize, and abrasive (even MORE than normal). Most other women would have kicked me to the curb-but not my baby! Thank you babe for all of your support! Thanks to everyone who rooted for me on the course and in spirit! Thanks for all the people who have helped me along the way with your encouragement, equipment, and experience!
Posted on: Tue, 15 Oct 2013 03:51:39 +0000
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