I did it! I finished and put together overall given the conditions and my fitness, a solid performance. Finishing time 9:40, 31st in M35-39, 2nd American in 35-39, top 100 Amateur finish. Set a bike PR, and was very humbled on the run, watching about 70+ athletes pass me over the marathon. But it was possibly my best race in terms of listening to my body and making good decision about nutrition and pacing. My not so stellar 3:41 marathon was all I had yesterday. I ran fairly even splits and just took what my legs gave me. I think the bike took a lot out of me and the amount of fluids I needed to consume, took it's toll and I just didn't feel like I could go faster. All in all, it was an amazing experience and a real privilege racing the best in the world. The race it's summed up simply in one word HOT!
Pre-race
Got up around 3:30, the usual breakfast, bathroom, double check my stuff and wait for my wife to get out the door. Head out around 4:20, ahead of the rush, nice and relaxed, plenty of time. We get to the Walmart parking lot and realize I forgot the bike pump. Ugh.... plan B. We go back and get it and my wife drops me off a few blocks up Palani. It's Kona, so your already a rock star for prerace. You get personally tattooed, weighed in and off to transition. Just in front of me at the scales is Rinny. I didn't catch her weight. I tip the scales at 172.5lbs. Hey, at least I'll kick some serious ass on the downhills! I get my bike all set, double check everything, grab my swim skin, goggles, cap and a bottle of gatoraide and check my pre-swim bag in. I meet up with Adam Zucco and Scott Iott and wait. It helps to calm the nerves to hand with people you know. Pretty soon we're in the line and the pro men are going off. We get into the water and work our way to the line. It's real now! I'm here on the start line at Kona!
Swim: 1:02:32
Decided to line up 2-3 rows back. we were packed in. barely had room to tread water. the last 15 minutes took a long time. They moved us forward a couple times which helped a little. Cannon goes off and it was a melee. A battle for any open water and swimming just to survive. I found a little pocket and was able to relax and swim a comfortable pace. The good news is I wasn't swimming hard and I didn't have to sight very much which saved my back. The bad news is I had nowhere to go and still had to fight for my piece of ocean every so often. Things cleared out with about a 1/2 miles left, or at least I finally was able to get wide to the pier side but stay on some hips. Tried to speed up and stretch out my stroke and just bridged up to the next pack. All and all, not a bad swim, I'll take it. Up the famous steps. Very excited to finish my 1st Kona swim.
T1: 3:09
Through the showers, get my empty T1 bag and to the changing tent, take off my swim skin and get my arms in my trisuit sleeves. Swish my mouth out with water. Off to the bike, helmet and glasses on and I'm off!
Bike: 4:50:20 (220NP/214AP/1.03VI... Stages Power Meter...probably 10-15% off)
Crowded, but not as bad as I envisioned. But everyone is fast and going hard, so I sit it, let them go by and conserve energy using the descents and turns to my advantage. I knew going in that I'm a little short on power to weight, but pretty aero. So my plan was give up ground uphill and stay below 85-90%. Ride even, then ride 65-75% downhill to keep passing and stay legal. The end result was a very even ride, with a 1.01 VI in some segments, and 1.03 overall. Right on target!
I saw my wife and daughter cheering me on at the U turn at the end of Kuakini Hwy. That was cool. Then downhill, moving up, turn onto Palani, ride comfortably around threshold up that, then the turn onto the Queen K. Time to get to business.
The next 40 miles or so was just trying to stay legal and ride my target watts and get nutrition going. Just after the turn off of the Queen K, Dan Stubleski went around. We chatted for a minute, and I rode with him for a couple miles, but eventually let him go. He was just too fast. I needed another 10 watts to ride with him. We turned toward Hawi and were met with a descent headwind. PERFECT! This neutralized the climb for me. and I was able to move up rather than loose ground. About 1/2 mile out I saw Adam Zucco, so I had probably rode about 1-2 minutes into him.
Now for the real fun....descending! Crosswinds weren't too bad, so I could really get into a comfortable position, head down a little lower. I rode steady and kept moving up. It was getting thinner out there, so I figured I was finally getting near the front of the field. First problem for me was receiving a bottle with the foil still over the top. I only had 1/2 a reserve bottle of water, so I decided to unscrew the cap and remove the foil with my teeth. The foil was over the cap, not the bottle opening, so Gatorade starts pouring out. I do the wrong thing and drink like 2/3 of the bottle then dump the rest out. Bad move. It took me a while to get my stomach feeling OK again.
Around 3 hours in I feel really good. That last for about 40 minutes when the cross wind turns to more of a headwind and it's now showing 101F ambient. It's hot, really hot. Lets feel a little sluggish. I east off a little the power just a little and decide to conserve. There's not a lot of riders up ahead to catch, and looking at my computer, I'll be short of going under 4:40, so a 4:45-4:50 will be a solid ride and set me up for a good run. There's a long gap after the last aide station. Not happy about that. I cruise the final turns into town. I survived the Kona bike course. I don't feel great, but not shelled either, so that's good....I guess.
Nutrition and cooling:
The most important part of any IM is managing nutrition. Kona and other hot races add the element of cooling. I estimated that I'd drink 2 bottles an hour or 9-10 18-20oz bottles during the race. Yes, that's a lot! It's about as much as I can absorb. The good news is that I'd only needed 4 gels and a waffle to get to around 400 calories per hour since I'm drinking around 300.
For cooling I dump cold water on me at every aide station. Aide stations are frequent, usually every 8 miles or so. They usually went like this: Take a drink from the bottle of Gatorade I had between my arms and toss it, grab a water, take a sip, dump a bunch on me, take another sip and toss it. Then grab a fresh cool Gatorade (verify that it's open), get back to aero and ROLL! Out of all the aide stations I probably only missed 3 exchanges out of maybe 25 attempts total. Cool water gets sprayed into the helmet vents, on my face, over my back and arms and chest. It feels great and you feel cool for a couple miles at least.
T2: 3:09
It's hot. It's really, really... really hot. I'm not sure I've ever run in this much sun, heat and humidity. Certainly not a marathon. My legs don't feel real happy. Not like in Madison, where I felt awesome. I know immediately a couple things 1) this will be really hard, 2) I'm probably not running a PR 3) I will be happy just to avoid walking. Its hot!
I catch Adam Zucco in transition. I don't think he's feeling well. But neither am I. I'm hoping we can run together, but that doesn't happen. Always cool when the bike racks are almost completely empty. Great feeling. The changing tent is really hot and damp. I take a little time getting my socks on and straightened out, number belt on and I'm off. I have my visor and GPS watch around my belt, so I take it off and remove those while I'm jogging.
Run: 3:41:24
I quickly find a very easy pace, get relaxed and get my HR down. I look out and enjoy the view. Heading out of transition onto the Epic Kona run or a classic, if not epic Kona day! Embarrass the suck! Up on Kuakini Hwy I see Tanya Zucco and Mark cheering! Down on Ali'i drive I see Jim Vance and Ben Kanute taking pro mile 1 splits. Give them a high five and take in the energy on Ali'i, then settle into a safe pace. It's hot! NO shade!
One aide station at a time, just keep a comfortable relaxed pace, HR in zone 2, cadence up. 1.5 miles to our Condo on Ali'i where my wife and daughter are. Folks have hoses out, which is awesome! Aide station have lots of cold sponges, and I take all all the cups of Gatorade, coke I can drink 3-4 sponges, and a few sips of water and a couple over my head. All this time, I'm happy I have my sleeved suit to keep the sun off. It's thin, wicks great and really feels good overall. I reach the condo and give my wife & daughter and big high 5! I was going to stop and hug them, but there's traffic and I'm too excited to see them.
I'm walking aide station to get in nutrition. I make a quick bathroom break to pee at mile 4. I just stick to my pace despite all the runners flying past. I just don't have to legs to go that fast today. But I'm not quitting either. At the 5 mile turn, feeling slightly better. Mile 7.5 and I see my wife & daughter again, but this time too much traffic the other way to even high 5. I tell them it's going to be a while, but I'm feeling slightly better.
Back into town and tons of energy gives you a nice boost up the first hill, run in any shade you can find, then onto Palani. I look at my HR and decide that I'm better walking 15' pace then jogging 12' pace up the hill. I see a few others making the same decision. Then we turn onto the Queen K.... the real race begins.
Its hot, no shade, aide station just feel farther and farther apart. The road is rolling, and the energy lab seems so, so far away. Pretty soon here comes Frodeno with a solid 1/2 mile lead. He's just stopped and walked at an aide station for more fluids. I joke with another athlete that "hell if the leader can walk the aide station, then we're doing it right!". Not far back was Raelert and the Tim ODonnell. I cheered loud for Tim! After about 10th place, it was total carnage. A lot of pros walking in the last 5k. I reach the 1/2 marathon mark and feel OK, but realize wow, this is a long way to go. About 15 mile mark I saw Daniel Bretscher and gave him a high 5.
I'm noticing now that after just a 1/2 mile after an aide station, the ice has pretty much melted and my suit is dry again. I'm a little worried about not getting extra sun screen at T2. My arms are a bit toasty already. I take in a couple gels on this stretch and mostly Gatorade a few sips of coke and Redbull. Finally I reach the turn to the energy lab, a welcome sight after a long hill. The downhill is a boost but I'm thinking I need a port-a-potty break. I make it to the turn at the energy lab, about 8 miles left. I play it save and duck into the nastiest port-a-potty I've ever been forced to use. Better ot stop for a minute than risk the alternative. At this same time, little do I realize that the timing mats are messed up and it looks like I might have DNF'd.
I step out after doing my business and it's now overcast! OMG, it feels like 20F cooler. My GPS watch later confirms a 10F drop in a short time. After the stop it's a climb back out of there and on to the Queen K again and a long downhill. My legs feel better, my energy is good, cadence picks up, I'm running to best I have all day. I have fatigue, but I'm ready to tackle the last 10k. I pick up the pace and see 7:30 here and there, my original target for the race). I'm counting down the miles now.... 5.4, 4.2, 5k to go and we climb the very last hill! I pump my fist, as I know it' all downhill from here. I kick up the pace and try and enjoy the last 2 miles. 1.5 miles down Pilani one last time, long straight on the Kukakini Hwy, soak in the cheers. Right turn on some street I can never remember, down a hill again, flying to Ali'i into the last 1/2 mile. Ali'i is lined with people and your a rock star rolling to the finish. Time to really enjoy the moment, think about how you'll hit that ramp and celebrate, no need to sprint out that last position, you're nowhere near the top 5 (there were actually 3 guys within 20 seconds of me in my age group up the road). I give some high 5's. This is why you trained so hard, put in so many miles, given up so much time and energy... for this moment. I am a Kona World Championship Ironman!
Finish Time: 9:40:33 31st and 2nd American in M35-39. Top 100 amateur.
As a bonus, the finish line catchers are Facebook friends Susan Mcnamee and Jessica Baxter! Super cool. Just behind me at the finish line is Alex Zanardi, Age 48, without any legs, totally crushing it! Amazing athlete! I'll have to print off a finish line photo and send it for an autograph.
No a lot else to say. I'll do a follow-up with pictures in a week or so.
Overall I'm really happy with my performance and how I managed to day. I feel like that was the best race I could put together on that day. You never go into a race looking to run 20' slower than your best, but you take what your given. I look back and I don't see how I run faster. It simply wasn't there, or I wasn't adapted enough to the heat to tolerate it. But I feel like I can walk away from Ironman for a couple years having accomplished so much. Qualifying in my 1st attempt and then showing up to race, not just to finish and giving it what I had, but still racing smart.
As a bonus, less than 24 hours later, one of the 1st clients I started coaching qualified for Kona!!! He's made incredible improvements in just the 12 months I started working with him. I'm super proud! I know he has potential to get even faster and really tackle this brutal event.
Thank you everyone, especially my family for all the support the last 2 years on this journey.
...pictures coming soon.
