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| Beads from Sophia...I NEVER took these off... |
I haven't a clue on where to start this journey about a journey. It's still dark out, 6 am Hawaii time. I am finally heading home to get back to my family that I haven't seen for 10 days--to say I miss them is not doing my missing them justice. At the same time, this destination (IM Kona) has been one of the most rewarding events in my life, only trumped by marrying Jenny and the birth of Sophia and Andrew (wow, he only arrived 3 weeks ago and I've missed half of his life due to this race...). In that 3 weeks, I have spent more time away from them than I think I have since Jenny and I met, combined. I have re-unioned with all of my immediate family, and it honestly takes a lot of thought to remember when the last time we were all together...I have cherished this time with them, and being able to share this "almost childhood" dream with them--I feel blessed, and I think we will all remember this trip together forever. On this trip I really became aware of one thing when it comes to racing...it's not about the time, but the experience. Sharing this with my family and close friends, seeing their faces out there cheering, yelling, paparazziing (new word), and even coaching me through some insanely difficult moments (meaning: run miles on Ali'i), we were a team out there. They shared in the ups and downs, worried when I was low(and slow), and were just as excited when things turned. As my coach Chris has told me many times..."when I cross that finish line, my kids don't care about the time, they just care that they get their papa back.." Here's the cool thing: when I heard a story about a family and "their athlete" across the street on Ali'i Dr in the home stretch where this guy stopped to love his supporters, kiss his wife, and sit on the curb when his son said "papa, don't go!" well, I thought of one person...
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| Chris giving his wife Dixie a kiss...look at his son! |
With that out in the open, and with a monumental, multi-part race report to write, I thought I would throw in some of the "off the race report" notes about the week.
Timing of travel:
I flew in on Thursday, Sept 29. In retrospect, I think that much time is not necessary, unless you are a first timer. It was good to get a final long ride in (3 hours) to get an idea of the wind and humidity. I was on the bike almost every day, and by the time race day came, the bike course was very familiar, except for the Hawi section, which I did not see at all until raceway, and it wasn't a huge deal that I hadn't seen it. I swam 4+ times, and felt really comfortable in the water race day as well...but it did take 3-4 swims to get used to the south swell that was rolling in. Run wise, I wish I would have run the Ali'i section more, as you will see in that part of the race report--I think it is the toughest section of the marathon course, by far.
I headed back home monday on the redeye, and I think next time I would arrive later, and stay a couple more days after, and maybe a trip to another island. I would have the family come in on wednesday or thursday before the race so we could all do more things together after the race. I was there to race, so I backed out of a trip to Hilo, and a all day fishing trip with Lepika Sport Fishing...highly recommended as they were the only boat to catch fish that day, and they brought in 3 Ahi, all over 100 lbs, with the largest hitting 198 lbs! Needless to say, we had Ahi coming out our ears by the end of the trip!
Here's his blog entry about his day with the family: Svans Family Fishing Trip Blog entry (some errors in there, no biggie!)
Most Amazing Moment...so many moments in the running, but 3 are leading this: 1) "You Got This Papa!" I lost it at the "Inspiration Sign" around Mile 19 on the run. I told my family it would be awesome if they could get a hold of Jenny and have her put something on the sign (its a big digital sign that flashes a personal note that can be entered at the expo). That little note had me balling, the kind where you just let it go and sniffle because it's just overwhelming. I had told Jenny the night before that "I got this" and she had already written the note...we were on the same page about the race, and it catapulted me to the finish feeling no pain, I was floating on cloud nine after that moment. 2) the finish: blowing kisses to Sophia, Andrew, and Jenny back home as I crossed, getting in under 10 hours, and having my own personal catchers: my sister Inta and my mom---and reaching a destination I have ached for over 15 years. All happening inside of 1 minute...no words.
3) the hug from my dad after the race: my dad is not one to break down, but he did. The hug he gave me I think helped with my recovery, as it was a pretty good one with plenty of compressive qualities (CEP and 2XU, sorry, but he has your products beat ;-) There are so many more---John's pep talk at mile 9, Russ Brandt running up Palani with his daughter on his shoulders yelling "you gotta RESET!!"...and more beyond these as well. I can't thank everyone enough for their support---really, I soaked everything directed my way, including the Facebook well wishes.
Most Challenging Moment...Ali'i Dr for the first 10 miles of the run...the race Report will go over that in detail! This section of the course determined my success/failures on the day, that's for sure!
Most Inspirational Moment...the entire race of course, but my friends Sue Meno and Carlos Mendoza overcoming their horrific crash 2 weeks before race day stands out for sure. They were playing with an short deck of cards out there, and they still beat it. I thought of them often throughout the day---I couldn't feel weak if they were out there, one with tons of stitches in her arm that had been ripped open to the bone, and the other who has not been able to run since due to pain in his hip from hitting the pavement, and was unable to run 3 miles without pain in the week leading up to the race. I had a primed engine, new spark plugs...you get the analogy ;-)
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| Sue's war wound...you're seeing this the day after IM, so she did it with this ...amazingly strong woman! Super Sue! |
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