Pre Race: I arrived in Kona on Thursday, September 29...a mere 11 days after the birth of our first son Andrew. To say leaving home was hard is the understatement of the year. Jenny, Sophia, and Andrew dropped me off curbside, and I felt like we were in one of those movies where the "man" is leaving his girl to go off to war, not knowing if he is going to be coming home alive. There were a lot of tears shed immediately by all of us (well, not Andrew..), and the race was the last thing on my mind. I held it together, arrived in Kona to a warm welcome from my mom, and got organized in our huge house "Komohana" which was situated perfectly out of the way of the mayhem that was to arrive down on Ali'i over the next week. The first few calls/Facetime's home were disastrous, and Jenny and I almost felt that communication was worse than no communication---it just reminded us of how long and how far away I was from them during this delicate time in our lives. Thoughts of last minute ticket purchases were brought up, but we stuck it out, and things actually settled in and Sophia understood a little bit at least that papa would one day return home. I don't know how our Armed Forces do it---leaving their families for months if not years at a time with no knowledge of when they will re-unite again...ugh, awful!!
Okay, so that paints the picture of what was on my mind early in the week, but I managed to settle in well...good foods from local markets, good training sessions, legs really started to wake up around wednesday before the race, and I was getting comfortable with the South Swell that was rumbling the swim course and the winds that we would face on the bike. I did very little running by design, and as race day approached, I could not wait to race. Doug Thralls did some amazing bodywork on me on two occasions, really freeing up my "always" tight hip rotation...I was zinging Thursday, and worked my best to save that energy for race morning. Maybe I peaked a bit early, but some bike intervals on thursday kept me feeling "zingy" to race morning. A quick swim friday morning felt awesome---I felt like I was flying through the water. So going in to race day, again Chris had me feeling perfect...now it was up to me to execute the plan. I managed to get a lot of rest going into the race, staying away from the commotion down on the race course and at the Expo. Dinner friday night consisted of A LOT of brown rice, a Lentil Soup concoction, Ezekial bread, Nut Butter, Quinou. All good carbs, some protein, and almost no gluten. I also was on the water all day, and added in EFS after lunch as my "electrolyte loading beverage." I was in bed early, as the 12 "other" occupants of the house avoided me knowing that I wanted to be alone (thank you all, I was in race mode!). I ended up watching ""The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch on YouTube, and I carried the key points into my race---brick walls (they are there to separate those who really want something versus those that just "say" they want something), the reason behind his decision to do the lecture (his kids)...they all were invaluable tools for the race for me. Randy died of pancreatic cancer shortly after this lecture...but you would never guess that he was terminally ill with cancer...he was more alive than 99% of the people on this planet...no "poor me," no "why me," he was an amazing person. I didn't finish the video that night, but when I woke up at 3:30am race morning, I finished it...and I was full of Randy Puasch-isms---nothing was going to get in my way on this day.
Breakfast was surprising small, as I had a hard time getting my breakfast down probably due to the amount of food I ate the night before (I ate dinner at 4:30pm by design). 2 servings of oatmeal, half a bagel with nut butter was all I could muster, and I made a mental note there: this is NOT enough. It may have played into the race a few times, as I would have liked to get in twice as much as I did. My family was up with me, and there was a good feeling in the kitchen having them all with me---it was not the norm for me to have so many people there to "sherpa" for me (thanks Jordan again for the use of the term---it's so fitting).
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| 4:30 am Race Day..My Sherpas all in Orange! |
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| Electric Swim Start |
I decided to line up on the inside, but not right on the pier as I knew I would get pummeled not only by the swimmers, but by the kayaks and surfboards that "hold the line" along the buoys.
First Mistake that I would change for next time: I decided to be in the "third/fourth row"---I'll spell out why in a second, but I should have gone for the front row---being a first timer, I was conservative, but now I know that I belong in the front row. The canon was to my immediate right, and I watched the canonizer intently as I figured there would be no warning to the start. BAM..let the mayhem begin...
The start was not as bad as I expected, but I expected the worst. I learned to NEVER stop swimming freestyle, that the head up drill is invaluable, and to fight for it. Immdeiately, I was pushed to the buoy line and the line of boards and kayaks but the 1700+ swimmers to the left of me, so I was not only fighting other swimmers (all of whom seemed so slow!), but also these things with sharp fins on them (luckily no interactions with them). And the early "crawl" was so slow! It seemed like a lot of slow swimmers mis-seeded themselves, I think the opening 500 yards must have been at 2:00 pace, ugh. Had I started a bit more in the middle, and in the front row, I would have sailed with the faster swimmers. Approaching buoys was the worst, as the line from buoy to buoy was not maintained by the kayaks and boards, so it created a "crunch" at the buoys, and they wouldn't let anyone swim inside of them. I fought hard on the first two, but developed a new strategy that was brilliant (if I say so myself...). As I approached the next buoy, I was 5 feet inside of the buoy, and I was gonna have to hammer someone to get around the buoy. Instead, I went submarine style...swimming about 10 yards under 2 kayaks, the buoy, and coming out the other side in undisturbed water---AWESOME! If you were near me, you would have heard my excitement underwater ;-) The rest of the way out opened up a bit, but I couldn't figure out how so many people got in front of me off the start position I had. I swam though group after group, sighting open water lanes and "intervalling" into them to catch the next group. I felt great, under control, but flustered as I knew I was wasting energy with all of the maneuvering. At the first turn, I glanced at my watch---30:00 on the dot. With all of the extra "work" to get there, I was happy that I hadn't lost too much time in the process, but now we were turning back into the swell, and thus, slower swimming. I rounded the second buoy at the turn, and headed home. It finally opened up, and I started to take in this beautiful swim course. You could see everyone around you against a brilliant blue background. I grabbed a set of feet here and there, but continued working my way through swimmers. With 300 to go, I settled in on some feet again to rest a bit, watched the coral reef get shallower and shallower, felt my hand hit the sand, and popped up---thinking, what's my time!! 1:03...happy with the time, but with all the commotion, I knew I could do better...next time ;-) I say this because I never felt like I exerted myself on the swim, I never got to really stretch it out and swim until about 2500 yards into the swim...
T1: 3:50
Up the stairs you dream about running up, through the hoses you also dream about going through (I was craving a quick mouthful of fresh water), I grabbed my swim to bike bag, into the tent, packed with athletes..ugh---again thought about how the starting position decision did NOT pay off. Changed methodically to make sure I had all the goods for the bike, and was off, running all the way around the dock to finally arrive at my bike (threw down a Gel in the process...). Hit the mount line, jumped on, and spun away.
Bike: 5:07:20 376th overall but 8th in my age group--tough age group!!
I heeded the advice of Bryan Dunn, stud triathlete, for my bike setup and some course knowledge. I established a plan to settle in on the "trip" through town which was crowded and a bit technical from time to time. Threw down another gel, and kicked into my nutrition plan of 300+ cals/hr based on how I felt, plus as much water as I could handle. I actually sighted my family in the Hot Corner, buzzed on up Palani to the Queen K, and started the crusade to Hawi...in a long single file line of cyclists that stretched on down the road into the distance. So many people say there is rampant drafting in this race, but kudos to the race officials, who were everywhere. Stop watches timing passes, watching for blocks, and breaking up the occasional "pile" of riders that happens when you stick that many high caliber racers on the same course. There was an Official every 1/2 mile, buzzing up and down the line watching for obvious offenders and handing out red or yellow cards, and writing numbers of those who were "close" to heeding a penalty for future reference. We quickly learned what a "safe" gap was. The closest I came to any attention was when an Official took her hands and said with them "give it a "little" more room." The conditions for the day seemed to be less than what I had prepared for...the climb to Hawi was of course straight into a headwind. Hit the turnaround, grabbed my Special Needs Bag, and conveniently dropped the contents...no biggie, and young boy picked em up, and I was on my way. On the way out I had put down 800 cals in the form of 1 EFS Liquid Shot, and 2 bottles of EFS (2 scoops each, 1 with a full scoop of Pre Race). My needs bag had another EFS Liquid Shot, 2 more bottles of EFS set up the same way, a pack of Honey Stingers, and a Salty Sweet Bar. I nixed the non-pre-race bottle and the Salty Sweet Bar---Mistake #2! After the drop and the stop, I hammered the return from Hawi section, spinning out of my 53 x 11 at 95 rpms. At this point, I was riding with a group of very respected triathletes, including Troy Jacobson. I studied his moves as he backed off a bit coming down from Hawi, and was curious why. I found out when we reached the Queen K, as he and the other 5 guys I was in contact with left me for the wolves ;-). I settled into my wattage goal, and just put my head in an aero position (meaning: down!) and rode the never ending road back towards Kona. The bike spacing had definitely opened up, and as I was approaching the Waikaloa area I saw a familiar face in the Penalty Tent..and said "THAT'S BULLSHIT" loud and clear---it was Rich Blanco who had passed me with the most authority on the bike course--how the hell was he drafting someone when he clearly was riding at a different level than anyone else? I started looking at race numbers, and I noticed that more numbers had marks on them than didn't---the Officials were making a statement I think on this day. I hit a bit of a lull, due to a lack of calories (stemming from that small breakie, and leaving that food in my Needs Bag of course!), so from mile 80 to about mile 87 I started to conserve energy (meaning: back off the pedal pressure). I hit an aid station, hit the gels and Perform, and recovered, but I think I was in the hole now...shit. As I approached Kona, I got to take in a bit of the Men's Pro race...Crowie had distanced himself on the Queen K on his way to the Energy Lab--it was in the bag. I found myself sitting up and watching versus racing--oh well, this was a WC, and I was on the same course with the Elite of the Elite, and I was "taking the experience in" as Bryan told me to do ;-). I pulled my feet out of the shoes, did the old flying dismount, and was off into T2, so happy with my bike split! I was estimating 5:15, and all depended on the conditions of course, but with a 203W average, my coaches response after the race: "also - 5:06 / 203?? THIS file I need to see! great!!!" So I guess I pulled something out of my arse ;-)
Gear wise, the Storck was amazing as it always is...I feel blessed to be riding such a nice, fast bike, with the Di2, the SRM...all was great there. I would also highly recommend a helmet with a front shield---I used the ONE Elite LG Superleggara...I will never race without a shield again, and the visibility is twice that of wearing sunglasses (I can look out of the top of my eyes with a full view versus being limited by the frame of the glasses---FYI. Di2---game changer. DMT shoes were perfect again as well--no hot spots at all, no socks, just a very good pair of cycling shoes!
T2: 3:24
Again made the trek around the perimeter of the pier, grabbed my bike to run bag, into the tent, Castelli socks on, Orange Nike Lunarracers on, EFS Liquid Shot in hand, Visor and glasses on, and off to the run I go.
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| JD and Lisa working...looks like they were having fun! |
Run: 3:41:36
So, let me show you the splits first, then I'll explain this disaster that came out okay in the end! Something is "off" when I run 9 miles faster than 7 miles---ugh! So hard to look at those splits, but "it is what it is" when cramps force you to stop racing.
| Split Name | Distance | Split Time | Race Time | Pace | Div. Rank | Overall Rank | Gender Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 mi | 5 mi | 42:20 | 7:00:32 | 8:28/mi | |||
| 10.2 middd | 5.2 mi | 47:49 | 7:48:21 | 9:11/mi | |||
| 17.2 mi | 7 mi | 1:06:43 | 8:55:04 | 9:31/mi | |||
| 26.2 mi | 9 mi | 1:04:44 | 9:59:48 | 7:11/mi | |||
| Total | 26.2 mi | 3:41:36 | 9:59:48 | 8:27/mi | 115 | 459 | 431 |
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| Well, I looked good here... |
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| but not here on the Ali'i return...John's pep talk... |
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| on Holy Ground |
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| Carlos Sue and I at Dinner Sunday night...Champions! |
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| I think I made them proud parents on this day ;-) |
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| Me and the Deans Post Race..Love em! |
Jenny, simply, you are amazing. I missed you more than I ever want to miss you...you have been behind me on this journey, putting up with the long hours, the nights with "no Papa" at home. The calls after my failures, a crash...and you have been there unconditionally for me every step of the way. I don't know what's next (or after IMAZ...), but I know you have given me much more than you have received, and I can't compete with your heart and unselfishness that you have exuded over the past 18 months....I feel like the luckiest man alive to have you as my wife. You are my rock.
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| Calling Home... |
