These Boys Are Fit!
Ironman races always amaze me.
I spend my life teaching children and working with their classroom teachers and parents about the importance of becoming physically fit, staying active, and eating healthfully. Our country in particular is experiencing a continuing increase in its percentage of overweight and obese citizens. You would have no idea if you spent this past week in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. The entire week there was a constant stream of people running and cycling up and down the road in front of our house. Everyone was fit, confident, and fast. Unless you recognized someone's face, you couldn't tell the professionals from the amateurs. It was hard NOT to get somewhat intimidated.
My training this Summer and early Fall was splendid. I stayed healthy enough to string together more cycling miles over a 11-week block than I ever have before, continued to progress my swimming workouts from last Fall and Winter, and kept a decent enough level of running fitness. The only hiccup I really had over my 14-week training cycle was getting sick 3 weeks out from the race....everyone in my school caught some nasty bug, and of course my body was on the razor's edge at that point, so I got it too. That week was pretty much shot, but the work had been done, and I just needed to get myself race ready. One great thing that happened to me before I left to get me race ready was a huge send-off from my family at Rawls Byrd Elementary School. I was left almost speechless as they threw a going away assembly for me Friday afternoon. The inspirational words, kind gestures, financial contributions, and rallying support really helped me to get to the starting line with confidence and even a little swagger.
Pre-Race
The atmosphere before the race was just like any other triathlon I've done with a few notable exceptions. I wasn't used to having guys running around with video cameras and lights everywhere. I also wasn't used to having help from so many volunteers. It was crazy, they were just itching to find something to help you with. People sometimes complain about the steep price of IM registration fees, but in my opinion, the volunteer help (before, during, after) was well worth the price of admission. About ten minutes before the start of the pro wave there were a couple Navy Seals that jumped out of a plane and parachuted down into the water by the pier. I wish I had paid attention to whether or not they were actually competing in the race (I know David Goggins did last year), but I was instead too busy visualizing my race plan and pumping myself up with tunes from my iPod.
Swim 2.4 miles
The professionals started at 6:45AM, and amateurs started at 7:00AM. I fortunately ran into my buddy Chris Ganter in the race hotel just a few minutes earlier, so we stuck together and headed into the water. For those that may not know, Chris and I shared a good chunk of the bike leg and just about every step of the marathon in last year's IM Arizona to help each other to breakthrough performances and two slots to this race. We are evenly paired and good friends to boot. We both waited until about 6:55AM to swim out to the starting line, where we ended up still treading water for what seemed like forever. Then Mike Reilly, the voice of the Ironman, said a few inspirational words, all the referees on surf boards steadied themselves, and the cannon went off.
People have tried to explain what it is like in a mass swim start. Even last year at IM Arizona I thought I had experienced what that was all about. I had no idea. I would have been wise to hire Chuck Norris as my personal trainer if I had known what it was really like here. This clip tries valiantly to explain what it's like, but unfortunately, I don't think there's any way to prepare for it besides just doing it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3S0wu4Zbfk
I don't think I took a complete stroke for at least half a mile. I was too busy literally crawling up and over people, hitting people next to me with my arms as I tried to stroke, kicking people behind me, fixing my goggles in mid-sight as I got kicked in the face and half of them got knocked off, etc. It was actually pretty fun! I was sort of expecting that for the start, but I just was not prepared for it to last as long as it did. Every time we reached a buoy, the group would bottleneck and any resemblance of spreading out and finding some swim space disappeared and it was back to UFC-style swim fighting. I didn't look at my watch, but I'm guessing it was maybe about 20:00 into the swim I finally found some space that I could maneuver in, and started moving up through the field. The water is crystal clear, so you could see right down to the bottom of the ocean in addition to being able to see people's feet in front of you. This was helpful as it was much easier to find feet to draft off of, which for me was a huge help. Just after the turnaround, I swam up to the front of the massive pack that I had been working through, and there was about a 30 meter gap until the next large group. I made a decision then and there to put my head down and go for it to see if I could latch on. I worked pretty hard for about 5:00, and I finally caught the tail end of the group. Here I was able to get myself back under control while the group dynamic pulled me through to the end.
My goal time for the swim, 1:00:00. My actual time, 59:57. Can't get too much better than that.
Transition 1
I made pretty quick work out of getting my speedsuit off, washing down with some fresh water to get all the salt off, and getting my cycling gear. One thing I did not do which I regret VERY much is get some sunscreen from the volunteers. It was pretty chaotic, and it's hard to remember everything.
Bike 112 miles
Based on my training, I knew I could average 240 watts on the bike and still put together a great run afterwards. So I told myself that for at least the first 3 hours of the bike, I would pay close attention to my powermeter and not worry about anyone else in the race. I felt phenomenal starting out, and for the first 40 miles I was averaging 245 watts, a little high, but my effort was easy and I was drinking plenty and sticking to my nutrition plan without trouble. The first part of the ride goes through barren lava fields, and there are very few landmarks to distinguish where you are. From about mile 40 to mile 60 is a long gradual uphill to a small town called Hawi. The roads are rolling, but the hills are not what makes this bike course so challenging. The winds and the oppressive heat are much more difficult to deal with. Starting about halfway up the climb to Hawi, the winds really picked up, and the smooth ride I had been on up to that point became real very quickly. Again, I referenced my powermeter to keep myself in check, especially on the uphills. Average power increased to 248 watts at the turnaround.
The descent was much quicker, but again, very dicey with some strong crosswinds. You always had to stay alert. Once I got back to the lava fields, crosswinds turned into a steady headwind. Not only did it reek havoc on my speed, but it also very tough mentally to deal with it for 30 miles. At one point, I crested a climb, got my speed to around 23-24 mph going down, and then was going to take a small break and coast downhill and eat some food. Before I could get anything in my mouth, my speed had dropped to 13 mph. Even gravity wasn't strong enough for the winds on the Big Island! That was pretty humbling. In addition, the temperatures were soaring. It had reached 95F plus humidity, and then in addition to that, we were out in the middle of a lava field with black rock radiating all that heat and making it feel even hotter. I was drinking close to 32oz of fluid every 20:00 on the bike. My legs lost a bit of power in the last 30 miles, and by the time I finished the ride, I had averaged 241 watts, pretty much exactly where I wanted to be. I had thought that that kind of cycling would yield me a much faster split time, but considering the conditions, it was about 15:00 slower than I was hoping for. I rode 5:17:38. However, I was ready to get off the bike and run.
Transition 2
We had to run all the way around the pier to get our transition bags, and coming off the bike my legs were pretty beat up. It took me the entire transition run to loosen up. While I was getting my shoes on a volunteer asked me if I wanted sunscreen. Absolutely I did.
Run
I really thought I could average 7:00/mile in this marathon, and even though the temperature and humidity had reached a ludicrous level, I still planned on "going for it" and starting out at close to 7:00 pace. I had a lot of guys in front of me coming off the bike, and I planned on catching as many as I could. The first few miles are always way too fast no matter how much I'm trying to relax. I hit 6:31, 6:37, and 6:39 for the first 3 miles before I had a little heart to heart with myself and decided that I really needed to make a conscious effort to slow down if I wanted to stay strong at the end. So my next 3 miles were much better 6:59, 6:46, and 6:57. I was comfortable there, and I was able to get into a good smooth rhythm. The first 10 miles of the run are out and back on Ali'i Drive right by the ocean. So there was a warm breeze coming off the water, which was better than no breeze at all, and lots of people were out with sprinklers spraying athletes down. Aid stations were also located about every mile, so I got into a good routine to manage my body temperature. I would get a couple cold water sponges, douse them all over me, then stick them in the front of my jersey. Then I would take water and pour it down my front to get the sponges wet again. Finally I would take a cup of ice, put some in my mouth, then take the rest and pour it inside the back of my jersey. In addition I would drink pretty much whatever I could grab in between doing all that stuff...most of it would be gatorade and water, but occasionally I'd get a cup of coke, and that was a nice treat.
I was definitely moving past tons of people in the first 10 miles of the run, but there were also a couple of guys who were passing me at that point. Right at mile 10 there's a pretty serious climb up Palani Road to the Queen K Highway (out to the lava fields again!) This hill was the breaking point of a lot of athletes. The attrition rate from here on was simply astounding. Guys were blowing up left and right, and I felt like Usain Bolt running past them at 7:00 pace. From miles 10-14, there were quite a few uphills into the wind, and this was a very difficult section for me. I felt like I was toeing the line between maximizing my potential and falling off the edge and losing it. Luckily I was still passing guys so that was a huge motivating factor. Also, even though I was feeling miserable, I was still managing to maintain miles not too far from my goal pace. I hit a 7:45 going up Palani Drive, but then I reeled off 6:31, 7:03, 6:58, 7:07, and 7:27 miles up to the Energy Lab. I can't say the rest of the run was easy, but those miles were actually the most difficult of the day for me. I made my way through the Energy Lab and back out on the Queen K, and now I had a tailwind coming back into town. Tailwinds are great on the bike, but when you're running in 100 degree weather, running with a tailwind makes you feel like you're running in an oven. I made it back into town, continued passing athletes all the way to the end, and finally finished the Ironman with a total time of 9:27:49. My run split was 3:03:57, which I was supremely pleased with. Not only was this the first time in an Ironman that I haven't slowed considerably after about mile 15, I also proved to myself that I can do it in less than ideal conditions. I felt thankful when I finished, thankful for all who helped me get to this point, thankful that I didn't suffer from any serious problems that would have required medical care, and thankful that it was done and I could go and sit down for a while. I was proud as well, for I've been working towards completing this race for a very long time, and I stuck right to my race plan and basically did the best job I thought I could do.
When I finished coming across the line, a volunteer asked me if I needed anything. I then proceeded to go on a drinking rampage. I had 2 cups water, 2 cups of gatorade, and a cup of coke. Then a really nice volunteer had the brilliant idea of cutting a gallon jug open, filling it with ice cold water and giving athletes an ice bath shower. That felt SO good. I then proceeded to the massage tent, drank some more water, and by that time was feeling good enough to head home and clean up.
I ended up placing 94th overall, I was the 37th amateur, and I placed 11th in my age group. Out of my age group, I was the second American finisher. I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little disappointed with those numbers. I honestly thought that the kind of race I put out would have placed me higher. But there were some extremely fit and tough athletes racing, and they were just flat out better than I was on Saturday. Am I disappointed with my race though? Absolutely not! I stuck right to my race plan from start to finish and executed perfectly. I had a great experience, beat a third of the male professionals that were racing, and learned a lot of things about myself in that 9:27:49 that you can't learn anywhere else but by yourself in the middle of a lava field in the Pacific Ocean.
Stats:
Total Starters- 1776
Total Finishers-1650
Finishing Place- 94
Amateur Place- 37
Age Group Place - 11
