You all did better than me. I spent the race day with ironman.com coverage on one screen, and Fallout 4 on the other.
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Re: St'ers at Kona, how did you do?
[ In reply to ]
Re: St'ers at Kona, how did you do? [devashish_paul]
[ In reply to ]
"Can you share some secrets on what has allowed you to race so strong in the 70-74 age group (as Monty pointed out, most in your age group are winded getting from the car to the shopping mall)."
Thanks for the comments Monty, Dev and phog.
Dev,
I'm able to race strong at my age for the same reasons anyone does at any age...hard work, consistency, a competitive spirit, mental toughness, and the desire to be the best I can be.
Now to address the age part a little more. When I was growing up, girls/women didn't have the opportunity to participate in sports like my daughters and granddaughters do today. So when I was older, I was so happy to compete in road races, then learn to swim and start competing in triathlons the year I turned 60. It's still 'fresh' to me, I'm still eager to learn (thanks SlowTwitch), and I think I can still improve on some front. I love training, racing, and feeling strong just like the rest of you.
It's so important, especially as we grow older, to keep moving in any way our bodies allow!
---------------------------------------------------
Re: St'ers at Kona, how did you do? [ajthomas]
[ In reply to ]
M40-44. 2nd time at Kona. Was in good shape (no injuries, etc...) coming into race.
Swim. I'm a poor (okay, awful) swimmer. Get a bit of anxiety in the water. Did 4 practice swims of varying distance & effort to get a feel for the water/course and my anxiety. On race morning I decided to go without the swimskin as its tight (like it should be) and that tightness can add to my anxiety. Best. Decision. Ever. In pool swims the swimskin only gets me about 4 secs per 100. As such, if I had to stop to compose myself on the swim, I've lost all speed gained anyway. Found some feet about 500m into swim and rode them all the way home. 1:19 swim. I'll take it.
Bike. This is my strength. Gone as low as 4:54 in other races. Plan was to stay conservative and shoot for 5:10 bike split. Unfortunately, at mile 2 an age group woman decided to pass me as close as she possibly could. She got into me despite having an entire car lane to her left in which she could have passed me safely. I went down. Why she was working so hard on that part of the course I have no idea. There is no reason to ride like that in the first 2 miles at Kona (which is still in town) or at any other race.
The fall itself was no big deal. We were going up hill and fairly slow. Maybe 14mph. No bike damage. Heck, barely a scrape on me as I landed on my back. Problem was that I ride a Shiv and had 800 calories of Infinit in my downtube bladder. I watched in horror as 50% of my total bike calories spilled all over the road. I hopped up, dusted myself off and got back underway. My thoughts vacillated between (a) what am I going to say to her when I passed her; and (b) how am I going to replace the calories I lost.
I had a tough time finding calories on the bike course. It seems that at every aid station there were 10 volunteers holding half bananas and one or zero volunteers. with gu/gels. In hindsight, I should have simply stopped at one of the aid stations, asked nicely for 7-8 gel's, and stuffed them in my jersey. In race mode, however, my brain could not contemplate actually stopping at a bike aid station. Definitely a race experience from which I will learn and that will make me better in the future.
As an aside, I don't know any FOP athletes that eat bananas during the bike portion of a race. Maybe I'm naĂŻve, but I always assumed bananas, potato chips, and pretzels on an Ironman course are for people just looking to finish and/or those who have for whatever reason completely fallen apart on the run. It seems to me the aid stations at Kona should look a little different then the aid stations at your average Ironman, but that's just my opinion.
I hit the Wall at about mile 75 on the bike due to lack of calories and sodium and literally limped home. Miserable. 5:25 bike.
Run. I drank a lot of Gatorade endurance on the bike in my attempt to find calories. I can't stand that stuff. For some reason, it plays havoc with my stomach. Stopped about 1.5 miles into the run and threw up my entire stomach contents… which appeared to be nothing more than orange Gatorade endurance. Although I was worried about throwing up and the potential for dehydration, I felt so much better.
Aside No. 2. Do they make Gatorade endurance in any flavor other than orange? Orange was the only flavor they had on the bike course. Give me a break. Horrible!
Rest of the run was fine, however, I was in poor spirits given that my training partners (all 3 of them) were now so far ahead of me and that I had such a poor bike performance. I just couldn't force myself to dig deep. That's an issue I need to work on. Run total 3:45.
Total time was 10:39. Best case scenario for me on that particular course, given my swim limitations, is probably 10:10 - 10:15. As such, once I got over being butthurt that I was fourth out of the four of us that train together (about 10 minutes of solitary post-race sulking) I accepted the performance for what is was and decided to spend the rest of the night celebrating the accomplishments of my training partners, two of whom had never raced Kona before and went 10:03 and 10:06 respectively.
Swim. I'm a poor (okay, awful) swimmer. Get a bit of anxiety in the water. Did 4 practice swims of varying distance & effort to get a feel for the water/course and my anxiety. On race morning I decided to go without the swimskin as its tight (like it should be) and that tightness can add to my anxiety. Best. Decision. Ever. In pool swims the swimskin only gets me about 4 secs per 100. As such, if I had to stop to compose myself on the swim, I've lost all speed gained anyway. Found some feet about 500m into swim and rode them all the way home. 1:19 swim. I'll take it.
Bike. This is my strength. Gone as low as 4:54 in other races. Plan was to stay conservative and shoot for 5:10 bike split. Unfortunately, at mile 2 an age group woman decided to pass me as close as she possibly could. She got into me despite having an entire car lane to her left in which she could have passed me safely. I went down. Why she was working so hard on that part of the course I have no idea. There is no reason to ride like that in the first 2 miles at Kona (which is still in town) or at any other race.
The fall itself was no big deal. We were going up hill and fairly slow. Maybe 14mph. No bike damage. Heck, barely a scrape on me as I landed on my back. Problem was that I ride a Shiv and had 800 calories of Infinit in my downtube bladder. I watched in horror as 50% of my total bike calories spilled all over the road. I hopped up, dusted myself off and got back underway. My thoughts vacillated between (a) what am I going to say to her when I passed her; and (b) how am I going to replace the calories I lost.
I had a tough time finding calories on the bike course. It seems that at every aid station there were 10 volunteers holding half bananas and one or zero volunteers. with gu/gels. In hindsight, I should have simply stopped at one of the aid stations, asked nicely for 7-8 gel's, and stuffed them in my jersey. In race mode, however, my brain could not contemplate actually stopping at a bike aid station. Definitely a race experience from which I will learn and that will make me better in the future.
As an aside, I don't know any FOP athletes that eat bananas during the bike portion of a race. Maybe I'm naĂŻve, but I always assumed bananas, potato chips, and pretzels on an Ironman course are for people just looking to finish and/or those who have for whatever reason completely fallen apart on the run. It seems to me the aid stations at Kona should look a little different then the aid stations at your average Ironman, but that's just my opinion.
I hit the Wall at about mile 75 on the bike due to lack of calories and sodium and literally limped home. Miserable. 5:25 bike.
Run. I drank a lot of Gatorade endurance on the bike in my attempt to find calories. I can't stand that stuff. For some reason, it plays havoc with my stomach. Stopped about 1.5 miles into the run and threw up my entire stomach contents… which appeared to be nothing more than orange Gatorade endurance. Although I was worried about throwing up and the potential for dehydration, I felt so much better.
Aside No. 2. Do they make Gatorade endurance in any flavor other than orange? Orange was the only flavor they had on the bike course. Give me a break. Horrible!
Rest of the run was fine, however, I was in poor spirits given that my training partners (all 3 of them) were now so far ahead of me and that I had such a poor bike performance. I just couldn't force myself to dig deep. That's an issue I need to work on. Run total 3:45.
Total time was 10:39. Best case scenario for me on that particular course, given my swim limitations, is probably 10:10 - 10:15. As such, once I got over being butthurt that I was fourth out of the four of us that train together (about 10 minutes of solitary post-race sulking) I accepted the performance for what is was and decided to spend the rest of the night celebrating the accomplishments of my training partners, two of whom had never raced Kona before and went 10:03 and 10:06 respectively.
Re: St'ers at Kona, how did you do? [USCoregonian]
[ In reply to ]
USCoregonian wrote:
M25-29- 9:42:08 Swim: 1:02:55- Lined up sort of center-left and didn't have as much contact as I expected. Overall really nice.
Bike: 5:18:55- Really struggled on the bike. Legs just felt lifeless and I was struggling to put out any power. I'm a smaller guy (5'7", 140) and was getting blown all over the place. The wind flipped with 20 miles left and I was feeling completely burnt by T2.
Run: 3:10:27- Really happy with this considering how terrible I felt getting off the bike and I'm a pretty terrible heat runner.
It was my first time racing Kona and I was pretty tired after qualifying at Placid so I was happy with the day overall even with a bad bike. Ran above my expectations.
Super impressed that you were able to knock out a 3:10 given how lousy you were feeling post-ride/ on the run. Nice work.
What did you run at IMLP? I thought I might be able to get under 3 hours given my run fitness heading into the race, but ran a 3:13. Rode very conservatively too. I found the run course deceptively tough as a Kona first timer. (Knew Palani and coming up from Energy Lab would be slow, but didn't quite grasp how hilly (/ lonely) the Queen K is.
And dude, you need to work on your transitions!! You were a good bit faster than me on bike and run but my time was 9:41. Next time... Congrats on the race.
I was S 59:49 | B 5:21:06 w/ 5-min penalty :( | R 3:13:34 51st M 30-34
Bike file & run file here for anyone interested in a deep dive.
Re: St'ers at Kona, how did you do? [ngrabow]
[ In reply to ]
brilliant stuff.
good luck for the future .
"Can you share some secrets on what has allowed you to race so strong in the 70-74 age group (as Monty pointed out, most in your age group are winded getting from the car to the shopping mall)."
Thanks for the comments Monty, Dev and phog.
Dev,
I'm able to race strong at my age for the same reasons anyone does at any age...hard work, consistency, a competitive spirit, mental toughness, and the desire to be the best I can be.
Now to address the age part a little more. When I was growing up, girls/women didn't have the opportunity to participate in sports like my daughters and granddaughters do today. So when I was older, I was so happy to compete in road races, then learn to swim and start competing in triathlons the year I turned 60. It's still 'fresh' to me, I'm still eager to learn (thanks SlowTwitch), and I think I can still improve on some front. I love training, racing, and feeling strong just like the rest of you.
It's so important, especially as we grow older, to keep moving in any way our bodies allow!
good luck for the future .
ngrabow wrote:
"Can you share some secrets on what has allowed you to race so strong in the 70-74 age group (as Monty pointed out, most in your age group are winded getting from the car to the shopping mall)."
Thanks for the comments Monty, Dev and phog.
Dev,
I'm able to race strong at my age for the same reasons anyone does at any age...hard work, consistency, a competitive spirit, mental toughness, and the desire to be the best I can be.
Now to address the age part a little more. When I was growing up, girls/women didn't have the opportunity to participate in sports like my daughters and granddaughters do today. So when I was older, I was so happy to compete in road races, then learn to swim and start competing in triathlons the year I turned 60. It's still 'fresh' to me, I'm still eager to learn (thanks SlowTwitch), and I think I can still improve on some front. I love training, racing, and feeling strong just like the rest of you.
It's so important, especially as we grow older, to keep moving in any way our bodies allow!
Re: St'ers at Kona, how did you do? [ngrabow]
[ In reply to ]
ngrabow wrote:
Total of 6 in the AG, 5 started, 4 finished. Age 71, dubious distinction of being the oldest woman to finish the race.
happy with my race and how I felt.
Congratulations!!
Also, STer and 75 yo Peggy McD-C was an unofficial finisher just minutes after midnight.
clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com
Re: St'ers at Kona, how did you do? [r_mohr]
[ In reply to ]
r_mohr wrote:
USCoregonian wrote:
M25-29- 9:42:08 Swim: 1:02:55- Lined up sort of center-left and didn't have as much contact as I expected. Overall really nice.
Bike: 5:18:55- Really struggled on the bike. Legs just felt lifeless and I was struggling to put out any power. I'm a smaller guy (5'7", 140) and was getting blown all over the place. The wind flipped with 20 miles left and I was feeling completely burnt by T2.
Run: 3:10:27- Really happy with this considering how terrible I felt getting off the bike and I'm a pretty terrible heat runner.
It was my first time racing Kona and I was pretty tired after qualifying at Placid so I was happy with the day overall even with a bad bike. Ran above my expectations.
Super impressed that you were able to knock out a 3:10 given how lousy you were feeling post-ride/ on the run. Nice work.
What did you run at IMLP? I thought I might be able to get under 3 hours given my run fitness heading into the race, but ran a 3:13. Rode very conservatively too. I found the run course deceptively tough as a Kona first timer. (Knew Palani and coming up from Energy Lab would be slow, but didn't quite grasp how hilly (/ lonely) the Queen K is.
And dude, you need to work on your transitions!! You were a good bit faster than me on bike and run but my time was 9:41. Next time... Congrats on the race.
I was S 59:49 | B 5:21:06 w/ 5-min penalty :( | R 3:13:34 51st M 30-34
Bike file & run file here for anyone interested in a deep dive.
Great race!
I ran 3:07 at LP in obviously much easier conditions. Open PR is 2:41. I also was surprised by more up and down the Queen K is. Doesn't look like it on TV.
I took my sweet time in transitions including a couple toilet stops simply because I had zero expectations that I would have a good race and wanted to make the experience as enjoyable as possible. Had a terrible block of training coming in including a bunch of small, nagging injuries and figured I'd be out there a lot longer than normal. Normally, I'd be much faster than that.
[/quote]
Great race!
I ran 3:07 at LP in obviously much easier conditions. Open PR is 2:41. I also was surprised by more up and down the Queen K is. Doesn't look like it on TV.
I took my sweet time in transitions including a couple toilet stops simply because I had zero expectations that I would have a good race and wanted to make the experience as enjoyable as possible. Had a terrible block of training coming in including a bunch of small, nagging injuries and figured I'd be out there a lot longer than normal. Normally, I'd be much faster than that.[/quote]
Ah, I see. Makes sense. Well, nice work again. Hope those injuries clear up in the off season.
Great race!
I ran 3:07 at LP in obviously much easier conditions. Open PR is 2:41. I also was surprised by more up and down the Queen K is. Doesn't look like it on TV.
I took my sweet time in transitions including a couple toilet stops simply because I had zero expectations that I would have a good race and wanted to make the experience as enjoyable as possible. Had a terrible block of training coming in including a bunch of small, nagging injuries and figured I'd be out there a lot longer than normal. Normally, I'd be much faster than that.[/quote]
Ah, I see. Makes sense. Well, nice work again. Hope those injuries clear up in the off season.