- spend as much time as you can, both before to acclimatise to the heat/humidity, and afterwards to enjoy the island. It is a beautiful island. Enjoy your time there.

- be as careful and as healthy as you can with air travel. i got a cold two out of four trips.

- the wind. I was an OK runner but a poor cyclist. the headwinds sapped me so much that I had little energy left for the run. also, ride down from Hawi a couple of times if you get the chance. the side-winds can be nasty, especially for lighter people.

- the bike course is hillier than it looks :-)

- the run through and back up from the energy lab isn't nearly as hard as is reputed. Maybe i wasn't running hard enough :-)

- almost everyone there is very fit and looks very fit. i wasn't and i don't . it was a bit intimidating.

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run well, run happy
george

kobayashi wrote:

your link for 10 tips is broken...leads to a blank page.

Think this might be it

http://www.thomasgerlach.com/...aper-comparison.html

Edit: That's the taper comparison one!

Edit 2: this looks like the tips one, the site makes great use of tags

http://www.thomasgerlach.com/...ld-Championship.html

Thank you I fixed the link to the correct one in my original post above and here.

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Thank you for fixing it before I did :)

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It is so hard not to push too much when you first get out there onto Kuakini and then when you first get onto the Queen K. So many people cheering, the adrenaline makes you feel great, like you can bike like that all day.

Then by mile 90, I was like, wow this sucks ass. But I still had a good run.

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Proud Member of Chris McDonald's 2018 Big Sexy Race Team "That which doesn't kill me, will only make me stronger"
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That would have been something! I have a coffee table version of that book and think I still have the magazine including the article he wrote on the marathon. I've wondered which house Thompson stayed in along Alii that had the pool.

What you wish you knew before getting to the Big Island for your first Kona race? I should have visited before I qualified to check everything out. Not really, because I was in Kona for race week the two years prior to my first KQ so I didn't have any big surprises when I did the race the first time. I was so naive when I first traveled there in '95 that I loaded my bike box full of food because I had heard that food was so expensive in Hawaii.

Have fun! My race weeks in Kona were three of the best weeks of my life.

If you're a FOP swimmer and get in early to line up on the front line, you will be wrestling for position for 10+ minutes. I love mass starts, but this reminded me of the ten years I played water polo... people are literally pushing you into the line of paddlers while the paddlers push you back so you get squeezed from both sides, people put their elbows and hips in front of you even if you're established up front. If you're not 100% comfortable in the water, don't put yourself in that particular position. Personally - it put a HUGE smile on my face.

No surprises here, I went the year before to do recon & was lucky enough to be front row about 10 feet (sea side) from the finish--watching Mark Allen win his final Kona before retirement.

Had I not gone to watch, no way I'd have been ready for the heat. It's a different heat you can literally feel pressure like someone is pushing on your skin. Which is why I hate Kona. Too freaking hot. But I have yet to figure out the Kona successful nutrition puzzle and "good race" when there. I'll be back when I'm not sick of it again.

Suggest to anyone wanting to race Kona, to go get a bite of reality & just WATCH in person. The level of athletes AG alone, makes you rethink what you need to do to KQ--chances are you'll need to up your game if you want to compete, not just participate.

Thomas, could you repost a link to the tapers of the Hoff and some other dude? :) The link isn't working.

It's a long f'in day...for spectators/sherpas. Speaking from experience.
That and the line for coffee at Huggo's is usually way shorter than at Lava Java (the old location).

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Shawn
TORRE Consulting Services, LLC
http://www.TORREcs.com

Triathlon is triathlon, not swim, bike, had a good run though. Kudos you did. Seems we raced the same age group in 2015 the lack wind on the run that year I found made the heat oppressive.

The hills on the bike course were a bit of a surprise. I was under the impression that the course is flat but it is not. Also, it is a draft fest and an asshole convention, so be prepared for that.

I knew it would be windy but was still not prepared. Wind in Hawaii is unique to anything I have ever experienced, you are often getting hit with it from two different directions e.g. constant headwind and gusty sidewinds. The road to Hawi is perfect example, you are riding into a headwind that actually gets worse when you hit the turn.

Stay off the front of the swim if you are not a super duper strong swimmer that enjoys lots of contact. My swim time at IMLP was 52 and so I thought I deserved to be on the very front. Big mistake. The strength of swimmers there is unlike any other race and the swim will be very unpleasant if you do not seed yourself appropriately.

The first miles of the bike are very intense and can be quite hairy. You do a loop and out and back before you get to the Queen k. Guys always go retarded hard at this point and it feels like a crit. Take it easy and don't spike your heart rate. Wait until you get to Queen k to start your ride.

Pre race be sure to spend as much time outside as you can to acclimate to hear. Ride from Kuaihei (sp?) to Hawi. Count the miles o the climb up to Hawi, it is harder than you think and knowing when it ends will be helpful on race day. Descend from Hawi, this can be very scary with the crosswind. Run the energy lab and the hill back to Queen K. This will be the hardest point in the race but you are home free as soon as you make it back to the hiway.

Make it your goal to smile the whole day. If you are there you are already a champion, be sure to enjoy it.

Race well.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to reply. There is some very useful information here.

For me, qualifying was the big goal. I really want to enjoy my time on the Big Island with my family and I hope to enjoy the race as well. I am mentally prepared for it to be difficult and I have no illusions about setting the world on fire with my finish time. That said, I believe I have it in me to do a strong race.

I will report back post race and let you all know how I did.

Thanks again!

Don't be fooled by your eyes/mind on the bike course. Sometimes it looks and feels like you are working really hard on a downhill and not going anywhere. Other times you seem to be going way fast uphill with little effort. That is the course/horizon playing tricks on you. What seems up is down and down is sometimes up. I think it is just prospective on endless vastness. I have ridden the course enough to know it, but I seem to get fooled about 3/4 of the time. Strange vortex that one.

The link to the Hoffman vs Thomas taper is here. Sorry about that.

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How'd it go for you?

What you said in your post is exactly what I am saying now for this year.

I was hoping for 10hrs or better, ended up 10:30. I had no major issues or hiccups, therefore I have no complaints. All of the advice the others have was spot on. I’d add the following comments:

1. Train to race well, but allow yourself to take it all in if it’s your first time in Kona. I qualified at Texas with a big PR but I don’t remember anything about the day. I took it very easy in Kona and I have vivid memories. I’m happy with this.
2. People tell you it’s going to be hot. You might hear them and think you understand. You might even get there and feel like you’re well adjusted to the heat. You’ll probably do some training on the island and you might think to yourself “This isn’t SO bad.” As I said before, I took it easy. Super easy swim, very conservative bike, got through the first 10 miles of the run feeling great. I even walked up the hill on Palani, not wanting to spike my heart rate. Then the heat hit me like a ton of bricks on the Queen K. The heat out there and in the Energy Lab are like nothing I’ve ever experienced. In hindsight, I would gone even easier up to that, and drank a lot more.
3. Make sure you know where special needs is going to be on the run, if you plan on using it. I made the incorrect assumption that it would be between mile 13 and 15, like ever other IM I’ve ever done. I didn’t get my bag until between mile 18 and 19. This didn’t necessarily ruin my day, but it did make those last miles pretty tough. I seem to only tolerate certain gels on the run and have to be very careful, or I’ll be in the porta-potty every mile or so.
4. The only “issue” I had all day was that I felt a little flat on the bike. Watts vs. RPE was pretty far off from what I expected. Could’ve simply been (and probably was) the heat. But I’ve done some research on jet lag since and the timing of my arrival was not necessarily ideal. I live 5 time zones ahead of Kona. I arrived late Monday night. So on race day my body was probably in the middle of adjusting to the time difference. Next time (if I ever make it again), I’ll arrive 10 days early.

I hope this is helpful. Feel free to message me if you need any additional info.

Thanks again to all of those who replied to my original post. It was all good advice. I hope I get a chance to go back someday and really race there.