I've come a long way since my first Ironman in 2013:

That race is still a bit of a mystery to me as I hadn't done much traditional Ironman training but still managed a really fast bike and great run considering the poor pacing.

The beginner's luck led to a bit of a lack of appreciation for the effort it takes to be successful at this distance. Going into Kona 2014, my training started to drop off in the couple months before the race, and it was just a really bad race for a second Ironman. I bonked with about 20-30 miles left on the bike and death marched a 4:51 marathon.

I took 2015 off from racing but decided I would try to go to Kona again and have a better race in 2016 by racing at IM Texas. I still didn't have a full appreciation for the effort required and didn't manage much better, finishing with a 4:35 marathon even with the shortened bike course.

That left me pretty discouraged and training was very minimal for the next several months. I signed up for Zwift at the end of October 2016 and was soon riding more than I ever had before and staying motivated. I decided it would be better to take a longer term approach to requalifying for Kona and spend 2017 getting back in proper shape, racing at the familiar IM Florida, and then hopefully making it to Kona in 2018.

I was prepared for IM Florida but got sick a week before the race and then flatted and blew my spare during the attempted fix...lost 25-30 minutes waiting on support. I had a much better run of 3:41...just ran out of energy around mile 18 (could barely get heart rate up to 120 by the end while at 150 originally).

I knew I had prepared, so I decided I would give it one more shot at IM Santa Rosa in May. It was both a race I could drive to and far enough out from Kona that I thought I could recover and prepare adequately. It might have been a blessing in disguise, as it gave extra motivation for a winter full of training.

I ended up qualifying at Santa Rosa with a 55:33 / 5:03:37 / 3:12:10. Towards the end of the bike, I was pretty sure my race was over, as my power dropped by 20+ watts, but somehow I managed to recover and held steady around 7:30 pace the entire run. That was the closest I've come to nailing the Ironman distance across all disciplines and aspects and was really pumped at the finish. In retrospect, I was a little overtrained going into that race. I had maintained a CTL of around 130 for 3 months after peaking at around 112 the year before. I really felt it in the recovery, as it took almost 2 months to feel fully back to normal.

I spent 6 weeks doing more Olympic Distance training for Age Group Nationals, and I think that helped mix up the training and still left me with 6+ weeks for more Ironman distance training. Unfortunately, I strained my adductor/groin towards the end of July and in an attempt to be careful with it didn't do any long runs. One thing I repeated from my 2013 training that I thought was really helpful was a weekly long ride of 5+ hours in weeks 3-6 prior to the race.

Kona 2014 vs 2018 comparison
2014: 57:10 / 5:11:42 / 4:50:58 / 11:07:25
2018: 55:27 / 4:49:44 / 3:59:04 / 9:51:05

I mentioned some of my training above, but overall I averaged just under 13 hours / week of training since November 2016. A "typical" week this year was around 12k swimming, 8 hours biking, 30 miles running.

Pre-race:

• Arrived 2 weeks prior rather than 1 week to get better used to the heat and humidity. It also allowed some time to train on the course and feel more confident after the 2014 experience. It was cool to see the build-up to the race and see some of the professionals out training.
• Practice swim the week before was helpful for both open water and pack swimming practice...although I got stung pretty badly by a jellyfish all down my arm...luckily it resolved before the race.

Nutrition:

• Pasta with chicken and marinara at lunch and early evening before.
• Cheerios and rice milk 3 hours before.
• Monster Energy hour before.
• Custom serving of 300 cal Infinit in 16 oz of water in T1 (careful not to overhydrate and still get some calories)
• 300 cal Infinit bottle in first hour of bike.
• 1 caffeinated Gu at hour 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the bike, one in T2, one at 6 miles, one at 12 miles (didn't feel like one at 18/24 but had them)
• 4x concenetration Infinit aero bottle (1200 cals) - sip every 5.6 miles (~15 minutes) with water...probably went through about 1000 cals.
• Gatorade Endurance as needed passing through aid stations.
• Water replaced as needed and another bottle used to cool off at every aid station on the bike.
• Hand held bottle with Infinit speed formula for first part of run, with water/gatorade as needed. Coke in latter part of run.

Morning of:

• Good to have tape and scissors - magnet on visor broke off, so I taped the corner to the helmet to keep it from flapping.
• I didn't want to get in the water 20 minutes early this time but also wanted to be in the front line, so I tried to tread water in a relaxed way. Last time I lined up right near the pier and it was very aggressive and rough in the final minutes. This time I lined up more in the middle, and it was much more relaxed. One thing that helped was people saying how fast they expected to swim...when the person next to me said he planned on being first out of the water, people didn't try to crowd in front of him.
• Port-a-potties seemed to be in very short supply. Luckily I had family staying at the hotel, otherwise it might have been worth getting a room just for that benefit.

Swim

• Once you are in a solid pack, I learned it isn't worth the extra energy to try and move up a few spots. Just try to get behind someone swimming straight and not attacking you with their kick.

T1

• I got a bad sunburn last time so was very aware of the need to get some sunscreen. They said it would be around the changing tents, but as I made my way out of the tent and asked where it was, I learned I would have to back track. I made a gametime decision not to go back...so my arms got sunburnt and I felt that a bit on the run, but having a sleeved suit helped a ton. Given that the sunscreen would probably wash off anyway, arm coolers just for the sun protection might have been good.

Bike

• At Santa Rosa, my cadence averaged 96, which I think wore my legs more. I made an effort to have a more relaxed/steady cadence (ended up 89), and I think that helped. At around 163 pounds, my average power was 198, normalized power 212, vi 1.07, IF around .68
• The conservative start helped, and I passed around 50 people the last 35 miles of the bike and felt really strong and fresh all the way into T2.
• I was passed by a few packs and there was a little intentional drafting going on. Not sure on the stats but there seemed to be less people in the penalty tents. I did notice that it was really hard to miss when the marshal was approaching. Sometimes the marshal would sit on the pack for a while, and then it would gradually string out, which helped.
• I really took in the experience and appreciated what a great opportunity to race this course is. Being around so many much more talented athletes and competitors was awesome.

T2

• I felt fresh and ready to go, and made sure to get sunscreen this time. I was 10+ minutes under where I thought I would need to be to potentially get top-10, so I was really happy.
• The only time I peed during the race was here. After going 5+ times at Santa Rosa and thinking that affected my bike, I made sure to not over hydrate. I may have been very sightly dehydrated but not much.

Run

• I really tried to prepare for the heat, but my body might just not be made for it. My legs felt good and my heart rate was where I could sustain it, but this just didn't translate into a strong pace. I did all I could to stay cool. I think I just needed a continuous supply of ice water, as my paces seemed to drop 30+ seconds out of every aid station.
• With the heat, I knew from last time I could easily over hydrate. I caught myself in that situation midway through the run and let the fluids settle, which helped.
• I started to really struggle coming out of the energy lab where it felt even more stifling than Ali'i Dr. I was happy I stayed focused and didn't give in to the urge to walk a lot.
• I adjusted my race goal in the beginning parts of the run to go under 10 hours, and I was really happy to have accomplished that.
• I was really happy this time to compete and finish the race knowing I had put in the preparation and given it my best shot.

Overall Lesson Learned

• Except for the very, very pointy end, qualifying for Kona takes a lot of effort and a bit of luck. You have to be content with your preparation and the process that went into the attempt.

Strava from Kona: Swim, Bike, Run