I finally concluded a long year with IM Hawaii.
My trip to Hawaii was AMAZING. It was awesome to finally see the course and feel the energy of being in Kona on race week.
Almost a year ago I was starting to build my early base for IMAZ. Despite living in California it was a very difficult winter for training as we had the wettest season in a 125 years. I did way more rides in the rain than I did dry ones. In the months before IMAZ I had to initiate a job search and begin at a new company. I had a great race in Arizona, going 9:40 on a windy difficult day to qualify for Kona.
Following IMAZ I had some recovery time then jumped back into training with people getting ready for IMCDA. Once their race was done all my training was done solo. At work I was setting up to open a new office which was VERY time consuming and tiring. As the new office is not yet that busy I had made the decision to not go to Kona (for the 3rd time) as it was out of the budget. With no one training and no more Kona on the horizon my training became quite sporatic. In August Gary and Carla McMurtrey heard of my plight and offered me the couch in their condo. I jumped at this opportunity and am eternally grateful to them for making my trip possible.
I was able to get six solid weeks of bike training in some good run training as well but did not have time to get a good run build like I had before IMAZ. My goal going to Hawaii was to experience everything about the race, and hopefully go back in the future to really compete.
I flew out on Wednesday, toured the town, swam at Dig Me Beach Thursday and registered for the race. Later we drove up the Queen K and took an off road vehicle trail down to a small secluded beach that was unbelievable - it looked like a travel brochure. After a few hours we went back to town, I put my bike together and went for a short ride, which ended with me dropping my bike off at B&L to do some work on my rear shifter. We then went to the carbo party where Friday was busy day getting ready, checking out the expo and dropping off my bike at transition and relaxing at the condo, watching the surfers in the water from our deck.
Saturday, had some breakfast, put 50 SPF sunblock on my back and shoulders and headed to the start. Was nervous for about 10 seconds but was calm from then out as my expectations were just to enjoy the day. I went to the water just after the pros got in and then sat on the wall (avoiding the sea urchins - barely
). Right after the national anthem I swam up to the start line in the middle. About 2 minutes before the start it got very aggresive there and myself and Sian Welch who was also starting there and getting pushed around went way left and started about 10 meters from the Body Glove boat which worked out great. I had open water within a few strokes and had a suprisingly clean swim and a LOT of open water. The last few hundred meters before the turn around boat seemed very slow, like the boat would not get closer. After turning around the boat I found a good set of feet and went into cruise mode right behind them until just before the finish. Exited in 59 and change, the first time I haven’t swam a 55 in 4 IM’s - I guess no wetsuit and swells will do that.
177th out of the water.
Had a smooth transition, although I didn’t get a volunteer (wish I had so I could have gotten some sunscreen).
Started the bike smart, watching my HRM making sure I stayed between 150 and 155, figuring I would cap it at 165 at the MOST when the headwinds began so I could save myself for the run. My bike computer stopped working about 8 miles into the race, but I didn’t care because I had my HRM. Being Kona, there is a TON of crazy fast cyclists there, so I was getting passed by a TON of people, despite sitting at my 155 HR “limit”. At about mile 30 I got sick of being passed and started to race all those around me. **I just got stupid **and got sucked into racing those around me instead of racing my own race. My heart rate stayed around 170 to 173 from mile 30 to the turn around at Hawi at mile 60, there I saw what my time was and then realized exactly how fast I had been going. I reined my effort in a bit but still held it at about 165 BPM for the rest of the ride.
I got off the bike, having ridden a 5:04 something - a 14 minute PB - oops I’ll pay for that.
199th off the bike
Those that know me, know the run is definately my strongest event, so it would appear that I was in a good position to have a good race at this point. As soon as I started to run through transition though, I could tell that all the gatorade, gels and water I had taken in since mile 30 of the bike were still sloshing around in my stomach. I knew I had made a mistake, but thought that if I could keep my heart rate down for the out and back on Alii Dr. that I could pick things up once I reached the Queen K and still have lots of time cushion to salvage a sub 10 hr. IM
I kept my heart rate at 140, and stopped at each port o potty to try to get rid on some of this liquid in my gut but I could not get rid of it. Despite the stops and the low heart rate I was still able to average 8min/mile through the first ten miles. By the time I reached the Palani hill though, I was having huge stomach spasm/cramping episodes each time I would try to run. So from mile 10 to just before the energy lab I was forced to walk. I was finally able to run for short periods into the energy lab and on the way out I was actually able to run close to 7 minute miles the rest of the way in, with just two walking breaks in the last five miles or so. I finally came across the finish line in 10:22, having had almost 400 people pass me on the run. The last bit of the run coming in along Alii Dr, into the finishing chute was just unbelievable, thousands of people cheering, giving high 5’s to the crowd, Mike Reilly on the microphone and everything else make it a finish line like no other. The finish was a very emotional one for me as I dedicated this race to my little sister who was killed last year in a traffic accident.
After the race I had dinner with friends and watched people finish right up to midnight. On Sunday we went snorkelling, saw all sorts of fish and turles up close, ate out and went to the awards banquet. Then I packed my bike and went to Lulu’s where I had way too much beer, got a ride back to the condo, had an hour of sleep and then went to the airport to get back to LA!
Another highlight of this trip was getting to see numerous friends that I haven’t seen since I moved to California from Canada in 1998.
Leading up to this race I was sure that once I finished Kona I was done with doing Ironmans. I got back into training and racing this sport two years ago, losing 25 pounds, racing two 1/2 IM’s and Escape From Alcatraz last year and 2 IM’s this year. I was burnt out on all of the long slow training and looked forward to not staying in on saturday night to do a long ride on Sunday morning. I was looking forward to focusing on other things. Now, while I look forward to getting my short course speed back next year, and also shifting my focus to other areas of my life I cannot wait to get back to Kona to get this thing right!
PS I would like to thank all those who I trained with at different times this year and also to once again thank the McMurtreys for their couch which made this trip possible.
Mike
