A week and a half post-race and I’ve had a lot of time to think about the entirety of the experience of going back to race in Kona since my last time there in 2012. Leading into the race I have to admit I was skeptical that the overall quality of the event would be somewhat diminished from years past. I had raced there in 2007, 2010, and 2012 and even during that 5 year period I had the sense that the race was becoming somewhat generic, Ironman races in general had sort of been moving towards a more generic race experience, be that in pre-race activities, the schwag that was given to participants, ect. I was also of the mind that having an all-male race would be a net negative to the overall “vibe” in town. Certainly, the Underwear Run was going to be sorely lacking.
I didn’t arrive until Wednesday afternoon, so I did have limited time to experience a good portion of Race Week. Going to Registration and the Expo right off the plane, I began to get excited about simply being there. Seeing the team from Zoot, a company I have been associated with since 2008, and other brand partners like QR in this environment was really fun. It felt familiar and gave me a sense of nostalgia. Yes, the Underwear Run was a sausage fest but the turnout was very good and it was fun as we did it as a Team Zoot group event. Heading into Friday and bike and gear drop off, I have to admit I was reconsidering my earlier skepticism. I was really enjoying myself and excited for my wife and son to arrive in the afternoon.
The Race
For context, I’ve had to really solid races here and one not as great. in 2007 I went 9:40 (1:04, 5:03, 3:26) and was 26th in the AG. In 2010, 10:25 (1:04, 5:04, 4:10) coming in with a run injury and was 133rd. 2012 was 9:48 (1:04, 5:04,3:34) for 26th overall. So, when I’m healthy, I’m pretty consistent. I was very much focused on having a good day, one that I could be proud of, and share that with my now 11 year old son. I’m never going to contend for the top spots in my AG here and I have long ago made peace with that. And now 56 year old me can’t compete time wise with 44 year old me.
Swim- 1:03 Hey check out me getting a 1min PR 12 years later! LOL! I found this swim to be far and away the easiest of my three previous races. To me it felt like we had a following current going out and coming back. I wore my Form Goggles so I could see my split in real time and pace. i was in the last wave at 7:40, we started 10min behind M50-54, and that was the only group I had to navigate through the back markers. Good start to the day.
Bike- 5:25 I probably played this way too conservatively. The conditions could not have been better, overcast and relatively calm winds. For the most part I saw very clean riding which was not the case in those previous years. Coming down from Hawi there was a crosswind but nothing bad at all. I have to take a moment and give props to HED wheels and the Jet 180. I was fortunate to have been able to borrow one and I was zipping past people on descents and in crosswinds. like freewheeling while they were hammering on the cranks and they all had 60 or 80 rear wheels. I averaged 22mph for the first 2 hours, the climb up to Hawi and back I dropped to 18.6, hour 4 was back to 22.5 but I sat in way too much for the last hour. 19.6, and had more watts to give but chose not to. I was thinking I could ride 5:15 but let that slip away.
Run- 3:54 I had run 3:44 at IMAZ last November on my way to a 9:50 finish and AG win that earned me this slot. I figure with the course difficulty and conditions in Hawaii, I would be about 5-10min slower. I was hopeful my conservative approach to the bike would benefit me on the run however over the first 2 miles I felt pretty crummy and somewhat concerned. Seeing my family and friends gave me a boost of positivity and after the turn around on Ali’i I started to feel a lot better. That lasted until about mile 12-13 out on the Queen K when I began to struggle a bit mentally. That became a full-on existential crisis down in the Energy Lab where for the first time during an IM marathon I thought I may have to walk. But I didn’t and seeing mile 20 I thought “you can run 10-K”. I had to try and bury myself the last 2 miles and running down Palani hurt my quads something fierce. That run down Ali’i was as magical as I remembered.
10:35, 25th in my AG, 6th American
After 2 wonderful days of sitting on the beach, we flew back to Arizona. I looked out at the Big Island and realized it had once again delivered an amazing experience, and I had been wrong to doubt. I was convinced this would be my last race here on the flight out. I disabused myself of that notion, I will come back someday.
Psyched to get together with him this winter and test my new bike and position.
) oly to figure out it was a disc brake run