This year’s ironman was going to be an interesting race. It was held 14 weeks after my nasty bike crash where I broke my jaw in 3 places and my elbow. So, I knew going into the race I wasn’t going to set any PRs but thought I could have a solid a day.
The best part about racing Kona is being in Hawaii. This year I was arriving in Wed, racing Sat and then meeting up with Dave and Joanna in Oahu for a few days of relaxation before returning home.
As everyone knows, traveling to a big race can be as much stress as actually racing. Traveling to Kona this year turned out to be interesting experience. Dave Esa was kind enough to volunteer to drive me to the airport at 5AM. Everything went great until I was standing in line and realized I didn’t have my helmet!! I sent a text message to Dave who picked it up from my apartment but he wasn’t getting to Kona until Fri night. OK, the race was Sat so I would have it for the race but I didn’t have for check-in and race training. So, I did the logical thing and tried unsuccessfully to borrow one and then bought a cheap one from Wal-Mart for check-in and returned it after the race. I have 3 helmets I don’t need a fourth.
Everything else leading up to the race was pretty uneventful. I checked out the expo and saw a few friends I hadn’t seen a couple years. I really enjoy big races for that reason. I have moved around the county over the past 10 years and it is great to see old friends.
On race day, Charisa and her entourage gave me a ride to the start line. It was great to have someone to talk to and go through body marking with. After exchanging my helmet and going over my bike, I did a little warm-up, and sat around near my bike talking to an old friend and wasting time until the start.
The start of any ironman has some great aspects but generally really suck. As I walked down onto the beach, it is an amazing feeling to look at all the people watching and your fellow competitors about to hop into the water. For every yin, there is a yang and too many people in too tight a place made Kona this year particularly nasty. I should have know it was going to be a bad day when I moved two times before the race started trying to find some free space. I never really found it. This was the first time I was hitting people while treading water awaiting the cannon.
I new my swim was going to be slower but I didn’t realize how much more physical it was going to be. I spent the entire swim looking for open water and getting hit. I was kicked in the face on at least three different occasions in addition to the standard pushing. The way out to the turn around felt as if it was taking forever, but I kept telling myself it was OK, you might be swimming into a current. Once I made the turn for shore I realized, no current I was just going really slow. Eventually, I exited the water and ran into the change tent. All the chairs were full so I sat on the ground and changed. Once I excited the tent and saw all the bikes gone I knew my swim was ugly but behind me know.
I headed out onto the bike knowing my day was just going to get better. The good news about swimming really slow is you get to catch some of your friends and shout a few words of encouragement as you go by. Just after looping through town, I passed Charisa who was riding strong and started moving my way through the field. For the first part of the bike, the wind was completely calm. However, about the time I was thinking this is going to be a fast day the winds picked-up to a strong gust. I found the sudden build really unique. In my other Kona years, the wind blew hard all day or gradually built up throughout the bike. Not this year, it was almost as if someone turned a switch and the wind appeared.
Once I made the turn toward Hawi, I caught Kim. We exchange a few words where he said it wasn’t his day and I told to stay strong and his luck will change. A little later, I saw Kate moving along and then Patrick on his shinny new Isaac and liteweight wheel both flying toward home and way ahead of me. The wind was strong but I felt OK so I pushed to the turn where Steven and Brian were on the side of the road cheering me along as they awaiting Charisa. As I arrived at the special needs bags, I saw Terry spotted on the side of the road grabbing everything from her bag and not risking crashing while getting her food.
I got my bottles and food and was able to keep rolling along. The wind on the way back is the typical cross-tail until the turn and a few segments pushed me enough to get off the areobars and onto the cowhorns. I was feeling good through about 80 and then my power started moving the wrong way. The next 30 miles took forever, and was not a good feeling. I think this is where some of my injury time showed. However, I was able to keep it rolling and got to transition knowing only a marathon remained.
As I exited transition, I saw 7 hrs on the clock and knew I was way back. I few strides into the run I got a few words of encouragement from Paula and started to think what positives can I pull out of this day. Well, despite how I ended on the bike I was running OK, so I decided to focus on a strong marathon. Nothing crazy because a couple minutes wouldn’t matter but definitely click off a respectable time.
The first part was out and back on Alii, ~ 10 miles, I just keep telling myself to run slow and save yourself for the second half. During this out and back segment, I was able to see Patrick flying along (3:01 marathon in Kona is impressive) followed closely by Daniel. Later I saw Charisa and Terry cruising along and Kim and Kate with, “is it over yet” look on their faces.
Once out on the queen K, the ash from the volcano was blacking out the sun. It was still hot and humid but no blistering run or hot pavement. Strange conditions. I felt OK until mil 16 and then fought myself for the next few miles before gathering myself for the finish. On the run, I just kept telling myself, “14 weeks ago you were sitting on the ground with 4 broken bones and today you’re racing an ironman. Life is good keep going.”
All good things come to an end and after 10 hr 3 min and change my ironman was over. I crossed the finish line and was done! For those of you who don’t know my splits: swim 1 hr 10 min; road 5hr 29 min and ran 3 hr 15 min. Add in some transitions and seconds to get my final time.
Afterwards, I headed over to the message tent and got a brief rub down and some much needed time of simply not moving. After some coffee, I went over for some food and stories with friends. I thought I was doing OK, so I pulled my stuff out of transition and road back to my condo. I got back and started put items away and suddenly I was really sick. My body temp went through the roof and all the food I had eaten came back up. I hoped into the shower and began to cool myself down with cold water....In the past, I have had part hot and cold and then gradually turn off the hot until I can barely stand it. While this time, the hot was off and I was fine in the shower. After 15to 20 min, I cooled down and started to return to normal and enjoy the rest of the evening. I want to say thanks to everyone who made this an amazing season. There are too many of you to list but I definitely couldn’t of done this without you.
The best part about racing Kona is being in Hawaii. This year I was arriving in Wed, racing Sat and then meeting up with Dave and Joanna in Oahu for a few days of relaxation before returning home.
As everyone knows, traveling to a big race can be as much stress as actually racing. Traveling to Kona this year turned out to be interesting experience. Dave Esa was kind enough to volunteer to drive me to the airport at 5AM. Everything went great until I was standing in line and realized I didn’t have my helmet!! I sent a text message to Dave who picked it up from my apartment but he wasn’t getting to Kona until Fri night. OK, the race was Sat so I would have it for the race but I didn’t have for check-in and race training. So, I did the logical thing and tried unsuccessfully to borrow one and then bought a cheap one from Wal-Mart for check-in and returned it after the race. I have 3 helmets I don’t need a fourth.
Everything else leading up to the race was pretty uneventful. I checked out the expo and saw a few friends I hadn’t seen a couple years. I really enjoy big races for that reason. I have moved around the county over the past 10 years and it is great to see old friends.
On race day, Charisa and her entourage gave me a ride to the start line. It was great to have someone to talk to and go through body marking with. After exchanging my helmet and going over my bike, I did a little warm-up, and sat around near my bike talking to an old friend and wasting time until the start.
The start of any ironman has some great aspects but generally really suck. As I walked down onto the beach, it is an amazing feeling to look at all the people watching and your fellow competitors about to hop into the water. For every yin, there is a yang and too many people in too tight a place made Kona this year particularly nasty. I should have know it was going to be a bad day when I moved two times before the race started trying to find some free space. I never really found it. This was the first time I was hitting people while treading water awaiting the cannon.
I new my swim was going to be slower but I didn’t realize how much more physical it was going to be. I spent the entire swim looking for open water and getting hit. I was kicked in the face on at least three different occasions in addition to the standard pushing. The way out to the turn around felt as if it was taking forever, but I kept telling myself it was OK, you might be swimming into a current. Once I made the turn for shore I realized, no current I was just going really slow. Eventually, I exited the water and ran into the change tent. All the chairs were full so I sat on the ground and changed. Once I excited the tent and saw all the bikes gone I knew my swim was ugly but behind me know.
I headed out onto the bike knowing my day was just going to get better. The good news about swimming really slow is you get to catch some of your friends and shout a few words of encouragement as you go by. Just after looping through town, I passed Charisa who was riding strong and started moving my way through the field. For the first part of the bike, the wind was completely calm. However, about the time I was thinking this is going to be a fast day the winds picked-up to a strong gust. I found the sudden build really unique. In my other Kona years, the wind blew hard all day or gradually built up throughout the bike. Not this year, it was almost as if someone turned a switch and the wind appeared.
Once I made the turn toward Hawi, I caught Kim. We exchange a few words where he said it wasn’t his day and I told to stay strong and his luck will change. A little later, I saw Kate moving along and then Patrick on his shinny new Isaac and liteweight wheel both flying toward home and way ahead of me. The wind was strong but I felt OK so I pushed to the turn where Steven and Brian were on the side of the road cheering me along as they awaiting Charisa. As I arrived at the special needs bags, I saw Terry spotted on the side of the road grabbing everything from her bag and not risking crashing while getting her food.
I got my bottles and food and was able to keep rolling along. The wind on the way back is the typical cross-tail until the turn and a few segments pushed me enough to get off the areobars and onto the cowhorns. I was feeling good through about 80 and then my power started moving the wrong way. The next 30 miles took forever, and was not a good feeling. I think this is where some of my injury time showed. However, I was able to keep it rolling and got to transition knowing only a marathon remained.
As I exited transition, I saw 7 hrs on the clock and knew I was way back. I few strides into the run I got a few words of encouragement from Paula and started to think what positives can I pull out of this day. Well, despite how I ended on the bike I was running OK, so I decided to focus on a strong marathon. Nothing crazy because a couple minutes wouldn’t matter but definitely click off a respectable time.
The first part was out and back on Alii, ~ 10 miles, I just keep telling myself to run slow and save yourself for the second half. During this out and back segment, I was able to see Patrick flying along (3:01 marathon in Kona is impressive) followed closely by Daniel. Later I saw Charisa and Terry cruising along and Kim and Kate with, “is it over yet” look on their faces.
Once out on the queen K, the ash from the volcano was blacking out the sun. It was still hot and humid but no blistering run or hot pavement. Strange conditions. I felt OK until mil 16 and then fought myself for the next few miles before gathering myself for the finish. On the run, I just kept telling myself, “14 weeks ago you were sitting on the ground with 4 broken bones and today you’re racing an ironman. Life is good keep going.”
All good things come to an end and after 10 hr 3 min and change my ironman was over. I crossed the finish line and was done! For those of you who don’t know my splits: swim 1 hr 10 min; road 5hr 29 min and ran 3 hr 15 min. Add in some transitions and seconds to get my final time.
Afterwards, I headed over to the message tent and got a brief rub down and some much needed time of simply not moving. After some coffee, I went over for some food and stories with friends. I thought I was doing OK, so I pulled my stuff out of transition and road back to my condo. I got back and started put items away and suddenly I was really sick. My body temp went through the roof and all the food I had eaten came back up. I hoped into the shower and began to cool myself down with cold water....In the past, I have had part hot and cold and then gradually turn off the hot until I can barely stand it. While this time, the hot was off and I was fine in the shower. After 15to 20 min, I cooled down and started to return to normal and enjoy the rest of the evening. I want to say thanks to everyone who made this an amazing season. There are too many of you to list but I definitely couldn’t of done this without you.
1 comment:
Hi Brian.. I'm a little late with my hello, but nice to see you in Kona! It was one of those years for me as well. You still rocked a solid race on a tough day. Congratulations!
Here's to an injury and crashfree 09 :)
Rachel Ross
Post a Comment