I had never even thought about making it to Kona… The whole process has been so surreal, it’s unbelievable. I had been there twice, once to watch the race and the other one to volunteer. Never in my life did I have the confidence to think I was good enough for that field. This time it felt different. I was RACING J I was way ready, I had been to 2 training camps, gave up a lot to train for this race. However, I felt scared and insecure, maybe intimidated. I wanted to have fun and finish strong. My coach kept reminding me to race this. I wasn’t as nervous as with the previous Ironmans and much more composed the days leading to the race. This is my fourth one. I rode to Hawi the Sunday before the race and THAT scared me. I had Pam fly my training wheel over, I was definitely insecure in that wind. The ocean was a big fear, I had told myself I would never swim in the ocean, unless I ever qualify, but that would never happen. I went in with Paulo, my friend, as soon as I got there and panicked. Once I realized I can swim with my eyes closed, I was much better. Overall, the week before was good, great friends and met more of the slowtwitchers.
.
Race Morning
I woke up at 3:45 actually feeling really rested. I had organized everything and started eating right away. I had 800 calories in total, a breakfast cookie at 4, and ensure at 5 and then 6. Pam wanted to go later so I left around 4:45 and walked to the pier. It hit me… I got nervous and was walking with teary eyes. I don’t know why I am crying, I am scared…
I got to the pier and went thru the process. It all went quick, I dropped my bags and had them stamp my numbers on my arms. It felt so professional. All these cameras around the pros getting body marked. I went to my bike and pumped the tires and opted to keep the bento box on the bike. I looked for the ART crew and hung out with Isabelle and Caroline, we took some pictures. At 6:20, I dropped the pre swim bag and went on the beach. It wasn’t not crowded yet, but the pro’s are already in the water. The helicopter was flying overhead, that gave me goose bumps. I sat on the wall, I didn’t quite want to go in right away. After the national anthem, I headed towards the front, planning on swimming close to the buoys. I hung on a kayak until we had a minute to go.. I saw some ART crew on the pier, they took pics of me. I am nervous but composed. I don’t see any fish and I don’t really care about them at that moment.
The Swim
The gun went off… mad house. That is ok, I am used to that, I played water polo as a teenager. Except this time, it doesn’t ease up. I am in a pack, trapped, green caps all around. I see the occasional orange cap but I am trapped for the most part. I know I am swimming easy, drafting and swimming straight for sure, some on the right side, which was nice because I had the line of kayaks to eye from in a straight line. So far so good, I am not getting tired, I am swimming consistent. But the pack effect is tiring, mentally… At the turn around, there are people on the Body Glove boat, it is nice to get cheered from the middle of nowhere. I can’t believe I swam THAT far in the ocean; we had passed my hotel and were far away. At the second turn around buoys, I saw my watch at 31 minutes; I am thinking that this is good. I was hoping for a 1:01, ready to pick up the pace, thinking I can just go for it at that point. Wrong… Somehow things got worst. I was trapped and couldn’t get out. I guess more people swim faster in Kona. I try to move inwards, I struggle to keep myself from getting pulled under. At times, I pick it up, but the water got rough. Swells are pushing us. After what seemed forever, I see the big inflated Gatorade bottle; I finally get away from pack and start swimming very, very steady. I knew I was getting closer, finally. I make it to the beach, happy and smiling, I go up the stairs and clock at 1:05... I can’t believe I swam that slow, I am capable of 56-1:00, with minimal effort. I keep smiling and choose to not let that affect me,
I ran thru the showers, really hoping to get all the sand off of me. I jog thru transition, and changed. It took me a while to put the gloves on, should opt to not do that next time. I put bike shorts on, despite my desire to race in the De Soto shorts all along. It hadn’t worked in training so I stayed conservative. I am superstitious and put the Lance Livestrong bracelet on and headed out for the bike. I ran thru the bike start, again, with a huge grin on my face.
The Bike
I took a second to realize that I was very happy to be here, and THIS was THE Ironman. I go up the hill and start pedaling, the legs are tensed and not working. Some guy passed yelling at the girl in the front of me to move. I couldn’t believe how stressed and anxious the riders were just out of transition. I eased into it, trying to settle down. My HR monitor is not working, so I choose to restart the watch, I really wanted HR data as a guideline in the race. I am getting passed by SO many people, it’s unbelievable. It can’t help but get you down a bit. I went thru town easy and settled into my pace, once on the QueenK. It was mile 20 before I passed anyone... This race is different; it’s the top of the cream that races here. There are lots of women passing as well. I try to keep HR around 140, once it settled down. That was the plan in training; I wanted to make sure I wasn’t going to blow up. I am aero the whole time, riding very steady. I am sticking to my nutrition plan to the “T”, I had a bottle of perpetuem with 5 scoops and was pouring Gatorade in the front bottle at most aid station. I’d say every other one. I grabbed water at each station, took a sip and poured the rest on myself, It was getting hot. I can feel the humidity, want to stay cool. The ride to Hawi appears easy. I have a tail wind, I keep looking at my average, I am pleased with it. I know what is coming; I want to make sure I don’t blow up. I drink 5 sips of perpetuem every 20 min, take 2 salt tablets per hour on the dot, and a gel at 2 and 4, skipping the perpetuem at those times. I am sticking to my plan. I can’t believe how easy it is, I remember standing at the turn around cheering in 2001, with the porta-let blowing over. I am ready for it. I make the turn, thinking the wind would shift and no, I am still going 21-22mph… I had ridden to Hawi from that point earlier during the week, I was so scared.
I make that turn by the gas station and ride steady still. I know I am climbing, but it doesn’t feel like it. HR is still the same; I am confident and feel awesome. I am waiting for mile marker 10, where the wind picked up so bad last time. It never this... I am flying up to Hawi, I can’t believe how easy this is. The first pros come across the other way, I can’t believe how big the pack is, but the motorcycles are next to them. I found that weird. Those new rules are very unclear…Again, I am working steady, the Ironman pace I trained at. I am smiling at that turn around in Hawi, crossing those mats. I am thinking about all the people following me and smile thinking they will get excited to see where I am at. I am smiling, this is fun, I am so happy and thrilled to be there. I rode downhill like a champ, hugging that downtube in the biggest gear, thinking about how I have came along with hills. It gave me confidence. I keep looking at the ocean, looking for swells, an indicator of wind to come. Again, it never came. People are climbing on the other side, they look like they are struggling.. I can’t believe how much I had climbed, it sure didn’t feel like it.
The right turn back up to the final turn to the Queen K brought a little challenge. Some climbing and a bit of a head wind. Again, nothing bad. I thought for sure the Queen K would be tough. But then again, it wasn’t. At mile 80, I was bored. I saw my heart rate go down to low 130’s, I immediately needed a plan for that. So I made up an interval game, 5 minutes ON, 5 OFF. The off intervals had to be close to 140, my target HR. That worked really well. It kept me focused, 5 minutes at the time. I kept passing the same people, one cute guy that had been followed by the media. 1449… we kept encouraging each other, I remember him saying that he couldn’t wait to get off the bike at mile 80 and then thinking that I wasn’t at that point yet. With 10 miles to go, I realized I would bike under 6 hours. So I sped up to the end, to make sure I would make it. I had run out of perpetuem, my mistake there was to mix that big bottle with only a small bottle of water. I needed to top it off. I compensated by taking on an extra gel. Coming to T2, I saw the doctors and yelled that I was so happy that I made it under the 6 hours mark. Now I wonder if I had engraved that in my brain sooner, maybe I could have biked much faster. I was not tired at all, felt great. I averaged 140, my target HR. But I wonder if.. You know, WHAT IF… I was very conservative, yet kept the targeted HR.
The Run
T2 was awesome. The whole ART crew was in the tent along with Pam, they screamed and took pictures. I adjusted all my toes and changed, probably could have done it quicker. I was wearing a new top, pockets filled with salt tablet and motrin and my gels. I head out feeling good and start running. I felt the heat right away. The energy thru town is great. I saw all the Portuguese making that turn to Alii and just smiled. Their energy was great. Also saw Francois. I ran passed Lava Java and saw Paulo and Kerri. All that was good. First couples miles felt easy, effortless and I was happy with the splits. I stuck to the nutrition plan, getting ice also at the aid stations. I saw Katherine and then Tracy coming the other way, which made me smile. I was so happy for them; they were having such a great race. I have a lot of admiration for both of them. At mile 4, I needed a bathroom. Nowhere to be found. I am getting hot. I block those thoughts and keep running. I am getting slower. I make that turn around at mile 5, smiling again, at the thoughts of all my family and friends supporting. That meant so much to me. It was mile 8 before I found a bathroom. Some random street lady was going in, I sprinted and begged her to let me in. I felt better. But not for long. Mile 9, I am shivering. What is going on??? Shivering.. So I am not cooling off. What is next? More water, more ice, more Gatorade, man, I am bonking L Why??? I don’t feel tired, just slow. It is hot... So I keep thinking about what to do about it and try to not get discouraged by the slower miles, I remembered what I learned in Arizona, things DO get better. So I keep going, now my legs are stiffening up and my HR is dropping fast. That makes me mad; I want to keep it where it should be. I try, not working. I cross Cathy and grab her hand, I love seing all these great people I just met. I went up Palani and took 2 motrin at the aid station at mile 10. Walked 10 sec to open the pack, the only walking I will do the whole race. That was hard. I am tired, still shivering.
I keep shuffling, looking at my watch, and seeing 11, 12, 13 minutes for mile 11… I get very discouraged, only to realize I missed the mile marker. Thank God!!! So I hit Mile 12, time for the pyramid. I am running out of options to get myself back in the game. The pyramid never fails. I thought my whole pyramid twice will take 2 hours, and then I would be done. So I started... It goes 1 min fast, 1 min easier, 2 min up, 2 min down... I do that all the way to 5 min and back down. It had worked so many times. However, I am not sure that my fast repeats are faster. I am still struggling with that slow HR despite me trying. I can’t figure it out, I am not THAT tired, I am hot and can’t go fast. I keep drinking, eating, but I am not racing to my potential, I am weak but not done. The course isn’t that hard. I make it to the energy lab, and still manage to smile crossing those mats again. Once I make the turn, it is hitting me. I am almost done. Am I trying hard enough? This is slow. What CAN I do? I run a couple more miles and decide to try coke. I think of Rich and how that got him thru his races. But I don’t like the taste, I am worried. I have never tried that. But with 3 miles to go, it’s pretty safe. I knew the energy from the last mile would carry me away. Well the coke worked. It worked so well, I was able to finally run. Run Like I can, with a steady gait. I am excited, my legs don’t hurt anymore and I am running. My HR is climbing. I really wish I tried that earlier. I could have run much faster. I make that turn to Palani and see Mike. I am happy to see him. I took time to enjoy my run down to Alii, but I am sprinting. It feels so good to have my gait back; I went thru that finish line feeling like I could have ran another 5 miles. I enjoyed the finish but crossed with lots of people. Pam was there to great me, with Isabelle. Mom called, so did Anne and Joanne, which was great. At that point, I was happy with a time of 11:20, I thought for sure this race would have been slower. I got more coke and got a massage.
Once the race was over, I was very disappointed. I felt like I should have had higher goals, even if Rich and Paulo told me so before. I was scared and didn’t want a time pressured. I was very scared of the unknown and raced this race conservatively and very safe. I am eager and willing to play it a lot more risky. I gave it a good shot and think I pulled it off well under the circumstances that were brought to me. I am ready to train harder, improve my threshold and mainly, improve my ability to race harder. I want to come back, and I WILL be backJ
I HAVE to mention the party at Lulu’s after the banquet. Probably the most fun I have had in a while. Met a French journalist, then the director of Roth, chatted with Peter, saw Faris, Beke, amazing, amazing crowd. Dreamland for single triathletesJ Big thanks for all the support I got from my friends and family, especially the few weeks before the race, when I emailed my plans out and many of you volunteered to workout with me. You know who you are, and you guys made a big difference. Pam for coming to watch, Rich for being a great coach believing in me, Paulo for listening to me whining. And last but not least, Joanne, my sponsor, friend and great supporterJ
Swim: 1:05:18
Bike: 5:56:19
Run: 4:08:40
Total: 11:20:31