Kona 2011: Race Report

Race Day is finally here!  All I can say it has been one great journey all building up to this one day.  As I developed my race day plan, there is always the balance between risk and reward for hard to push.  Cross that line and there is a high probability for a DNF, stay too conservative and you leave time out on the course.  My goal for the season was to Qualify for this race, and given the time and monetary investment I’ve made to get here, I decided to keep my strategy on the conservative side.  With that said, I went into the race with the following goals, in order of importance:

1.  Enjoy the entire experience all through race week and race day.

2.  Cross the finish line

3.  Finish Sub-10:00 hrs.  Assuming “typical conditions” this seemed like a reasonable goal given my fitness and pacing plan.

4.  Match my Kona Qualifying times 1:06 Swim / 5:10 Bike / 3:20 Run for a total of 9:43.

So going in I felt that if I was able to meet the 4 goals above, my race would be a complete success and my race day strategy was developed accordingly.  I was confident that I developed a plan that I could stick to, race my race and achieve my objectives.  Now it was time for the important next step: Time to Execute!

IM race day morning was fairly typical.  I woke up 15 minutes earlier than normal at 3:45 to allow for extra time for the 1.5-mile walk to the start line.  Other than that, same schedule I follow for my other Ironman and Half-Ironman race.  Wake-up, eat, shower, get dressed and be in transition 1.5 hours prior to the start.

For this race, I made a couple of changes to my pre-race breakfast, that I was hoping would finally address the GI issues I have experience in every IM so far, usually around mile 14-16 of the run.  Also, knowing that races in warm temperatures can expose flaws in even the best nutrition plans; I knew I needed to figure out a solution to my issues.  Long story short, I started eating gluten-free (or minimal gluten) at the end of July.  I also tested eliminating all dairy products for 2-3 days prior to my long workouts with great success in training.  With this new approach I had 2 Lara bars to add some fat and protein in addition to the carbohydrates, and then large bowl of Enviro-Kids Koala Krisp with almond milk.   After several successful trials in training, I was feeling good that this might finally solve my issues.

By 5:00 AM my wife, son, mom and I headed out for the walk to the Transition area.  It was actually a relatively relaxing and peaceful walk in the darkness until we arrive at the edge of town.  As we neared transition, my mom and son staked out their location on the wall to watch the start, and my wife and I headed to the Body Marking tent.  The whole pre-race routine was very well organized, and I flew through body marking, finished getting my race clothes on and dropped off my pre-swim bag.  After a final goodbye to my wife, I entered the transition area around 6:00 AM to get my bike ready.

The excitement and energy in the Transition area was indescribable and the helicopters flying low overhead and Hawaiian dancers and drums only added to the anticipation.  Finally it was 6:30 and the professional’s were off.  Now crunch time for me to go through my pre-race routine and stretching.  As I neared the swim entry, I ran into my friend Bryan.  We both getting pretty pumped up about the start and made our way down the stairs and decided to line up together since we both swim similar times.  With about 10 minutes to go, we waded our way out to the start line and lined up about 20 feet back from the start about 50 feet left of the floating car.  Then waiting, bobbing, waiting, adjust goggles, waiting…….

BOOM!  The cannon fired and we were off.  My plan was to stay slightly wide and stay in cleaner water and avoid the thick scrum of everyone going up the buoy line.  The swim was definitely crowded, but the water was clear enough to get into a normal swimming form and rhythm.  About 10 minutes into the swim, I started to angle over to the buoy line, which was a mistake.  Next thing I knew I was swimming up on the person in front of me, getting hit with elbows on both sides and having my ankles grabbed and pulled under.  Not for me, and much slower than staying wide.  I quickly decided to stay as wide as necessary for the rest of the swim so I was able to actually swim.  This ended up being maybe 100 feet (not really sure and didn’t really didn’t stop and look) off the buoy line.  Besides the crowds, the water conditions were not bad.  Not nearly as calm as my first swim earlier in the week, but also not as bad as the large swell days.  The swells were large enough that I had to time my sightings so I was on the peak of a swell otherwise I couldn’t see the buoys.  At the turn, we had about 100 meters where it seemed that we were going directly into the waves and wind.  After that we made the turn and swim straight back to the pier.  I just settled into my pace with a small group that we seemed to take turns leading and drafting all the way back.  

My qualifying swim time was 1:06 and even though the conditions were more difficult here than in Coeur d’Alene, I made some good improvements since then thanks to all the feedback from Fraser Bicycle Swim Coaches Bonnie Karas and Chris Lutz.  Also, thanks to Chris for setting me up with a Blue Seventy ITU Tri-suit to use as a swim skin.  It is not technically a swim skin, but I figured based on my swim time the biggest benefit was to simply wear my race top and shorts during the swim and have a quickly removable, yet tight fitting outer layer.  This type of suit is perfect for this, as it is Teflon coated and tight fitting.  There are several companies making suits like this, including SLS3.

As far as my times, I was about 33:00 at the first turn, about 2 to 3 minutes along the back edge and then about 34:00 on the swim back to the pier.  Final time 1:09:43 (113/171 in AG and 798 overall).  Not great, but for me it seemed to be the correct effort for me.

Finally out of the water and into T1.  I spent extra time in the shower making sure all the salt water was rinsed off.  I probably spent a few seconds too many here, but since this was my first time in a salt-water swim in an Ironman, I wanted to be sure I was well rinsed.  Into the change tent where I put on my arm coolers, skin cooler helmet beanie and sunscreen.  Then off to what seemed to be a long run to my bike where I put on my helmet and sunglasses.  Due to the length of the run, I left my shoes on my bike, and no doubt this was the correct choice.  My Garmin shows the distance in Transition to be about ¼ mile, but it just seemed so much longer than that!  Out of T1 in 4:11.

Now for the bike.  As I planned my pacing, I broke the bike into 5 main parts.  The first section was the 7 mile twisting and turning section around town and my goal was to simply get into a steady pace, get some nutrition in and not get caught up with the guys flying by me.  No really pacing or power goals other than to not do anything stupid and keep my peak power in check.

After that, it’s out onto the Queen K for the roughly the next 35 miles through the lava desert.   Here is where I chose a conservative plan.  Typically I always pace by power in training and racing.  Here given my observation from test rides, I paid attention to HR, in addition to RPE for this section of the race.   My power was about 10 -15 watts lower than what I expected for that HR, but I also knew it was warm and that would come back to bite me if I pushed too hard in the beginning.  The surprising thing was even though my power was lower than I wanted, but speed was right where I thought it would be, so it seemed like a good trade-off at that point. 

From here I also focused on executing my nutrition plan perfectly.  I started with 2 bottles of First Endurance EFS with 2 scoops of power each, and 2 EFS Liquid Shot flasks.  My consumption was 1 bottle of sports drink per hour, and I would get new bottles of Perform at the aid stations as needed.  I also decided to use 2 standard bottle cages instead of 1 cage on the aerobars and the Specialized Virtue Aero Bottle on the frame.  This allowed me to use the second cage to carry water, which I would drink as needed or dump over my body to stay cool.  This extra water was crucial as I ended up grabbing 1 full bottle of water at every aid station.  I would end up drinking about 1/3 and the rest went on my arms, head, back and face.  It was amazing how good the cool water felt.  For the additional calories, I also took 1 serving of EFS Liquid Shot or Gel every hour.  I started with 2 EFS flasks, with each diluted to half concentration so it had a thinner viscosity making it easier to drink with a dry mouth, plus 1 GU Roctane for a total of 5 gel servings.  I also added a half scoop of EFS Pre-Race to one of the flasks (a.k.a. the First Endurance Hand Grenade) that I would save until the last 2 hours of the ride to give me that extra kick to finish strong and set up a solid run.  In addition, I also took 1 salt stick tab every hour for a total of 5 on the bike.

After we passed through Kaiwaihee, we made the turn towards Hawi and began the rolling / climbing hills into the headwinds.  Here I went back to my power pacing, and just focused on steady pressure on my pedals, consistent power and riding a straight line.  The winds were relentless and did not seem to let up.  Looking back they ere not as bad as I expected, but they were just always there; absolutely no relief at all for the entire 15-18 mile segment.

After the turnaround in Hawi, the race really got interesting.  All those headwinds and climbing turn into a descent with a strong tail wind.  I was easily spinning out at 100+ rpm at a 53x11 and coasting for much of this return section.  My average speed for the first 5 miles after the turnaround was 34.3 mph, with a maximum of 40.7mph…..all at a meager 124w!

Once the “free ride” was over it was back to business, with a focus on pacing, now by RPE and power, and letting my HR drift upwards a bit.  Once we hit the turn at Kaiwaihee (about mile 80) it was back into the lava fields, and it was time to launch the grenade!  So I took my first half flask of the First Endurance Hand Grenade, and not sure if it was pacing or the energy boost, but I was feeling really good at this point.  So I decided to push it a bit and let my power and HR climb.  By this point I was passing everyone I saw ahead of me so it was good motivation to stay in a good aero position to minimize the winds and make up some time.  Overall I averaged about 22.5 mph over the last 52 miles, and most importantly I was feeling really good.

As I got close to Kona it was interesting to see the men’s pro race play out.  Just before Hawi (mile 50 for me), I saw the lead pack of 5 riders heading back to Kona.  Not sure who was all there, but I could tell it included Lieto, Alexander and I thought Raelert.  Now at the end of my ride, I saw Alexander with a big lead as he headed out to the energy lab.  After seeing this, it was hard to contain the excitement that I would soon experience by all the loud and crazy crowds.  After the last few turns, it was down Palani and back to T2. Bike split was 5:09:21, up to 96/171 in AG and 524 overall. 

Overall, my average power was only 198w (206w normalized, VI of 1.04), which was about 15w less than my expected power based on my training rides.  I haven’t performed an FTP Test since late spring, so I am not sure, but I think my IF was approximately 0.65.  As I stated earlier my plan was to err on the conservative side, and I definitely did that, but I think the question remains did I stay too conservative?  Or was it necessary to reduce my power accordingly due to the effects of the heat?  It’s hard to tell.  Regardless, I was happy I beat my goal of sub 5:10 and I was feeling really good with plenty left to spend on the run.

I tried to move through T2 as quickly as possible, but again, that run from dismount all the way to the end and back to the tent seemed to go forever.  It was a bit uncomfortable to run so far barefoot.  I quickly got on my SLS3 Compression socks, K-Swiss Kwicky Blades and grabbed my goodie bag that contained my visor and gels and was off.   In and out of T2 in 3:51.

On to the run, where it always gets interesting.  I was feeling good at this point and especially with all the crowds it took a lot of self-control to keep my pace in check.  The first 10 miles consists of a 5 mile out and back along Alii Drive, which was mostly full sun, but lined by trees so there is minimal winds to keep you cool.  Pretty much, it's just hot.  Similar to my bike plan, I decided to use HR in addition to RPE to control my pace in the opening 10 miles.  As I started running the first 3 miles I was feeling good keeping a pace at 7:30, but my HR was about 5-7 bpm higher than my best long runs, so I made the decision to dial it back and stick with my plan.  This had me running about 8:00 min/miles and my HR began to settle where I liked it at about 148-150 bpm.

My nutrition plan was pretty much consistent throughout the race.  I would take advantage of every aid station to stay cool and hydrated.  Every aid station was the following routine:  2 cold sponges on each side of tri top, 1 cup of ice down front and 1 cup of ice down y back, drink 1 cup (approx. 4 oz) of Perform, then water over head and water on face.  On top of that I had a Salt Stick Tab about every 2 miles and 1 gel serving every 40-45 minutes.  Similar to the bike I had 2 GU Roctanes, then 1 First Endurance Hand Grenade (1/2 flask of EFS Liquid Shot, ½ water, ½ scoop of Pre-Race) that I saved for the last 16 miles of the run.

After holding steady with my nutrition and cooling plan, I was feeling good heading back into town.  As I began the climb up Palani Hill, I noticed people around me starting to struggle a bit with the climb.  Even though was only going at a walking pace up the hill, I kept “running” because mentally it kept me engaged in the race.  I felt if I started walking that hill, it would be the first part of a possible mental breakdown that would cause more walking later.  At this point in an Ironman, I feel it’s more mental strength that physical strength that carries you through.

I knew I could still break 10 hours if I keep this up and my run will be around 3:25-3:26.  But I was feeling good.  All those miles holding back on the bike and the first 10 miles of run kept me fresh (relatively speaking), so I decided to pick it up as I crested the hill onto the Queen K.  So I picked up the pace and the miles began to tick by at a comfortable 7:20 min/mile pace.  This was awesome!  I was still walking every aid station completing my routine, and then pick up the pace accordingly between them and kept my average pace where I needed it.  As I got near the Energy Lab I was just on cruise control and feeling good and hit my second best mile split at 7:09.

Into the Energy Lab and it is a nice downhill following by a flat before turning around and heading back to the Queen K.  I can’t say I noticed the Energy lab to be any easier or more difficult than the rest of the run course.  It was still hot and windy, but I just kept focus and my pace remained steady.  As I finished the climb back to the Queen K, I tried to maintain a steady effort on the climb and just motored my way up the hill.

Now back on the Queen K, I knew I was well ahead of my goal of breaking 10 hours, and that my goal of sub 3:20 was well within reach.  I just needed to maintain this pace and I would be there.  As a result the thought of that gave me a surge in pace and I ran my fastest mile at a 7:03.  After that I just focused on steady efforts up the hills and recovering when possible on the downhills.  My pace for the rest of the miles hovered between 7:20 and 7:40.  At this point my HR was climbing, staying close to 158-160, but RPE was okay and I just kept pushing to the finish and leaving what I had left out on the course.  Once we hit the turn down Palani Hill at around Mile 24.5, I knew I was I right where I wanted to be with my splits.  Actually the run down the Palani Hill was the worst part of the run for me.  My legs were getting tired and the pounding of running downhill caused my quads and shins to take a beating and my form was starting to deteriorate.  Shortly, I was off the hill and heading towards Alii Drive.

As I turned onto Alii Drive, I couldn’t believe it.  It was a dream come true to run along the same streets and finish line that has such a special place in the history in our sport.  The crowds were amazing with everyone going absolutely crazy, cheering clapping and yelling.  IT. WAS. AWESOME!  Just before I entered the finish chute, I saw my wife, son and mom on the side of the road, which was the perfect way for me to end my day as we completed this journey together.  They were there at the start and here they were at the finish!  I really wasn’t concerned with sprinting to the finish line at the point, even though there were plenty of other finishers around, I just wanted to leave enough space so we all could savoir this moment in our own ways.  When I finally climber the ramp to the finish line, I heard those famous words:  “Tom Maliszewski, You are an Ironman!”

After I crossed the line, it was time for a final check of my time:  a run split of 3:18:51 for a total time of 9:45:57!  I was absolutely ecstatic with my time!  After holding back so much on the bike and run, my first thought was a chance to break 10 hours, and here I was feeling (relatively good), with a finish time within 3 minutes of my qualifying time, in my opinion much more difficult conditions!  Complete Success!  Final placing was 71 of 171 in M30-34 and 307 Overall.

For my first race in Kona I am really happy with my results.  According my goals I had going in, I achieved every one of those.  If it weren’t for such a slower swim, I would have beaten my qualifying time outright.  I beat my bike split by about 1 minute and run split by about 2 minutes.  Also, I finally had a good race with my nutrition at the Ironman Distance.  This was the first race out of the four I’ve done, where I did not have to stop once for a toilet break and not one hint of GI distress.  Very, very happy and satisfied with my results.

A few final thoughts…..

Now that the race it over and I’ve had some time to let it sink in, I still can’t fully believe it’s already over.  It was a great experience on so many levels, from the build-up during race week, to the excitement and execution on race day.  While I would love to do this race again in the future, I’m not sure how soon that will be.  It’s time to step back and assess my plan for 2012 before I make and firm plans.

I have to acknowledge and express my gratitude to my wife for supporting me during the past couple of years during all the training and races to get here.  Without her support, dedication and sacrifice this would have never been possible.  She was and will always be my inspiration.

Also thanks to the entire crew at Fraser Bicycle, especially Paul, Ron, Coach Bonnie and Chris for helping me have a successful 2011-racing season.  Thanks to Robert at First Endurance for his advice on fine-tuning my nutrition strategy and making the great First Endurance line of products.  To Sebastian and Sylvie at SLS3 for making great racing, training and recovery gear.  K-Swiss for the great shoes that performed as described and effectively drained all the fluids I was dumping over my head with no signs of friction or blisters.

Kona 2011: Race Week

I realize I am a little late in getting this posted, but better late than never.  I spent the week following the race touring around the Big Island, so now that I’m home, I have time to catch-up on things like this.  So here it goes…..

After all the months of waiting and planning….it was finally here:  Kona Race Week!  Here is a run down of my days leading up to the 2011 Ironman World Championships.  This is my first trip to Kona and Hawaii, so I knew this would be an amazing experience both as a triathlete and a tourist.

My bike was shipped out earlier in the week before I left, thanks to the Specialized “You Tri, We Fly” program (they paid for roundtrip shipping via FedEx….huge thanks to them!), and I received a call from Bike Works (local Kona bike shop where my bike was shipped) on Thursday; so my bike is there….now time for me to go too!

Saturday, October 1:

 Overall, there was nothing too remarkable about my flights, just a long travel day.  Up at 5:00 AM (Eastern Time), then a 5 hr flight, 3.5-hour layover at LAX and then the final 6-hour leg to Kona.   When I finally arrived in Kona it was close to sunset, so I didn’t get to see much before it was dark, but it didn’t matter I was pretty tired from the long day.  The only real highlight was running into Norman Stadler when I was picking up my dinner.  Cool.

Flying in over the lava fields

Sunday, October 2:

I was feeling good when I woke up, and given the 6 hour time change, I was wide awake at 4 AM.....so might as well to get going.  My first workout to check the conditions was a 45-minute run around 8:45 AM.  All I can say is: Wow!  It was hot.  It was humid.  My pace was normal, but HR was consistently 5-8 bpm higher than I was used to at home in Michigan.  I was glad I still had nearly 6 days to acclimate to the conditions.  I would need every minute to adjust.

After that I picked up my bike from Bike Works, and gave it a good once over.  Everything was in good working order and was ready to go.  That was a big relief to know it’s ready to go.  The afternoon was spent driving the bike course to see the terrain and conditions first-hand.   It was everything I had expected:  hot, windy and lots of lava.  The first 35 miles heading north of Kona is basically a lava desert.  No plants or any real signs of life; just small, brown tufts of scrub grass and black lava.  Pretty tough conditions.  After the turn at Kaiwahee, the rolling hills begin to climb to Hawi, plant life returns, but the wind direction becomes a steady headwind all the way to the turnaround.  After seeing this I was excited at the challenge it provides, but also realized that the winds can play a huge role in the difficulty in the course.  Regardless of the winds, there is no doubt it will be hot, and the temperature alone will have a huge effect of my race day performance.

Monday, October 3:

Again, up early thanks to the time change, except this time I “slept in” to about 4:15.  I was excited for today, since I will be going for my first swim on the course.   My plan was to swim about 20-25 minutes out, then return to the pier.  I will admit I was a bit tentative at the thought of swimming so far out into the ocean for my first swim.  As I arrived at the pier, the nervousness went away (for the most part) since there were so many people there, both watching and in the water.

My first thought as I got into the water was how warm and perfectly blue the water was.  Then I started swimming and once I started looking around under water I was just amazed at the sights!  The water was calm and perfectly clear, and there was fish and coral all around.  Way better than staring at the black line in the pool!  As I swam further out the water got deeper, but the sights were still just as cool!  The time flew by and before I knew it, I was turning around heading back.  It was unlike any swim I have ever done.  Typically in lake swims the water is anything but clear, and here was absolutely picture perfect!  I could not wait to get back in tomorrow!

Around mid-day, I drove out to the Scenic Overlook point about 15 miles North of Kona and rode part of the bike course.  As expected, it was hot and windy.  The temperature on my Garmin started at 90F and reached 100F before it finally leveled off.  Similar to my run I noticed an elevated HR for a given power level, which was given me more to think about as I finalized my pacing plan. 

Tuesday, October 4:

As I woke up, I was so blown away by the swim yesterday; I had to do another, even though it was not called for in my plan.  Unfortunately, the conditions were not as good as yesterday.  A large swell was coming in, and there was a dangerous surf warning with 8' to 12' waves.  This made the water quite a bit more choppy, much larger swells on the course and the water was much more cloudy.  Even with this, it was still a nice swim.  I kept it short and ended up at the Coffees of Hawaii floating coffee bar for a mid-swim coffee.  Thanks guys, it was awesome!  After the swim, I went to registration picked up my race packet.  After the packet pick-up, I headed over to the SLS3 Concept Store off Alii Drive and finally met Sebastian Linke in person.   After all the emails between us, it was nice to have a chance to meet up and get an in depth review of all their current and upcoming products.

I was easy to tell the race was getting closer as the number of people walking around Kona seemed to double every day I was here.  Today was no exception.  There were people everywhere, and it was easy to feel the energy and excitement of this race.  The hardest part was to NOT get caught up in it and remain focused on the race and what needed to happen to be prepared.

My other workout for the day was another run.  Similar to last time, it went well, but it was hot and humid….and again noticed an elevated HR for a given pace.  So after 2 days, not much heat acclimatization had occurred, but again, nearly 4 days until race day, so there was still time.

In the afternoon, a good friend arrived, Bryan Sieber.  Since it was also his first time in Kona we took in all the sights and events that we could.  It started with the Parade of Nations up Alii Drive to the expo area.   While it was fun to be a part of, I’m not sure if I would do it again.  Not really my type of thing.  However, the expo was another story….

When we arrived in the expo, we couldn’t believe our eyes.  The place was rocking!  There were DJs playing music from several of the tents and free beer was flowing!  Not at all what was expected at the expo with a bunch of triathletes!  We hung around there for a while (until it closed at 8 PM) and had the opportunity to meet many of the pros.  The highlights include Chris McCormack, Craig Alexander, Jordan Rapp, Faris Al-Sultan, Terenzo Bozzone, Miranda Carfrae and Tony Kanaan.  It was a really cool experience, and all the professionals were very kind and patient with all of our picture requests.  I can imagine it has to be a crazy time, but they all took the time to wait for us to take pictures with all of them.  Very cool of all of them.

Wednesday, October 5:

Now race day was getting closer, it was time to get everything finalized, before the rest of my family arrives.  Yet again, the day started early, this time at 5:30 AM, and my first order was go for my final “real” swim before the race.  Similar to yesterday, the conditions were tougher than the first day, with larger swells and cloudy water.  Also, my swim ended with a coffee on the floating coffee bar.  It’s just too cool to pass up!

After that, I met up with Bryan and we headed out for a bike ride from town and then out on the Queen K to the airport.  I think I was finally getting adjusted to the heat.  It still felt warm, but I did not notice the elevated HR that I had as recently as yesterday.  I also noticed that my RPE seemed to fall back in-line (or closer) to what my power output was.  This was a good sign, and a big relief that maybe I have turned to the corner on my heat acclimatization.

The rest of the day was spent going over my bike for another set of race day adjustments to make it perfect for race ready.   Then at 4 PM was the Slowtwitch Party.  This was an awesome event, where I was finally able to put some “real names” and faces to the Slowtwitch posters.  It was fun to meet many of the frequent posters on the forum, including John Cobb and Mark Cote from Specialized.

Thursday, October 6

The Underwear Run.  What else can be said.  It’s a Kona tradition and was a must-do on my race week list.  I think the story is that it started many years ago as a way for American’s to poke a little fun at all the Europeans running around all over town in their Speedos all week.  Now it’s a charity run that donates all proceed to local groups, and it’s less of a run and more of a 5 min jog around the block to a parking lot with group stretching.  All I can say is it was interesting…..

Besides that, this was a rest day and time to finally start to focus on the race day.  As I mentioned earlier it was hard to stay out of the energy that has been building all week, but it was important to try to get the focus back.

Most importantly, today is the day when my wife (Erica) and 3-year old son (Nolan) finally arrive.  Up until now they have been at home, and I was looking forward to them finally being here.  I picked the up from the airport, and then we immediately went to the Welcome Dinner.  I won’t go into all the details of the Welcome Dinner, but it is definitely worth it.  Much better than the circus tent style that I had at Lake Placid and Coeur d’Alene.   Unfortunately, about 2 hours into dinner, a monsoon style downpour started and shortened the dinner and led to a very abbreviated Athlete Meeting.  In the end we were out of there by 8:15, which was also kind of nice to be done so early.

Friday, October 7:

It’s finally here:  The Day before Race Day.  The final countdown for all my preparations and planning.  The heavy rain continued periodically throughout the night, and I heard that it was not advised to go swimming in the ocean today.  I’m not sure how true it was, but it didn’t seem worth the (small) risk of getting sick from all the runoff from the heavy rains.  So my pre-race session was primarily a run, which went perfectly.  HR and pace correlated exactly as they did in my training.  After that, I went back to the condo to do the final bike and run transition bag check and time to drop off my bike.  The bike drop off was pretty cool.  You are first guided through the bike count corrals, with lots of spectators, and then to you are given a personal escort to rack your bike and drop off your bags.  As I dropped off my run bag, to my surprise, I found out there is no access to these bags on race day morning.  This was a bit problem for me since I (wrongly) assumed I could place my run gel flask in my bag in the morning.  It wasn’t a huge problem since I had plenty of time to go back to the condo and make my flask, but it was an inconvenience and a wasted hour of my day.  Oh well, now I know….

After my bike and bags were done, then it was time for my pre-race dinner and time to relax.  All went according to schedule and by 9:00 PM, I had the lights out, ready to go….

Kona 2011: Getting Ready

Hello Again!  It's been a while since I posted, but here we go.  After Steelhead, I felt my fitness was on track where I needed it to be, so my focus was to continue to hit my key training sessions in each sport as planned with no real changes required (Well I was at least confident in my biking and running fitness, since I couldn't test my swim since it was cancelled....)  Anyway, the last couple of weeks of August was spent finalizing the last minute logistics and race set-up as well as getting ready for the "big show" at the Ironman World Championships in Kona, HI.  The month of September ended up being way busier than expected balancing family, work and training, and maintaining mental focus was the only real challenge I had to face.  Besides that, it was a relatively uneventful month, so I will jump to the exciting part:  2011 Ironman World Championship.  Shortly, I will post about Kona Race Week, and then a full race report.  Stay Tuned!

Ironman Steelhead 70.3 (or is it a 69.1?)

It’s hard to sum up a race like this.  The forecast on Saturday painted the picture of this race being very memorable:  2-4’ waves, rip currents, 15-25 mph winds and chance of rain.  On top of that severe thunderstorms were rolling through the area on Saturday and essentially blew the Transition Area and Finish Line apart.  During the pre-race briefing, there was already talk of cancelling the swim, but nothing else was said as to how the race would proceed if there were no swim.  They would make the call in the morning, so be ready for anything.  So with that being said, I proceeded as normal through my pre-race routine, while hoping for a swim: final review of bike, set out clothes for wet or dry, race morning schedule, etc. 

The alarm went off way too early…..was it 4:30 AM already ????  Time to get up and get going.  I was finally on my way to the race at about 5:30 and feeling ready for a great race.  I was in the parking area by 5:45, and by 6:00 I was arriving into the Transition Area to rack my bike and set up my equipment.  My plan was to drop off my bike and gear and then head back to my car for my warm-up and relax a bit before my swim start at 8:21.  As soon as I arrived I hear the news: Swim cancelled. Be back in the Transition Area by 7:00 AM so they can start the race with a time trial start with riders leaving in pairs every few seconds.  Damn!  This kind of messed up my plan for the morning.  I just assumed we would be swimming and left my swim stuff, HR strap and pre-race nutrition in the car.  Not a huge mistake, but I should’ve known better.  Also, my wave start was supposed to be 8:21, and now I needed to be ready by 7:00!  What this meant is I had to rack my bike by 6:30, then walk back to my car, which was about ¾ mile away (close to the southern swim start), then walk back to the Transition Area and complete my pre-race warm-up…all in half the time I planned.  So what was originally a long, relaxing morning, turned into rushing from place to place.  As it turned out, I really didn’t need to hurry.  My number was 1995, and the start was taking longer than expected, so I didn’t need to be ready until about 8:40, but I didn’t know it until then.

With the extra time I started to re-think my pacing strategy on the bike.  Typically I perform best when I start a bit conservative and build my power throughout.  But after some thought, I came to the conclusion to make a change based on 2 factors:

      1.     No swim meant I didn’t need to allow for time to my body to adjust cycling.

      2.     Strong winds from the North, would mean the first 9 miles would be straight into the wind, but the final 12 miles would be an awesome tailwind.  Also with the strong tailwind and rolling hills there was a good chance I would be spinning out on my gears and not hit my power target anyway (meaning under performing on the bike).

So my new strategy would be to start hard into the headwinds, pace steady through the cross wind, and as I picked up the tailwind, I would ease off on the power on the flats and downhills to allow for some recovery for the run.  While I was waiting, I ran into Coach Bonnie from Fraser Bicycle and before I said anything about my change in strategy, she began to tell me pretty much the same thing.  Great, we agreed this would be the most effective strategy for me, which confirmed my new plan.

Finally it was getting close to my start time, so I got in line and made my way to the start, and I was ready!  I felt good, my plan was solid and I was going to give it everything I had.  Then I walked up to the line and….GO!  I was off!  I quickly settled into my rhythm and started passing riders.  The biggest downside of starting so far back was the amount of people ahead of me.  I’ll admit there was some benefit of passing with the legal draft, but for the most part I was just riding down the left side of the lane trying to avoid tangling with the pack of people riding up the right side.  Generally, the bike was uneventful, just steady pacing, passing and avoiding obstacles in the road.  All was good until mile 38.  Then it happened.  Again.  Just like Ironman Coeur d’Alene.  I’m not sure if it’s the green jersey or the bright yellow helmet, but I started feeling a burning sensation on the front of my left shoulder!  Another bee sting!  At least this time, I don’t think it went in my jersey, but this one hurt!  I brushed it off and got back to riding and figured maybe it was a sign of good luck….

Once we made the turn to head South back to the transition area, I didn’t feel the wind too much, but I was cruising over 3 mph faster on 10 less watts than before.  It felt like I was flying.  I was still powering up the hills, but just cruising the flats and downhills, which started to bring my power down a bit to save my legs a little for the run.  Up until this point my average power was about 264w, and looking at the clock and my speed, I figured I could drop about 10w and still finish around 2:10, which was my goal at the start.  I kept it around 250-255w for 5 miles and then decided to bring it down a little more for the last 5 miles and dropped another 5-7w.  At the end, my split was 2:11 (25.6 mph) with an average power of 261w (263 normalized) at 0.82 IF.

My nutrition was similar to the past on the bike, because it works:  1 bottle of EFS drink per hour (I carried 2 with me and switched to on course sports drink if I needed more) and ½ flask (1 serving per hour) of a First Endurance Liquid shot flask.  The Liquid shot I tried something a little different this time: the First Endurance Hand-Grenade.  I took half a flask of the gel, and filled the remainder with water so it was not as thick, and I added ½ scoop of First Endurance Pre-Race.  I typically don’t use caffeine on the bike leg of races, but it worked in training so I wanted to test it out at race intensity.  For the bike it was awesome.  I felt great and my energy did not taper off at all during the race.  However, it may have come back to haunt me a little on the run, but more on that later….

T2 (or I guess this was really T1, not sure) went smoothly.  First I noticed there were not many bikes around, which was a good sign since so many started ahead of me, but not really knowing my placing, I still needed to push as hard I could.  I was already wearing my SLS3 Compression sleeves on the bike so all I needed to do was throw on my running socks on my shoes.  In and out of transition in 2 minutes; good for me.

Time for the run.  I settled into a steady pace for the first mile and tried to keep it steady up the first steep climb on the way to the loop part of the run.  After the climb, I was able to get into a steady rhythm and get settled on the flat before the next set of hills near the Whirlpool campus.  I was feeling good and my pace for those first 2 miles were 6:53 and 6:41, then on the flat I picked it up a little to 6:35.  As I dumped a cup of water over my head at the 3-mile aid station, my HR stopped reading.  Oh well, at least I knew my pace, so I could use that and RPE.  Part of racing of just adapting to the situation, the important part is to not let it distract you from your race.   I can’t change it now, so just keeping moving forward.

Just after the 3-mile mark, someone passed me in my age group.  For some reason, I had a feeling this was a critical part of the race and as he pulled ahead, I let him get a gap of about 50 yards, before I figured I need to speed up to his pace.  I staying within sight of him for the next 2 -2.5 miles, and at this point were at a steady 6:44 pace through the windy rolling path of the Whirlpool campus.  Once we left the Whirlpool campus and headed up the only notable hill on the loop course, I decided to make my move.  I noticed him slowing on the climb and I focused on my form and kept it steady up the hill.  Before the top I passed him and started to pull away.  For the next few miles (mile 6 to 9), I just focused on my form and nutrition.  I started to get an occasional stomach cramp, but after 10-20 seconds it would go away so I tried to ignore it.  I'm not sure if it was the "hand-grenade" from the bike causing issues or some other factor, but around mile 9.5 my stomach was rebelling, and I needed to make a stop.

I did the math in my head and figured I was running around 6:30 at this point and should be able to maintain that until the finish, but if I stopped I would lose about 1.5 minutes.  So if I stopped I needed to be sure I ran the last 3 miles at a 6:00 pace to make up for my lost time.  It seemed reasonable, so I stopped…and I did lose 1:30 (my pace for that mile was 8:06), so when I started running again I pushed as hard as I could.   Now I was running around 6 minutes flat, but up ahead I could see the same guy just ahead of me….by about 50 yards, as we were approaching the hill.  So just like the first lap, I kept it steady up the climb and was able to pass him before the top.   Pace at Mile 10: 6:20.  Great I passed my closest competitor and was holding close to my pace target.  The last 2 miles I continued pushing and finished with a 6:06 and 5:50.  As I sprinted down the finishing chute and stopped my watch: Run Split 1:28, total time 3:41.  Awesome!  I was very pleased with my performance and was curious how I ended up placing.

My nutrition plan for the run was typical of my last race in Knoxville.  I carried salt tabs and another First Endurance “Hand-Grenade”, but I would take my nutrition based on how I felt.  Typically I would take 1 or 2 gel shots, plus sips of shots drink at every aid station.  Given the cool conditions I really didn’t need to even carry salt tabs, but better to have them and not use them, than need them but not have any.  My energy was feeling good throughout, but once my stomach started to feel unsettled, I just stuck with sports drink.  In the end I didn’t even need to take a gel, so moving forward the amount of calories I take in during my half-Ironman run needs to be reviewed.  It seems reasonable I can take in less.  Either way given my stomach issues, I need a few more trials of the hand-grenade in my training to see if it's something I will use again in the future.

After I recovered for a few minutes, I noticed we could get back into the Transition area.  I went to collect my things and that’s when I found out…..I won my Age Group!  First place Men 30-34!  I looked at the standings and I was also 7^th amateur and 35^th overall.  Awesome!  This was my biggest AG win, and I feel great on how my day went as a whole.

The purpose of this race was a checkpoint in my Kona preparation, since we are 8 weeks until race day.  Most importantly, I executed the race I wanted, felt good and my pacing strategy worked well, but I will admit winning my AG is a huge bonus.  I also learned a few things I need still need to tweak for Kona, but I still have plenty of time for testing, so time to get a plan and get back to work.

With my placing I qualified for the Vegas 70.3 World Championships, while I would have loved to go, I am going to Kona, and another destination race is not in the cards for me this year.  The way I look at it is last year I took a roll-down spot to go to Clearwater, now I get to re-pay the favor and let someone else go.

Lastly, regarding the cancelled swim, I will admit I was disappointed in not being able to test my swim fitness, but I would have made the same decision.  The reality is that many of the race participants would have really struggled with the currents and the waves, and it’s not really worth the risk. 

Ironman Coeur d'Alene 2011

First off, what a great race!  The weather was nearly perfect, and the race was well organized and supported.  Some of you may remember I did IMCDA last year in 2010, and had a breakout race, improving my IM time from 14:03 at IMLP in 2007 to 10:18.  I felt good going into last year’s race, but had some rather tough cramping issues on the run from about mile 6 through the finish.  Basically my stomach shut-down.  After much thought and review of my race day, I came to the conclusion it was due to several factors: 

1. Pushing too hard on the bike.

2. Riding too hard given the temperature on the bike (we had a cool spring in MI, so I wasn’t used to the heat).

3. Starting my run too fast (felt good so might as well start at 7:10’s right?)

4. I never experienced stomach shut-down before, so I didn’t realize that was happening.

So with that done, and with much thought and discussion with my wife, we agreed I could take 1 more shot at chasing my goal of a Kona slot.  I knew I was close last year, but I still needed to tweak my approach to get me over the hump and address the issues I had on race day. With that said, I again developed a detailed plan of attack for IMCDA 2011 focusing on both equipment and training.  I pretty much analyzed every piece of equipment I would use on race day and determined if there was any potential for improvement, whether it would be for comfort, speed or both.   There were a couple of changes to be had on my bike.  After speaking with the guys at Fraser Bicycle, I decided on upgrading to a Shiv, reviewing my fit coordinates and making a few other adjustments to my race set-up in order to keep a clean and efficient bike on race-day.  The Shiv is one awesome machine, and with my new fit coordinates and shorter cranks, I was able to get lower in the front, while also preserving the FTP gains I was making in training.  Definitely a win.

Since my nutrition was an issue last year, I really began to study what I really required on both the bike and run.  All I can say here is through much trial and error, and some very detailed post workout nutrition analysis I was able to hone in on a strategy that was effective in moderate temperatures, since that’s all we had in our cool Michigan spring this year.

The other area of focus was my training.  I began working with the coaching staff at Fraser Bicycle.  This was quite a change for me since I was always self-coached and had never had any formal coaching in my life, so I was skeptical whenever they had me do something that was different than I did before.  There was always logic behind their approach, and through their training guidance and instruction, I saw improvement in my swim, bike and significant gains in my running.  I can’t get into the details of their plans since it’s their training approach, but I will say it worked.

With that said, on to IMCDA 2011….

Countdown to Race:

The days leading up to the race were typical for an Ironman.  We arrived on Thursday mid-day and got settled.  After that, I competed my registration, picked-up my bike and went for a swim and a quick.  Nothing remarkable about that except the water was cold, reported to be about 56-57F, which was the coldest I ever swam in.  It took a few minutes to get used to, but once your feet, hands and face went numb, it really wasn’t too bad.  Key point for race day: allow enough time to get in the water early.  I needed to be acclimated first.  The rest of the days leading up to the race were relatively uneventful, just taking care of all the final details of getting ready to make sure I was physically and mentally prepared for my assault on IMCDA.

Race day:

As usual with IM starts, I was up at 3:45 to eat.  I stuck with my tried and true breakfast of Cheerios, Banana and 2 Natures Pride Toaster Pastries (i.e. organic Pop-Tarts), and along with my 2 cups of coffee I took my First Endurance Multi-V to get everything moving.  Once dressed, I headed to the Transition area at 5:00 AM was done with everything by 6:00.  This was perfect, since I had about an hour to relax and get ready.  At 6:30, I put my wetsuit, said good-bye to my wife, son and dad and headed to the start.  By 6:45 I was standing in the lake getting adjusted to the cold, and started to collect my thoughts.  I was ready.  I had a plan, and today would be the day to make it happen.

Swim:

The cannon went off in typical fashion at 7:00, and the first few minutes were awesome, just like every IM swim start is.  Rarely do we go for a swim with 2,500 of our closest friends.  After the typical bumping and jostling, I found some clear water and focused on my form and a steady pace.  Last year I got caught up in the congestion at the first turn and lost significant time, so this year I decided to stay wide at the turn, and keep swimming in clear water.  In the end, I’m not sure if it saved much time, but I was nice to fly around the turns and maintain some clear water.  My swim last year was 1:09:50, and my goal this year was 1:06.  First lap was done at 33 mins flat, and I came out of the water at 1:06:04.  Perfect pacing, and I felt good.  At this point I was 246 overall and 39 in the M30-34 AG.

T1:

After the swim, the first few steps on the beach were interesting since I couldn’t feel me feet.  I did my best to scramble up the beach and headed into the change tent.  Last year I spent 5:07 in T1, which I knew was way too much time to waste, so I streamlined my process and got my time down to 4:09.  Quickly, I was off on the bike.

Bike:

Going into the bike, I knew I had a good pacing plan.  I had practiced it well in training and knew it was realistic and conservative.  I won’t get into the details, but it was similar to the general advice you always hear on Slowtwitch, Endurance Nation, Going Long, etc.:  Start conservative and this should be your easiest ride of the year.  Since my running had been my strength lately, I paid very close attention to my pacing to be sure I had enough left in the tank to unleash a good run.  After the first 40 miles, I evaluated my power, RPE and speed.  Based on that, my pace was feeling about right, so I decided to keep it dialed back until the end of the first loop and then evaluate again.  Last year, my bike split was 5:16, and going into this year, I felt I should ride between 5:05 and 5:10.  At the end of the first loop, I was at 2:34, which was right where I wanted to be, even though I stayed at a more conservative power number.  For the second loop, I decided I would allow myself to push it on the climbs a little more on the second loop, but still keep it on the conservative side.  Again, I knew my run would be my strength, and any extra energy I had left over from the bike I would be able to make up on the run, so for me it made sense.  All was going well on the second loop, until about mile 70-75.  It was on the downhill after the golf course just before the tight right hand turn.  I was flying downhill, probably between 30-35 mph, and I felt what I thought was a stone hit me in the chest.  I assumed it was a stone that was kicked up by the passing car or a rider in front of me, until I started to feel an intense burning sensation on my right nipple.  I couldn’t look down because I was going so fast down a curvy road, so I started to feel around and felt a “pea-size” ball in my top!  It was a bee (I think)!  I didn’t want to smack my chest and drive he stinger in any deeper, so I tried (and successfully) was able to pull it out with one hand and then shake it loose out of my jersey!  I got it out, but man that hurt!  All I had with me at that point was Perform, so I couldn’t rinse it out with sticky sports drink, so I just had to deal with it.  Luckily I’m not allergic to bee stings, but if any of you are, be aware and plan ahead; it can happen!  After about 20 minutes or so, the pain went away, and I carried on with the rest of my ride.

My nutrition plan was perfect for this weather, which started in the mid-50s and ended around 70.  My plan was simple: drink sports drink every 15 minutes with the goal of 1 bottle per hour, and 1 serving of gel every hour.  If I needed additional fluids, I would supplement with plain water from the aid stations and add salt tabs to maintain my electrolytes.  This strategy was refined in my training that met both my fluid and caloric needs, while not overdoing calories and causing GI distress.  Also, I wanted to keep a clean bike, so I went with 1 regular bottle cage on my aerobars and the Specialized Virtue bottle on the frame.  I started with both bottles filled with First Endurance EFS drink.  I chose EFS drink since it is so high in electrolytes, I didn’t need to worry about taking salt tabs until I drank all the EFS.  Basically it kept the plan as simple as possible.  Once the aerobar bottle was empty, I refilled with bottles of Perform from the aid stations.  For my gel needs, I started with the First Endurance EFS Liquid Shot, and once that was gone, I used a Powergel.  This got me about 310 cal/hr and 76g of carbs/hr.

Nothing too eventful in the closing miles, just time to get ready for the run!  The wind picked up a little on the second loop, and even with holding slightly more power, my second split was 2:36 for a total time of 5:10 and an average speed of 21.7 mph.  This was done on an average power of 211w (219w normalized).  After the bike I was placed 44 overall and 10 in M30-34.

T2:

Similar to T1, I felt I lost too much time here last year (4:10), so I streamlined my process and got my time down to 2:00 this year.  This even includes putting on my SLS3 compression socks.

Run:

Now it was time to race.  Up until now my race had been all about keeping a steady conservative pace so I could run to my potential.  The run course was changed for this year consisting of 2-loops of a simple out and back, but the added miles on the loop, extended the main hill on the run to the point where we now ran over the top, and down the backside where we turned around and immediately ran back up the hill and then down towards town. 

Last year, I felt I started too fast, which I feel contributed to my cramping at mile 6, and ending in a 3:43 marathon.  My plan this year, was to absolutely stick to my plan of keeping it easy (7:30) for the first half of the first loop, or about 6.5-7 miles.  After that I would let RPE and how I felt dictate my pacing and I would speed up as I could.  The nutrition plan for my run was simple; take in a little bit of everything (perform and water) at every aid station, a gel about every 45 minutes and salt tabs about every 30 minutes and adjust based on how I felt. 

As I headed out on the first loop, I found it surprisingly difficult to stick to my pace.  My target was 7:30, but every time I checked my watched I was close to 7:00 – 7:10.  I felt good, so the question for myself was why not run faster?  The answer was simple:  You planned your race, now race your plan.  The plan was developed with logic and thought prior to the race, so I stuck with it.  I will have 18-20 miles to speed up if I feel good, and I will only “lose” 1.5 minutes +/- by keeping it conservative for now. 

Unfortunately, I needed a quick “pit stop” in the porta-potty, which cost me another couple of minutes in the first 6 miles, which I didn’t factor in.  As I neared the turn-around point I checked my watch and noticed this put my pace up to mile 6.6 at just under 8:00 min/mile.  Damn, too much time lost!  I paid close attention to those in my AG already heading back to town and I think I saw about 10 people or so in front of me.   I knew going into the race there would only likely be 5 Kona spots in my AG, so now was the time to make a move.  I couldn’t afford to hold back anymore. My original plan was to speed up to 7:15 – 7:20 min/mile at this point, but I knew had to push the pace and take a gamble.  As I made the turnaround, I passed through the aid station one more time and took in a bit more fluids.   I kept it steady and controlled until the top of the hill, and then I let loose.  As I came of the downhill and onto the flats I was feeling good.  Nice, controlled, good form, nice foot strikes and maintaining a comfortable pace of between 7:00 – 7:10 pace.  As I ran,  the following thoughts were going through my head: This is my race to lose.  I paced steady all day, waiting for this moment, and here it is.  All the sacrifice and hard work by both my wife and myself would come down to this.  I want that Kona spot and it’s mine; no one will take it from me!  With that I charged and kept that pace all the way back to town, and I picked off several others in my AG. 

  

All was going good until just after the start of the second loop about mile 13.5.  What I didn’t realize is that the distance between the aid stations was about mile 12.5 and mile 14.5, so about 15 minutes with no fluids.  It doesn’t seem like much, but at about mile 13.5 I started to feel a cramp in my stomach, then it got worse.  I thought all I need to do back off a little, get some fluids and take some salt tabs.  I eased off to about 7:40’s, and finally arrived at the aid station.  This one I walked, took in plenty of fluids, dumped water over my head and ice down my shirt.  With all the fluids running down through my shoes, I have to say my K-Swiss Kwicky Blades were doing their job perfectly.  All excess fluids were draining out, and they were definitely not absorbing any water or getting squishy.  At least my feet were still happy at this point!  By the end of the aid station, I was feeling good again and started running again.  However, I wasn't in the clear yet, as just before the next aid station, the similar feeling started.  Same thing: fluids, electrolytes and all good.  As I left that aid station for the one near mile 16, my stomach was calling for pit stop #2.  This could not be ignored for the remaining 10 miles.  I knew I didn’t have time to waste so I “prepared” myself as much as possible before I hit the aid station and flew in and out as fast as possible; only lost about a minute and a half!

When I left, I felt much better, and again started clicking off miles around 7:20 pace.  To avoid further cramping, I started popping salt tabs like candy.  I had one about every 15-20 minutes for the rest of the race.  Also, I couldn’t really take in Perform anymore or gels; I needed something extra.  From this point I drank cola at every aid station, and a small sip of water with each salt tab.  I kept this up until I reached the top of the climb just before the turnaround and tried to figure out my position.  Since there was no way to tell who was on the first or second loop, I took my best guess as to who was on which loop.  Based on my count I was still in about 8^th place, with about 3 or 4 guys about 2-3 minutes ahead of me. 

For a quick moment, I thought okay, hold on this pace, you’ll for sure break 10 hrs, set a PB and it will be a good day; nice work!  Then I started thinking about the sacrifice of my family and how far I’ve come.  I made sure I went into the race being as prepared as much as I possibly could, and then it clicked again:  I was too close to giving up now.  Again, this is my race to lose and my Kona spot, I won’t let anyone take it from me!  And off I went on a mission to catch those in front of me and put some time in now, so I didn’t have to have a sprint finish. 

I marked each person in front of me that I thought I needed to pass and took care of 1 at a time.  By the time I hit the 24-mile marker I didn’t see anyone in front of me, and there was no one gaining on me.  I started to feel a little more relaxed, but continued my focus and continued to push.  As I passed the last aid station at about mile 25.5, I saw no one around.  I finally started to feel a little relief and began to enjoy the final few blocks on the finishing straight.  I was half way down to the finish line, maybe about a quarter of a mile to go, and I turned around and I saw 2 guys closing fast.  They were racing each other, and in a full on sprint.  I immediately thought, no way I am going to lose it this close and ran as hard as I could.  Next thing I know my watch is saying I’m running a 5:40 pace, which is faster than I ever thought I would run in an Ironman, let alone the last tenth of a mile.  Once I hit the last hundred yards, and I knew my position was safe, I slowed a bit and took in the crowds.  They were amazing with the bleachers full and cheering and screaming spectators.  Right then, I heard the famous words of Mike Reilly: “Tom, you are an Ironman!”

Final run split: 3:20 and a total time of 9:43.  At that point I didn’t know where I finished.  I thought maybe 5^th, but either way I was ecstatic with my performance because I gave it everything I had.  My day was not perfect, but I felt like I executed it perfectly, which I think, is the key to a great race.  Right then my wife came running up and told me I was fourth!  I couldn’t believe it, 4^th in M30-34 and 36^th overall and 21^st Age-Grouper!


For me it was an unbelievable day and a dream come true.  When I completed my first Ironman in 14:03, I never thought Kona was possible, then after my 10:18, I thought well maybe, if I get lucky…now here I was, I did it and I still don’t think it has sunk in yet…..

As expected I couldn’t have done this without the support of many people, so I have to give a big thanks to all that helped me on my journey, especially, my wife who is the most supportive and amazing person, the crew at Fraser Bicycle (Paul, Ron, Coach Bonnie and the rest), SLS3 for the best tri shorts I ever wore, First Endurance for great nutrition products both in training and racing and K-Swiss for some pretty comfortable shoes.

Now a few days of recovery, then time to get ready for Kona!