Pre-Race
As I mentioned in a few previous posts, I have been on a minimalist training program following my mid-season slump. It has been an incredible journey into my personal understanding of fitness and a great confidence booster for what to focus on in the future. In the final two weeks pre-Kona, I tested at my highest FTP since Feb of 2011 and put up a key run with multiple 5:3x mile repeats.
We arrived at 9pm on Wednesday night, a mere 34 hours before race day. There was lots of admin to do to get ready, but almost all of it was fine. Huge thanks to fellow competitor and occasional training partner Jeff Capobianco (Breakthrough Performance Coaching) for helping me to fix my front brake caliper and keeping me sane. When it was all said and done, I lay down at 9pm to focus on the race. Not the best mental/physical build up for sure, but this trip has been 90% vacation and 10% racing for me. I never really felt stressed about the race; moreso about all the logistics!
Race Day
Got an early ride to transition and can confidently say that now, in my fifth try, I can navigate Kona morning well. Got marked, got set up, got to the Team picture and had time for one final pit stop before heading to the swim. Life is good.
The Swim -- 1:08:xx
Heading down the stairs to the small beach, I can see some serious swells breaking down the coast line and flags blowing pretty steadily. The wind, it seems, is here for the race. My fears were compounded by the current pulling us away from the beach as we waited for the start. Clearly this was going to be challenging.
The gun went off and I had a pretty solid swim. The usual crowding around buoys and a few pushes under water, but nothing too bad. I felt really solid about my swim stroke and felt very consistent across the whole day. No massive miscues in terms of cramping or excessive fatigue. On the return trip I noticed that the vast majority of swimmers were 20-40 feet wide of the return buoys (due to the currents) but I stayed on the buoy line with a few folks.
This might have cost me some time in terms of drafting but overall I was very pleased. The real only negative that I have is getting something into my left eye; the swim was so turbulent that you could't see the bottom and getting some water in my goggle meant some sand in my eye that would bug me all day and for the next few days as well.
Future Kona Swim Modifications
The swim start is key here; and as a single speed swimmer I could benefit from being able to lay down an 8- to 10-minute effort to get into a good group on the swim. I started wider left, but still ended up hitting the buoy line super quickly.
Given my tendency to veer right when open water swimming, I could venture even further left and aim for the turn boat. My focus on open water swimming in the last six weeks before the race, including a 5k swim in Newport (RI!) really built my confidence. Would definitely repeat that again.
T1 -- Swim To Bike
Felt really good climbing the steps and got help with my swim skin. In my rush to the transition area, I mistakenly started taking down my tri bib short strap instead of my swim skin (which was down). Dowh! I ran into the tent, took off the skin and gave bag and skin to a volunteer and ran out super fast. Somewhere in here I lost my salt pill container from my back pocket of my tri bib shorts, more on that later.
The Bike -- 5:15 (4-minute penalty)
I had the bike dialed in with the right gear and all my gear on it. In the first few miles I was able to get my feet in, my arm coolers on and start hitting the numbers. I felt pretty crowded on the first 10 miles in town with the admin miles, but was patient here. Managed to high five both girls while spinning slowly up Palani hill!!!
Out on the Queen K, the tailwind was in full effect. Everyone was flying along, which meant that there was very little opportunity to move ahead of the group without exceeding my numbers. Riding steady / EN style is really hard here. Everyone is super strong and VERY motivated. People would bunch up on the hills and I would fly past them on the downhills. But they would all catch me back up by the next rise.
The crosswinds picked up at the airport (mile 20ish?), which make passing much harder as folks were freaked out. By the time we were out past Waikoloa (Mile 35-ish?) winds were pretty strong. Groups stayed together until we started climbing to Hawi, as the road went up and the winds shifted to a full headwind….this is very rare and made for a super hard ride (the pros started 30' earlier and apparently missed it!!!).
It was about this time that I got a penalty for "Failure to Complete A Pass" -- we were riding up a hill and I flew up next to a guy who then proceeded to hammer. I just stopped pedaling and let him pull away into the headwind, but not fast enough. A non-pedaling penalty on a hill at sub-8mph…the officials were pretty strict I thought!!!! I served my penalty at the turn in Hawi after getting special needs; 4 minutes never seemed so long! I took the chance to get in salt and some tylenol and pee for the second time. I had been drinking tons of Perform to get my sodium in, but I was definitely behind and a bit worried. I had to skip a gel cycle b/c I was drinking so much it was hard to digest! It helped being able to grab some coke to drink out there.
The return trip was my usual; I just flew past folks who had started too hard. (Note: I could probably have a better day here by not biking to my best, but not ready to to do that yet.) In fact, I passed the official motorcycles a few times at like 26mph as they were monitoring groups. Having a third cage allowed me to hold a water and douse myself at the start of every hill…that was very key in terms of keeping my body temp down.
Once we hit the airport it got much easier. It was a long ride but I am mentally better at handling it; I think my avg watts were 228, which were still a far cry from my target of 250 but the drop is most likely due to the descent from Hawi.
Future Kona Bike Modifications
Back up bike salt on the bike for sure. I would have had it in my race belt, but pushed that to my T2 bag as it wasn't required for the run. A classic last minute change that cost me a bit.
Add the 11-tooth cog to my arsenal; I had one on order but never installed it…that would have given me a bit of an edge on the descents where I spun out every time. The rolling nature of the course in Kona means lots of chances to carry momentum should I choose to do so.
I rode Firecrest 404s here, which are the data equivalent of old 808s, but I could have handled a deeper section wheel set even with the winds. I think I'd go deeper next time.
A bit more aggressive with aero position…given the wind considerations and costs on the course, even an incrementally more aerodynamic position would help me save more time.
T2 -- Bike To Run
Usually I lose up to two minutes by taking a pit stop here, but this time I was on the move. I found a good volunteer and he helped me to sort out all of my running gear…and it was a lot: Fuelbelt, race belt, banana, gel, hat, cooling towel, garmin, etc. I hit the aid station in the tent as it's the "first" one until mile 1.5 on the run and then it was game time.
The Run -- 3:46
I had pretty high expectations for my run given my fitness coming into the day, and the early miles didn't disappoint. I focused on keeping my heart rate low on purpose (~ 140bpms or lower vs the usual 145bpms) and the splits seemed okay. Of course, the first 10 miles are a rolling and insanely hot few miles along Ali'i Drive and that was just really hard.
I ate and drank very well, putting sponges on my back and ice in my hat and hands, but it was almost too much to do at each aid station -- I could have used an extra hand or three. Mile 6 saw my first ever pit stop in a portajohn in an Ironman run…looks like my pre-race dinner might have been a bit too late. I felt better afterwards, but the break did nothing to make me feel any less hot.
By the time I saw the family by Lava Java I was en fuego. I did my customary walk up Palani to keep my HR down, but when I hit the top and started running again it was clear my body was just not right.
I made it to about mile 12 still running and then it was damage control time. I simply couldn't get cool enough. Couldn't drink enough, couldn't put enough ice on me, etc. The volunteers were awesome but I was walking a fine line between taking in what I wanted vs what my body could digest.
By about mile 15 I had slowed to a steady run in the 8:30-9:00 range and here I would stay. I would have intermittent stomach issues due to the excess fluids in my gut, but by about mile 22 I was on the move again and by mile 24 I was pretty good. Amazing what the end of the race can do for your spirits.
Future Kona Run Modifications
I really think that my suffering on the second half of the run is related to heat acclimatization. You can fake the funk almost all day, but after 1.5 hours of running on what appears to be the surface of the sun, all bets are off.
I need a better aid station strategy here, as I think I spent too long in each one, even early. I just couldn't find a rhythm. Since I don't ever see myself spending 10+ days on the island to get ready to race here, I think I will need to have some serious heat beating protocols in place that I start early. Could be time for Rasmus Henning's surgical glove with ice!
Other Kona Lessons Learned
Additional sunscreen after body marking.-- This year they sprayed you with alcohol to get the numbers on; great for marking but BAD for sunscreen. My shoulders are torched. Next time I must reapply.
Run "Cape" - I think this could help me stay cooler out there, just seeing how well my arm coolers protect me I think this widget would help.
Peak Performance Thoughts
In my fifth race here I managed 115th in the world for my age group. My "should" run would have make that top 80 or 90, which is awesome but a long, long way from the best. Here are some of my musings…
My swim would need to be about an hour to make the right group that will get me set up for the bike. Continued swim fitness is key, as it a better start and ability to swim in a group. Lots of work to do here…
My bike would have to be closer to a 4:45 split. That's about 25 minutes faster than I rode on race day, more than an order of magnitude faster. Part of it would come from being in a better swim group and having less wind on the return trip (the winds build all day, the pros rarely have to deal with them with their 30-minute head start). I would need a super aero set up and the core strength to stay there. And my FTP would have to go way up. I am pushing 340 now for 4W/kg….I would need to get my FTP up north of 375 to be in the hunt. Could be interesting to see what the numbers would be without the descent from Hilo. It might be possible to ride at a higher effort knowing that I can recover there? I think I rode 250ish all day, but the descent got me down to 228 avg Watts. Wondering if I could front-load my bike, riding at .8 IF (265 watts) knowing I have the drop coming later?
My run would have to be 3:10-3:15 which is fitness I already have…it's making it happen on race day that remains a challenge.
If you are still reading, I'd love your input on this report and any advice you can give, thanks!!!!