If you want the short version here you go...
Swim - 1:00:45
T1 - 2:52
Bike - 4:58:10
T2 - 2:58
Run - 3:16:30
Total - 9:21:15
The long winded version...
3:45 a.m. - I actually slept well the night before the race...and woke up at 3:45 to make my morning oatmeal, and drink bottles for the day. I had no problem eating the oatmeal and my nerves were pretty well in check. I loaded up my backpack with my bottles of GU Roctane Drink, and my secret bottle of what I'll call "rocket fuel"...though it tastes terribly I think the stuff works pretty darn well!
4:30 a.m. - Brit and I headed off to walk down to the pier so I could get body marked, load my bike off, drop off my special needs bags, and chill out. Much to our surprise there was a bus which offered to give us a ride...that was awesome!
5:15 a.m. - I headed in to get body marked, and to drop off my stuff into transition...little did I know you couldn't bring backpacks into transition (though I think there was some serious confusion as there were quite a few people with them...oh well) Bottles on bike, pumped tires, checked things over and I got out of transition. I don't like to get stressed out being around all of the other athletes...yet. So I headed out and hung out on the grass with the whole support crew, of which there were many.
6:00 a.m. - I went back into transition to give one last look over my gear and to hang out before heading into the water. Everything was well, so I just tried to keep the nerves at easy while the crazy drums were going off. A GU Roctane about 30 minutes before the start and things were good.
Swim - 1:00:45
I started just to the left of the buoy which is in the middle of the start line. Sitting in the water before the start is like a legit fight for position. The canon sounded and we were off. For the first 200 meters or so I didn't have much contact...then it was a fight for the remainder of the swim. The thing is I had found feet which were going at a pace I liked. It wasn't easy, but not hard by any means. So I fought...and fought and fought. I would try to make a pass to find other feet to swim on but the effort was too great so I just settled in. I hit the turn around boats in about 28 minutes...in my head, sweet! But at the same time I felt like we were being pulled out a bit, and know that the excitement of the race always makes things go a little quicker. So I just tried to stay positive in my head. I ended up finding some good feet to sit on the way back as well. Much to my surprise I saw 1:00:xx when I exited the water...and at the same time the distance was a bit long. I had 2.65 miles on my Garmin, and found out that others also had the swim course as long. I'm happy with my swim as that is a definite PR for an Ironman swim. It's great when you see the work you've done pay off.
T1 - 2:52
Uneventful...I did have my race belt with me and some dude stopped dead in his tracks running to pick something up on our way to the bike and he ripped it...but no biggie.
Bike - 4:58:10
Heading into the bike I was pumped, yet calm and was just going to ride the power I knew I had trained at to set myself up for a good run. Throughout the start of the bike we had an awesome tailwind...so much so that I was averaging over 25 miles per hour well under my goal wattage. I'm cruising, and because I swam better than in the past there was only one pack of riders that I experienced...and I decided to let them go (smart decision). Turning left after Kawaihie (sorry can't spell it...I can say it though) all of the sudden I was skidding, and had lost complete control of my bike. The thing was sideways and all I could think was that my race was over, lay the bike down on the left so I didn't wreck my components, and hold on to the bars so you don't break your wrist. Well somehow I kept the bike upright and pulled over to the side of the road. I was now hoping it was just a flat (wishful thinking)...I was wrong. My tire had 3 huge gashes in it...big enough to fit a few fingers, so needless to say that wheel wasn't going to work any longer. I sat on the side of the road for about 15 minutes (seemed like an eternity) until the support van came to give me a new wheel. So pictures from the last 70 miles of the race look rather ghetto...but I stayed as calm as I could and went back about riding at my goal wattage. It was extremely frustrating to know how well I was riding to be held up with a mechanical but that's racing I guess. Some how I was still able to hold it together for a sub 5 hour bike split, hoping I had saved enough for the run.
My sweet Ceepo Viper (with 2 functioning race wheels)
Early on in the bike, pic courtesy of the folks at Ceepo
T2 - 2:58
The only decision was socks or no socks...no socks won out.
Run - 3:16:30
I slipped on my Kiawe 2.0's and headed off. The miles were clicking along pretty well, I ended up walking most of the aid stations just to fully ensure I was getting the hydration and calories I needed, I found this to be effective. The little time I sacrificed through walking aid stations was alright in my opinion because I was running so well. The thing about the Kona run course is anything but flat. I feel like you're always going up or down. I was holding my own throughout the run and there weren't too many people running faster, and I was trying to stay patient. I do know that the last 10k of this race is where the destruction occurs, and I was banking on that. Well this proved to be true and I was able to run quite a few people down along that stretch. This isn't a run PR in an ironman for me, but it's the fastest I've run in Kona, so that's a positive.
Finish - 9:21:15
Here are some "First & Fast" expeiences that came from my 9th Ironman
-1st Mechanical - Flat Tire
-Swimming an hour flat (fastest swim split I've had)
-Running a Kona Marathon PR
-Overall I was 13 minutes faster than I have ever been on an ironman race course.
Thank you for all of the support...I'll have more details about this race including the awesome support team soon!
Swim - 1:00:45
T1 - 2:52
Bike - 4:58:10
T2 - 2:58
Run - 3:16:30
Total - 9:21:15
The long winded version...
3:45 a.m. - I actually slept well the night before the race...and woke up at 3:45 to make my morning oatmeal, and drink bottles for the day. I had no problem eating the oatmeal and my nerves were pretty well in check. I loaded up my backpack with my bottles of GU Roctane Drink, and my secret bottle of what I'll call "rocket fuel"...though it tastes terribly I think the stuff works pretty darn well!
4:30 a.m. - Brit and I headed off to walk down to the pier so I could get body marked, load my bike off, drop off my special needs bags, and chill out. Much to our surprise there was a bus which offered to give us a ride...that was awesome!
5:15 a.m. - I headed in to get body marked, and to drop off my stuff into transition...little did I know you couldn't bring backpacks into transition (though I think there was some serious confusion as there were quite a few people with them...oh well) Bottles on bike, pumped tires, checked things over and I got out of transition. I don't like to get stressed out being around all of the other athletes...yet. So I headed out and hung out on the grass with the whole support crew, of which there were many.
6:00 a.m. - I went back into transition to give one last look over my gear and to hang out before heading into the water. Everything was well, so I just tried to keep the nerves at easy while the crazy drums were going off. A GU Roctane about 30 minutes before the start and things were good.
Swim - 1:00:45
I started just to the left of the buoy which is in the middle of the start line. Sitting in the water before the start is like a legit fight for position. The canon sounded and we were off. For the first 200 meters or so I didn't have much contact...then it was a fight for the remainder of the swim. The thing is I had found feet which were going at a pace I liked. It wasn't easy, but not hard by any means. So I fought...and fought and fought. I would try to make a pass to find other feet to swim on but the effort was too great so I just settled in. I hit the turn around boats in about 28 minutes...in my head, sweet! But at the same time I felt like we were being pulled out a bit, and know that the excitement of the race always makes things go a little quicker. So I just tried to stay positive in my head. I ended up finding some good feet to sit on the way back as well. Much to my surprise I saw 1:00:xx when I exited the water...and at the same time the distance was a bit long. I had 2.65 miles on my Garmin, and found out that others also had the swim course as long. I'm happy with my swim as that is a definite PR for an Ironman swim. It's great when you see the work you've done pay off.
T1 - 2:52
Uneventful...I did have my race belt with me and some dude stopped dead in his tracks running to pick something up on our way to the bike and he ripped it...but no biggie.
Bike - 4:58:10
Heading into the bike I was pumped, yet calm and was just going to ride the power I knew I had trained at to set myself up for a good run. Throughout the start of the bike we had an awesome tailwind...so much so that I was averaging over 25 miles per hour well under my goal wattage. I'm cruising, and because I swam better than in the past there was only one pack of riders that I experienced...and I decided to let them go (smart decision). Turning left after Kawaihie (sorry can't spell it...I can say it though) all of the sudden I was skidding, and had lost complete control of my bike. The thing was sideways and all I could think was that my race was over, lay the bike down on the left so I didn't wreck my components, and hold on to the bars so you don't break your wrist. Well somehow I kept the bike upright and pulled over to the side of the road. I was now hoping it was just a flat (wishful thinking)...I was wrong. My tire had 3 huge gashes in it...big enough to fit a few fingers, so needless to say that wheel wasn't going to work any longer. I sat on the side of the road for about 15 minutes (seemed like an eternity) until the support van came to give me a new wheel. So pictures from the last 70 miles of the race look rather ghetto...but I stayed as calm as I could and went back about riding at my goal wattage. It was extremely frustrating to know how well I was riding to be held up with a mechanical but that's racing I guess. Some how I was still able to hold it together for a sub 5 hour bike split, hoping I had saved enough for the run.
My sweet Ceepo Viper (with 2 functioning race wheels)
Early on in the bike, pic courtesy of the folks at Ceepo
T2 - 2:58
The only decision was socks or no socks...no socks won out.
Run - 3:16:30
I slipped on my Kiawe 2.0's and headed off. The miles were clicking along pretty well, I ended up walking most of the aid stations just to fully ensure I was getting the hydration and calories I needed, I found this to be effective. The little time I sacrificed through walking aid stations was alright in my opinion because I was running so well. The thing about the Kona run course is anything but flat. I feel like you're always going up or down. I was holding my own throughout the run and there weren't too many people running faster, and I was trying to stay patient. I do know that the last 10k of this race is where the destruction occurs, and I was banking on that. Well this proved to be true and I was able to run quite a few people down along that stretch. This isn't a run PR in an ironman for me, but it's the fastest I've run in Kona, so that's a positive.
Finish - 9:21:15
Here are some "First & Fast" expeiences that came from my 9th Ironman
-1st Mechanical - Flat Tire
-Swimming an hour flat (fastest swim split I've had)
-Running a Kona Marathon PR
-Overall I was 13 minutes faster than I have ever been on an ironman race course.
Thank you for all of the support...I'll have more details about this race including the awesome support team soon!
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