Going “back” to Kona!

Well, it’s been a minute since I’ve cranked one of these out. A lot has changed since my Ironman Wisconsin race report, so here is a quick update on everything.

Leading The Ugly Christmas Sweater Run

After placing 2^nd AG at IMWI, I did not receive a Kona slot. I had already deferred Kona 2021 to race Ironman St. George next year on May 7^th. Without a slot for fall 2022, I decided to sign up for Ironman Maryland to re-qualify for Kona 2023 instead. Last month, I received an email from Ironman stating that they reallocated Kona slots back to Madison. Despite already having Maryland on the calendar, I took my spot. So now, I am racing both the 2021 and 2022 Ironman World Championships next year. If that’s not confusing enough, I am trying to move Ironman Maryland over to Ironman Florida (3 weeks post-Kona instead of 3 weeks pre-Kona). Florida will be my attempt at a 3^rd qualification, for Kona in 2023.

At this point, I am back to building up my base as I prepare for the 2 biggest races of my amateur career. I haven’t set any real expectations other than to finish well and take it all in. Once St. George is over, I may re-evaluate some goals for Kona.

 

More exciting than all of that was coaching 3 FIRST TIME Ironman finishers and a Boston Qualifier this fall.

Jeff finished Ironman Wisconsin in a blazing fast 10:24 as his 3^rd ever triathlon. His first 2 were sprints and this was his first marathon as well!

Ken and Gail both finished Ironman Florida as their FIRST EVER triathlon. They fought through incredibly tough swim conditions and finished with plenty of time to spare.

Brooke raced 2 marathons this year to qualify for Boston. In the Spring, she PRed by 23 minutes and only missed the BQ standard by 5 minutes. After a huge summer of training, she nailed her qualification and PRed by another 9 minutes! (5 under her qualifying standard)!

Next year I have 2 more athletes looking to complete their first Ironman at Maryland as well. I couldn’t be more proud to coach athletes with such big goals. With that, here is a shameless plug to my coaching website.

https://mjacksonmultisport.wordpress.com/ 

Ugly Christmas Sweater Run: 1st Place

As an aside, here is my current 2022 race schedule:

May 7th – Ironman World Championship - St. George
May 22nd – Ironman Chattanooga 70.3
June 26th – Ironman Steelhead 70.3
July 23rd – Iowa DeWitt Sprint Triathlon
July 30th – Route 66 70.3
October 8th – Ironman World Championship - Kona

November 3rd – Ironman Florida

That’s all for now!