Kona Race Report

Going into this race, I was more prepared than I have ever been. My coach Brent Pease trained me well, and gave me a few final tune up workouts on the island to ensure I was ready for the toughest 2 parts of the course (Hawi and the Energy Lab). Other than stepping on a bee 2 days before, I was feeling pretty good.

Pre-Race: The day before the race was executed perfectly. After dropping off my gear at 2pm, we picked up dinner on the way back to the AirBnb and I had my feet up from 3:00-bed. I went over the course maps and my race plan a few times, ate at 4:00, and had lights out at 7:30.

Race morning, I got to transition plenty early, and my rear tire blew when I started inflating it. Bike tech didn’t have a line yet and they got my tube swapped in under 5 minutes. Hurt me knowing I was running a butyl instead of latex, but I am sooo thankful that happened pre-race and not when I mounted my bike. After my gear was set, they closed transition and my age group had over 90 minutes to kill after the female pros started. I had a front row seat as the top few came through transition while we waited. I definitely waited too long to get lined up, so I was about 3 deep at the start without much time to tread water.

Swim (1:00:13 - 59th): The mass start was hectic and stayed that way for the entire swim. It was difficult to navigate through the waves that started before us, and they were definitely getting agitated as we passed. I spent a good portion just weaving through traffic and couldn’t quite go the pace/effort I wanted. I stayed on some feet a few times and let some guys from my wave make the opening for myself. When I got to the pier, I checked my total time and saw I had a shot at breaking an hour. I decided to save my energy for T1 and ended up with an Ironman swim PR! I was stoked to be a few minutes faster than I was expecting. 

T1 went very smoothly. I was able to work my way through the older athletes taking their time and only left myself a water in my bag (helmet was required to be left on the bike). I did miss the bag at first pass and a volunteer helped me out. I threw my swim gear into the bag and used that water to rinse myself off as I ran to my bike. Mounting my shoes was the way to go because I just had to put my helmet on and grab the bike. I was stuck behind some slower athletes with their bikes but made a few passes when it opened up. I was efficient climbing the first hill on top of my shoes, and got my feet in quickly once it flattened out. Very happy with how this went.

Bike (5:07:32 - 59th): Early into the bike, I had to hold myself back a bit to keep the power where coach wanted it. If I didn’t have those numbers, I’d have gone out way too hard. The first part of the bike was mostly head and crosswind, but seemed to go by fairly quickly. I was hitting the numbers I wanted and feeling good. I also now understand everyone’s annoyance with the draft packs on the Queen K. With how windy it was, it’s clear why they do it… I literally watched 2 guys ahead of me take turns pulling each other. Plenty of officials out there, but I only saw 3-4 athletes in the penalty tents. The ride up to Hawi was easier than I had thought with the riders to my right blocking some of the wind as I went by. The decent back down was tough in the crosswinds and I mostly just coasted with my legs pinching the top tube. When I had 30 miles to go, I was expecting a slight tailwind and net downhill to the finish. When I found the wind against me again, it was a huge mental drain. I had to stay aero longer than expected, and that started to take a toll. I also had a guy sucking my wheel for about 30 minutes, and I just couldn’t drop him in that wind. Unfortunately I burned a match or 2 trying… Another kind athlete yelled at him on my behalf, and I finally ended up dropping him on a long steady climb. I was about 10 minutes slower than expected after battling the last 30 miles. I was very happy to be off the bike when I coasted down Palani. 204W average at 213NP. Goal was 211-216. 

T2: Flying dismount was very successful. I probably pulled my leg over a little too soon, but it was all downhill. I was quick through transition again other than being behind a slower runner again, and I struggled to find my bike rack since they changed them to just hold your rear wheel. A volunteer helped me out again and I was good to go. I started the run with a bottle to toss, and I’m thankful I did.

Run (3:15:29 - 20th) Starting the run, I didn’t think my legs were going to be there. Turns out they just needed 1 mile to warm up. 1-9 were the highlight of my entire race. We had some soft cloud cover, occasional shade, and 2 guys with hoses spraying us on the out and back. I was running low 7’s feeling very comfortable at goal HR. Once I got up Palani to the Queen K, the race had finally started. The sun was in full force, and the aid stations were ~1.8 miles apart. It was around mile 12 that I started to suffer and dehydrate quite a bit. I caught up to one of my Dynamo teammates Robert around this time and we just ran together in joint suffering and silence for 2 miles. At the halfway point, we got to the energy lab, and this is where it got real. The aid stations couldn’t come soon enough and every minute felt like 5. At the 16 mile turnaround I took a quick stop to pee since it had been nagging me for 2 hours. I assume it was under 20s. Getting my run special needs around 16.5 was not the boost I thought I’d get. My water was 90+ degrees and didn’t seem to help. Now, the worst part of my day was the long steady climb out of the energy lab. With the wind at my back and sun beating down, the air was just stagnant. I have never experienced heat like that before, and I was determined not to walk. I plugged along at a 10min mile just waiting to turn back into the wind. 

The first time I walked was the aid station at mile 18. With so few volunteers, they couldn’t keep up with the athletes and I needed to go through slowly enough to get what I needed. Looking back, I wish I started that strategy around mile 12. I got back onto the Queen K, and I felt like the sun was finally weakening. The struggle was real as 2 athletes passed me at 22, and I had absolutely no response. I just kept doing mental math on my total time and marathon pace. In that final mile, I nearly took a spill down Palani when my hammy locked up. After that it was just grit to the finish. I was stoked to see my Dynamo teammates ¼ mile out, and from there the pain started to melt away as you come up to that red carpet. 

Finish: If I am being completely honest, the finish was not what I had expected it to be. Maybe I needed to slow down more to take it all in. I felt like I had left everything out on that course, but could have pushed a little faster with better hydration on the run. Despite carrying 2 of my own bottles, it just wasn’t enough. 

Thanks Coach

Overall, I landed in 30th place for my age group in the world. Always wanting and expecting more, I am trying to figure out where I could have dropped just a little more time. I will say, I did have some fun afterwards with plenty of tequila shots and beer.

Shots for days!

Up next is Ironman Florida to end my season that started with St. George on May 7th. Then, I’ll be ready for a nice little off-season. Mahalo!