This was one of those races where the final 2 months were less than ideal. After Ironman Wisconsin I took 5 weeks off of running due to a hip injury that still isn’t fully resolved. Coupled with some personal conflicts, my final build for Kona was far from what I had hoped. Regardless, my coach did everything he could to prepare me, and my wife even got me on an underwater treadmill to give me some running stimulus in the build-up.
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Race Week: Travel to Kona was perfect. No issues with flights and baggage arrived only scuffed. We arrived on Monday to give me plenty of time to adapt to the heat and humidity despite 10 days of sauna prep. My first few workouts were rough with heart rate ~10bpm higher than normal. That first morning I swam 50 minutes with my buddy John (thanks for being my safety buoy), then went on a social ride with my bike partner Kú. Wednesday I rode up to Hawi to get a feel for the climb and crosswinds with a short uphill run off the bike (easier on my hip going up). Thursday was just an easy swim and Friday was my final shakeout in the Energy Lab. I hadn’t been sleeping well all week, but I did get a good night's rest right before the race. In terms of that final prep week, everything went very well.
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Race morning: Very smooth morning getting up at 4:00 to start the day. Breakfast was 3 pieces of bread with PB and a banana. Later in the morning I had a cliff bar as well. We found good parking and I quickly set up my bike without any hangups this time. While we were waiting the start the race, my mom’s side of the family dropped by to wish me luck and sent me off with some encouragement. I drank my Redbull and took that final Gu before heading to the corral. As luck would have it, I joined my buddy Kyle and we took to the start line together.
The Swim (59:23 - 73rd): As we were treading water waiting to start, I heard several guys say owe, ouch! Seconds later I got stung 2-3 times as well. I unfortunately did not have a great starting position, but seeing that I was 73rd in my AG, I probably deserved to start 3 rows back. The first 10 minutes were pure chaos and there was no clean water. As things started to settle, we caught the next wave and more chaos ensued. Overall I felt like I was in control and having a great swim, but I wasn’t able to get feedback from my watch. Probably for the better not checking it all the time. Knowing the different colored swim caps was incredibly helpful since I knew who to just go around. As I got to the pier, my goggles decided to break with 200 yards to go. This was my 2nd race in them and I got this new pair to avoid that… I was able to snag them and shove them down my kit to not litter. I swam eyes closed and only opened them when breathing/sighting. Coming out of the water, I had no idea what my swim time was, but I felt like I did well.
T1 (3:53): I skipped the fresh water hoses again and had to walk with all of the older athletes moving slowly. I got my bag and the change tent was Packed. I opted to sit on the wet concrete to get my socks on. More of a struggle than normal, but got them up and took off. As I was running out, I had a volunteer spray my jellyfish stings with vinegar, and I rinsed off with my water bottle as I ran to the bike. The rest was smooth as I cruised out and successfully got my feet into my shoes.
The Bike (4:50:53 - 67th): I felt good heading out and was mindful to not get caught up in the excitement of other athletes hammering up the first hill. I tightened my shoes and settled right in. Once I got back up to Queen K, I turned my attention to power numbers. Before I even got to the airport, I knew I needed an adjustment. I was already over my max HR cap and settled for 10-15W below target. As I was riding along, I caught my buddy Mitch (who was having a mechanical at the time but didn’t tell me until after). We gave some encouragement and off I went. The next 30 miles were uneventful other than a media moto riding alongside me for a few minutes. I tried to look like I knew what I was doing, but I don’t think they used the footage :/
Around 45 miles I heard a familiar voice, Kyle Martinelli right on schedule. As he went by, he had 4-5 guys within a few feet of his wheel… I can’t say enough how much I hate cheating, and there was nothing Kyle could do. He eventually pulled onto the shoulder and forced them to pass and came back by me before trying to surge ahead and drop them all. I hung onto the back of that group for ~5 miles until the climb to Hawi started. At that point I was starting to cook and let them go. To my great joy, an official went by me. 15 minutes later I saw at least 2 of those guys in the penalty tent after the turnaround.
Last time I did Kona, I left a lot of time out there on the Hawi descent. This time I pushed the entire time. Thanks my to Kú TF1, I can honestly say I felt very stable in those crosswinds. I moved up 18 spots and averaged 34mph in that 5 mile stretch. From there it started to thin out and it was easier to focus on my power and my race. There isn’t much else to report other than the conditions were mild. I got back to transition before the crosswinds turned into a headwind like they did in 2022. My power ended up being 20W below my target, and I knew I wasn’t really “in the mix” going into the run. I had to alter my expectations a bit more and started focusing on a course PR.
T2 (2:56): Fast and efficient. I felt great about this one and scanning through some times, not many were under 3 minutes. Nothing to report other than my salt tube staying in the bag… May have come back to bite me later.
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The Run (3:19:12 - 46th): One of my goals for this race was the start the run before 6 hours elapsed time. I was happy to have about 2 minutes to spare, so I took that as a small win. At this point, I was focused on running a 3:30 to beat my time of 9:29 back in 2022. As I was getting settled, Mr. John Butcher BLEW by me ½ mile into the run. In typical fashion, him and I were never separated my more than 1 minute (up until that point). Before my injury, our dream scenario was to run together in Kona. We were perfectly set up, but I just couldn’t go… sorry man. As he vanished, I stuck to my plan of saying slower than 6:50 pace for the first 5K to settle in. Good call because my fastest mile of the day was 6:55 that first mile. I was never under 7 the rest of the run. From mile 1, I was missing that spring in my step and was content to just hold 7:15 pace. As I continued to adjust goals, I knew I needed to be under an 8 min avg. With that in mind, I wanted to be at or under 7:30 pace in the energy lab to give enough buffer. Seeing my family along Palani was a nice boost and I pretty much plugged along for the most steady run I’ve ever done.
I felt much smarter this time keeping a water bottle to have it refilled at aid stations. I did this twice and it only cost me 30s to always have water on hand. I took the aid stations slow and walked about half of them. Once I got to the energy lab I was still holding 7:15s, so that was encouraging. One thing that pissed me off was athlete 977 blatantly cheating. Numerous times his partner came by on a bike and handed him a cold drink from a cooler. He’d drink it for a minute or 2 and drop it for her to come by and pick it up again. I saw it at least 3 times, and I engrained his number into my memory. Fortunately I beat him by just a few seconds…
Back to my race, I was very conscious about walking the aid station prior to leaving the energy lab. I made sure I had ice and extra water. It was slow running out, but I didn’t breakdown like I had previously. Once I was back up on the Queen K, my pace was hovering around 7:20. With 7 miles to go, this was a great place for me to be knowing the finish was net downhill. Around this time I noticed I needed a bathroom stop. As I came up on mile 22, the opportunity presented itself and took care of business. The hardest part was getting my dang kit zipped back up. That was my slowest mile of the day at a 9:20 with the stop. As I got to mile 24, my aunt and uncle were still out there to cheer me on at the time I needed it most. Everything started to slow down at mile 25 and forward progress was my only thought. At Palani, I was stoked to actually open my stride and run down. Coming through that final mile I saw the rest of my family spread out and I pushed as hard as I could to the finish. I passed a handful of athletes down the final stretch and did not soak up that finish like I should have.
The Finish (9:16:14 - 40th): Given what I brought into the race, this was the best I could manage. I left everything I had on the course, and I’m proud of my effort and execution. To my wife and family that came to support me, I can’t thank you enough for everything all week and in race day. And to everyone back home sending me encouragement and tracking my progress…thank you.
To be blunt, this was not how I wanted my season to end. I wanted to leave amateur racing with a bang and feel confident turning pro. To not run for 5 weeks hurt me, and I wasn’t even sure I could run the whole marathon. Considering that the pain was a non-factor during the actual race, that’s all I could have asked for.
3 weeks before the race my wife got me on an underwater treadmill as the only way I could run without pain. It was our best stab at acquiring any run fitness, so we did what we could.