RR Ironman Kona--the worlds greatest athletes and me (Wieczynski)
This is way overdue. Thanks to all of you at EN. Without you I would never have been able to complete this journey. THanks RnP for all of your help--answering my newbie questions all year long! Thank to the Northern Cal Sleeper Cell. You are the best! Also thanks to the NovOS Group. Woo Hoo
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Executive Summary:
1. Went to the Superbowl of Triathlons. The world’s greatest athletes and me.
2. Did not have the race I dreamed of, but got the race that Kona gave me
3. Awesome support from many people
4. Best time ever!
5. World longest race report.
On October 10th I completed the Hawaii Ironman--finishing just below 15 hours--which was about 1 1/2 slower than I was hoping. But it was one of the greatest days I have ever had.
Two days before the race I participated in one of the very sacred parts of the Ironman experience—the Underwear Run. I got a call at 7am from Carrie Chavez asking me what my plans were for the day. I mentioned that I was going to attend the UW run at 2. She yelled that it started at 8:00!!! So the kids, Danette and I headed out the apartment like a bat out of hell! We got down to the event in time and saw Steve and his daughter Madison prior to the run. If you get a chance check out youtube for the race! We took the solemn oath and started the mile run. It was amazing. I was the fat guy there with 7% body fat. My wife fell in love with two Brazilian ladies dressed in K-Swiss outfits. The trip to Kona is worth it just for this event! Seriously look up Kona Underpants Run 2009 in YouTube. If there was any justice in the world I would do a separate race report for this event!
Friday I checked my gear in. At about 3 PM we headed over to the race start to check all of my gear into the transition area. It is like nothing I have seen. As I checked in I passed a gauntlet of observers with clipboards. They were recording what the athletes were biking on and what gear they had. You just don’t see that in our local TRIs. I was met by a volunteer whose job was to walk me through the transition area and ensure that everything was set up. She was a prior participate who completed the IM Kona in 11 hours last year. I spent about 30 minute with her getting all of my gear in place and walking through the facilities. Yup not like the local TRIs. I headed back home and had a low key dinner and went to bed early. Like most other nights I had no problem sleeping
I got up at 4:00am and started to get ready. I ate my normal training day breakfast which consists of Cheerios and coffee. I woke up the kids and we packed up and headed out to the transition area. We found a nice parking spot and we walked down the bike area. I had already checked in my bike and majority of the gear the day before. I stored the run feed bag and the bike feed bag and double checked everything. I putzed around until about 6:30 when I headed down to the beach.
At that point the Navy Seals parachuted into the water—which was amazing to watch. Yup—not like the local TRIs… After that the pro took their position. There were tons of kayakers holding them back. Finally, the canon went off and they were off! It was fun to watch—but that just meant my time was near.
My stats (Powertap went out so I don’t have numbers)
|
SWIM |
BIKE |
RUN |
OVERALL |
RANK |
DIV.POS. |
|
1:24:25 |
7:19:47 |
5:51:41 |
14:57:33 |
1530 |
231 |
|
TOTAL SWIM |
2.4 mi. (1:24:25) |
2:13/100m |
1452 |
221 |
|
FIRST BIKE SEGMENT |
5.5 mi. (21:26) |
15.40 mph |
||
|
SECOND BIKE SEGMENT |
28 mi. (1:26:35) |
15.59 mph |
||
|
THIRD BIKE SEGMENT |
59 mi. (1:57:46) |
15.79 mph |
||
|
FOURTH BIKE SEGMENT |
88 mi. (1:57:31) |
14.81 mph |
||
|
FINAL BIKE SEGMENT |
112 mi. (1:36:29) |
14.92 mph |
||
|
TOTAL BIKE |
112 mi. (7:19:47) |
15.28 mph |
1569 |
235 |
|
FIRST RUN SEGMENT |
5.2 mi. (1:05:06) |
12:31/mile |
||
|
SECOND RUN SEGMENT |
10.3 mi. (57:49) |
11:20/mile |
||
|
THIRD RUN SEGMENT |
17.6 mi. (1:44:54) |
14:22/mile |
||
|
FOURTH RUN SEGMENT |
25.2 mi. (1:54:44) |
15:05/mile |
||
|
FINAL RUN SEGMENT |
26.2 mi. (9:08) |
9:08/mile |
||
|
TOTAL RUN |
26.2 mi. (5:51:41) |
13:25/mile |
1530 |
231 |
|
|
|
|||
|
TRANSITION |
TIME |
|||
|
T1: SWIM-TO-BIKE |
9:53 |
|||
|
T2: BIKE-TO-RUN |
11:47 |
|||
I entered the water and slowly made it to the far left portion of the course after a couple of minutes. I was right by the Ford buoy/raft. I treaded water, trying not to bump into other athletes. The cannon went off and ‘away we a go.’ As expected, I started to get run over as I was running others over. L However, almost immediately I started to count my strokes and focus on front quadrant swimming. After about a minute or two it started to thin out—but not by much. As we approached the first buoy a phenomenon that I did not expect occurred. My game plan was to pass wide the buoy, but what happened was that all of the athletes started to try to get as closely to the buoy as possible, pushing me closer. That meant that the ‘combat’ got worse. This continued to repeat every 200 meters as we passed each buoy.
It is a difficult swim from a focus perspective. It is like swimming in an aquarium. There were tons of wildlife and coral. It is just breathtaking. During the training the week before I saw turtles, giant fish and eels. One of my favorite things during the week before the race was the giant catamaran that was a couple hundred meters away from the race course (thanks Kramer for pointing it out!). If you swam out there they gave you espresso. There is something special about that—the salt really helps the taste of the coffee. But it was race day and there was no coffee today. I got out to the halfway point and looked at my watch. I was much slower than I thought. The swim has a reputation of being more difficult on the way back. However, I did have a negative split by a couple of minutes. I was really working on lengthening my stroke and front quad swimming. However about 150 meters before the end I had a calf cramp. I don’t know why—I haven’t had one of those in probably two years. It certainly wasn’t because of lack of salt. I think I drank a fair amount of the ocean! The swim was great--with me finishing about 30 seconds faster than my best projected time. There was a fair amount of contact with other swimmers--but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.
As I hit the transition to bike I made my first mistake. One off the volunteers putting sun screen missed my entire lower right leg. I ended up getting a 2nd degree sunburn--which gave me a blister that was about 1 1/2 inches wide later that evening. My daughter called it an heirloom tomato! As I headed out on the bike I saw both my family and friends--which gave me a great lift.
The bike was great for the first 25-30 miles or so. The first set of miles include a hill out of the transition area and then an out and back on Queen Kaahumanu or Queen K highway. About three miles into it there were three lanes dedicated to the cyclists. I was in the middle of the first lane. One older athlete passed me yelling to get over. I guess two lanes to the left were not enough for him. He was one of the few jerks that I saw the day of race—I did not take his bait and stayed in my race box. The entire time, I was thinking “I’m doing this thing—I’m really doing this thing.” My game plan was to keep the power lighter than normal during the first forty miles.
I made another mistake on Queen K. I kept my feed bottle with my calories on my cage and would pick up two water bottles at each aid station. The first was to dump on my head. The second was to refill my aero bottle. At one of the aid stations I yelled “water” and was handed a coke bottle. Yup you got it—I dumped the coke over my head. It ran down my back into my shorts and into my shoes. Nice. That gave me a blister on the bike, which was a first for me. I dumped another bottle of water over my head to clear it out. Race day lesson learned—drink a sip before dumping! I started to laugh…
For the most part I stuck to my game plan. My day got tougher as we headed out on highway 270. About here my power tap started to get flaky. I tried to reset it multiple times and got weird results. As we headed up the hills towards the town of Hawi I started to get hit by cross winds for the next 19 miles as the racers were climbing the steepest hill of the day. This was one of those times during the race that I felt a little down--which meant my nutrition was not right. I made the right correction by increasing my calorie intake.
At the top of the hill was Hawi which is the bike turn around. Jullian, Anthea, Danette and the kids were there to cheer me on. I stopped to get a kiss from Danette and a hug the kids and then biked a couple hundred feet to the bike special needs area. I got more suntan lotion on my body and noticed the right leg which looked like a red sock. Then I started to fly back down that hill at 38 miles per hour in cross winds. Next I hit the Queen K highway. There I was met with strong head winds for probably next 35-40 miles. I was told by many that the bike course would be tough due to the wind and it did not disappoint. At one time I was at my race pace heading down a hill and I looked down at my computer and I was going 12 MPH @ 150 watts. As I ascended up the hill, I looked down and saw that I was going 13 MPH at the same 150 watts! I never have gone up hill faster than downhill! I kept telling myself that e all were facing the same wind. Toward the end of the day I was thinking about paying Dillon to pack up my bike until January! As I headed back into town I was greeted by a helicopter. The women's winner was crossing the finish line setting a new record. I still had the pesky Marathon to do!
I did my transition at turtle speed. I got some water, used the rest room and took my time. I would have sold my bike for $100 at that point! (note to self, there is a business model here—buy bikes during T2). I was paired with a volunteer – an ARTer from San Jose—who assisted me through the transition area. While I was leaving T2 Tom Davies (another lottery winner from Team Shadow) hit the transition area. 12 minutes… fricken camping.
I was thrilled to be done with the bike and head out on my best leg of the event--the run. Team Aetna and my family was there again cheering me on! Pre-race I knew the only question was whether I would run a 9 minute mile or an 8 minute mile. 90 degree weather with 90% humidity + strong winds changed that plan quickly. I started off holding my 8:45 pace for the first couple of miles. Carrie, Madison and Aaron were out there cheering too! As I headed down toward the water one of the race officials waved me to the right and I complied (I was in automatic pilot mode). He must have thought that I was finishing the race. After about 1/4 of a mile I saw the finish line I realized that I was heading the wrong way. They key was seeing the finish line! The person running next to me rolled her eyes and I started to back track. Not good! My first marathon and I have to add more distance! Not smart.
I ended up catching up to Tom again. He is a weight lifter (CrossFit) and a big guy. He had a jersey that said "Big Sexy," which got endless comments and cheers. I walked/ran with him for a while. People were offering him drinks (margaritas, beer….). Mental note get a funky jersey for next time!
After a couple of minutes, I ended up leaving him and heading out to the first turn-around at the southern portion of the course. I continued to get passed and repass the same competitors during this period. When I got back down toward the downtown part I started to walk hills and run the downhills. I saw Aaron, Madison and Carrie who cheered me on! As was running out to the Queen K I saw Dean Harper and Kim Bruce finishing up their days! Lucky bastards. Due to the lava there really are not many flats on the course. The sunburn was really starting to hurt. I was running 12 minute miles and my heart rate would start to race. My body was really shot. Every water stop I was dumping water over my head, putting ice in my hat and drinking water. The volunteers were great!
It started to get dark about 6:30. Running on Queen K is like running on Mars. Unlike the first 11 miles there is virtually no one out there cheering. To the left and right are lava fields that are just radiating heat. There are little rolling hills that never seem to end. After while I switched on a head lamp that my wife MADE me bring and headed down into the energy lab. It was completely dark. I knew I would finish but very disappointed in the run time. But I would finish. When Tiger Woods plays golf he plays to win. When I play golf I try not to hit the water, to keep the ball on course… In other words I play not to lose. At one point I passed an aid station and there was an athlete passed out on the grown with a Mylar blanket put over him. I was dammed determined not to be that ‘guy.’ My race plan had changed completely. This triathlon had me playing not to lose! I was going to finish.
In the complete dark, I turned off of Queen K to the famous energy lab. This is the part of race course that has caused more people to lose it. While it was still hot, it was not as bad for me as it was for people who passed through here in the day. I passed the Ford Inspiration Message Board and headed to the turnaround. I passed the run special needs area. I yelled out to the volunteers that I would not be picking up anything today. At the aid stations they started to serve chicken broth. This was something that I thought I would never want, but it really was great. My mantra was keep moving forward at all times. I was slowly getting it done. The run that I was so proud of was just not there today.
At one point about mile 20, two athletes caught up with me--both Germans. One spoke English (Albert) and the other did not. The second athlete was 70 years old and hoping to finish at the top of his age group. After a couple of miles, the 70 year old dropped both Albert and me. Albert and I continued our death march into town. We ran into another athlete, Sean that I had been talking to throughout the day. The three of us ran together for while. As we entered the last two miles, my pace picked up (helps that it started on a downhill). It is amazing to enter the city again after being in the dark for so long. I was on a natural high. I saw the family one last time as I raced through town. The crowds were starting to pick-up. I think I saw Kim Bruce cheering me on at this point too. I saw Ailii Drive and kne
Comments
Geoff - You inspire me. Awesome race report. If I am ever fortunate to toe the start at Kona, your experience will bring some calmness to me.
What a great Kona experience you had! Congrats on racing on a really tough day.
Sounded like an awesome adventure with memories for life. Congratulations!
tom
Geoff-
As someone that was following your progress that day- but went to bed East Coast time so did not get to see you finish- what a great report. You could tell about the wind on the bike and the announcers talked about it non stop. I am glad that you were able to complete the day and reflect back on it positively. Someday I hope to make the lottery.
Geoff,
I just watched the video; I loved the little hop you gave as you finished running; pure joy expressed in upward motion.
Geoff- I finally got a little time to read through your report! I was one of those east coast folks who had to go to bed before you crossed the finish line- but I was watching your little GPS signal all day long until I finally had to crash. Thanks so much for sharing the journey with us all- you give me hope that if I ever did get a lottery slot- that I could do it! Congratulations!
Geoff
Great RR! Congrats on a great day! YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!