4 WEEKS TO KONA!
How y'all feeling, racers? On plan, on track, on target?
I was riding yesterday and got a huge charge thinking back to something Ken Glah said at the banquet last year. Roughly: "It's the race that nobody is looking beyond. Everyone is shaved, tapered and bringing their best." Race week can't come quickly enough!
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For me it's definitely starting to feel real. Even though i've never been on the course, or been to hawaii for that matter, while i'm on the bike I have been trying to visualize myself on the course climbing or riding into headwinds and i have been trying to focus on staying compact and aero. Otherwise my training is going well and i'm just trying to protect myself from myself in terms of not doing anything stupid that could cause injury. On one hand, i'm with you in that October can't come quickly enough, but on the other hand i don't want this feeling of anticipation to actually be racing in Kona to end.
I'm just simply confused.
4 weeks from IM Mt Tremblant and 4 weeks to Kona. Should I still be recovering, training hard or tapering?
Per Coach R, I did a 2 week post IM transition plan and then he told me to load up the last 6 weeks of the Adv IM plan to end at Kona. I could tell right away my body wasn't ready for the punishment again and my mind wasn't ready for the discipline needed to push thru the workouts. So I'm taking it day-by-day. I still have the Adv plan loaded up, but I decide each day how I feel and let that be my guide for doing the written workout or backing it off a bit. Regardless of how this week goes, I'm going with a 3 week taper into Kona, just like I've done for my prior IMs. So I just have to get thru this week, then taper. And like Al, I have IMAZ 5 weeks after Kona. So I'm not going to Kona to really race, but to participate as my reward. It will actually feel odd, yet relaxing, that I don't care too much about my finishing time at Kona. Just want to make it to the finish line in a respectable time without destroying myself.
@Bruce and Al.... I'm convinced my "do no harm" (think 90-95%) approach to KONA last year was a huge part of my success @ IMFL....Having said that I think 3 weeks between races is perfect and 5 maybe a bit much .... 3 weeks give you just enough time to recover ,minimal training, and race again with huge residual fitness from the last IM...5 weeks is enough for recovery , but the training has to resume at a higher level or you will lose too much in 5 weeks??? But Dave Tallo did it with huge success 2 years ago... Either way I think the real key to back to back IM's is durability....
There may be a sweet spot between "victory lap" and "guns blazing". Although after what you accomplished in MT, you've earned the right to do whatever you want. Still … the weather will be totally different, and that has an extraordinary impact on things, the combination of heat, wind force and direction, and humidity.
My first trip to the Big Dance, I went with a goal "Don't blow up on the run". I had the best possible race I could imagine at the time. It was an IM marathon PR for me at the time (since lowered by 20 minutes), and remains my best time in that race.
Every year, there are a number of world class pros who DNF or otherwise disappoint, presumably from trying to go all out and exceeding what Coach P calls the extraordinarily narrow bandwidth between success and flame out on that course. The year I DNF'd, I consoled myself with the knowledge that at least 5 previous Kona winners with 12 victories among them had also dropped out that day. Quoting from my race report (which I advise you read, to see what the carnage can be there to someone who was trying to push the limits, and should know better):
"About 200 people did not finish, for a drop out rate of over 10%, very unusual for the World Championships. I looked over the list of pros who did not finish. The list is a who’s who: Normann Stadler, Tim DeBoom, Thomas Hellriegel, Michelie Jones, Natascha Badmann, (all previous winners here, a total of twelve Kona victories), Yvonne Van Vlerken, Bella Bayliss, Belinda Granger, Bryan Rhodes, Marino Vanhoenacker, Courtney Ogden, Jasper Blake, Rutger Beke, Patrick Vernay, Jozsef Major, Gina Kehr, Heather Wuertle, Hilary Biscay, (all winners of Ironman races around the world.)
Van Hoenacker apparently stopped about the same place I did; I had picked him as a possible winner of the race. Bella Bayliss has at least 11 Ironman victories to her credit, in heat as bad or worse than this; I thought she might make a top five finish here. Bryan Rhodes is well known for winning multiple times in places like Malaysia, with worse conditions that Saturday’s. Really, ALL the people on that list up there should know better, having been here multiple times, and having been able to win races before.
I don’t know what all of their stories are, who had problems with fluid intake, or mental collapse after their pacing strategy didn’t work, or lost a fluid bottle with all their calories out on the road, or all of the other myriad “excuses” we use. In the end, I have to assume if one comes here to race, one intends to do well, and is not PLANNING on dropping out, or quitting if things get tough. But we all did. I can only analyze my race and determine what I should learn for next time."
John, I'm not trying to deflate you, I want you have the race of your life. I just want to inject a little realism, from one who went in with exactly the attitude you describe, and paid a price. It ain't like other races in other places.
What I wanted to do with this post is be on record as to that NOT being the plan anymore (sorry Tim). I want to be honest with you all that if I'm walking the marathon it's because I gave it my all and cracked, not because I am saving myself or Coz. I am at a disadvantage because I am big (can't shed heat as easily) and because it's my first time on the course, and because I'm still not fully recovered from IMMT. I will be competing with guys in the XC that did their qualifying races in FL, AZ, and AUS last yr who have all had a full yr to prep and peak and taper just for this race. But I think "if" I can recapture the magic I stumbled across in IMMT (which is a big "if") that I have a legitimate shot of being in the top 5 of the XC. And a long shot of being in the Top 3... And at least a 10% chance of winning the whole thing. With odds that good, how can I not try to actually "Race" it and see what happens. The way I see it, if I can have a 10% chance of winning and maybe a 25% chance of being on the podium at the world Championships and ONLY risking a 75% probability of walking for 10-15 miles through the desert, well... I'm willing to take those odds!
And I do not mean that I will be stupid. But that I plan to swim as aggressive as IMMT. Not dilly-dally in Transitions, then try to hit 0.71-0.73 on my bike and just run to feel and hope for the best. I KNOW I will need to over-hydrate AND be all over my nutrition AND stay as cool as possible all day. I also know not to over-cook on the early part of the run. And slow my pace to the heat-adjusted one. I know how to race smart. But if the heat is gonna crush me, that's gonna happen even if I took my time through T1 and T2. It'll probably also get me on the run even if I ride to 0.65-0.67. But it "might" not get to me and I have to at least go for it, it's just how I'm wired. I trained and ate and lived an obsessive life for 2 yrs to get this chance and I would rather remember it afterwards as having given my all and suffered and had a chance to win, than to remember the smiles and fun of the entire day, preparing for IMCoz...
@Al – Just read your race report and to me it really underscores the importance of racing with a plan and sticking to that plan. While deviation on race day may be necessary, it’s certainly creates opportunities for your ego to insert itself and therein lies the risk of things going bad.
Personally, I have not written out my race plan yet, but the theme for me is going to be all about balance. Balance between truly racing and taking a victory lap. Balance between respecting the course and the conditions but not racing scared or afraid. I want to have a good race and believe I can, but at the same time I want to be realistic about my expectations. After racing 70.3 worlds last week I had an amazing race for me, but still finished 64th in my age group. In Kona I’ll be lucky to break the top hundred, so if I’m 100 vs 110 does it really matter if the risk is DNF at what might be my one and only shot to complete this race. Sorry for all the philosophizing!
My fitness from IMMT is coming back for the bike & swim, but the run is taking a bit longer. This Thursday I'm doing the long run per the IM adv plan so that will tell me where I stand.
Mark - at dinner tonight, my son was also commenting on what I'm worried about, after all "it's not like your going to win Mom so stop worrying". Like of you, I would like to finish knowing that I did my best while enjoying the venue. Definitely a fine balancing act.
Having "being there" the temp Tatian is really high to pass on knowledge and experience. But for those who are new, the message sometimes isn't so clear.
My take away is this: you will want to race the race and you should try. But Kona is so different, that more often than not regular rules don't apply and you won't be able to race. It may take you several times there to be able to put together the race that you expect to have elsewhere.
This is part of the Luer of the event and the challenge. Quite frankly, it's appropriate that the world championships will be the hardest race that you've ever done.
As your friend and coach, I only hope that you have the perspective to appreciate the day and not let your performance in the moment cloud your experience.