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Race Week Thread....
Now that I have seen multiple EN folks all over Kona training....and representing...I think we can kick off this thread.
Today's swim was interesting....to say the least. A bit of choppiness around the turn, and I lost feet again for part of the outbound trip, probably costing me a good minute. On the way back it was a battle but I felt more in control than usual....a big mental boost for me.
The bike was very interesting...thought I had a tailwind out but it felt like a tailwind back...especially at the end when it was blowing me down the road at 160 watts and 30+ mph. Never seen a North wind like that before...
How was your day on Sunday?
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Hawi had a pretty significant side wind between MP 8 and 16 on the way up. Then, as the road turns into the wind, it seemed to die down a fair amount or at least became less gusty. My two main areas of focus today were: (1) maintain a rigid eating and drinking schedule. I think I will need to up my fluid intake just a bit based on that. And (2) practice driving negative thoughts out of my mind whenever the winds seemed to overpower me - meaning, whenever I was in fear for my life getting blown sideways 2 or 3 feet at a pop while going down hill (or even up hill a time or two) I would do mental jiu-jitsu, remembering I'm here to have fun with my fitness: this (really!) is how I have fun, and I AM fit. I am honoring my training self by reliving all the riding I've done this year, all the climbs in CA, WA, and CO since April.
As to the wind direction - every day, and every mile is different. I am working hard on trying to live within the wind, not fight it.
And for those who haven't seen it yet, I'm posting a daily series on Stations of The Kona Pilgrimage, over in the Race Selection and Reviews forum. Or you can link to my blog or FB page for the same thing.
Great day seeing EN peeps and meeting new ones....Set a 1 min PR in the Swim and hit the QK for an hour ride with Juan and Teri.... Strong North wind was an understatement, riding out in 33 minutes and back in 20 minutes (albeit with 15 minutes of intensity)...
Was looking at the STRAVA PR's and Coach P's file was right below mine in the STRAVA feed... So I compared the PR's on both files... Not surprisingly Coach P was faster than I both but what was very surprising was my power was much higher (during my one 15 min push with intensity).... The Wind - So not only every day and every direction different but I would argue that it varies minute by minute as Coach P's segments below compared to mine were only about 1hr apart during the day..
Tim's Strava PR's and watts
Kekaha Lavatube to airport PR (4:12) 201w
KUA to KOA PR (8:52) 199w
Coach P's Strava PR's and watts
Kekaha Lavatube to airport PR (4:08) 172w
KUA to KOA PR (8:43) 164w
Looking forward to seeing the rest of the team as they roll into KONA!
@Tim, my biggest surprise was mentally committing to riding 260 in Hawaii...for weeks. Then going out and riding 228 NP and going 23.3 mph. Even without the wind -- you can almost tell where it picked up on the return trip based on my PRs! -- it was still a fast ride.
I learned two important things:
1 - the wind is crazy here!
2 - If an Ironman® was a 2.4 mile swim with a 2 hour break, then only a 60 mile bike ride with favorable winds and no running, I'd be MUCH happier afterwards.
Here's another example of the impact of the friggin' wind. This AM, I did the Queen K, town (Makala/Queen K intersection) to 2 miles past the airport. Out = north, back = south. About 9 miles. Wind seemed fairly strong from the south. Wind at the airport, where & when I was riding, reported @ S 15 mph.
Leg Time Speed KJ NP AP Cad HR Net elevation
Out 21:50 23.5 166 134 127 83 102 +85 Stopped for way more lights, so VI was high?
Back 33:19 15.8 247 125 124 82 104 -85
I think 'm learning how not not let it mess with my head: low VI, kept my HR up, didn't drop my cadence.
Al,
Love the blog. Thanks for sharing!
Mike
OutBound: 20.3 miles 26.8 mph 226 AP 128 AHR
InBound: 20.5 miles 22.1 mph 259 AP 137 AHR
Total Ride: 40.9 miles 24.2 mph 244 AP 133 AHR
Saw a lot of really fast EN runners out there crushing the end of the Energy Lab...so inspirational!
Today.... agree with Coach P ... very nice smooth fast water for the swim in the bay.... Run in the ENERGY LAB was very brutal , car said 91 , garmin said 88 but feels like 98... I'd go with an even 100 with full sun exposure and NO WINDS on the up/down portion of the energy lab....
Went shopping this afternoon to pick up my New Rudy Wing 57 (can't resist the $100 KONA special).... What color you ask? Well Red and White of course !
Ah, yes ... if race day were like today. Out on the Queen K, Waikoloa to Kawaihae, about as calm as it ever gets. I averaged 18.2 mph out and back at a pretty gentle pace. I've now done the entire course, in 4 or 5 segments. Add up the times of those rides, and I'd 100% satisfied with my race. My Ifs were pretty consistent @ 0.62, and I suspect that's where I'll be race day. My run times have been 9:30 miles, again going at what I consider race pace. But there, I'm probably looking @ 60-90 sec/mile slower.
Swim this AM was entirely benign, putting me in a much better head space than Sunday. The real kick was encountering a pod of dolphins about 1000 meters from there pier the way back - first three, then a score a more, including some babies. They seemed to be enjoying all the attention from the swimmers, a few of whom attempted to dive down and go with them - not a chance!
Then I hit up the AWA Gold breakfast, where Welchie interviewed Paula N-F, Dave Scott, Mark Allen, & Crowie, followed by Messick and Bertsch, who pretty much repeated their words from the IronGents dinner the night before. Food was good and plentiful, as well as free. Rounded out my morning with registration. The guy behind me in line turned out to be my main competition for they fall's IM AZ. I got to tell him I was not racing, getting surgery instead. Probably made his day.
Tomorrow, Cheryl and I are headed out to Hawi to take in a ride in the newly restored irrigation ditches. These had been ruined in the 2006 earthquake, a week before my first IM here, negating my scheduled trip down the gentle flume and thru tunnels. After sputtering on and off back to life over the years, they finally re-opened in June this year under new management , so off we go.
After an easy swim to the coffee boat, a 1 hr ride, 4 mile run with Juan the Beast.... Heather and I went to Hawi for lunch.... I am so glad the race was not today... The car was buffeted pretty good all the way up and down...