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Ironman World Championship Race Day Mojo
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Will we see a posting of times/splits here?
Brief race report as explanation (NOT excuses) for my race:
Swim: 1:41. I just kept moving my arms, but they don't seem to have the oomph they used to, at least in a rough water non-wet suit swim. Explanation: bike accident >> spinal cord injury (central cord syndrome) resulting in, among other things about 20% reduction in strength in my upper extremities. EG, I was able to go 1:12 in Lake Placid, and before the accident I was able to go sub-1:20 in Hawaii IM, and sub 30 for 1500 meters in Maui Xterra race. After, obviously another story. Certainly not a training issue, I've done 310,000 meters in the last 12 months @ an average pace of 2.7 km/hour.
Bike: My Garmin says 7:10, with 6 minutes stoppage time for peeing (twice, can;t do it while riding anymore, another residual of that SCI) and SN. I was very satisfied with how I felt on the bike, keeping my energy up, my fluids renewed every 12-15 minutes, and no loss of positive or at least neutral mental attitude.
Run: I stopped my Garmin after 13 miles, as I had shut down the run at that point. If this had been any race except Kona, I might not have even started. I've been nursing a moderate-severe high hamstring tendon injury with some fraying and a lot of inflammation there since after Lake Placid. A prudent man would have take 2-3 months off to let it heal. Stubbornly, I tried running 25-28 miles most weeks before the race, with long runs at a pretty slow pace of 2 and 2:20. But each and every step hurt during training, likewise in the race. I walked up Palani Hill after mile 10. Started running downhill for about half a mile after that, then neither my brain nor my body was up to the task of starting up again. So I walked ... and walked.
There was also the little matter of having surgery scheduled in 3 weeks of a growing inguinal hernia. That's not painful, but it affects my movement, and was certainly on my mind during all this.
The future: this was Ironman finish # 25, Kona #6. I've achieved far more than I had ever dreamed of in IM competition: 7 AG wins, 3 AG course records, 9 KQs. To say nothing of 5 IMs in the last 15 months. I've concluded that I do not have sufficient motivation to muster either the training or the race-day effort required to keep performing well, so I am taking a sabbatical from IM racing for 2-3 years. Next two years will be SC and ITU LC racing, at the national and world championships. Then I could very well find another IM when I am 70 in order to KQ again. And, for the next 2-3 months, my body needs a break if its going to last as long as the number of heartbeats and brain cells I expect I have left (my resting pulse is 39-40, so I figure that's not going to give out anytime soon.)
I'll post this in race reports as well.
Huge congrats to everyone who dealt with what sounds like blistering hot conditions yesterday!