Bill Manard IM 70.3 Honu RR
This will be a bit briefer than my prior (and many others') RRs, mainly because there's one key lesson (prepare). My punch line for this race is, though, if you are like me and unlikely to ever KQ, this is a great opportunity to race part of the course and get a better understanding of just how amazing the athletes out there for Kona are.
My biggest problem going into this race was only hitting about 60% of my scheduled workouts. This was a combination of a heavy work schedule and the Stanley Cup playoffs (home games for STL kill any ability to get other things done...). Because of this, I entered my taper with a TP CTL less than that of my peak during the OS.
Travel/check-in - arrived on Thursday evening for the Saturday race. I generally travel fairly well going east to west, and I felt fine the next morning. Rebuilt my bike, but forgot to adjust the rear (Di2) derailleur completely, which led to an annoying clicking for much of the race. Test rode the bike (and didn't note the clicking then), checked in for the race, dropped off T2 bag, rode the bike down to T1 for check-in, caught the shuttle back, and took it easy the rest of the evening. We were staying at the Fairmont (host hotel) which made all of this very easy.
Race morning - got up at 0400 (0648 start), ate my normal breakfast and coffee, headed to the shuttle, got to T1 as it opened, pumped up the tires, got the bike situated, and had plenty of time to spare. Went down to the beach, swam about 10 minutes to warm up, and got in the holding area well in advance of the start.
Swim - 39:41 (85/178 M4044) - no warning before the cannon went off, just a bunch of guys going "I guess we're swimming now!". I'd set up mid-pack, which was about where I expected to finish (and did). Conditions were excellent - 2' seas, minimal wind. Nothing too much to say about the swim - a fair amount of contact, good visibility to avoid more contact, kept my line fairly well. Never had a consistent draft buddy, so I just kept swimming. Swam up until my hands hit sand, popped up, and ran to the arch.
T1 - 6:21 - probably could have gained a little bit of time here. Trotted fairly slowly up the hill (which was fairly steep) to my rack, dropping my speed suit and pulling up my jersey as I went. Goggles and cap came off as I hit the bike, pulled my speed suit the rest of the way off, and dropped it into my T1 bag after dumping my shoes/sunscreen/chamois cream out. My delay came in putting my helmet on before putting sunscreen on, meaning I had to take that back off before applying. Overall, not a terrible transition given the length of the uphill run.
Bike - 3:11:45 (130/178 M4044) - a hilly course was going to kill me, partly because I've not been attentive to my body comp over the past few months and it shows. At the mount line, there's an immediate 5-6% climb, which makes the push the volunteers were offering a blessing. Up Hapuna Beach Access Road, right on the Queen K, up/down/up/down/up/down, turn around at Mauna Lani, and head north to Hawi. Just north of Kawaihae, it started sprinkling/raining, which made conditions much more bearable (except the sliding going down the hills at 35+ mph). The climb to Hawi, although a slog, wasn't as bad as I thought it would be (probably because no headwind that day). Turnaround and back to Mauna Lani/Fairmont Orchid. I will say I wasn't happy that solids were only available at the Hawi AS and not at the others, but I had my own on the bike because they announced it in advance. The hill out of Kawaihae was the worst overall place on the course for me - 5' of 4-5% climbing. Overall, I had pretty poor power management due to the hills and my poor preparation, but my VI was at least only 1.08...
T2 - 4:19 - roll into T2, rack my bike, pick up the T2 bag (go bag, sunscreen, shoes with socks within). Go to the grassy area to sit down, get shoes on, pack bike shoes and helmet, quick spray of sunscreen, and out onto the run. Put my number/hat/shades on as I went. It was about here that I realized how F-ing hot it had become and that the lack of wind on the bike course was about to become very painful.
Run - 3:03:21 (154/178 M4044) - the only reason I wasn't lower in the AG was because the conditions sucked so bad for everyone. For me, though, this is where I felt the lack of adequate run preparation. By the first mile, I realized I wasn't going to be able to run most of the course; the legs just weren't having it. Used lots of ice, cold sponges, fluids (peed twice during the run), but just couldn't push any harder. The course has a lot of short steep hills (it's on a golf course for the most part, and has elevation changes just like a golfer would expect), which meant I was walking up a lot of hills and coasting down the other side. ASs were well stocked, and the volunteers were great. The conditions and my preparation just weren't conducive for me to have anything but the worst run leg I've ever had...
Although I say a lot of negatives above, it was a great experience overall. Mainly, I need to make sure I do my planned workouts, and I will get the ROI I deserve. Heat acclimation is also something to work on prior to a similar race in the future; until now, it hadn't been too hot here at home, so I'd not had that preparation. Now it's time to put this behind me and bear down for IMOO in 12 weeks.
For those interested, https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1198437311 tells the whole story.
Comments
To be harsh, I experience no lost love for the hole which the Blues punched in your training (as they eliminated my Blackhawks) ??.
But I do feel your pain in terms of lack of preparation. I found myself in the same spot you did for IMSA in April. Just missed too many critical WKOs. It looks like you've taken a no BS assessment of what happened and are prepared to NOT tomake the same mistakes again.
Great effort and way to enjoy the day as you adjusted your expectations to match your training/CTL prep. I hope we both prepare better next time.
Nice RR, Bill. I did Honu last year, so it was fun to remember my similar experience -- swim was good, bike was fun, and run was more like a death march. Good luck to you the rest of your season.
Sounds like you enjoyed yourself, as you didn't really make any negative comments about heat or wind - that shows a good attitude towards the race.
I;ve run on that golf course in the middle of the day - its no joke, and it;s surprising how much (and how little) shade a palm tree can provide!
Congrat's on completing the race Bill, sometime we have to slog thru (and thanks for sharing)!
David - it's a little hard to be sympathetic for the Hawks. It's nice to have the hockey teams reflect the baseball teams' relationship for once (just like baseball reflected hockey last year...). Regarding the race, though, I had to start just thinking it was a long fun workout in a beautiful environment at some point.
Ed - already feeling the synchrony of all of us on the same schedule. It's what helped me get my WKOs in the past couple of days when I just wanted to come home from work and curl up into a ball.
Gabe - definitely make it a point to do it! You can tell that a lot of the attention to detail put into the WC race rubs off on this race (including the fact that much of the signage ends up saying "IronMan World Championship"). It's a challenging race, but no more than SG or similar.
FP - How, with the community support and the ungodly ticket prices, do the Habs (or Leafs, or any other Canadian team) not make the playoffs? I think it's a Gary Bettman led conspiracy...
Al - I had to make myself enjoy it, and a lot of that is in reflection. During the run, I certainly was making a lot of negative comments about the heat, most of which shouldn't be shared on a family forum. I never realized just how hot running on the golf course would be, or that I would be glad to be running on the road sections to get away from some of the humidity.
Alan - thanks for pushing me to get it written! It gave me a chance to reflect and realize that, although I was poorly prepared, it still was a fun experience overall, and my wife is still saying how much she enjoyed the trip overall.