Carol D's Kona 2016 race report
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Ironman Chattanooga, 2015, was to be my last full Ironman. However, qualifying for Kona made me rethink that decision very quickly:-) I think I had a pretty good year training. Lots of long bike rides and many long runs (more than the plan called for), although I didn't hit every workout. Turby and I took swim lessons over the winter, as well. They really worked for him - not so much for me. If anything, my swim times felt much slower than in the past. So, going into October - I had a few goals for Kona: 1) Finish before midnight and take it all in, since this would be the last time; 2) There were 16 women in my age group so I thought I could definitely make the top 10 if all went well, and 3) If I had a really really good day, I could make the top 5 and be on the podium:-). This was my 2nd time to Kona (2012), and I thought if I could come in anywhere close to the 14:54 I did then - I would be ecstatic!
View from our Condo
Pre-race: We arrived Wednesday evening the week before the race. Our condo was so awesome! Right on the water; never needed to turn on the AC since there was a beautiful breeze coming in the sliding doors right onto our bedroom and living room (Kona Bali Kai on Ali'i). Thursday we were up very early (6 hours time difference!) and went for a swim at Dig Me beach. It was SO great to be back here again; after being here in 2015 for Turby's race! I did my last longish (8-miles) run that afternoon on Ali'i Dr. Wow - I forgot how hot it gets here in the afternoon! Friday we swam again in the morning. Sat. was the Ho'ala practice swim (2.4 miles) which I did in 1:40 - the exact same time as my swim in 2012. Turby had a 17-min. PR! I went for a 4-mile run later that afternoon and felt great. I finally was able to pick up my bike from TBT later that afternoon:-) Sunday morning was another swim, then we drove out to the turn-off to ride our bikes up the climb to Hawi with Jenn Eckert and her hubby, Mike, and back down. Holy cross wind! Monday I skipped the swim in the a.m. but went down to see everyone, and attended the IronGents and Ladies dinner that evening. It was wonderful to see Patti Rosen and hang out with Jenn and Mike again. So inspiring seeing so many older athletes all competing in the World Championships! Tues. I had a great swim drafting off of Turby! We also biked from KMC out for 40 mins and came back, with Jenn and Mike. Jenn and I did a 3-mile brick to the Energy Lab and back. It was brutally hot coming out of there! Wed. I jogged a couple miles and Wed. evening was the EN dinner which was the BEST food we had in the 2 weeks we were there! SOOOO great seeing all of the EN folks and chatting it up! Thurs. I think I jogged a mile to try out my headlamp and Quarq to see how they felt in my pockets. All good... Friday morning was EN breakfast and we enjoyed sitting with Rick and his daughter, Elizabeth. It was at this time that Rick told us about his experience at Kona in 2014 with the headwind in both directions. Little did we know... Dropped the bike and bags off and it was FEET UP the rest of the day.
Race Day: Up at 3:15 for applesauce, protein, and banana and 2 cups of coffee. Headed down around 4:30 and caught up with Jenn and Mike. Jenn and I got in the line for body marking and it took FOREVER to get through that and to the bikes! Once there - all was smooth. Got the tires pumped, bottles on, stuff in T1/T2 bags that I decided I might need and back just in time for the team picture. So stressful! They need to do something about that!! Said good bye to Turby and went with Jenn to try and relax, get the speed suits on, one more potty visit. Drank a bottle with Carbo Pro and Ultima until swim time, then took one gel. I was surprisingly calm (for me) at this point. Not so much when we were in line waiting (sorry Jenn!)
Jenn and I - pre race
Swim: Goal - 1:40, Actual - 1:40
I lined up near the buoy line towards the back of the pack. It was just perfect. Hardly any contact and was able to find feet pretty early on. I stayed with one woman for about 3/4's of the swim. I looked at my splits and was surprised how fast I was going:-) I guess for whatever reason it took me a lot longer to come back in then it did to go out. I lost my girl with about 500 yards left when we got into a pack of men who were kind of resting. But I saw the finish and just kept swimming. Geez - that is a LONG time to be out there!
So glad to be done - annoying cap kept sliding back!
T1: Goal - < 10 mins, Actual: 8:04 (put some butt-butter in my shorts and had to pee)
Bike: Goal - 7:15 to 7:30, Actual - 7:45
I felt okay starting out, but my legs didn't seem to have anything. I tried to drink a lot and get some fuel going (Carbo Pro and Ultima and Base salt). It seemed like a normal tail wind for a little while, but sometime after the airport I saw the grass blowing the other direction! WHAT??? I kept thinking about our conversation with Rick the previous morning and I thought - uh oh, it's happening again. I will say, it started to wear on me mentally. I was so looking forward to a nice fast ride out on the Queen K. But I kept going along and tried to get my watts up, just wasn't happening. The climb to Hawi wasn't as windy as the training ride and I was happy to see ENers coming down the other way. I realized that I hadn't peed at all after I got to the turnaround! I stopped at BSN, got my fuel refill, went to the port-a-potty and put some vaseline on my feet and a pair of socks. Thank goodness that I had them, because the balls of my feet were on fire! Then the fun began. I love the ride down from Hawi but it seemed like there were more uphills than I remember. It was also now that they ran out of water at the aid stations! I was stopping at every single aid station to fill my torpedo with water and pour some over me, but there were 3 in a row that had nothing but nasty "pool" water. Ugh. I was really starting to worry and finally got to an aid station that had water:-) The rest of the ride was uneventful - playing cat and mouse with several athletes but none of us were setting any records out there. It just seemed to go on forever against the wind and I knew I'd never make my goal. It's kind of frustrating because I had so many really good race rehearsals, but I suppose if you never swim 2.4 miles beforehand, and you don't train in a head wind - you don't really know! It was SO good to finally get off the bike. I walked with another woman to the T2 tent and took my time trying to get some mojo going for the run.
Heading home on the Queen K
T2: Goal - <10 min, Actual - 8:44 (shoes, sock on - go to bag - one more pee)</p>
Run: Goal - < 6 hours, Actual - 6:16
I got everything on and started out on the run. About 1/4 mile into the run, I saw Turby on the Hot Corner. Oh my - what a meltdown I had!! I just fell apart and cried and cried. I said "I can't do this; I don't want to do this!". I guess I was just so worn out from that bike ride, I could not fathom running a marathon! Turby was so patient with me and said "Just go out there and jog and walk; you have lots of time." So that's what I did. I actually started to feel okay and only walked the aid stations on Ali'i Drive. WooHoo! It was SO great to see Rick, Patti, and Jenn out there on Ali'i. It certainly did give me a boost since it was still daylight and I could see them:-) I saw Turby just before Palani and said I felt okay and thought I could finish. I walked up Palani and tried to mentally get ready for the trek out to the Energy Lab. Oh - my HR monitor stopped working around mile 3, so that was a bummer. And my headlamp did not work from the get-go. The only way I could get it to stay on was to hold the button in with my thumb. Ugh. So I did that out to the Energy Lab and when I stopped at the porta-potty, After taking it out of my pocket - the button was gone so that was the end of my headlamp! At this point, I was jogging and walking. It gets really lonely out there when it's so dark, and it's just so difficult to mentally get yourself going, although seeing Jenn (#2) gave me a little enthusiasm. My nutrition was great - no problems with the Carbo Pro and Ultima! I think I peed about 6 times, at least - so I guess I was pretty hydrated. I need to talk to Jenn Edwards about that peeing and running talent:-) Finally got my way out of the Energy Lab and headed towards home. I saw 2 women in my age group at one of the aid stations and thought maybe I could stay with them. One of them I did pass, but the other one was a bit ahead. After another potty stop, she was gone. So just keep jogging/walking/jogging/walking. At some point I realized I actually was going to make the cutoff and I was able to actually smile and relax a little! Coming up the final hill, I was SO happy that I was almost done. After coming down Palani and making the left - I thought it would never end to get to Hualalai! I was happy that even though I was kind of sore all over and really, really tired - nothing hurt bad and I could still actually "run"! I came down Ali'i Drive for one last time and got a bit emotional with all the spectators screaming and yelling. I think the closer to midnight you come down the finish chute, the more ecstatic the spectators are!! I guess Turby, Jenn, and Mike were screaming my name - but I didn't even hear them over the noise:-) I heard Mike Reilly call my name, did my traditional Ironman dance, and it was OVER!!
Poor Turby - boo, hoo, hoo Ironman finish line dance:-)
Final time: 15:59:06 Age group: 6th place (for now!)
It was amazing to me that I could have my slowest Ironman ever, to be an hour over my previous Kona time, and still have a 6th place AG position. I guess I was not the only old lady out there who had a rough day:-)
Sunday evening: After a wonderful evening at the Kona Brewing Co. with Jenn and Mike celebrating our accomplishments, we were on our way back to the condo when I get a text from Patti Rosen and another from a friend from home saying "They just called your name for 5th place! Where are you???" Holy Moly - WTF??? We were just getting to the condo so I ran up to the room and checked the results. Official results said 6th place. IronTrac said 5th place! Patrick said "get down there ASAP!!". Patti tried to talk to them about holding my award and Turby threw on his clothes and off we went. Fortunately, the pros were still speaking and Turby dropped me off at the front door. I ran like a crazy woman to find Patti who was near the stage. Thank you Patti!! The guy in charge of awards came over and told me that the 1st woman in my age group was disqualified for cutting the course (accidentally?!). Someone brought me my wooden bowl with 5th place engraved and my new watch:-) The ceremony was now over, so Patti got me up on the stage to take a picture up on the podium. Turby was here by now too, so he got to share the excitement! As great as this was, I can not tell you the disappointment I felt (and still do) for missing out on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be up on the podium at the Ironman World Championships with my age groupers! I'm not sure why they could not have notified me once they realized the DQ - but it's over and there is nothing I can do about it now. Oh well, reasons for everything.
Got my 5th place award:-) On the podium! Thanks Patti:-)
People do not believe me when I say I am done with full Ironman - but I think I'm starting to actually convince them! As exciting as it is coming across that finish line, it's just not fun for me anymore. I started to dread the long rides and long runs and long swims and only could think about other things I'd rather be doing. My Mom will be 90 this year, and my Grandkids are doing all sorts of things that I am missing. It's time for me to do things that are less selfish and more important and gratifying. Anyway, I'm sure I'll be back to Kona when Turby qualifies again:-)
Last Ironman finisher picture!
Thanks again to Turby - the best husband and sherpa on the planet! Thanks again to Patrick, Rich (congrats!), and Mariah for all your support; and ALL of the EN peeps that I've had the honor to meet and share the same course with! I have spent many hours reading race reports and associated comments and have learned SO much from all of you. I'm just in awe of this talented group of athletes and look forward to following your dreams! See you at the 70.3 races:-)
Comments
Also, great pics! My favorite was the one of your finish line dance!
I'm sure your "Post Full IM" life will be awesome in so many ways!
I so wish you had had the opportunity to receive your bowl with your fellow competitors, but at least you have that bad boy! So many desire the bowl and never receive one!
Congrats woman!!! (((hugs)))
5th Place Kona Finish!!
Damn!
I very much enjoy following you and Turby through the training cycle on Strava!
Can't imagine what a tough day it was out there under those KONA conditions, but it did put a big smile on my face during the day as I followed you and each of the other EN'ers crossing each milestone along the way!
Very happy for you Carol, well earned!
Congratulations!
SS
Carol - the accidental Ironman champ. What a sweet bonus to add at this stage of life. They say we get happier as we get older ... you're sure proof of that. I wish I had your resolve to absolutely, positively drop back on the insane training slogs we do getting ready for IM. Another of the benefits of grandkids, I guess. Your final picture says so much - happy at the journey, looking forward to other delights to come.
big congrat on the wooden bowl.
way to persevere during the day.
sorry we won't have another chance to race kona with you.
I will try to imitate your finish happy dance next race.
so maybe see you again with Turby.
have some good downtime.
Hey Carol!
Well talk about going out on top! With a WOODEN BOWL! Awesome!
That moment when you didn't want to proceed and Turby said all the right things... that's really cool of you to share. Big "fist bump" to Turby and congrats on having a relationship that can survive an IM mini-meltdown!
I'm glad you're going to get to spend some more time with your family and it sounds like you're really ready. You know as well as anyone that IM will always be here, and a Kona IM sherpa is a pretty cool gig from what I understand.
All the best to you!
P.S. When and if you get back to racing, we'll chat about the pee-and-run. For now, we get to be grown-ups and pee in potties like big girls!