Patricia Rosen's Kona 2016
This was a wonderful experience although my time on the course does not reflect it... oh, what the heck! As coach Patrick said I always DO have fun out there! I came into this race after a month of bronchitis and sinusitis and was still sick! 4 weeks of every antibiotic out there and a course of steroids early on. Yuck! I felt a lot better at the start of this race and the week heading into this but had not trained much at all! this was new territory for me so I decided on the front end to take it easy and just lap in the experience!
Swim: New HUUB skin suit. Lovely! really felt smooth in the water. Not enough glide on my neck but this was only the third time I'd worn this suit, so a learning experience. the fishies were really cool! I saw some blue eyed skinny little things swimming, all along the course. (saw turtles while training too!) The people were crazy! I decided to follow a slower set of feet because my mission was not to go nuts out there but to have fun. I could have gone a lot faster on that swim but I really didn't like some of the aggressive behaviors out there and my mission was to stay smooth. I usually like mass starts because I am little and can slip in between two or three crazy folks and take a ride... but people were a little over the edge on this one.
Bike: thanks for the video, Ironman! saw myself at 3:41 in the recap! (next time I wish they would photo shop those wrinkles! I still think I'm 20!) I love the bike and it is my favorite part of most races. The winds were very wicked this year and I was super slow. I got off the bike at the turnaround and went to the PP and put water on my face. (used water every water stop somewhere on the head and torso...). Heading back the last 20 miles were wicked but I had decided to dial it down to IF of 0.60 for the whole course so I was staying on target regardless and kept it steady.
Run: I felt great for the first 14 miles! absolutely no issues!!! and then mile 14... the sun went down and I noticed I could no longer feel where my feet were landing or see anything. since I usually train in the morning without the benefit of the sun, it is usually no big deal but for some reason I felt like I was going to fall over, fall out, or learn about the quality of cement close up! Plan: save it for mile 18 or keep on trucking and pretend I don't fell dizzy... I'm good at that! I can ignore blisters, rubbing sores, and even sinusitis! but honestly I had forgotten to bring my long acting tylenol with me... I had temperature at the start, didn't notice it on the swim, had tylenol on the bike but had forgotten to bring it with me on the run.... so I decided that unfortunately, even though I thought I was being a wimp (I've seen folks finish with kidney stones, appendicitis and intestinal torsions!) I needed to walk a bit... Damn! I had redundancy in my nutrition, salt tabs and fluids but screwed up on the tylenol... I had no idea whether I had a temperature or not... was it lack of training? the mild sunburn? (I had sprayed well with sunblock) or was I really being a wimp? I tired running at mile 15 and again I felt like I was going to end up on the ground... so I walked.... speed walked... ok, try again the next mile... on mile 17 I was a little better, but mile 18 was tough again... so... I walked..... (bummer) all of the uphills, and ran the downhills on the way back until mile 25. Less than a stellar finish.
Note that my transitions were very slow as I treated myself to water, ice and the PP. so it was a slow race. I slipped from 14 to 17 on the run... 
not my usual but I just didn't have it in me. lessons learned and grateful for finishing!
so, all in all I was still pleased to finish and to be in the top half of the age group. I believe that the lack of training made a big difference and the sinusitis was still kicking my butt, although I did feel better at the start of the race. I was very grateful for feeling better and being able to finish the course...
so lessons from this race: 1. I love Kona, I did have fun. Finishing is better than falling down even if I was only freaking myself out.... I think I made the right choice on strategy. 2. Listen to the coaches. Dialing back the bike may have saved me being able to even do the race 3. Redundancy will save you. extra salt, extra nutrition and extra tylenol in each leg of the race. I lost salt and nutrition on the bike and the run out of my various containers... but had extra... in my belly pack (spi belt), bike Bento and run belt) and just forgot to take the tylenol with me from the bike to the run. Lesson learned.
So in conclusion: Thank you Goddess Pele for not crushing me with the heat! and to the coaches for keeping me sensible, and to all of you listening. I really like to rise above adversity as it will happen... and regardless it's all about enjoying the journey. No one is paying me big bucks to do this and in fact I gave up some dough to do this! so what the heck! What an honor to be there!
Love to you all! It's time to chill and heal up! See ya next year! and carry on!
Comments
Patti - you carried on, carried on. And didn't fall down! I'm suspecting as we get older, our internal control mechanism for maintaining homeostasis in the mood flow thru our necks to out heads can go on the fritz a little easier with the stress of prolonged activity. At least, I;m noticing the same feelings happening 10-15 miles into the run the last few years in IMs. This year, I counteracted it by eating some solid food for the first time ever on the run and that seemed to help. Or maybe, my long-acting acetaminophen just runs out, like yours did (I take one every morning for the funky feelings I get from my SCI).
Anyway, good on you for showing the OF flag with pride. Keep doing it til you can't!
Hey Doc...congrats on another Kona finish. Well done coming off the sick bed. Very smart to dial it back a bit so you could finish, and you still got top half of the AG. So proud of you. It is amazing how we all continue to learn new things each time we race and how to deal with the situations that get thrown at us. You adapted beautifully. Take care, rest up, heal up. And as has become your trademark sign-off here in EN, "Carry on".
PS - I like your new term AOTA. Sounds Hawaiian.
Thanks, Bruce! AOTA is stolen from my cycling friends who also introduced me to the rules and in particular rule # 5.... so I am not allowed to whine! and rule #6 which I did not follow well enough...
see ya next time! PM me for the "rules" if you are unfamiliar
Patti, Congratulations on your finish! It was great seeing you out on the course...it helps to keep one moving forward! Hope to see you at other races!! Enjoy the down time and get better!
good to see you as well! hopefully we'll see each other at the next one
I had the Tylenol on the bike but not on the run and it wears off in 8 hours. I don't use it for anything except fever....
Every year around October at the end of the season I usually get a mild bronchitis...so the only training trick I have is to use Beta Glucans to prevent viral infections... it didn't work this time probably due to multiple trips for work. I still have the darn sinus infection! been to ENT twice and am again on antibiotics!!!... praying I don't have to have surgery... I got the sinusitis on a trip to Boston for work. The bronchitis was terrible and is still hanging on as well... I think that was from a kid in the ER... (occupational hazard of hugging children that don't feel well
I do not recommend taking tylenol unless you need it but it will not affect hydration, your kidneys... Aleve (Naprosyn) and Ibuprofen will. This year: Havana half marathon in November, Boston in April... likely do a May IM... not Texas!
Carol, you are an inspiration! I
my OF buddies!
glad you were able to get it done.
sorry about the lead up illness.
yes those swim aggression behaviors from folks are something.
weird stuff with the nighttime running. you managed it well.
take care and see you at our next kona.
thanks for the feedback! and good wishes
Hey Patti!
Well of all the random EN folks we've picked up off of Ali'i drive in a mini-van - you are THE BEST! Ha - it was great to meet you and have you to ourselves for a few minutes.
Thanks for sharing your experience and super glad you didn't get to know the paement too well. I took Tylenol for the first time (regular) at the start and late in the run. I don't know if it made things less painful, but they went down fine and didn't make things worse. As a doc, I was interested in your perspective on that. Sounds like you just took it because you were sick. I'm thinking of keeping it in my repitor as long as it doesn't do any harm.
Hope to see you again and best of luck to you in your future adventures. DON'T hop in to just any random mini-van tho.... usually doesn't end well!
Cheers! - Jenn
The tylenol.... I don't usually recommend it unless you have an issue that requires it... It won't hurt though. It is one more item to worry about in your ditty bag so if you don't need it probably not necessary... I use the 8 hour tylenol so I take one at the beginning and one near the end of the race.
It was great to meet you and your hubbie! Awesome race, Jenn! You are a rockstar!
This year my goal is to get close to your goal FTP! Wowzer!
I saw your post about Tucson.... watch out for those rattlesnakes on your porch! I thought you lived in New Hampshire?