Pete Lautenslager KONA race report 2017
Kona 2017
It’s been quite the season for me and a very long one for sure. I started training with EN Oct 1 of last year and have been training non stop since. Now, I can finally rest!! Yay!
As some of you know, my A race was at Lake Placid. I had hoped to qualify for Kona, but realistically, it was a long shot. After a great race I was ecstatic to have finished second in my AG. I qualified, but I had no real intentions of actually going to Hawaii. The timing was just too hard. My daughter was starting college (and her first year of Division I swimming), my son runs Cross Country, My wife teaches and the fall is a busy time, My training partners pack it up around mid September and for the most part so do I… So I was content with knowing I had met my goal and was feeling good - that is until Coach P and Mariah started working me over at the awards ceremony 
Next thing I knew I was raising my hand with a “yes I’ll take the slot” and an instant feeling of “What did I just get myself into?” Three more months of hard training, another full Ironman, an ocean swim without my beloved wetsuit! All against the best in the world. And just for good measure I’ll drive down to Chattanooga (13 hours) and do the 70.3 World Championships in September. Really, I could be sitting on my couch watching college football having a beer, enjoying the fall, what was I thinking!
My greatest fear was the swim. It’s intimidating to watch it on TV and there were so many unknowns for me; No wetsuit, ocean swells and currents, salt water, mass, deep water start. Out of sheer fear I started swimming A LOT. I kissed the wetsuit good bye and tried to swim 4 - 5 days a week, open water if possible until it got too dark and cold in the morning to go to the lake. I ended up averaging 15,000 yards (or more) a week and in the end the Kona swim turned out to be my favorite part! If I could just keep that yardage up I might actually become a good swimmer...
The Fall training was new to me and challenging. Coach P and I agreed on keeping to a 70.3 like training plan with one long ride a few weeks before Kona just to remember what 100 miles feels like. My training partners winced at doing 100 miles so they each begrudgingly took a turn doing a 50 mile loop with me! Luckily we had some super hot weather to train in, but I really don’t know if it did any good. Kona is all about the heat and wind and it’s so extreme I don’t think anything short of living there for a few months can prepare you for it.
Everything about Kona is hard - and expensive. Shipping my bike was a new experience. The cost of shipping the old Felt B14 probably cost more than the value of the bike! Speaking of bikes, Kona is a showcase for super bikes. I had some serious bike envy issues and counted maybe 5 other bike with cable shifters But of course it’s all about the engine, right? (and paying for college)
I arrived in Kona on the Sunday before the race. Did I mention that it is hot? Just walking to the store makes you break out in a sweat and all that you can think is “how am I possibly going to race in this?” The atmosphere is super cool though with about every Triathlon vendor you can think of with tents set up, athletes running and biking everywhere, it’s super festive and as the week wore on I got increasingly excited about the race. Bike check-in is a show all it’s own. They announce your name as you enter, fans lined up behind the fence and you are escorted by a volunteer and a guy documenting every part of your bike as you walk down a chute. He had to do a double take with my Frankenstein Sram, Shimano, Tri Rig set up (it all works). You really feel like a rock star as you enter transition and get set up.
The race,
Hot, hot and windy. And then just hot.
Quite frankly the Kona course is not that hard. About 4,000 feet of easy grade climbing on the bike, it’s not technical at all and a few easy hills (minus the big climb in town) on the run. But what makes this the hardest race I’ve ever done is the heat and wind - it’s punishing and just never quits!
Swim - 1:15.55
The swim at Kona is awesome. Warm water, crystal clear, fish and coral everywhere and the wonderful buoyancy of salt water. Here at home I do open water swims in a fairly large lake, so I’m use to some chop and waves. Honestly the waves/swells at Kona are no worse than what I experience here at home. Overall it was a huge relief to get in the water and feel comfortable.
For the start, I lined up about 20 yards behind the line to the right. Just before the start as we were treading water I hear someone call my name - it’ was @Frederick Guesneau . We wished each other luck and high fived. More great EN mojo that was there all week. The start was the washing machine effect that I feared and I briefly thought “oh boy here it comes” but before I knew it I was out of it and actually had moments of clear water throughout the race. Yes there was a lot of contact, but for me (a mid pack swimmer) it was the “nicest” contact I’ve had in a swim. I think it has to do with everyone being a seasoned racer and good swimmer. When there was contact it always seemed to separate quickly and people would straighten out and be on their way. When I neared the finish I was sooo happy. I had thought and worried about this swim for the last three months and now I actually did it! I was thinking even a 1:20 would be acceptable, so I was really happy with my time.
T1 - hmmm, not many bikes here People swim fast in this race!!
Bike - 5:49.19
Ridiculous winds and heat. My Garmin read 94 and apparently the radiant heat off the road was 120. Around mile 80, the bottom of my feet got hot! I went through 12 bottles of gatorade and didn’t pee once (I did pee at mile 1 on the run). I hit some serious headwinds around mile 30. The road is straight as an arrow and you can see about 20 miles ahead. With no road change in sight I resigned myself to a long bout into the headwinds. The winds however continued all the way to the turnaround in Hawi (mile 60). Now everyone talks about how the winds change early afternoon and I thought “really, it can’t be that bad”, Well - it is! Sure enough as I started the descent out of Hawi the winds started to change and I’ll be damed if there wasn’t a head wind all the way back. It was physically hard but mentally it was torture. I was on target of my Best Bike split time estimate (5:38) until about mile 80. However, the wind and heat just took it’s toll. I also was hyper concerned about the heat and preparing for the run so when in doubt I would dial it back. In the end I was about 10 minutes over my estimated time. Not bad and I’ll take it!
T2 - A little slow, fumbled around with the sun screen, but I didn’t get sunburned!
Run - 4:04.23
At Ironman Syracuse this year we had super hot conditions 90+. During that race my heart rate started to get out of control (160 +) and that means walking. Granted I was pushing hard in that race but the experience had me concerned about Kona. All I could think of was the heat maxing out my HR and major walking happening. So straight out of T2 I started my cooling efforts. Coach P’s race saver ice bag is worth it’s weight in gold! I would hold it out at aide stations like I was trick or treating and volunteers would fill it with ice. For the entire race I would hold the bag in my hands, put it down my back, down my shorts, in my top, wherever I needed it. End result is that my average HR never really exceeded 140 (average was 138). In fact as I look back on it, I probably could have gone harder but I was just too scared of the heat to try. The runs is super cool as it goes out and back along Alii Drive and the ocean. Lots of energy, people and festivities here. Then the course turns and goes up to the Queen K Highway. It sucks here. It’s long, straight, hot, ugly and no people. Did I mention that I hate this part? Your entire life revolves around aide stations, picking them off one at a time… Along the way I saw @Coach Patrick and then @mike roberts and then @tim cronk . By the time I got to the energy Lab I saw Mike and Tim on the out and back and was happy that I wasn’t too far behind (I wasn’t going to catch them, I wasn’t that close) but I still felt satisfied that I was at least in the same section of the race as they were.
The last part of the race was a blur - I was in a lot of pain. It also was getting dark. I wear prescription sunglasses and it was too dark to see with them on. I’m not blind without them but it is hard to see clear in the distance. So the coveted run down Alii Drive and into the chute was kind of a dark, blurry and a painful experience and happened fast. Also this is the first time I’ve finished in the dark and the bright lights of the finish chute kind of blinds you as you come across the line. It all happened so quick, I wish I could have savored it a bit more.
I hobbled out from the finish to meet my wife and friends and was filled with satisfaction, it truly lived up to the hype. Simply an amazing race that I will never forget.
Finish - 11:17.36
AG - 34 / 143 (5th American)
OA - 1201 / 2455
To do well at Kona:
1. It has to be your A race.
2. You have to do it at least once to know what to expect
3. You have to train like a madman to be prepared.
I’m not sure if I will ever make it back. If I do try for it again, it will be at an earlier qualifier race so that I can make Kona my A race for the season and not stress about doing 2 Ironman races in 3 months.
Comments
You can KQ any time you want. Like you, I've already begun thinking about how to approach differently if there's ever a next time. I never got over jet lag, so I would need to address that and actually have a plan. Prepare harder for the swim and start in a more aggressive place. Once you're stuck in the 1:05, 1:07, 1:10 groups, it's too crowded to move up much. The bike is so dynamic, you just gotta be physically prepared for whatever. And now that we know how desolate and oppressive those 12 miles on the K are, should be better prepared mentally next time . . . if there is a next time.
I heard Reilly calling your finish as I was hobbling home on Ali'i. Sounded like you finished solo, and your awesome photo confirms. I finished with a few dozen, so my photos blow. But I smiled knowing that your long day, like mine, had come to a successful finish. Congrats again. Hope '18 is just as awesome.
MR
As one of those finishers who always "goes into the light" I an assure you, it is a welcome sight even if you know you can't see sh*t!
I too wear prescription sunnies and have recently done a long run without them. If you find a solution (you don't need one really like I do lol) let me know!
Rest up and enjoy your daughters swimming and sons running for the rest of the fall!