Paul C's Kona 2018 Race Report
RACE MORNING
Take what the day brings you. That’s what Mo is fond of saying; you just never know how you’re going to feel on a given day. I woke up at 4:01 a.m. Saturday, October 13 (alarm was set for 4:02) and my first thought was wondering what the day would bring. After all, this is Kona. The most incredible one-day triathlon experience. The Ironman World Championship. I felt ready
Qualifying early provided the opportunity to plan the perfect race and vacation itinerary. And for others to join us on the trip. We had 10 in our posse, including two experienced Ironman Sherpas. Jay and David and I left the house just before 5:00 a.m. Jay dropped us off next to the Kona Seaside Hotel, and it was only a short walk to the athlete entrance at the Courtyard by Marriott King Kamehameha’s Kona Beach Hotel. That property could really use a shorter name
David walked with me around the back of the hotel, to the point where the athletes had to separate from their Sherpas. He took a picture and wished me well. I had my gear in a mesh swimming pack, which I had to stuff into the clear race-morning plastic bag to get through the security check (no backpacks allowed). Once I cleared security I wore the mesh backpack again with everything stuffed in it
At this point it was about 5:20 a.m. The lines were surprisingly short. The first station was body marking, which consisted of a volunteer cleaning your arm and then applying the number tattoos. At the very back of the hotel was a station where you weighed in. I was 174; 12 pounds heavier than last year at Louisville
From there I was free until race time. I headed to the transition area to set up the bike and pump the tires. It wasn’t very congested, and I didn’t feel stressed. After that I chilled under the big tent until it was time to head over for the EN group photo. A friend gave me a very helpful tip: turn in your race-morning gear bag before you head back to transition, because all the traffic is headed towards transition and it’s impossible to make your way to bag drop and back
After the photo shoot, I hung around with the EN peeps until about 6:45 and then headed over to get in the water. It got really congested, and it took 12 minutes or so of fighting the crowd before I got to the steps. Then it seemed everyone was trying to stand on the beach but there wasn’t any room, so I just dove in and swam out to a spot right in the middle
Swim
I must admit, hearing that cannon go off at the Kona pier was a cool moment. I immediately started swimming forward, but after about 20 yards everything came to a dead stop. A treading water dead stop. There was a huge backup because 3 or 4 officials on surfboards had all clustered together and were blocking the path forward. I guess that was a random thing as they paddled back and forth to protect the starting line. One of them had a referee’s shirt and a white hat. I was going slow enough where I could have yelled at him to tell him how stupid that outfit looked
A lot of swimmers felt the need to sight often. Unless you’re in front I don’t see the point in sighting: even if you’re going crooked you can’t correct your path without bumping into everyone. And there was an awful lot of bumping. Thankfully it was all fairly clean for me with no major contact. I started off doing bi-lateral breathing just to protect my space and see whether someone was vectoring towards me
After a while things finally started to open up. My plan was to follow a pair of feet and not work too hard. I reminded myself to look for turtles and other fish; that helped reinforce decent swim form and take the stress out of the moment. I checked my watch at the boat marking the first turn: 38 minutes, just about the same time as the Hoa’la practice swim the week prior
For some reason I got way off course and was too far right for the second turn buoy. I made a sharp left turn to correct my course, and when I got to the buoy it was really crowded. I went sort of under the buoy and not around it, so technically I cut the course. Thankfully that surfboarder in the referee’s shirt didn’t see it
Just past that second turn I found another pair of feet. There were two times where I thought he was going too slow, but both times after trying to pass I was working too hard and stayed tucked in behind him. A lot of women were passing by me. They all seemed to have very good swim form. I envy people with really good swim form. Although it was honestly more admiration than envy. Maybe someday I’ll have good swim form
My time was 1:22:31, about the same time as the Hoa’la practice swim. I ran up the stairs, took off my cap and goggles, and went to stand under the hoses to rinse off the salt water. I had a secret fantasy to take a shower under those hoses, maybe with some Old Spice body wash. I wonder if anyone has ever done that
T1
In my race plan, I warned that I’d be slow in transition. It was 8 minutes and 53 seconds slow. That time ranked 120 out of 132 in my age group. But that includes taking a ukulele lesson from my volunteer. I learned to play “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” by that famous Hawaiian singer. It helped to strengthen my spiritual connection with the Big Island
But seriously, I was slow. I did a full change and used the potty. I knew putting on my Castelli tri top would be tough, but it seemed to just take forever. And I needed arm sleeves. And lots of sunscreen. And I put on socks and shoes
Exiting out of transition was easy, as my bike was very close to the exit. I lucked out with that rack position. I put on my helmet, turned on the Garmin 520, and jogged to the bike-mount line
Bike
I didn’t like the early portion of that bike course. Too many people fussing with their shoes. Too many turns. Too many people who cannot bike straight. Too many people trying to grab a frame-mount water bottle while going uphill
I played defense and stayed upright until we passed Hualalai Rd on the Kuakini Hwy. At the first turn-around toward Holualoa I saw my posse there. Apparently I forgot to tell them I was biking in a white top and not my red EN top, as they were surprised when I yelled at them going by. They yelled back
After the turn I started focusing on my nutrition plan. I had a Torhans bottle on the front with ~27 ounces of Skratch Sport Hydration, and two behind-the-saddle bottles: one with Skratch Wellness; the other with GU Roctane Energy Drink Mix. Going down the hill on Kuakini Hwy I took it easy and watched my heart rate drift downwards, all the way to 130. I also drank most of the Hydration on the downhill. It was lemon & lime flavor, my favorite
The bike course turns right onto Palani Rd for a short climb up to the Queen K. I finally decided to look at power going up that climb, keeping to about 240 watts. Other people were passing me, mashing the pedals and even standing up to crank the climb. The crowd was cheering wildly. I watched my 3-second average power and kept it steady
That left turn on to the Queen Ka’ahumanu Highway is at about the 7-mile mark. I caught up with Derrek on one of the subtle climbs out of town. We chatted for a while and then parted ways. My heart rate seemed to spike with any increase in effort, so I kept backing off the gas. There was a long ride ahead for me, and I wasn’t at all sure how it would go. My longest training ride this year was 84 miles, and I had only three other rides at 100K or higher. The biggest fear was a huge power crash after the turnaround in Hawi
The aid stations were very efficient. I grabbed water, stored it behind the saddle, then grabbed GE and stashed it in the down-tube bottle holder. Or, if I was clear of other bikers I’d pour it straight into the Torhans and toss it. Staying hydrated was not an issue as I was peeing regularly. Maybe because it was not killer hot and sunny, and perhaps I didn’t need as much hydration as I wasn’t in full-on race mode
At about mile 40 the course turns left and onto Hwy 270 for the ride to Hawi. My average power at that point was about 168 and I felt well in control. It’s about a 19-mile ride along a series of rolling hills with the actual climb to Hawi at the end, rising from about 230 feet of elevation to about 700 feet over 7 miles or so
The turnaround was smooth and uneventful. I grabbed my bike special-needs bag and took the Chamois Butt’r. The ride back to the Queen K was fast, and easier than I thought, which meant the winds were favorable. I rode at 24 mph and 157 average watts. Heart rate stayed in the low 130’s
My plan was to ride primarily by heart rate on the return leg. I wanted to get to mile 78 (where we turn back onto the Queen K) and feel comfortable so that I could push that last stretch a bit harder. The plan seemed to be working, as I was feeling very strong at that point. I passed an awful lot of people those last 32 miles
I continued my aid station routine of water and GE. The water was for pouring over myself to stay cool. I tried to grab gels but just couldn’t seem to get the handoff from the volunteer. I fumbled each time and never got a gel
Passing people was tricky as a lot of riders were still over-powering the hills and then backing off. There was a young lady who passed me up a hill, then seemed to back off, and so I went to go around her. But there was a stiff headwind at the top of the hill, so I decided to stay behind her. The issue was she kept slowing down so I was in a drafting position. And that’s right when the motorcycle pulled up next to me with a guy on the back wearing a referee’s jersey. He yelled at me to pass her or back off, but surprisingly he didn’t give me a drafting penalty. I was clearly drafting. Oh, the shame I felt! But I didn’t let it bother me; there’s always Confession if I needed it. I backed way off and then resumed my pace
For some strange reason, I threw up at the 100-mile marker. I had taken a caffeinated gel at the 80-mile mark, and along with too much GE it emptied my stomach. I tasted that crummy Double Espresso flavor. But I never slowed down. I’m very proud of my ability to projectile vomit at 20+ mph
The last 18 miles of the bike was fast: I averaged about 23 mph. On the leg out to Hawi my average was only 18.6 mph, but with the faster return legs I had a shot at hitting the 20 mph average. I’ll admit it: I pushed a bit in those last miles to try for a bike split under 5:36. My heart rate stayed in zone 2 so I wasn’t overly worried
My official bike time was 5:35:44. AP was 170, NP was 183 for a VI of 1.08. I did a lot of coasting on the downhills, so I’m pleased with that VI number. But I was more pleased that I felt quite good after the ride. I met the goal of not doing anything too stupid on the ride
T2
My second transition was frustratingly slow. 8 minutes and 38 seconds, placing me 106th in my age group. I knew it would be slow as I planned for a full change of clothes. The trouble though was that my one-size-too-small bike top got stuck on my arms. It took two volunteers to help pull it off. Then I had to put on the red EN tri top. That got stuck too. I prepared a “go” bag but decided to just sit there and take everything out. I totally lost any sense of urgency in there
Just after you exit the tent, there’s was an aid station set up with water and ice. I wanted ice, and stopped to fill up both RaceSaver bags. Maybe it was a good thing that I had already emptied the go bag because I might have missed that aid station, and that’s an aid station you don’t want to miss
Run
My plan for the run was to not go out too fast, keep a close eye on heart rate, and hope for the best. I train with a Stryd power meter but chose to ignore power for the entire run leg. This year’s run training was impacted by several life events, as well as injuries from a fall while running on trails. But on the positive side I got in two 16-mile runs in weeks 17 and 18, and that gave me great confidence in my ability to finish
I tried to go slow that first mile, but with the cheering crowd it’s awfully difficult. I even walked up that first half of Palani Rd to stay slow. Strava says I did 9:17, and HR was in the low 140s. That’s actually a pretty good HR for me, but I knew that pace was too fast to maintain. I saw Danielle and Mike R and his crew along Ali’i Drive. It sure was nice seeing the EN folks out there cheering
Somewhere around the 2.5-mile mark, I threw up again. I didn’t really feel a sloshy stomach and had been consuming almost all my fluids from GE. When I barfed on the bike I wasn’t worried. But this worried me. At the next aid station I switched to Coke
Derrek caught up with me and we chatted again for a bit. He helped talk me off the ledge as I wasn’t sure what to do at that point. I actually felt okay, so maybe I just needed to get rid of those excess fluids in my gut. I took Tums to help things settle down. Derrek and I hit the run turnaround on Ali’l together. My gang was there to cheer us on in our matching EN kits. Derrek continued to run with me and then I told him to go ahead; I didn’t want to inadvertently speed up just to keep chatting with him
On the run course, we make that same right turn from the Kuakini Hwy to Palani Rd, and then the left onto the Queen K. I walked the hill up Palani and crossed the 8-mile mark in 11:33. At that point I had to pee, which confirmed my suspicion that the barfing was not a sign of impending system shutdown. The next several miles were just steady running at a consistent pace, between 10:00 and 10:28. I kept drinking Coke and avoided putting anything else in my system, aside from electrolytes. Luckily I had two Gatorlytes packs, and several salt tablets. Gatorlytes mixed in with warm Coke isn’t too bad on a hot day
The left turn to head down towards the Energy Lab was at around the 14-mile mark. I was worried about the Energy Lab; there are so many stories of people completely bonking during that leg. But at that point in the day, the temperature didn’t seem as hot, and I had been refilling the RaceSaver bags with ice at every aid station
I did mile 15 in 9:31, and mile 16 in 9:50, both well above my average pace (although both of those are downhill miles). I witnessed a lot of carnage on that section. There were people puking, people sticking their fingers down their throats to puke, and one guy who was listing so badly to starboard there was no way he was going to make it to the finish
Somewhere along mile 17 they have the run special needs bag. I grabbed mine and took out my extra pair of socks (in a Ziploc baggie), and my headlamp. Turns out I didn’t need either, but it was no problem to carry them
Mile 18 was my slowest mile of the day. It’s a long uphill climb. After the race I checked Patrick Lange’s splits. It was his slowest mile too. It was probably everyone’s slowest mile of the day. There’s not much you can do about it. It’s hot, there’s no wind, your feet hurt, your body is tired. You just fight through it
The climb continued into mile 19, and then we turned back onto the Queen K for the return leg. I pepped up at mile 20, running a 10:06 split. I knew I’d finish. The sun was setting, but I would cross the line. I did a lot of “form checks”, trying to lift my back foot and avoid pushing off, leaning forward, and keeping cadence high. When running, I was at 180 spm, a very good number at that point in the race
I caught up with Tom G. We ran together for a while. I continued to walk the aid stations. Initially I was only walking between the ice and Coke tables, but by this point I was walking the entire aid station. No walking between the aid stations became my rule. I keep pushing just to get home quicker. Miles 23-25 were very steady at 11:02, 11:06, and 11:02
At mile 25 you’re back in town at Makala Blvd. There are street lights providing ample light to run. There are cheering crowds. You’re almost there. Mile 26 starts near the corner of Palani Rd and goes to the start of Ali’l Drive at the corner of Hualalai Rd. I started to run faster. Everyone was starting to run faster. The adrenaline had kicked in and was taking over. I looked for an open space behind me to get a clean finish line (at that point in the race we were spread out enough to allow for it). I got one
Crossing the line was so cool. I couldn’t hear a thing with everyone screaming and cheering. I didn’t care. I was in a very happy space
Comments
Post-Race
My run split was 4:31:03, and total race time was 11:46:49
After I walked down the ramp, two volunteers met me and put on the post-race lei. They walked me through the back side of the transition, talking the whole way to ensure I was okay. I was fine. Just hungry, I told them. From there another volunteer walked me to the table to get my finisher’s gear (hat, shirt, and towel), along with my morning clothes bag, and then something to eat. I saw Derrek on the grass and sat with him for a while
We walked back together to meet our families by the ABC store. I got a huge hug from everyone. Then we walked to the transition area to pick up bikes and gear bags. We caught up with Patrick, Matt L, and Dave T.
My gang all drove back to the VRBO house and we had a cookout on the lanai. It was great end to a fantastic day. Just for good measure, I threw up one more time before going to bed
In retrospect, it was rather serendipitous that I didn’t have my A game for the race. I may have raced hard and screwed up my day. Instead, it felt like I had perfect pacing throughout the day and didn’t make any mistakes or do anything stupid
If I ever make it back to Kona, I reserve the right to push hard and do something stupid
Great read @Paul Curtin ! Congratulations!! The lure of wanting to go back and do things differently is always there.
Great report and performance Paul.
Vomiting twice - combination of heat and calories maybe?
Incredible journey getting to Kona and fantastic day executing!
SS
Paul, I read this report and felt like you were talking to me across the kitchen table. Can I admit I laughed out loud more than once, and mostly about your barfing? :D
I know how much you like to complete, but am so impressed that you did what we are all coached to do when our seasons don't go to plan...adjust your expectations for the day. You, sir are a champ and did it sooo right! I've no doubt that if you WANT it, you will get IT and go back to the big island for your chance to do something stupid.
For now, heal up from what ever ails you and enjoy some down time! (((HUGS)))
PS...12 extra pounds should keep you warmer in the dog pound when you take Mo to see her Browns, and this year they might even get you guys a W!
@Paul Curtin I love your report. You clearly have a rich inner monologue to go with that outer sly grin on your face. You had a special day, and for whatever reason stayed within yourself sufficiently to finish in a "happy space". That's the best way to go on the Big Island. Next time, race it if you want, but be forewarned - that way can easily lead to dragons' lairs.