Rob Sabo's IM Asia Pacific 2019 RR - Kona Qualification
Rob Sabo’s first KQ - 2019 Ironman Asia Pacific Championship Race Report
June 9, 2019
Cairn’s Australia
10:27:31 5th in Age group and Kona Qualifier (6 spots)
1:10:38 swim
5:35 T1
5:41:37 bike
3:07 T2
3:26:35 run
Pre race
I had planned to arrive early to accommodate to the 16 hour time difference. My first flight (out of Philadelphia on Sunday) was cancelled and the flight they got me on to LA was too late to make my connection to Australia. I therefore had to spend 20 hours at an LAX airport hotel till the next flight to Brisbane would leave and I arrived on Wednesday. One day lost, but that’s why I left early. I used Tri-Travel for booking my room and travel assistance and I highly recommend them.
Thursday I did an organized swim off Green Island, on the edge of the Great Barrier Reef. The water was very rough, an omen of things to come.
Friday, I suddenly had pain in the left chest and left upper back. I have no idea what I did or what brought this on. It only hurt when I took a deep breath and twisted or flexed my upper body. I had trouble sleeping Friday night as well as Saturday night. Saturday I got a massage with some improvement but I was getting a little worried about the swim and staying in the aero position on the bike. The water was still very choppy and the forecast was for mild temps, possible rain and significant wind. Early dinner with my daughter and early to bed.
RACE DAY
Sunday I woke up at 4 am and ate breakfast – 12oz applesauce, a banana, whey protein powder, a bonk breaker bar and a bottle of GE. My Hotel was across the street from the swim start and 400m from T1. I walked to T1 when it opened at 5AM and loaded up my bike with bars wrapped in rice paper and two bottles of GE. I pumped up my tires and put my Garmin on my bike. I then went back to my room and had two hours till the start of the IM at 7:30. There was also a HIM which started at 6:30. I shaved and showered and relaxed in my room till it was time to put on my wetsuit, which I did in my room. I did 2 sets of 40 with stretch cords without any significant pain, but if I twisted I did have pain.
SWIM 1:10:38 GOAL 1:04 23rd AG
I got in the water for a short warm up and to get a sense of what my chest/back were going to feel like. I then lined up on the beach with the 1:01 – 1:07 (Wave 2). During the start of the swim the other waves seemed to move up and walk passed the faster waves so when I finally started I was really with Wave 3 and 4 swimmers. We swam out through the surf about 200meters and then 90 degree right turn out 1 mile parallel to the beach. I had very little contact but it was very hard to sight due to pain and chop/swells and as well, the buoys were very far apart. In North America the buoys are ~100m apart. In Australia they were closer to 200-250meters. The first leg out was very hard. The sun and waves were coming from the left, so I was breathing to the right. This was the more painful side to sight and it was against the tide. Counterclockwise turn around two buoys and then back with the tide and breathing to the left. Usual regroup at the end, but uneventful finish. I ran through Transition 1 and grabbed my shoes out of my bag and ran with them a bit of distance around T1 before getting to my bike where I put them on. Helmets were on the bike and AWA racks were close to the exit. Pretty smooth transition.
BIKE 5:41:37 GOAL 5:30 13th AG
The bike heads North out of T1 about 37.5k with a tail wind and then south into a head wind back to T1 then North to loop again. This loop is the Captain Cook HWY and is a World Heritage Site. It is a rolling road that runs along the ocean and the views are amazingly beautiful. The second time back to T1 you continue south into the headwind for the last 30k. That last segment is through sugarcane fields and offers even less protection from the wind. I found myself taking short shallow breaths and fidgeting a lot to try to stay in aero position.
The first segment went well. Tailwinds were great and not too much congestion so I could ride my watts. Ate and drank on schedule. Just under 400 calories per hour and 1 bottle of GE or PURE(on course electrolyte) every 45-60 minutes. Clouds cleared and the sun grew strong and the temp peaked at just over 82. I increased my fluid intake of on course electrolyte drink PURE. The segments into the wind sucked. There was a brief shower but sun came back out. I would get passed on the uphills and then zip past the same riders on the descents and not get caught till most of the way up the next roller. I didn’t pee till between 70 and 80 mile mark. In the segments into the wind in the last 40 miles when I was planning to drop down the watts, I felt like I had to push just a little bit harder to stay efficiently moving forward. I came in to T2 feeling pretty good and definitely ready to get off the bike. My daughter, Kayla, yelled at me that we would make the 7 O’clock bus back to our hotel and this made me laugh and lightened my serious mood. I didn’t yet know what place I was in. Moved quickly through T2 and ran out with my Go Bag. On my way out, Kayla told me I was 13th in my age group and this gave me some renewed energy knowing I would be able to catch many of those in front of me.
5:41:37 19.6 mph NP 169 watts IF.67 VI 1.04 elevation gain 3507 ft 2.48 W/kg 259TSS mFTP250 68kg
RUN 3:26:35 GOAL 3:20 3rd AG 46th male 53rd OA
The plan was to go out swiftly and put the pressure on the others in my age group. I think in retrospect I may have had a faster run if I was running 10sec/mile slower earlier on. I went out at slightly below my goal pace of 7:38 and by half way through the 2nd lap of the 4 x 10.5k loop course, I saw that I passed a few people in my age group. I hit the 6 mile mark at 45:30 and was still feeling good. My pace on my Garmin was very variable and I switched to watching my watts with a goal of 255W. After the second loop, Kayla told me I had moved up to 7th. Midway through the third loop things started to get hard. At the end of the third loop, Kayla told me I was now running in 5th place. I knew that the previous year there were 4 slots for Kona when there was only 60 athletes and this year there was 100. I thought there would be 5 and maybe 6 slots this year. I had a 10 k to go and just told myself to stay steady. I hoped to catch another competitor but my pace was now ~ 8:15 and watts were down. At this point, I was not really monitoring anything on my watch, just the mile splits. The goal was don’t slow down. I had caffeinated gels at 2, 6, 10, 14 and a last gel at the18 mile mark. Then I went to coke at every aid after and some salt supplement. I thought about form and turnover and at 40k it was just get to the tall round building which was 1k out. Then it was don’t let anyone catch you and every second matters with the rolling start. I was pretty drained at the finish and just a little shakey. I found my daughter who told me I was 5th and I was mildly confident that that would be enough.
3:26:35 7:58/mile 217 TSS avg HR 132 NP 246 Watts
The next day at the roll down I was just a little uneasy until they said those memorable words “In the 55-59 y.o. age group there are 6 slots”. The rest is a blur.
I wore the lei for at least 6 hours afterwards. Now to plan my KONA strategy.
Comments
Great recap of your race! Congratulations again on a superb race and KQ!! Ninja style execution in all three legs. The 259 TSS on the bike set you up perfectly to crush the run. I'm glad the back/chest pain didn't hamper your bike/run. Did you ever figure out the origin of the pain?
You're going to luv the whole Kona experience!
I love seeing that smile! It's been a LONG journey for you , and now you have a most deserved reward. You've discovered all the pieces of the puzzle that matter for you, and executed well, despite worries on the swim and bike. It looks like this choice of venue was a winner - lots of slots, and a bike course amenable to steady riding, no matter the gradient. I'm looking forward to seeing a similar smile in your photograph coming down Ali'i BEFORE sunset Oct 12!
Great report Rob! We were so excited when we saw you got a Kona slot. I sure wish Turby qualified for this year, but we'll have to (hopefully) wait for 2020. Do you think you can do that again? LOL You so deserved this after all of your hard work. You killed that run, and that's what the Ironman is ultimately about. We are so proud of you and excited for your Kona adventure. There is nothing like it! Well done, my friend.
Congratulations Rob! Inspirational performance - especially with the pain - hope you recover quickly and get smoothly into your Kona prep.
Congratulations Rob! Great recap. Patient bike and steady run. Hopefully your back issues were from the traveling. Enjoy every moment of Kona. Aloha. 🌴
Congratulations @Robert Sabo . Great race execution and great race report. I'm constantly amazed at the level of athletes on this team and what it truly takes across all three disciplines to be at the pointy end of the IM spear for a KQ. Very inspiring! Enjoy your well-earned trip to Kona!
Quick gear question -- are you running a full disc on the back with your Enve 7.8 upfront?
@Jeff Phillips
It’s a 8.? In back Enve as well
super cool.
happy for you.
way to keep it together with the difficulties before and during the race.