AT Kona Report
Brief Background: 7th race @ Kona, following 10th KQ, @ Boulder. My plan was NOT to race, but try and enjoy myself both during my time on the Island (wife, son, sister+bro-in-law came as well) and on IM Day.
I felt just fine going into the morning. Dinner the night before, breakfast the morning of were all the same as I always have done. I had no hiccups with morning pier preparation, nor with getting to the start on time. Only slight issue was stepping on the scale @ body marking - I was as feared maybe a pound or two under what I had hoped would be my minimum weight, coming in @ 145# with shoes on.
My swim was 1:21:40; for comparison, my very first in '06 was 1:18, my last two were 1:32 and 1:44. The goal was: "Enjoy Yourself"; I allowed 1:40 in my plan. I was swimming very easily. I was going 48 strokes/minute, which is my standard at all times. Even considering the neoprene pants I wore, I would call the swim a big plus. Transition was pretty routine; I'd planned on 10 minutes, used 7:30.
The bike went exactly as planned. It took 7:35 total time, I'd allowed 7:30. I stopped whenever I needed to refill my front bottle. I pee'd after 10 miles (did not in T1), again @ 38 and 75 miles. I drank every 10 minutes, all of my planned Infinit (1400 calories), about 20 oz of GE, and the rest water. I ate 1.67 clif bars (350 cal), and a bottle of EFS gel (450 cal) for a total of about 2300 cal, or 300 an hour, about my maximum I can get in. My numbers on the bike (the goal: "Take it Easy"): time - 7:18 moving; TSS 163; Kilojoules 2300; VI 1.126; Avg HR 103. That'a about as easy as I can go...
T2 was 9:45, same as planned; took advantage of the porta-potti in the tent to pee. The run started with the first 11 miles between 11:35 and 12:22 pace (13:14 for the mile includingPalani). I had planned 12:00-12:30. This is slower than my training runs on the island, and 70-100 s/mile slower than long run pace). My HR was 115-118 during those miles, what I always do my long runs at. I pee'd once at mile 11, after about 2 hours, so I felt I was hydrating OK. Everything seemed on track.
That got me to sunset and darkness, and I started to fade. It started with my right knee beginning to hurt (the bad one, with a ratty joint between the patella and femur), so I walked a fair amount the next few miles, which were 14:13, 15:56, and 13:58. My hands and feet started tingling, so I took two cups of chicken broth, two banana halves, some more gatorade, and some coke. That helped, so I began running again, but my calves were feeling like they would cramp if I really "ran", so it was more of a jog/shuffle. My cadence thus went up from about 89/90 to 95/97. Also the knee was still hurting. Next mile was 12:12, then back up to 14. At an aid station coming back out the energy lab, I stopped at a table to take a coke. I must have looked terrible, because the volunteers asked if I were OK. I wanted to sit down, and once I did, I realised I was cold, shivering, with goosebumps, and my calves were fasiculating (very quick small quivering, like they would cramp if I stood up or tried to walk). Something in me told me I should not continue, even though I had more than 4 hours in which I could finish. I felt like pushing any further would not be fun, and I had no desire to spend the next three hours trying to get back to Ali'i via walking/shuffling/staggering. I've done too many of these to not enjoy myself. I 'd gone 17 miles in 3:36 when I abandoned the race. I weighed 138 at the end, compared to 145 at the start, about 5% down.
Looking back, I might have finished if I had stopped for half an hour and refueled, hydrated, whatever, but I was really COLD, man, and worried about my knee. That's the story.
I do not feel disappointed, mad or angry at myself. I had a great time this two weeks on the island. But given that I have now done 15 races between Xterra and IM in Hawaii, and only two of them were satisfying, I'm going to accept I can't race here. Whether it's my physiology or my psychology is irrelevant, I don't know if I can bring myself to try anymore.
I'm entirely satisfied that I trained well, executed within myself, stayed fed and hydrated, and did not work too hard early on the run. I just couldn't go more than about 3.5 hours on the run.
But I do want to follow through with the plan, which is to race Arizona.
Comments
@Al Truscott - You've experienced just about everything that IM has to throw at you and you always manage to not only come out on top, but to turn it into an experience that we can all learn from. This time it was keeping your perspective and not only demonstrating super good decision making late into the run on a really challenging day, but also keeping it in perspective afterwards and moving on to the next milestone.
I'm looking forward to racing with you in Arizona!
@Al Truscott - Spoken like a true champion! With your very impressive IM and KQ history, as well as your frame of mind to enjoy Kona 2019, you had nothing to gain by torturing yourself for another couple hours. Courageous decision and much respect.
@Al Truscott you are a legend. I can always learn something new when I read your posts. Sounds like you made the right call. Congratulations on getting to Kona for the 7th time. I can’t wait to race with you in AZ!
@Al Truscott Massive respect to your ability to not create a battle of the mind and do what was prudent. The 'what if' 'should've' always plays it's voice after a race. You inspire me.
Your comment about being cold is something I can relate to and continue to manage. In fact at IMLOU as the sun was going down I grabbed an empty plastic bag from the trash can 😮 and placed it under my jersey. I wish I had put a strip of space blanket in special needs. IMAZ will have the sunset temperature drop as well.
More puzzling, is how did you loose 7 pounds? Could it have been that your body was a bit hyper-metabolic and you were burning more glycogen? It doesn't sound like hydration. It had to have been fuel. You needed a snickers bar! Seriously, a bolus of fat and sugar.
Have a great race at AZ!!