KONA Race Report and Week Summary
Kona 2010 Ironman World Championship Race Report and Week Recap (Likely the longest in history)
Below is a recap of my amazing experience in Kona last week. For those focused on my Race Day experience, scroll down a few pages!
Sunday
My wife Sandra and I traveled from St. Louis to Kona with a stop at LAX. 11 hours travel time, reached Kona at 9:00 pm. Long day! We met my mother-in-law at the airport, who flew in from NC. I figured I needed someone to keep Sandra company while I was doing the crazed triathlete thing for the week! We ran into Matt Ancona and family at the airport. Matt and I set a swim time for the next morning. Got the rental car and checked into the condo at 11 unpacked and lights out. Hmm – why is my throat sore?
Monday
Up at 6:00 to meet Matt A. at the pier to swim the course at 7:00. Throat sore and sinuses a mess – what a time to catch a cold - this is going to be fun! As I tried to pull out of the condo complex onto Ali’i Dr. I got my first taste of what was a constant for the week– a steady stream of amazingly fit bodies running and biking up and down Ali’i Dr at all times of the day. I swear it took 5 min to find a gap to pull out into the road. I made my way the 2 miles down to the pier and found the next constant challenge for the week – where to park??? Solved that and made it over to the pier next to the host hotel. The host hotel already had ironman banners and sponsored products up all over.
At the pier the only evidence of the event to come was hundreds of fit and low-body fat dudes and chicka’s milling around on Dig Me beach or already in the water. Wow am I fat and undertrained was what started to stream through my head. The next indication I was on a “different planet” was seeing Mark Allen holding court with some of his people. Wow that’s Mark Allen have to get a picture!! I must say RnP hold court better
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I met up with the Ancona’s, Matt, Teresa and Abigail. The course had some, but not all of the race buoys out at this time. There were a handful of kayakers or board paddlers out there in case someone got in trouble. The furthest out buoys were not yet in place, one of the locals pointed out a navigation buoy which was close to the turnaround point. Our intention was to swim the whole course. Down onto the sand and into the blue water Matt and I went. After 10 stokes you realize again this is different! – Wow – look at all those beautifully fish and the coral, plus boy this is salty, I don’t want to drink a whole lot of this!!!
The sea conditions were the best of the week, limited chop and 1-2 ft swells. Even in these good conditions I realized my lake base open water training did not prep me for these conditions. My stroke needed some work to get comfortable here, but that was why we were here this AM. Matt and I traded off taking the lead from one buoy to the next. I had a head on collision with another swimmer coming in as I was going out, got the water out of the goggles and on we go. About half way out, we both saw a HUGE manta ray. It was 15+ feet across, WOW who wants to swim – I can just watch that for an hour! We continued on, between the swells the last buoy being white, we found sighting to be a challenge. So we picked the last board paddler out there to sight on – we almost made it to Maui on our way to the board paddler. We just had our first taste of the impact of the currents on the course! We swam back and must have covered 2.7 to 3 miles by the time we were done. A good swim, the stroke adapted to the conditions much better on the way back in.
Back to the condo – cleaned up, picked up the ladies drove into town. Got Lunch in town – great seafood tacos – overlooking the water – how great is this! Found the local grocery story and got that behind us. In the afternoon, drove the run course to get a sense for it. Boy volcanoes don’t understand the concept of making flat ground! You are always going up or down!!! When we made it out of town to lava fields and the Energy Lab section I began to understand what extreme conditions could occur on the run and today was overcastJ. Back to the condo for an early dinner and then to bed early hoping to shake the worsening cold.
Tuesday
Slept in until 7:00! Got up and could tell I was well into a solid head cold. On with the program!! I went back down to the pier for another practice swim. Swam an hour and the stroke felt better today in the swells and chop. Back to the condo changed cloths and out onto the run course for an hour run. Hmm – the legs were not real happy, the left IT band and knee were talking to me about the hills. OK need to do some serious foam roller work on the legs in the next 3 days.
Back to the condo, cleaned up had lunch and then to the event hotel to check into the race which went smoothly. I arrived at the end of the line and a volunteer said you have 30-40 min from here. While in line Paula Newby-Fraser goes walking by! Wow the legends are here! I make it to the check in process and the volunteers all know what they are doing and it moved quickly.
Now back to the condo to check in with the support team. They were at the pool enjoying the day! I made a wine and cheese platter and took it down to them – Wow some added spousal approval units!
I went back into town to pick up the bike from BikeTransport at 1:00 – back to the condo for final assembly. Rolled the bike down the road for 20 min to make sure all was good. Back to the condo – picked up the support team and out to the Energy lab in the afternoon heat of the day to see what that area was going in this section of the course for the run on race day. Murphy’s Law was at work as clouds had rolled. I ran 50 min and said it was HOT with the clouds in place! I reconnected with the women and watched the sun go down and was blessed with a rare Green Flash sunset. Goggle to further understand.
This day is done. Time to get off the feet! Back to the condo for leftovers.
Wednesday
Marginal sleep as the cold moved down into the chest and I coughed most of the night. Got up about 7:00 and felt really bad. Did breakfast at the condo and the team went down to the expo village to see what was up and shop as needed!! Oh Boy $$$. I was good, I was waiting for finisher gear 
.
. We transitioned from the tri expo over to the Kona brewery for the Endurance Nation Team Lunch. We had a great group including the 11 time Kona veteran Steve Chavez and his wife Carrie also a Kona veteran. Matt Ancona and his family were there. Brad Losecher, Bret Rosane and his wife Katy who was racing. We had a great lunch and soaked up some course wisdom from veteran Steve.
After lunch my support team loaded into the car to check out the bike course. We rode up to the nasty wind section toward the Hawi turnaround. I jumped out and rode the last 10 miles to Hawi back done and back up. My support team was busy shopping and enjoying ice cream in Hawi. There is a theme here – what am I doing wrong?? On this day the trade winds were light and the resulting wind that funnels between the two volcano peaks were manageable. I left the day with a false sense that this bike ride will be rough but survivable.
Thursday
After a coughing filled night with little sleep the alarm went off at 5:30 to go play tourist. We headed out to do a 5 hour snorkel trip. On the ride out I learned that my mother-in-law was not a swimmer and had never snorkeled before. Ok a week of firsts for many I thought. We had a great morning in Paradise, we did three snorkeling stops and one had the awesome green sea turtles. We also saw a pod of ~100 spinner dolphins playing out in the ocean. The water temps were ~80 degrees and on the third dive I came out with heavy shivering – low body fat provided no insulation. A great time was had by all.
Back into town we went, stopped at the local pharmacy to find some over the counter meds to kill the couch symptoms. From there back to the condo to clean up and on to the welcome banquet. This was a great event with the theme this year of “Way of the Warrior”. An inspirational evening with incredible Hawaiian Hula dancing and fire dancers.
Friday
The over the counter drugs helped moderate the symptoms of the cough and I got some sleep. We rose a 5:00 to get to the helicopter at 7:00 for the island tour. Saw lava flowing into the ocean, amazing! Saw ~3000 foot waterfalls and was amazed at how quickly the landscape can change from rain forest to lava desert. The pilot showed us the two volcano peaks that cause the extreme wind conditions on the bike course up toward Hawi. The trade winds come in from the far side of the island and get funneled through between these two mountains and roar across the other side with 2-5X the strength. He also recanted the guidance of as you turn on the road to bike up to Hawi, if you see white caps on the ocean you will be in for the ride of your life.
Back to the condo by 10:00 to finish getting bike and gear bags ready for check in. I went to the transition area check in at 2:00. About a 5 min wait to get into the process. As you walked in there was a line of people sitting in chairs with clip boards doing the count of what types of gear was on the bikes. There was a person that did check your helmet for proper accreditations and gave the bike a once over to ensure all was good. You then proceeded on and an extremely knowledgeable volunteer walked me through the process of racking my bike and getting gear bags in place. Boy the transition area looks bigger on TV. They have a lot crammed into a relatively limited space. We then walked the complete path for each of the transitions and he answered my many questions. I was about to leave when I realized I had forgotten to initialize my run GPS at the transition tent. No problem he responded, back we went to get that done.
3:00 Ok done for the day – time to get off the feet and rest up for Saturday. Reviewed race day gear and race day plan one last time and got to bed around 8:00.
Race Day – Saturday
The alarm went off at 1:00 AM for my first breakfast of ~500 calories of fortified fruit smoothie. Shake, drink, and back to bed. The wake up alarm went off at 3:45. Had a descent sleep with minimal coughing, darn cold, all and all felt maybe at 80%. On with the day!! Coffee, ~300 calories of peanut butter, honey on toast, a couple of salt tabs and water. Got dressed and headed out the door with the support team by 4:40.
Hit body marking at 5:00. A smooth process with charged up volunteers. My first time getting numbers applied with ink stamps vs the magic marker of most races - one of the many things that makes this day special. On to my bike to fill the water and nutrition bottles and pump the tires. Gave the pump back to my support team and then had about an hour to wait for the start. I ran into Matt A and Steve C. Matt and I figured we would hang with the veteran and shadow him to the start. Morning conditions were like most days before, mid 70’s with a light wind. Once the sun rose you could see the ocean swells were maybe 3+ ft so a bit higher than any of the preceding days.
The whirr of the helicopters overhead became noticeable. At 6:30 the canon boomed and the pro’s were off, the crowd roared. Ok only 30 min more to deal with the nerves of waiting. With 20 min to the start, we started to move down onto the beach. I downed a gel and the last of my water and on the beach I went. I did an easy 300 yard warm up and then back to the beach. At 10 min to the started they told everyone to get into the water and get set for the start. I looked for the area with the least number of people. I had decided to take the swim out at a conservative pace. I lined up a bit right of center about 2/3rds back in the pack. We treaded water bobbing up and down in the swells for the final 10 min. Even where I was in the pack, it was relatively close quarters – this was going to be interesting!!
The Swim
Target 1:15 Actual 1:16:37
Boom – the cannon sounded, we were off. The chaos of flailing arms and legs began.
The contact was constant for the first 15 to 20 min. Most everyone around me played well together with no real intense hits or people just climbing over you. I had picked a good spot in the pack and the group was moving at an easy pace from my perspective. Sighting was extremely difficult given the swells and water flying everywhere. I put my head down and went with the flow of bodies for a while hoping that they knew where they were going. Half way down the leg out, things started to open up a bit, by this I mean the group had sorted out in to clusters of bodies and the level on contact dropped significantly. The two outer turn buoys were as expected congested and intense. The contact here was worse than the start. I survived and did not drink too much salt water in the process. I settled back in to my steady conservative pace. Drafting on feet when I found them and passing or dropping them when needed. In the last third of the swim the calves and feet went in to cramp mode. (Someday I hope to understand how to prevent this. This swim was shorter and at an easier pace than my long one on Monday that had no cramps). One calf cramped hard for a good 5 min. This sure slows one down when the foot is at 90 degrees to the flow of the water. I stayed calm and finally about 300 yards from the end of the swim the cramps subsided. On to the beach – up the stairs and into transition.
T1
Target 0:06:00 Actual 0:05:34
I rinsed my head in the fresh water showers and onto get my bike gear bag. They had volunteers doing a great job of directing you down the correct row of gear bags. A volunteer handed me my bag and on to the changing tent. The tent was packed!! I found a spot to dump out my bag, on went my race number belt, my arm coolers, sun glasses then over to get sun screen and out the door I went to the bike. That seemed like a long trot to get to the bike. Put my helmet on and on to the bike mount line. I jumped onto the bike with feet on top of the shoes that were on the bike held in position by rubber bands. This was my smoothing bike transition this year but sill slow compared to many?
Bike
Target 5:46:00 Actual 6:04:42
My bike target was based on what I did in Louisville 6 weeks before and then shortened a bit due to less hills on this course. Boy did I underestimate the winds and Murphy’s LawJ. My goal watts for the course was 183. With the cold this week I made a race day adjustment back down to 175, I knew I was not 100%. The best advice I had heard for riding the course was to work the second hour harder on the bike to get to Hawi as quickly as possible to have the least wind issues on the return.
I rolled through the first out and back section in town with no issues. There were many bikes on the course and you had to work at it to stay out of draft positions. I was already seeing the typical hammer up the hills and take it easy on the down hills practice from most riders. My first hour Normalize Power was 179, a little high, but close to what I wanted. In the second hour out into the lava field the heat started to build and the winds started to become a real factor. So far water and nutrition and salt were all on plan. I was using the same plan that worked well in the heat at Louisville. NP was 181. So far so good.
About 2.5 hrs in or ~45 miles I hit a bump and by whole handle bar system came lose. It would pivot up and down based on where I chose to hold it. Wow this is not good!!! The brain was busy seeing if I could hold the bars in the proper areo position and continue to ride (it never occurred to me to stop). I found a balance point that seemed to work and kept on riding. Maybe 5-10 min later I passed a van on the other side of the road and notice it was a bike tech support van. Great – I am in luck!!! I was rolling ~20 mph and hit the brakes. What I had not considered was what braking would do to my unstable position. My weigh went forward, the handle bars pivoted down into the front wheel and I crashed onto the side of the road. Ouch!! I took a nice size chunk out of my right knee and then spread the rest of the impact up the right side of the body getting palm, forearm, side and shoulder all into the fun. The support person came running over from the van, I yelled – need an Allen wrench. He went back and grabbed his kit and came over. By then I was standing and inspecting the damage. Front wheel good, rear wheel good, frame one piece. We tightened up the front end and I was ready to go. The tech said I was not ready to ride yet???? Ok yes wash the wounds off with a water bottle, can do that. Next he wanted to make sure the shoulder was ok. He kept talking to me and asking questions when he finally said “Ok you seem to be back with us now – you can continue”! I jumped on and took advantage of all the adrenaline in the system to get moving at solid pace for the next 30 min.
In hindsight – I was extremely lucky in how that handle bar scenario played itself out. It could have occurred in one of the 40+ mph down hills up by Hawi and could have impacted others on the course. Someone was watching over me that day! Looking at the bike data file, the crash cost about 5 mins, it could have been worse!
Now I was into the winds on the way to Hawi. I had never experience any think like these gusts. They hit you often without any warning and move you 3-5 ft across the road. Sometime they would blow for 30-40 second and you would get stable leaning over 30 degrees. Then they would vanish and you would have to catch yourself and correct so you didn’t fall over. This was a level of white knuckled nerve fraying riding beyond anything I had ever experience. I thought if it is this bad going uphill what will downhill be like?? I made solid progress up to the turnaround a Hawi. My water and nutrition were in a front mounted aero bottle set that allowed me to continue to take fluids and nutrition via 2 straws in these high wind conditions and keep both hands on the handle bars. Many other people I spoke with after suffered the impact of lack of fluids in this section because they had to reach for a water bottle and the dared not in these conditions.
I hit the turn around and the special needs stop shortly after. I mixed my nutrition for the last part of the bike and put the single use ice pack under my jersey beneath the aero helmet. The cold took my mind of the body that was now sore on the whole right side. On down the hills, the wind continued to strengthen, the sea was a mass of white caps!! Flying down the hills at 35-45 mph and being hit with those gusts was an experience in concentration to say the least. I was most stable when I was low in my aero bars pedaling like mad in my biggest gears at 110 -120 rpm. Most people were sitting up out of the aero position with their hands on the brakes. I tried that position and felt I had significantly less leverage on the handles bars to help keep me straight. More importantly, I found was that the with my position being lower, the wind had less leverage to blow me over. The third element was to go as fast as I could. I was running relatively deep 808 wheels on the front and the back. They do present a significant target to the side winds. But what I found was the faster you got them spinning the more they the gyroscopic effect came into play, keeping them and me upright even in the nasty side winds. I was blowing by people 10-15 mph faster than they were rolling. Going down was fun compared to the ride up. Would I ride the pair of 808’s again – yes. Am I crazy – yes. What I would change is come with bigger gears for the downhill. I spun out my 25/12 on the compact cranks. Just going to a 25/11 would be beneficial. The wattage level fell for this section – just could not spin fast enough to keep the power on. NP = 162.
Out of the hills and back to normal heavy winds and the lava fields. The bike computer show air temps of 97 degrees in this section. 30 miles to go and the body is feeling the effects of the cold and the long day, good news was no cramps. The contact point between the bike seat and me had developed into a problem with periods of intense sharp pain – the kind that makes your stomach want to toss. I adjust – ok for 20 second then it would come back, tried that multiple times to no avail , I just had to put the head down and finish the ride. All of a sudden the bike computer stopped reading watts and speed? Ok – rode for a while it did not come back so I re-parried the computer to the hub and it came back to life but would drop out for 10 -20 second at a time on a regular basis for the rest of the ride (only 30 hrs on these Hub batteries???). Just something else to mess with the head J.
I rolled into town and got my feet out of the shoes and rode on top of the shoes for the last section then did a running dismount and handed off my bike at the dismount line. WooHoo – that was a first running dismount for me!
Bike stats – note last 2 hours, data impacted by computer dropping out frequently
Target watts = 175, Actual NP = 170 watts, VI = 1.05, IF = .65, TSS = 250
Hour 1 NP = 179, Hour 2 NP = 181, Hour 3 NP = 172, Hour 4 NP = 165, Hour 5 NP = 162
T2
Target 0:06:00 Actual 0:06:30
The great volunteers directed me around the transition area – a long run to the back then up to the too my gear bag and into the changing tent. Found a seat and emptied the bag. Fired up the GPS, put Vaseline on the blister prone toes and pulled on socks and shoes. I asked a volunteer to add water to my run nutrition bottle, I changed out my heart monitor strap from bike to running. Strapped on my fuel belt, took a bio break and headed over to get another covering of sun screen and out the door. Where did 6+ minutes go???
The Run
Target 4:25:00 Actual 4:58:45
I head out onto the run course, the crowd is screaming GO, it is so hard to stay at the slow pace I know I need too. I make it through the first mile a touch faster than my 10:10 target per mile pace. I used the same strategy for the run as what worked in the heat at Louisville. Walk the aid stations. Get ice sponges’ front, back and under the hat, a cup of ice down the front or back as needed and drink plenty of fluids at each station then get back to running. One of my objectives for the day was to run the whole marathon with only walk breaks at the aid stations. By my second mile, the ups and downs of the hills are already a factor with the legs. The quads already hurt and I knew this was going to be a long run!!! Early in the run I saw Matt Ancona – he was flying along the course and looked great!!
By mile 6, I was hurting and struggling to hold my target pace. I could now feal the impact of the IMs in 15 weeks. I saw Brad and Cort in EN kit on the run, great to see the EN kit out there!! I saw many really fit younger dudes walking due to cramps or whatever so I took solace that I was still running. The next 6 miles were a bit faster thanks to some downhill sections. The quads liked downhill much less than uphill. I was hurting pretty bad going up one hill and I saw Rajesh Durbal the triple amputee running the other way and just getting it done. I told my self – “look at that inspired person, boy you don’t hurt,” I keep putting one foot in front of the other trying to keep decent running form, onward. Based on everyone’s advice I did walk the steep “pay and save hill” up out of town, all around me we doing the same. From there, I headed out into the lava fields. The watch recorded 100 degrees for the next 2.5 hours – yes it was warm!!!! Who knows what the heat index was – I heard numbers later of 115-120. At each aid station I made it a point to thank the volunteers – they were awesome! Somewhere in the 12-13 mile range the energy level started to drop significantly. Even holding an 11 min pace was not possible. I walk the length of the aid station, wobbling at times. I started to get a question that I would get multiple times – ARE YOU OK???? Sure I’m ok – yes I can’t walk straight and I have that going to fall over at any moment look – but – this is such an amazing experience how could I not be ok? Ok time to change the nutrition plan I thought and I added Coke to the mix and that had an immediate positive impact. I now knew that finishing in less than 12 hours was not going to happen. I was now out in the energy lab area – you are alone, your sole, the barren lava desert and the oppressive heat. I can see how this area has destroyed many dreams of winning this race over the years. Another “are you ok” question at the aid station. At this aid station they had the magic elixir of chicken broth. I inhaled 2 cups. I made it to the final turn around in the energy lab, boy what a mental boost to know that every step now takes you physically closer to the finish. I climbed up the hill out of the energy lab, the sun was setting and NBC was set up with their big cameras to capture the competitors running in front of the setting sun. I was too early for that shot, just to fast I told myself J.
The sun set was beautiful. The moon rose with Jupiter below it, a wonderful sight. Being close to the equator it gets dark quickly. Within minutes it was DARK. I now see why they put glow sticks or light hops on all. You could easily run into an oncoming runner if you didn’t have these on. Running in the dark back into town was a wonderful experience. You are alone in the pitched black, Moon on the one side, stars over head, the lights from the villages doting the mountain side on your left. It is quiet, just your breath and your foot strikes. The body is screaming stop, but it has been doing that for hours now. Here you are able to quiet that scream for a moment, a special moment for me.
With the sun setting, the temperature cooled. Life slowly creeps back into the body and I am able to pick up my pace for the final miles. I stop putting ice down the jersey but continued drinking chicken soup. I see many people just now heading out onto the course including Katy Rosane walking the marathon in a soft cast due to a stress fracture 6 weeks ago. Amazing!!
I get closer to the lights of the city. Then I turn and head down the last steep hill on Palani. The legs protest then the left leg buckles, I catch myself before I face plant into the pavement. I tell my body only 2 miles to go – WE ARE going to run to the finish. I modify my stride to give the left knee and AT band as much relief as I can and move forward with new levels of pain not experience before in this amazing day. Three more times the leg buckles and somehow I catch myself each time. I make the final tune onto Ali’I Dr and the cheers from the crowd pulls me along. I hear Mike Riley, the announcer, in the distance and finally see the lights from finish line. There is no pain now. I know I am going to finish. I run forward with by arms overhead, I see my loving wife and mother-in-law on the side screaming in delight. I here Mike Riley yell “Matt Samojeden You are an Ironman” I crossed the line into the catchers arms smiling ear to ear. A 20 plus year dream accomplished!
Run Stats
5 mi. 10:28/mile
10.2 mi. 10:20/mile
17.2 mi. 12:23/mile
26.2 mi. 11:45/mile
10.2 mi. 10:20/mile
17.2 mi. 12:23/mile
26.2 mi. 11:45/mile
Total run 26.2 mi. 4:45:45 11:24/mile
To the finish!
Post Race
Race target 11:38:00 Actual 12:32:08
I wobbled forward in my catchers arms and did a scan of the body and quickly found that I hurt more than the prior 3 ironman’s combined –ouch. I head over to medical to clean the wounds from the bike crash and then I get the finisher pictures made with my wife and her mother. I ask my wife to go get my bike and gear bags – a first – I am going to get a massage with the hopes that that will allow me to move in the morning. Post massage walking up Palani hill back to the car I walk with a lady who has done the race the last 4 years. She comments the winds were the worst she has ever seen. Back to shower, then out to eat and then for the best part of the day. The final 30 min when the last finishers come across the line!!! One has been up from before dawn and you are tired to the bone – but get to the finish of an ironman and you are filled with energy. The crowd is on their feet with Mike Riley whipping them into a frenzy, cheering, clapping as the last finishers complete their dream on becoming an ironman and beating the midnight deadline. What a great day to be alive!
Finally time to rest 
Sunday
The alarm went off at 5:30. I struggle out of bed to get down to the line for the “Finishers gear” at the Ironman store. The line always seems to build an hour before it opens and they usually open at 7:00. My legs almost allow me to hobble, wow this hurts. I get to the host hotel and the store and find I am the second person in line. Ok good – but I see a sign that says they don’t open until 9:00 – ouch. I grab a larger coffee and settle onto the couch next to Katy Rosane (the one who walked the marathon in a cast). The time passes with conversation all over the map. A bit latter the bike course director walks by and we end up in conversation. He has directed the bike segment over 10 years and lived on the island for ~ 15. He comments that on a scale of 1 to 10 yesterday’s bike was a strong 8. He said the wind blew many people off their bikes and they had over 20 racers dropped out at the Hawi turnaround who did not want to or could not make the return trip.
Post shopping, take the bike apart and get it over to Bike Transport. Then time to lay beside the pool and recover before the long plane ride on Monday.
At 6:00, we went to the awards banquet. Humans are amazing in what they can accomplish be they male or female, 18 to 80! What an inspiring evening.
Closing thoughts:
I am blessed to have been able to live my 20 + year dream of racing at the Ironman World Championship. I truly understand and respect why this course is the World Championship course, it is truly humbling to see the quality of competitors and the extremes of the conditions. Did I hit my traget time - not even close! Was I happy with my day? Absolutely, I could have asked for much more from the body and mind on that day!
Thank you to all of you who have encouraged and supported me in my journey to this wonderful event. Special thanks to my wife Sandra. Second to her are Coaches Rich and Patrick for without Endurance Nation I would not have the fitness nor the execution skills that allowed me to qualify for Kona. The extended Endurance Nation family has helped motivate and challenge me over the last 2 years. Al Truscott, a special thanks to you for “showing me the way” in so many ways.
Competing at Kona is an awesome experience, running in the dark back to Kona – unforgettable, finishing in the light on Ali’I Dr priceless. I will find a way to go back an experience the great day again.
Matt
PS - I get on a plane in 3 hours for the 25 hour trip to India for a week. Can you say compression tights
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Comments
Matt- thanks for sharing a great race report. Loved the " A great day to be Alive" Congrats, very inspiring
Matt: Awesome report and CONGRATULATIONS. It was great seeing you before the swim start. We did fish tacos at LuLu's and lots of margaritas on race day. Did the heli tour of the big island as well. Well done.
Best,
Brian
Great job!
Great report. I bet you won't forget to check the tightness of the aerobar scews again! It was nice to meet you and I hope to see you in Kona again. Enjoy India and congradulations Ironman World Championship finisher!
Btw, I saw you on the run (Queen K). Too bad we didn't get the chance to meet.
Thanks, Chris
I am just awed by that. Thank you so much for sharing. You have given to this team probably 10x more than you received, and we are very grateful to you too. Congratulations on an outstanding day and season.
And jeeze: you look pro on the bike!
P
When Carrie texted me about the bike crash I had to double check with her because I just couldn't believe both Matt's ended up with problems. And the handlebars? Oh my, sounds too much like what happened to Linda at WI, so scary and I'm glad you had a guardian angel watching over you to be sure you got it fixed BEFORE those winds!
Finally, the green flash. What a wonderful treat and fabulous good luck omen for the day! I've seen it once, and couldn't believe my eyes. Now I long to see it again and although I live where I watch the sunset over water all summer long, I haven't seen it since. It's a very rare and special gift- you are certainly blessed my friend! Congratulations!
What an amazing week, Matt!
Actually, what an amazing summer you've had!
I'm all teary-eyed reading your report. Beautiful.
Matt,
An excellent report. You work and dedication got you to the Big Island for this race and what a great experience it was just reading about it.
Gordon
Brad
Matt
Terrific race report. Well done! I am so proud of you. You make we Louisville alums proud! Scott
If I never make it back I have fulfilled my dream! BUT I will find a way via the motivating power of the EN team to get back there again!!!
Thank you all for my Kona experience!
One more week of rest for the still impacted legs and then let the “FUN of offseason “begin. Work Works!!!!!!
Matt