Kona, Hawaii
Meredith Han #1580
I sketched out my training plan roughly according to the book Start to Finish Ironman Training. In the months leading up to the race I averaged 10-11 hours of training a week and peaked at 14.5 hours. While this is a lot of training for any sane person, it's on the low side for Ironman athletes, who routinely train 18-20+ hours a week. But given my work schedule, a few nagging injuries, and an admitted unwillingness to do nothing but work and train, that was all I could manage. The main adjustments I made from '01 were doing more long runs, doing more bike-to-run bricks, and treating myself to a snazzy new bike.
After a solid season of Olympic Distance racing, I decided that rather than driving towards a specific time or place goal, I would focus on enjoying the Hawaii experience. I set what I believed to be fairly modest goals for the day: 1) Avoid blowing up on the marathon, like I did in '01 2) Avoid getting sunburned 3) Beat "The Bachelor". (Reality show contestant Ryan Sutter, of "Ryan and Trista" fame, had gotten a celebrity slot for the race.) 4) Have fun!
Peter and I arrived on Wednesday, just in time to make mandatory race meeting at the King K Hotel. Later that day we met up with my Dad and stepmom Deborah, who were arriving from Cleveland to spectate.� Thursday and Friday consisted of meeting up with our good friends Darrin and Shaula Massena (in from London) and taking care of the rest of the pre-race prep: registering, filling out assorted paperwork, and picking up my race number...checking out the race expo...picking up my bike from the shop...packing all the gear and nutrition I'd need for the race...taking in extra carbohydrates, liquids and salts...doing some light workouts (one ten minute run, a seven mile bike and some splashing around the hotel pool)...and the pre-race drop-off of my bike and gear bags in the transition area. As final preparation, our whole group had a final dinner where I enjoyed a large plate of spaghetti and meatballs (for the second night in a row). Afterwards we decorated t-shirts that Shaula had brought over for our entire Ironman spectating crew. (Thanks Shaula!!) By 8:30 Friday, it was finally time for bed.
All 1728 competitors (minus 50-100 pros, who had already started) were herded into the water about ten minutes before the start of the race. We swam 100 meters offshore and then treaded water between two boats that marked the starting line. This was my first time in the ocean on this trip, and I was pleasantly surprised at how warm the water felt and how buoyant I was. I even saw some cool fish!� I snagged a spot to the far left of the start, a slightly longer trajectory, but less crowded with other racers. Helicopters buzzed overhead and people were yelling and cheering from shore.
Finally...the START! I started thrashing in the water. Compared to other races it was relatively easy to get right into swimming, as opposed to just knocking into the other racers. About halfway to the first turn, I noticed two scuba divers looking up at us from the bottom, and before I knew it I was rounding the boats for the return trip home. I was able to latch onto another woman racer and draft off her for almost the entire last mile to shore. After surprisingly little exertion I exited the water in 1:02:44, faster than my '01 split by just over a minute and good enough for 395th place in the field. I didn' t know it yet, but as in Florida, it would end up as my best leg of the day.
After a harried transition (peeling off the bathing suit, putting on my biking clothes, applying more sunscreen), I moved onto the bike course. We looped through town, which brought me back in front of my spectating crew three times within the first ten miles. (I definitely had the best spectating crew of anybody in the field: I saw the crew three more times out on the bike course -- they intercepted me way out on the highway -- plus my mom monitored my progress all day on the internet ...thanks mom!) All was still good as we made the turn north onto the Queen K highway for the long ride to Hawi. The road itself was very smooth, paralleled the shore, and cut through the famed Big Island lava fields. It was beautiful -- but in a stark, "extreme" sort of way that was quite fitting for the event.
I took my time walking through the transition and made sure to apply more sunscreen. I was doing pretty well with Goal # 2 (Avoid Sunburn), but had gotten one patch of burn on my right leg where my bike short had ridden up my leg and rubbed off the sunblock. Overall I was definitely ragged from the bike odyssey, but very happy to be back on familiar territory: in my running shoes!
I set out at a bit over 9:30 a mile, setting a conservative pace after remembering my Florida meltdown. The first ten miles of the run were an out and back along the famed Alii Drive, through a mostly residential area. Mercifully the sun had slipped a bit lower in the sky and the heat was no longer much of a factor. Aid stations were every mile or so, and I walked through most of them in order to give my legs a short break and to easily take in more calories.
I'm a much better runner than biker, so by now I was starting to pick off a few places. Out on the course I saw local SeaTri guys Mark Davies (spectating), Justin Maguire (running strong), Michael Blue (also running strong), and of course my excellent spectating crew. I looped back though town in time to see Natascha Badmann charging her way to second place, plus a number of other elites like Heather Fuhr, Lisa Bentley, and Lori Bowden running their final miles.
The last portion of the run is an out and back to the "Energy Lab" along the Queen K highway. (From what I can tell, the Energy Lab is some sort of experimental solar energy station.) I continued to monitor my body for signs of an impending meltdown, and was cautiously optimistic that my only trouble spots were my aching quads. As I approached the turn at the Energy Lab, I watched a spectacular sunset over the Pacific and told myself to enjoy this moment...as this would likely be my last Ironman!
Coming out of the Energy Lab, it was "all downhill from here." With eight miles to go, I took about a two-minute walk break to muster my energy for the final push home. Surprisingly, it actually worked. When I started up again I felt (relatively) great and was able to start clawing my way past a good number of competitors. In reality I must have been borderline delusional, because the splits indicate this was my slowest part of the run. Regardless, my "surge" had taken me past Mile 25 and I could practically taste the finish. Before turning off the highway, I noticed the folks who were heading in the other direction and still had sixteen miles to go. The thought of having to go that far, at this point in the evening, was inconceivable.
I flew down Palani Drive one last time, reeled past my spectating crew and made one final set of turns towards the finishing stretch on Alii Drive. By now the street was thick with racers and spectators. Looking back, I should have slowed down and savored the final stretch a bit more. There's nothing in triathlon quite like the finishing stretch of an Ironman: you train for months and then slog all day to get to this point. But by now, I was in a semi-crazed state and 100% focused on getting to the finish line as quickly as possible.
I finished the run in 4:16 and crossed the line in a nice round time of 12:15:00, good enough for 984th overall and 164th amongst the women. After my slog on the bike, I had managed to run down 99 racers on the run. As for my original goals, I was 2-2. I was handily beaten by The Bachelor (who turned in an impressive 11:38) and ended up with the one nasty patch of sunburn on my leg. But I had avoided complete meltdown on the marathon, and had definitely relished the experience and had fun!
Swim: 1:02:44
Bike: 6:44:18
Run: 4:16:34
T1: 5:23
T2: 6:03
Total: 12:15:00
Finish Place: 984/ 1579 finishers and 1728 starters.
Finish Place (Females): 164th/398 finishers and 452 starters.
Also:
Ironmanlive Race Recap
More Race Photos!