I’ve had a couple days for the events of Saturday to sink in, I’ve made it to Maui, checked into my North shore cottage and had the perfect afternoon lunch at Mama’s Fish House (my favorite restaurant in the world). The Ironman can be a cruel sport, I’m going to call it a separate sport from just triathlon due to the amount of time and commitment it takes to just toe the line in an Ironman.
I was coming into this race extremely fit, healthy and confident only to have my body betray me on race day. Now it was a betrayal not a revolt and I saw more than a few people who’s body’s revolted against them so I count myself lucky. In fact I saw some things I’ve never seen before and some things I never want to see again while out on the Queen K. In the end my spirit, mind and emotions were ready buy my body just didn’t have any energy today.
My family and I headed down the pier just before 5am and got as close as we could before my brother and I jumped out. I’m not sure how to describe the pier in the hours before the start. There is calm, palpable nervousness and downright chaos. I got body marked and headed over to set up my bike, kick the tires, attach my shoes and load my bottles. I then found a quiet spot to lie down and relax, to get calm and think about the journey to this point and what I’d go through in the next couple of hours. I was lying right next to last year’s top Age Group finisher. That’s the cool thing about Kona you’re just one of the rock stars, you’re no different than all the pro’s you read about and watch on TV, everyone comes to this race equal, with the same challenges, opportunities, hopes and dreams. I opened my eyes to find a bright light and NBC TV camera in my face (maybe you’ll see my on NBC in December). This isn’t any other Ironman race. TV cameras, photographers, helicopters, and I swear a volunteer with a bike pump everywhere (these volunteers make the race).
I found my friend Paul Todd and we got suited up a few minutes before the Pro start and started to work our way towards the stairs to the water. We swam out to the left side and began treading water. There was a hell of a lot of electricity in that water. Suddenly the cannon boomed without warning and we were off.
Now everyone will tell you the swim in an Ironman is brutal, I can say that Kona is brutal times ten. Every kick and every stroke all the way past the turn boat (1.2 miles) I was kicking someone, hitting someone or getting hit or kicked. You also couldn’t see a thing, just foamy white water (salt water does that). I was also surprised at the number of people who couldn’t swim straight to save their lives. As we hit the turn the swell started to have it’s effect and the chop. I did my best to just stay in a cadence and did manage to find some feet for the last three quarter of mile. I didn’t get a split coming out of the water but thought I was around 1:06 or 1:07.
I had a quick transition and was out on the bike. I knew within the first five miles it wouldn’t be my day. I had no energy, no power so I hoped that my body would respond as the day went on and would find some reserves. As I rolled past the airport I could start to feel the headwind, man it was going to be a long day. Normally the headwinds don’t start until about 30 miles out of Kona. As we headed towards Hawi the wind just got stronger and gustier.
As I was climbing towards Hawi I saw the leader flying back towards Kona (Torbjorn Sindballe) and a few others off the front. Then a pack of about 6 riders with an entourage of race vehicles and TV cameras as they went by I could hear Normann Stadler screaming something in German at someone in one of the cars. No sign of Chris McCormack in the group, a few miles up the road was Tech Support van and under the hatch back door was a tech working on Macca’s bike while he drank water, it would only be later I’d find out that that’s where his day ended due to a mechanical failure on his bike (it’s a cruel sport).
I made the turn at Hawi but still had no power or energy and the wind had just built. At one point there were three or four big guys in front of me up the road and we were all pedaling for our lives with our bikes raked over at about a 25 degree angle into the wind. The wind continued to rage all the way back to the airport about 8 miles from transition 2.
I had a good transition off the bike but had to make a pit stop, actually I had to pee most of the bike ride but couldn’t manage to go on the bike but at this point I was just trying to enjoy the rest of the race as much as possible. I headed out on the run feeling pretty good but had a suspicion it wouldn’t last. The first few miles were a comfortable 7:10 – 7:30 pace. I saw my family at our beach side out at about mile 4 and again at about mile 6. Once I got to the top of Pilani and turned onto the Queen K I knew it was going to be tough run and I started my walk through the aid stations and then run at about mile 10. At mile 12 I made some new friends and we walked and ran together for the next 8 miles until they had to drop off. I then felt like I had some energy for the first time all day. I started to run and ran solid for the next 2.5 miles before falling into my walk and run routine again. I tried to make the most of it, cheering on athletes who passed me, cheering on those running the other direction and thanking all the volunteers at the aid stations. Finally I was nearing Pilani Road again and I started running and said I would run in no matter how bad I hurt. I will say there is nothing like the feeling of running down Alii Drive with all those spectators. Finally I was there the finish with Mike Reilly calling my name as I crossed the line.
I had finished in 11:01:55 (actually not a terrible day given how bad I felt all day). My swim was 1:07:49, my bike was 5:41:02 and my run was 4:03:59 (amazingly not my slowest marathon ever). As I was being walked to the finish area it looked like a M.A.S.H. unit with stretchers and bodies lying everywhere. I had faired pretty well all things considered.
While the day was a minor disappointment that I didn’t feel better and have more energy to actually race I was very happy to have come to Kona and put my best foot forward on race day and taken on the challenge of Kona and finished. So will I be back, we’ll see!!
I finished. The swim was absolutely brutal, talked to two people who actually got seasick while swimming. The wind raged for 90 miles on the bike, and well then I ran a 4 hour marathon, but I finished!! More later, now I sleep.
Calm is what I’m feeling…..I’m at peace with myself and the island. In 12 hours I will be at war. I will be at war with the currents, the winds, the heat and humidity and 1800 others. I will battle 1800 others although the battle is mostly with myself; my body, my mind and emotions. I’ve been through this a couple times now and I know what to expect. It’s odd though you forget or the memory quickly dulls after the race but I know it will come tomorrow, most likely on the run. I will question my sanity and my ability to continue forward, but I will.
The last few days have been good. Wednesday I swam at the Pier with my friend Paul from San Diego we stopped by the coffee boat anchored about 1000 yards off the beach where we hung onto the side of the boat and sipped Kona coffee and chatted with other athletes. It was a fun swim as the water was oil slick smooth once we got a few hundred yards from the beach, crystal clear and full of turtles. We’d stop and spend a minute looking into the eyes of the sea turtles. Odd thing with all the swimmers in the water they seem to have no fear I think they’re becoming conditioned to all the swimmers and realize we mean them no harm.
After the swim we headed to register and I was in and out in 10 minutes. We spent a few minutes at the Expo before heading home for nap. In the afternoon Paul and I did a short ride out the Queen K.
Wednesday night I had the honor of attending a dinner/party hosted by Specialized bicycles. Good food and lots of fun chatting with friends and meeting some new folks. Chris McCormack, TJ Tollakson, Terrenzo Bozzone, Sam McGlone, Cliff English and Peter Reid where all there and fun to chat and joke around with. Those of us racing and those who are training were all gone early but I imagine the rest of them kept the party going for quite a while.
Yesterday I did absolutely nothing except get my gear bags laid out and attend the welcome banquet. The banquet was about an hour too long and about $28 dollars too expensive (cost $48 bucks a person). They did have a cool little montage of footage from the last 30 years as well as a funny video skit about how to be a good Ironman supporter (Roch Frey and Paul Huddle were the actors so if you know of them you can only imagine).
Today I did a very short swim and then headed into town to get a few last minute things for my bike. This evening I dropped my bike at transition, the pier is like Fort Knox and the athletes are already like rock stars with people mulling around watching the athletes come in to rack their gear. All I can say is the transitions are looonnnggg!!
I think the weather is going to be good for tomorrow if anything maybe too still. A little breeze will really help on the run and frankly I don’t care if it’s windy on the bike. In general it’s been voggy lately so it cuts down on the direct sun which would be nice.
I continue to be amazed at all the people out running (and running hard) and swimming. At least two people this morning I heard say they swam the course this morning….? Not sure that’s the best thing the day before the race but oh well to each his own….as I write this Chris McCormack is swimming by our house with a few friends. He swims faster than I when he’s just doing a warm-up stroke...sigh.
I must say the expo is pretty cool, there are a lot more companies here than I expected. The new Cervelo P4 is on display and I was particularly intrigued by the new QR, it looks like a great new bike. The 3T pro aero bars are hot but at $1200 bucks I don’t think I need to dump my Zipp Vulka’s as I don’t know if I’d be trading up that much. The other hot thing on display is the new SRAM Aero trigger shifter. I got to meet a few of the folks that have provide such great support this season from Zoot and GU which was nice as well.
Well I’m signing off as ndinner and then to bed early as the alarm is going to sound really freakin’ early (3:45 or so).
Thanks for all of the well wishes, good vibes and positive thoughts. I’ll need every last one of them.
Well I was too tired to write anything last night so here’s yesterday’s and today’s updates, actually not much to update.
Yesterday my brother and I ventured to the Pier early so I could get my swim workout in. 7:15 am and the place was packed. People were coming out of the water and lined up to get in the water. They had a short string of buoys set out maybe a half to three quarters of a mile or so. The water was really nice and calm with small swells coming in from right as you swam out. I did my warm-up and then got into my 20 minute race tempo. As I came around the inside buoy to head back out I got on a fast guys feet with the goal of staying on him as long as I could. About every 30 meters or so he would start to pull away slightly and I’d throw in a couple of hard strokes and be right back on his feet. It was a good feeling and probably a little faster than my IM race pace but I followed him for 8 minutes which was great.
I got out for my “hot” run in the middle of the afternoon, trying to simulate roughly when I’d be heading out on the course on Saturday. To add insult to injury I decided to run without any hydration to see how I handled it (answer great for 40 minutes). 50 minute run with 30 minutes at tempo. Basically 10 minute easy warm-up then pick the pace up to a moderate pace for 15 minutes then turnaround and pick the pace up over the distance just covered in 15 minutes and a cool down. I was doing roughly 6:55/mile pace for the first 15 minutes and ran near 6:30/mile pace for the next 15 minutes. I’ll admit though I was cooked when I was done. Not having any hydration for 50 minutes will cook you. I was happy with the run given that I’ll be shooting for 7:15-7:25 per mile on race day to start and if I feel like I’ve got anything left in the tank at 20 miles I’ll pick it up. My mantra will be slow down dummy on Saturday. It’s way too easy to get caught up in the race out the gate. That said I’m predicting my first mile on the run will be 6:50, then the mantra starts. I had thought that this run was pretty flat but the reality is it’s not. It’s got a lot of small rolling hills and some long very gradual grades and at least one steep hill.
Today I had a short 35 minute run and was supposed to head to the Natural Energy Lab but couldn’t bring myself to getting in the car, so I just did my run along Alii drive. It was a good comfortable run. I know that there are lots of fast runners here but I think I can hang with all but the fastest we’ll see come Saturday. It’s going to be critically important to keep the hydration going and try to keep the core temperature down, cold sponges and ice at every aid station, once the core gets hot you’re done.
This afternoon I walked next door to the beach by our house to do my swim. Nice 30 minutes with 10 x 1:30 intervals. The I was really swimming well today and the water was rough with lots of current but I felt great and the waves didn’t phase me. I’m ready to swim!!!
Had a nice steak dinner with the family at the house which was nice we debated the debate.
Athlete sightings today. Not too many as I stuck close to home and didn’t hit the bike. Craig Alexander riding along Alii drive, Leanda Cave (8th last year) running this evening, and Heather Wurtele (1st IMCDA and 3rd IMC this year) running this afternoon.
Tomorrow is a busy day. In the morning, a short swim, register for the race (i.e. – get race number, swim cap, transition bags, timing chip), hit the expo for an hour or so. In the afternoon I’m hoping to ride with my friend Paul from San Diego for a couple hours. Then tomorrow night I’m off dinner with the folks from Specialized, which I’m honored to have been invited to.
More pics have been posted. Till tomorrow (well probably Thursday), Aloha!!!
I’m riding back to Kona on what we’ll call my acclimatization ride I’m riding on long flat section of the Queen K Highway. Ahead a car coming the other direction pulls off the highway and the passenger get’s out and walks to the front of the car. I can’t figure out what they’re doing, as I approach I realize they’re taking a picture of me riding up the Queen K. Yes a tourist has stopped to take a picture of one of those crazy Ironman people. I have officially become part of the freak show here in Kona.
Yes we made it (and all of our luggage and bike) to Kona after a great flight. I thought that people really wouldn’t be here in mass yet but I think I might be one of the last to arrive. As we drove to Kona from the airport there are athletes riding everywhere, and the shoulder of Ali’i Drive is packed with runners shaking out their legs before sunset. Some look like they’re trying to make up for training time lost.
The reality is setting in that I’m in Kona at the World Championships. The reality happens quickly and shockingly. All the people you see pictures of in magazines are here and they’re out there like everyone else. They’re just part of the crowd. Last night I saw Chris McCormack (2007 World Champ) running on the drive. This morning I passed Chrissie Wellington (2007 World Champ) running up the drive as I rode out of town and we exchanged g’morings. Craig Alexander (2007 runner up) and I passed each other on the Queen K this morning, man he we flying. Later in the ride I passed Norman Stadler (04’ and 06’ World Champ) he had an entourage with him. To be clear both of the previously mentioned I passed going the other direction.
I made some deposits in the karma bank on the ride today stopping to check on several other riders who were having bike troubles most were fine but one pair I offered up CO2 cartridge which they gladly accepted. It never hurts to have a little karma on the Queen K it can be an unforgiving stretch of asphalt.
Our rental house is great, it exceeds our expectations and needless to say we’ve settled in quickly. It sets right on the water is vey nicely furnished. It’s quiet, peaceful and low key a perfect place to get away from the freak show.
My ride today was really good. Plan was to ride 4-4.5 hours to get the body used to the heat and humidity. I quickly adjusted when I was here in May and fell right back into rhythm today. I rode from our house a few miles down Ali’i drive through Kona and onto the Queen K. I rode out to the end of Queen K and a few miles out on Highway 270 where you start climbing up to Hawi. I felt pretty good early on the ride and just felt better and better as the ride went along. There were no big efforts today and I finished up the 80 miles in just over 4 hours, averaging near 20 mph. The Queen K was up to its normal tricks; heat and wind and lots of both. The road was pretty clean with not much glass or other tire dangers. I did have one very interesting experience today which I’ve never had before. As I was riding back to Kona through the heat waves rising from the highway I could see this drifting black specks being blown towards the highway across the lava. I was on an exact trajectory to intersect the mass. I thought maybe it was ash…no….what….the first one hit my helmet, BEES!!!! It was a swarm of bees being blown on by the wind. I was pelted by bees they were hitting my helmet, my arms, my face, my glasses, my legs and then I was through the mass. I couldn’t believe it, not one sting. Well that’s not something you experience every day.
Tomorrow I will swim and run. A little activity each day just to keep things loose. Here’s a few pictures from Kona. I will try to post pictures each day and provide blog updates. Stay tuned for more from Kona!!
Well it seems my journey is nearing an end. The work has been done and sacrifices made, tomorrow I board the plane for Kona.
Here’s the numbers for the past year 6,180 miles biked, 1,400 miles run, and 200 miles swam (6,436 laps in the pool) all done in the rain, in the snow, in the heat, in the wind, early in the morning and late at night. The reward, a vacation in the lava fields of the Kohala Coast on the Big Island of Hawaii with 1800 of the other fastest men and women Ironman triathletes in the world (top 1800 of 60,000 who competed in 2008 qualifying races).
The Kohala Coast is a beautiful lava rock wasteland which stretches from the summits of Mauna Kea and Kilauea to the deep blue Pacific where the average high temperature is 86 degrees, the average humidity 75%. The waters off the big island are sapphire blue and crystal clear and normally calm early in the mornings, except once a year when 1800 iron men and women turn it into a churning washing machine in everyone’s effort to move forward. Temperatures on the Queen K Highway where the bike course stretches on for 112 miles can easily reach 100 degrees with head winds that can bring you and your bike to a near standstill and cross winds which can blow 180 lb. men across the highway. Temperatures in the Natural Energy Lab where the middle of the marathon is run can reach 120 degrees and the entire course has absolutely no shade. Sounds like a great vacation.
I want to thank everyone for your support and well wishes. If you do a couple of these races and follow the sport you learn that the Ironman is the great equalizer and a race of attrition, no athlete is guaranteed to finish and Kona is regarded as the toughest of all. I’ve done the work, am feeling healthy and fit and now it’s time to execute my race plan and hope for the a little luck on race day. There will be no quitting I will leave it all on the course and they will have to pull me off the course before I quit.
I’ve received lots of inquiries about watching the race or tracking my progress on race day. The race isn’t televised but they usually steam coverage online (keep in mind I’m hoping to finish between 9.5 and 10 hours, assuming things go well, so it might be a long day). For information on online streaming video coverage, athlete tracking and other options for tracking my progress on race day please check out http://www.ironmanlive.com or http://www.ironman.com on October 11th. My race number is #1121.
Leading up to the race I plan to blog on my experience in Kona at http://www.vandertri.com/kona-2008.html (RSS enabled). I plan to post lots of pictures and stories from the lead-up to the race.
When I return from Kona I will be recovering and begin Coaching for a Cause in the upcoming year. I will be taking on a few athletes who have goals in the sport of triathlon or running in the coming year with all coaching fees being donated to Charley’s Fund. If you have any interest please send me an email so we can discuss potential roster spots, and thanks to those who have already donated and signed on to be coached next year.
Again thanks for everyone's well wishes, good vibes, prayers, patience and understanding.
Check back for more updates from the island!!!
I'll be doing a special blog on my trip and experiece in Kona. Check in here for updates, pictures and goings on from Kona.
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