HRT

Hawaii Race Day

Mike and I before the start

Just over 16 months ago my legs were swollen so badly my ankles were the size of my knees and I could not walk without severe pain in my ankles. Doctors had spotted a nodule on my lung and they were telling me I had rheumatoid arthritis (RA). For someone who loves to swim, bike, and run as much as I do this was life changing news. We’d already had our share of realizing how quickly life can change. I was lucky; I did not have RA, but rather had an infection called Coccidioidomycosis from the spores of a fungus. I more than likely inhaled the spores while at a training camp in Tuscon in 2008. The great news was I could make a full recovery.

During the recovery process I made it my goal to get back into great fitness and try to qualify for the Hawaii Ironman. I owe so much of my life to this sport. Triathlon has allowed me to travel the world, meet so many lifelong friends, build a career as a coach, and of course triathlon was what introduced my wife Heather and I at the University of Western. This sport rocks!!!!

It is amazing to be sitting here so many months later in great shape writing about a dream I had so long ago.

Team HR Support Crew

The Race:

Race morning is always so different from any other morning of the year. It is amazing how food you eat the other 364 days does not sit well on race day. I did manage to get down most of my breakfast and at 4:45am Dirk, Mike and I headed to the race site. My race prep was right on and at 6:30 Coach Lisa almost pushed me into the water. I think she was more nervous then I was. I had a great warm up and then headed to the front of the line for the start of the race. The start area is in a little “U” shaped bay. I positioned myself right in the middle on the front line much like in Lake Placid. As the gun went it was crazy. I felt like I was fighting for my life. At 500m into the race I settled into a group. I knew it was not as fast as I wanted but there was nowhere to go as I was boxed in. It seemed to take forever to get to the turn buoy at 1.2miles. When we finally made the turn I looked at my watch. 30min!!!!!!!!!!I was planning on 25-27mins. In the water that is a big difference. But then I noticed the wire on the turn buoy was pointing back to shore which meant we would be faster home. And sure enough we were. As I exited the water I looked at my watch 56mins. I was hoping to be faster but no stress. After a quick transition I was off to my bike. Within the first few kms of the bike you loop back to what is called the HOT CORNER where I saw the family for the first time. Body was feeling great and I settled into my race wattage using my totally sweet new Zipp Power Tap wheel. In the first 40kms I think many athletes forgot we were doing an Ironman as they were pushing way too hard. I think I rode the first half of the bike course perfectly and hit Hawi (95km) holding 225watts and averaging 36km/h. On the way back down from Hawi the famous winds of the big island started to pick up. This race rewards the faster cyclists as they get closer to home before the wind gets too severe. At 125km you get back on HWY 19 (Queen K) for the challenging ride back to Kona. The wind was really starting to pick up. For the next 55kms I rode into a steady head/cross wind. My power tap was a life saver as I just kept my eyes on how hard I was working and didn’t pay attention to my speed which at times was so slow. Mentally I was great. I was holding 220-250watts and I was passing people. I only started to fade in the closing 10kms but really not too badly. I came into T2 feeling good that I was still on my time goals and very much in the Age Group race.

Stats from the bike

Time: 5hr06minutes

Wattage: 220

On the run

Nutrition: 4 bottle of Infinit Nutrition, 6 power gels, 6 bottles of water that I drank, 10-12 bottles that I poured over me throughout the race. I think after the race my shoulder was sore from catching all the water bottles from the volunteers. Also after all that water I never peed. It was hot!!!!

So on to run. I left T2 and settled into a pace. The heat was unlike anything I had experienced before. Yes we had been here all week but running mid day at 95 degrees was crazy. My head felt like it was going to explode. I will not lie it killed me mentally. The first 10 miles was a fight to keep running. My legs felt great, I was not challenged cardiovascularly, but oh my lord it was hot. I ran from aid station to aid station and then walked through the aid station. At ever aid station I did the following: Water over the head, then ice in the hat, ice down the shorts and in the shirt (sorry too much info) then a sip of coke for sugar and then water again with a salt tab. I did this 26 times. I know I tell all of my clients not to walk if you can run and you know I might have been able to run a little bit more but in the moment this is what I needed to mentally keep me in the race. After I left town and headed out to the Energy Lab I started to settle into the heat and started to run better. I negative split the run coming home faster. This was a small reward for me as mentally I felt like I was failing by walking. Before the race Coach Lisa kept telling to having something to think about that will keep me going when times got tough. For me it was that Heather and the kids had been out all day cheering and they were waiting for me.

As always the final miles were such a reward. I was smashed as I crossed the line so very nice volunteers helped me back to the family meeting area and I saw my family and coach and it was all worth it. I think Clarke did ask me why it took me so long…..and where was my medal! It was fun to listen to everyone talk about their race. We waited for my client and close friend Mike Peerless came in at 12:30 which was a fantastic time for him. We then packed up and headed back to the condo. It’s now been a few days and lots of time to reflect. Not sure I have another Ironman in me right now but I look forward to a season of shorter races next year. Thank you to my support crew and of course my family.

You can't race without support!!!