It truly was a World Championship day in Kona. I had expected conditions to be tough and the day didn’t disappoint in that department. Arriving in Hawaii10 days early to get acclimatized to the heat and humidity was invaluable. Plus I was able to assist and train with the LifeSport Prep camp. Driving out and riding the bike course from Kuwaihaie to Hawi and running the Energy Lab was an incredible benefit for course knowledge and visualization.
I really enjoyed the structured swims in Kailua Bay throughout the week and by race day, felt ready. On one of the workouts, Coach Paul had us all link arms in a circle and tread water – this came in handy waiting for the cannon to fire. Floating with 1800 of my closest friends being constantly told by Mike Reilly to stay back, all the while the tide is dragging you over the line and to the left is quite a challenge. And nothing quite prepares one to the madness of the actual start. Arms and legs flail, churning the water into white foam. But it wasn’t too bad, I was kicked and punched a few times and then swimmers separated and focused on the task at hand. There is a lot more water movement in ocean swims, than lakes, it always seems to be moving around upsetting your balance or going against you. Especially coming into the pier, however that is close to the end.
When you set your bike up and check your bags, transition seems like an overwhelming jumble of directions to follow. But it turns out pretty straight forward and there are plenty of volunteers to steer you the right way. Though when I went to get my bike there was a woman screaming that someone took her bike, not a good way to end a race.
Once I was on my bike I used the in town section as a warm up – it actually wasn’t as congested as I thought it would be so was able to get going easily. Heading out on the Queen K was pretty smooth, the pavement is perfect, but still managed to have 2 CO2 cartridges bounce out of my repair kit, and I noticed tires along the course that had somehow jettisoned themselves from other athletes bikes. The heat radiating off the lava and asphalt was immediately apparent, but just settled into a conservative pace, I actually battled back and forth with a few guys for a while. Linsey Corbin talked about segmenting the ride and soon Donkey Crossings and Scenic Point went by. The bike to Kuwaihaie is relentless and just before the left turn, the headwinds appeared – in a big way. As well as a head ache, which from experience is a sign of my body temperature rising. The aero helmets don’t lend themselves to dumping water over your head, so I tried to squeeze some water in one or two of the vents, which really didn’t work very well. At the camp, Coach Paul said to look out to sea for whitecaps to get an idea of wind conditions. Well, the sea was all white and the ride up to Hawi was a real grind. By comparison, Richters and Yellow Lake at IMC were a breeze. I had to fight every pedal stroke.
The top Pros were coming off Hawi when I saw them, and I talked to a coach, who finished near my time, who has done the race multiple times. He said he usually sees them on the Queen K, so even the Pros were in for a difficult ride. Everyone says the winds change constantly, so you have a headwind going out and coming back. Luckily this wasn’t completely the case as we screamed back down towards Kuwaihaie. And by this time I figured out how to cool my head. At every aid station I would grab a bottle, tip my head forward and shoot water up the back of the helmet. I emptied a bottle every station and carried another to use between the stations. And by starting relatively conservatively, I was able to finish the last 20 miles feeling strong.
The run was an entirely different story. Never really felt I could push the pace. On the way out Ali’i, Desiree Ficker came by and was immediately gone. I think she was running twice as fast! It was great to have friends cheering along the run, helped keep the spirits up. And even though things felt slow, the time passed relatively quickly one mile at a time, one aid station at a time, where I would grab ice and put in my cap and shorts. That seemed to work as never really felt overheated and it was 40 deg C along Ali’i. Next thing I knew, I was out on the Queen K and heading to the Energy Lab. The Kona course has a number of out and backs, so it was great to see and other LifeSport athletes like Linsey, Katya, Haley and Sean and many of the racers who attended the Pre Race Camp. The Ford Motivational Mile is pretty cool coming out of the Lab. You can see the red lights from the bottom of the hill and can look forward to message. By this point I was starting to feel a bit better and managed to pick up the pace a bit and actually caught a few people who passed me earlier. What an incredible feeling coming back onto Ali’i Drive and making that right hand turn towards the finish. There are thousands of spectators and the sound is amazing. It was such an accomplishment to finish and be a part of this great event.
Transistion Area
Chris Lieto on the Run
Coach Dan passing by on the run
Katya Meyers looking good on the run
Haley Cooper on the run
