Kona 'aint no picnic

Spoken out on the run course by a competitor at the Hawaii Ironman in 2008...

For 99% of the people still left at this point, they’re possessed with one thing…finishing.
They’re saying to themselves “If I can be standing at the finish, I’ve won”
And they’re right, but….
For the gifted few, for our 1% that are still competing, that are still racing. They are more than standing
They’re wondering
“Can I catch that guy up there? What about the guys behind me? Are they gonna get me? Are they coming on me? Are they picking up on me? Can I get him?”
‘Cause let me tell you something.
This is it.
The last hour of this triathlon, on the pavement, at 110 degrees,
That’s when we’re gonna find out who the hell the Ironman really is…

I love that. Competitor Radio plays that snipit during their intro to each show. Check them out sometime. They've got some great interviews.

I was excited to watch Ironman Hawaii this year. I was pretty much glued to the computer all day. Watching the race brought back lots of memories, mostly of the course and having that connection of having been there ("hey, I remember that part of the course, oh! I remember how I felt there"). The above photo captures the essence of the pain this particular race can bring. Going into the marathon, I had never felt like my legs were fatigued and was confident in the training I had done leading up to each race. Kona just sucked the life out of my legs. I was doing some serious soul searching on the run course.

There's been a lot of talk lately about the run portion of Ironman. Obviously the race is won on the run. With the performance of Chris Lieto this year (2nd) and his run training with Ryan Hall, and the fact that all these new guys are coming in from the ITU and 70.3 distance and beginning to dominate the long course, it just makes sense to me that if I am going to progress and get back to the island, I need to focus on running and get stronger in that discipline. Iwas curious to note, qualifying times from IM Wisconsin for M40-44 were 9:42 - 10:04. All but one went 3:30 or better in the marathon. I went 10:23 in 2007 and ran a 3:39. I don't see my age group getting any slower, only faster. My goal needs to be cut 20min in total time. 10min on the bike and 10min on the run . Cutting 10 min requires running 25 seconds faster per mile. I believe its do-able

I've already got the wheels in motion by training for an early season marathon. I've been putting in some good mileage and good focused training to see if I can bust out a 3:10 or better. Big task at hand I think since my body is aging and running puts so much strain on the body as far as recovery and injury. I'll definitely have to approach running this early in my preparation for IM Moo and be mindful of both. With age comes experience and I've learned that recovery is huge. Rest is best and I'm learning that I perform better when I just take days off and do nothing. No more junk miles for me.

Next step for me will be planning for 2010. Would like to do a few half IM races. Maybe Pigman again, possibly a 70.3 race again (but geez their a bit expensive don't you think?). Will for sure do some epic rides including the IM course in Madison. I would love to get out to Boise and ride with Drew this coming spring or summer. Mark Temple has always raved about southern IL and that would be a great get away weekend (or two). Building a strong bike, keeping my run fitness at a high level (without training like a marathoner), and staying healthy will be my main goal for the coming year.

later, cd