IM World Championship, Kona, Oct 8, 2011

Watch out - this is a long one...
As usual, I will include some stuff leading up to the race, as this is a week long set of festivities, not just a single day. We arrived on Tuesday, just in time for the Keiki Dip n Dash. Our sixth grader Ben came along with Dan and me, although the other two kids, being older, stayed home with my visiting Mom. We were also joined by Greg Geoffrion, Nancy Johnson, and Fred and Mindy Shelley from Los Alamos. My cousin and her partner from San Francisco rounded out the cheering section. Frankly, it's easy to come up with spectators, when you are racing in such a nice place to visit.

They had two races – one for the younger kids, followed by one for the older. Ben did great, and it was funny to watch all of the highly competitive parents with their kids during the race. Not that you could include me in that generalization (ha!). Liz Sponagle (from Santa Fe's Running Hub, and also racing on Saturday) was able to join in the spectating fun with us as well. Liz had a hotel right downtown, and therefore needed no car. The rest of us, for a variety of reasons, were staying up in Waikoloa, about 25 miles north of Kailua-Kona. It was nice to be out of the fray, but we found ourselves driving down a lot, so that was a pain.

Immediately after the kids race, the Parade of Nations, with all athletes welcome to walk in it, went down Ali'i Drive, starting at the Kim Kam hotel (race headquarters) and finishing in the Expo, which opened that evening. Tons of gear reps here, including some that were allowing you to demo running shoes, bikes, etc. (Dan and Greg arranged for two hour demos of Argon18 bicycles for the following morning). Having said all this, though, we have learned that especially for our arrival day, this is the best time to skip the festivities, and head straight to our favorite restaurant, the Kona Brewing Company for beer and pizza. Which we did. Ben caught geckos, while the rest of us enjoyed the wide beer selection. Still time for the Expo afterwards, and the crowds had thinned a little by then. Opportunities to visit with pros abound throughout the week.

That's Craig Alexander, the eventual record-setting winner, with Ben, and the following day Mirinda Carfrae, second this year and first place last year, signed some stuff for our absent cross-country runners (John, and Emily Johnson) that was spot-on encouragement.

Gatorade was not a sponsor this year, but PowerBar Peform was, and they sponsored the daily morning swim. They set up a booth where you can check in your gear and go for a swim, and not have to worry about anything while you are out. The swells were high all week, and I hadn't swum in my cool Tyr Torque swim skin since last October, so I was glad to get out there and check out the suit and the conditions. The coffee boat serves up coffee, and PerforM for those who wish to swim by and rest on their ropes.

We were too late to register on Tuesday, so Liz and I took care of that while the guys rode bikes with our helmets Wednesday morning. It was quick, and extremely well run, as you would expect. We each got a bag of stuff, Wheaties, PowerBer, etc. No finisher's T-shirt or cap yet - you don't get those until after you cross that line. The athlete's bracelet was bright orange with a commemorative "KONA ATHLETE" written on it, as well as your number. I guess some people do something clever with these after the race.

Thursday was the popular Underpants Run. Dan, Ben, Greg, and Nancy all participated. Liz and I, with an upcoming race, chose to sit this one out... we were tapering, you know.

Lunch was at Lava Java, a favorite restaurant for many, including Normann Stadler (two -time winner) who was nice, but seemed a bit peeved he had to share the wall with Fred, rather than have a seat at a table like the rest of us.

We spent the afternoon at one of my favorite snorkel spots, next to the Place of Refuge, where we hung out easily for more than an hour in the water with a resting pod of dolphins. It was spectacular. You are not allowed to approach dolphins and turtles, but what can you do when they come to you?! Afterwards, we visited the National Historic Monument and took our annual tiki photos. Ben is wearing this year's official Underpants Run shirt - they raised over $12,000 for West Hawaii Special Olympics last year. And his Biest Milch tattoo got him another free T-shirt this morning. The lesson from this year's race: do not bring too many clothes. I think we each wore a different free T-shirt for the first three days.

Thursday was the pre-race banquet; Friday was gear drop; and Saturday, the race. Up early in order to get body marked, and organized, make my kajillion bathroom stops, and then wonder what to do with myself. It was nice to be able to get myself situated and then come out and hang out with Dan and Ben out of the crowded area. I saw Liz early-on in the body marking tent, but never again after that. I did find my TriSports.com teammate Karin, and spent some time with her in our usual spot in transition before we headed out for the deep water start.

The swells were unpleasant during the swim. Similar to last year, I tried to stay out of most people's way, and succeeded fairly well, though occasionally got pinched by people on both sides and would have to re-group to find open water again. I tried sighting off of the swimmers around me rather than using landmarks this year. The swells were enough that I was worried that if I pulled my head out too many times to look up and around, I would end up getting seasick. Once again, I was reminded about how nice an ocean swim is where you can see the coral and fish. It easily helps you note forward progress, and is just more interesting. Most cool was the pod of dolphins we swam over on our way back in. They were fairly deep down, but not so deep that you didn't get a great view of them.

Out on the bike was great. It's always long, and around 2 hours into it, I found myself losing focus, and really working hard with little to show for it. So I took time to do a little housekeeping - slathered some sunscreen on both shoulders, had a salt pill, and essentially just got my head back into the game. And it actually worked! Continuing on, the ride went smoothly, and most notable, was the lack of wind. That's not to say that it wasn't blowing, and it really did out near the wind turbine farm near the Hawi turnaround, but it wasn't that nasty Hawai'i "head wind no matter what direction you're going" that I have run into in the past. It definitely helped me have my fastest split ever. Although, it did make certain areas very hot, since the wind also helps keep you cool.

Back in T2, I took a bathroom break, got more sunscreen, and was out on the course looking for family. Dan had done a great job of getting everyone to good spectating spots so I could see them multiple times throughout the bike and run. (Although, while I was way out on the Queen K, Dan and the gang were able to have a nice little race respite up at a coffee farm we had discovered a few years ago. What a delightful break, up in the quiet coolness of 2000').

Anyone who's seen any of my other blogs, knows this is the key moment of a race for me - a high five with one of our kids. That's Ben's hand.

The first 10 miles were fun. It's out and back along Ali'i Drive and lined with spectators, and is still early enough that you are excited to be off your bike and running. Even heading up Palani hill wasn't too bad and I was thinking I'd do alright today. And then, the long slog out the Queen K towards the Energy Lab. What a killer. I slowed way down. Decided it was OK to walk through every aid station, be selective about what they had to offer, and basically checked out. Then, and I have no idea what did it, somehow I was able to turn it around and get focused again, so that as I headed into the Energy Lab, I was back into a decent run pace. Which I was able to maintain for the rest of the race. Of course, I cannot run a complete marathon without at least one bathroom stop, so it was necessary to spend more than 2 minutes in the port-a-loo at mile 19, after having just passed two women in my age group leading up to it. It couldn't be helped, though. I was able to get back into it, though, afterwards and continued on my run (yes, it was a run, not a slow miserable shuffle) back to town. I saw Dan and Ben up on the highway, which was a huge finishing boost.

Finished with one of my fastest miles, and best yet - beat the sunset. This has been my goal all four times I have raced here, and this was the first time I actually did it. And with sunset around 6:25 PM, and crossing the line at 6:03PM, there was no question that the sun was still up. I hadn't looked at my watch since 4:30 in the afternoon when I realized that I should be done before the sun, and so hadn't realized just how close I was to breaking 11 hours. But so what; the closest I've ever come to that before was in 2007, when I ran an 11:23. I was totally psyched. Came in 10th in my age group, another personal best at Kona. It was a lot of fun, in that weird sort of Ironman way.

The day after activities include the post-race banquet, which we skipped. We did make it down to Polulu Valley for a nice hike to a black sand beach, and a great opportunity to just stretch out after a long previous day. Sorry to see the trip end. As usual.