Kona 10/3: T Minus 3 days

I took a full rest day today as all of my significant physical preparation for Thursday's race is done.  I joined the XC group for breakfast and it was great to bump into a bunch of old friends and familiar faces.  It was very interesting to hear Andrew Messick (the CEO of Ironman) talk about the challenges of running a global events company during CoVid as well as the evolution of Ironman and Ironman70.3 and how that has led to this year, the first year of a two-day IM World Championship.

I also spent some of the day tweaking my bike for the race.  Most importantly I had a Ceramic Speed coated chain swapped in for my old chain.  I raced once before with the Ceramic Speed UFO chain at IMAZ back in 2019.  It's supposed to provide a 2-5 watt benefit, which if it does, is pretty significant.  I  don't know if it does or not, but I can tell you that it is a joy to ride with as it feels butter smooth.  I'm convinced its worth the $145 price tag as I frequently marveled during that race how great my drive train felt and I know just that positivity boost was worth some extra speed.  I hope to gain a similar benefit on Thursday.  I think its good for about 200 miles or so until the special coating wears off.  I'm planning on riding at most about 40 miles over the next 2 days, so it should be good for the full 112 on Thursday.

Anders did a bike and swim today and in both felt no ill effects from yesterday's bike spill nor from the 2.4 mile swim race.  He reported that there was noticeably more swell today.  In fact it seems like the weather is changing after about 3-4 days of mostly hot, windy clear weather.  It rained for quite a while beginning around 8 or so tonight.

Our friend Bill Price joined us (Bill is the co-founder of the Texas Pacific Group, a PE firm and he currently lives on Oahu).  Bill joined Judy, Anders and I as we watched the beginning of the Parade of Nations and then Anders and I registered for the race.   On the way into the King Kam we posed in front of where Anders and I signed the big athlete banner with MIOGA (Making It On Guts Alone).

We grabbed some take out from Umekes (love that place) and Bill entertained us with his great sense of humor and his amazing set of life adventures...

Later, the four of us went south down the Island a bit and did a late night Manta Ray dive--it was truly amazing--at one point we had about 10 of the graceful "monsters" doing barrel rolls below us as they ate the plankton that were attracted to the lights under the boards we were holding on to...a great adventure.  

We are going to bed after 11 tonight, which is a good 90 minutes past where we've turned in so far on this trip and we have the underpants run bright and early in the morning!  

Race day is almost here!  I'll lay out my race plan and go over some of my equipment/gear choices tomorrow...Onwards and Upwards!

KOna 10/2: T Minus 4 Days

We got up around 5:15am to get the Joe going.  Had our PB toast and lots of hydration and headed over to the area in front of the King Kam to get ready for the swim.  I was bib 349 and Anders was 712.  We would find out later they gave him the wrong bib/chip--more on that in a bit.  Nothing too dramatic in getting ready for the swim prior to jumping in the water but here are some pics/videos:

First off getting our chips--I'm wearing my "Have No Fear, the Norwegian is Here" T-shirt in honor of Gustav and the great video he did for my mom yesterday!

We donned our Roka swim skins and began to get into the mindset necessary to swim 2.4 miles...

Soon enough it was time to head down to the water....in case you're wondering, I'm the gimpy one courtesy of my left knee...

(sorry about the vids not posting--maybe too long?)

The "Kona Boys" were ready!

It was a bit confusing figuring out what to do.  There weren't the usual paddle boards marking the start line.  I was able to get out and join the mob (about 800 finishers) about a minute before the start.  Anders was still on Dig Me with about 3 minutes to go when he figured out he needed to swim out about 200 yards to the starting area.  He proceeded to sprint full on out there and arrived in the middle of the pack just as the starting horn sounded....not the best way for either of us to start a race!

Anders had a great swim.  He described it as a 3 out of 10 effort.  He found a great set of feet to follow most of the outbound part of the swim but was not as fortunate on the way back.  He finished in 62:48, according to Sportstat, which was good enough for 24th out of 98 in his 35-39 YO Age Group.  He was 169th out of 743 overall.  Because of the mixup with his number he is listed as "Florian Diebl" on the results page...makes you wonder what happened to Florian!

I had a less dramatic start.  I was off to the left away from the pier and the buoy line.  My object was to finish with as little drama as possible, so that I could build my confidence for the Ironman.  I felt really comfortable right from the start.  I didn't swim very hard, just trying to be smooth and under control.  I was jostled a bit here and there throughout the swim but it wasn't really that challenging from a physical contact perspective--something I always worry about in a mass start swim like this.

I glanced at my Garmin here and there and could tell I was having a good swim with my 100s ticking by under 2 minutes each.  I was content to swim out to the turn buoys with this relatively easy effort.  Soon enough I made the two right turns and was heading home.  When the bottom became visible again I could tell that I wasn't moving as fast as on the outbound leg.  I wasn't surprised by this as this is my 5th 2.4-mile swim in a race at this venue and each time the current becomes apparent as you head back north towards the pier.  Undoubtedly, fatigue was a factor as well and since I'm not a very good non-wetsuit swimmer, my form tends to fall apart more quickly as I tire than most of the swimmers here.

I really had the swim I was looking for and even pushed it a bit over the last 750-yards or so.  I exited the swim in 85:01 according to my Garmin (which isn't great I know but I'm quite content with it).

Here is what the Garmin data looks like:

You can clearly see the slow down over the back half.  Also, not the best job of navigating a straight swim (it was challenging to navigate and the rest of swimmers were zigging and zagging quite a bit as well--very confusing) although my GPS had me at 4,192 yards, so pretty darn close!  

I'd grade my level of effort as a 6-7 vs. Anders' 3.   We each had essentially the same HR at 142bpm, which seems to jive with our relative perceptions of efforts as his max HR is quite a bit higher than mine, given my age.

I finished 6th out of 13 in my Age Group and 462nd OA (out of 743).  Notably Monty and SlowMan (Mark Montgomery and Dan Empfield) went 1-2 in my Age Group and they were a good 19 minutes faster than I.  All-in-all, this was exactly what I was looking for in today's swim and I'll carry a lot of confidence into Thursday's Big Dance!

After resting up for an hour or so back at the house, Anders and I went out for short rides (he did 24 and I did 22 miles).  At the end of the ride, we were riding together down Makala (talking about Heart Rate Decoupling) and when we reached the dead-end by the old airport he thought we were turning right and I didn't and we bumped into each other.  I cried out and swerved right but was able to correct and stay upright.  Anders was not so lucky and down he went.  The good news is we had slowed down form 20+ mph to about 7 or 8 mph and both he and his bike were ultimately OK.  Not so his Wyn Racing shorts and he did get a couple of scrapes on his upper right leg and right elbow.  

Very scary when it happened but we luckily dodged this bullet!

Onwards and Upwards!

Kona:10/2 Part 1 (quick update)

 Quick update and I’ll post a much more detailed update in the morning (Kona time).

Anders and I did the 2.4 mile “practice swim” this morning and we both had the swims we were looking for.  He swam 62 and change off a “3 out of 10” effort.  I swam right on 85 minutes and my swim was very easy to the turn buoys and then I began to pick it up a bit…probably, overall about the effort I’d like to have in the race itself.  I’ll give a more detailed run through of the data tomorrow.  Real confidence builders for both of us.

We then each rode on the Queen K (24 for Anders and 22 for me).  We both felt real strong on the bike.  We had a little mishap that I can give you some more detail on tomorrow but Anders went down but both he and his bike are fine.  Scary for sure.

We also bumped into team Sanders a couple of times….

Tune in early tomorrow for the details and lots of pictures…

Kona 10/1: T minus 5 Days

Things got a bit more complicated over the last 24 hours.  My 86-year old Mom, Darlene, who lives down in Naples, and successfully rode out the hurricane, had a fall after slipping on some mud and ended up in quite a bit of pain.  She went to the ER and we were awakened at 2am this morning to the news that she had fractures in her pelvis and lower back.  It was a rough night for sure but long-story short, it looks like she will be OK.  Maybe 4-8 weeks of rehab but hopefully she'll get back to her pre-fall self after that.

I won't lie, but as I lay there in bed this morning, thoughts of pulling the plug on this many-year dream of racing Kona with Anders did cross my mind.  The good news however, is my Mom's situation looks ok so far and Judy and my sister and brother stand ready to fly down there as needed.  So, it looks like I get to stay here and do this somewhat selfish thing.....

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OK, back to the task at hand.  I got up early after about 3-4 hours of sleep last night and went down and did the Kona Town Fun Run, which seems to have replaced the old PATH 5/10ks.  I started easy but actually felt pretty good for me and even ran negative splits:

Mile 1 : 10:16

Mile 2: 9:57

Mile 3: 9:48

Basically, averaged 10:00/mile and felt pretty good.  I don't know how I did relative to everyone else because this was truly a Fun Run with no timing chips.  At least I have one more Kona finish under my belt!

I'm pretty happy with my effort in what is probably the last 5k I'll ever run.  At the very least with this left knee!  Here are a couple of pics:

Anders went out did an 11-mile real run averaging around 7:20/mile and seems to be beginning to adapt to the heat a bit--and the good news is he still has a week to go!

Around 11:30 or so he and I went down to the pier for a short tune-up swim in front of the 2.4-mile swim tomorrow.  I felt pretty darn good swimming 1,000+ yards at 1:57/100.  Still very slow, but I do seem to be headed in the right direction!  I'm looking forward to swimming the whole course tomorrow in what will hopefully be a real confidence builder.  

I also bumped into Greg Welch when I was toweling off after the swim and I shared with him how he called out my name as I crossed the finish line back at Oceanside in 2010, the race I first qualified for Kona in!  I told him about doing this race with my son and he shared with me that apparently there is a Danish man here who is doing the race with both his daughter and son!  Wow!

After the swim, we saw the Bergen Duo by their team car af the pier.  They apparently had swam 5,000 meters and then rode 105 miles @ 25mph....blows my mind.  

Anyways, I went up and said hi and reminded Gustav that he had met my Mom at IMFL in 2021, which he won and qualified for Kona at (incidentally Anders finished 11th overall Age Group wise and also qualified there).  My Mom was very excited to meet him because her family (the Andersons) were mostly from Bergen and immigrated here a couple of generations ago.  Anyways, Gustav was kind enough to make this video of support for my Mom:

Thanks Gustav!  You really made my Mom's day!  She was so excited to see this!

Onwards and Upwards!!!!

Kona 9/30: T Minus 6 Days!

Hard to believe after waiting for three years that I'm actually in my Race Week!  My Ironman focus is now shifting to executing all the tasks necessary for getting to Thursday morning at 7:25am when the Big Dance begins for us dinosaur types.  I'll comment on today's events in a couple of minutes but here is the schedule ahead:

Saturday 10/1:  Kona Town Run (5k) with Judy and a 1,000 yard or so tune-up swim with Anders.

Sunday 10/2:  The 2.4-mile "practice swim" with Anders and a short (1-hour) ride with a bunch of ramp-ups

Monday 10/3: Rest day.  Parade of Nations.  Register and pick-up Transition bags, etc.  Evening Manta Ray Dive.

Tuesday 10/4:  Underpants Run. Short Ride/Short Swim.  Welcome Banquet.

Wednesday 10/5: Final short ride.  Optional short Swim.  Drop off bike and Transition stuff.

Thursday 10/6: My race

Saturday 10/8: Anders' race.

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Today, Anders and I got up early had some coffee and breakfast and prepared for our bike workouts.

We drove out to about 10 miles past the airport where Anders hopped out and started what would be a 65-mile or so round trip up to Hawi.  

I drove on to Kawaihae and jumped on my bike and rode back South to remind myself how much I don't like the climb back-up to the Queen K from Kawaihae.  The wind wasn't that bad but the sun was baking and it was already near 90 degrees at 8:15am.  

I turned around and rode back to Kawaihae and started the climb up to Hawi for the second time on this trip.  The conditions were very different from my earlier trip with a good 25+ mph headwind as I climbed the 11 miles of "stair-steps" up to the real climbing that starts about 7 miles out from Hawi.  Around here Anders caught me and we chatted a bit and then he went off to do his first Hawi climb.  I chugged along staying as close to my target watts (NP of 160-170 watts) as I could.  With the wind, I jumped up above 200 watts here and there but did a pretty good job of keeping it under control.  My new X-Lab bta works like a charm and I even had to stop to pee along the way as I did a pretty good job of hydrating.

As I neared Hawi Town itself I begin to hit a bunch of cross-gusts, that weren't too bad but I definitely had to pay attention.  I joined up with Anders in town and after a couple minute break we started the descent. 

Anders followed me down for the first 4-5 miles or so and there were more than a few times that gusts would move you a foot or so to the side.  I sat up mostly but still got up above 30 mph on several occasions.  It was a nervous descent for sure but no where near as bad as what I experienced back in 2014.  If that was a 10 then today was about a 7 or 8 and the descent earlier in the week was maybe a 2 or so.

I navigated the ride down to Kawaihae without any drama for a 40-mile round trip in around 2:20 or so.  I was quite conservative and felt great throughout.  I bought some refreshments at the market there and then hopped in the car and drove up past Wailkola where Anders met up with me and then transitioned into his running gear and set off for a 4-mile brick run back North into Wailoka.  

I scored him a DQ Misty freeze (lemon lime) and we met up near there and hopped back in the car and drove back to Kailua.  We grabbed some Subway and then basically chilled the rest of the day....

Anders felt great about the effort, a real confidence builder.  I also felt very good and basically decided to skip my planned swim and instead focused on resting and hydrating.  Judy later joined us as we stopped by the IM store and also saw our names on the big posters outside of the King Kam.  A rainbow appeared down by the bay which was very much in the spirit of an awesome day!

We grabbed some Thai food and are chillin' after watching a fantastic sunset where I even saw the "green flash".

Life is good.  It's such a privilege to be able to do this!  Onwards and Upwards!

Kona 9/29 part 2

 Late update….we went to Umekes because Kona Brewing was mobbed.  I had the best fish tacos of all time and Anders and I went crazy and even had a brew dog!  Hitting the sack early, Hawi tomorrow!  Onwards and upwards!

Kona 9/29

 One week to go!  I got up early and had a banana,  some toast and a cup of Kona's finest and watched a giant cruise ship pull into the waters in front of our house.

It was a beautiful morning and it really is easy to fall into the Island way of life!

However, I needed to get out and do my rather poor imitation of running and I went for a three mile run around the old airport runway and the little park that's there.  11:24/mile, which is unfortunately my Z2 cruise pace in the heat/humidity down here (which is way more noticeable when you run then when you eat a banana!).  I reflected on the fact that I will most likely only have 2 more runs on my left knee before it's replaced in November--I'm doing the 5k Kona town run on Saturday and of course, I hope to run at least a little bit in the Ironman next Thursday.  I've had a lot of great adventures with this old knee but it's definitely well past its "use by" date!

I went over to Bike Works and there was a line of folks almost out the door with their bikes looking for some help.  I was lucky enough to have a mechanic recognize me and he motioned me over to get my bike.  They had pulled the crankset off and cleaned and greased it and also straightened my rear derailleur and when I got back home and took it out for an easy hour spin, it was smooth as silk.  I think I finally have my trusty steed all dialed in--yea!

Kona weather was definitely back as it was blowing strong up on the Queen K--would have been a very long ride back from Kawaihae into that headwind if the race had been today!

I took Anders up to the Queen K and he did about an 11-mile run and upon returning jumped immediately into our pool.  Later, he went over to the Kona Aquatic Center and swam and I guess Joe Skipper and Heather Jackson as well as some folks he knows from Boulder were there as well.

I elected not to swim today and the plan tomorrow is for Anders and I to head north and he is going to do about 70 miles up to and down from Hawi and I'll do something in the 45-50 mile range round-trip with the Hawi climb/descent.  He's going to do a 40-minute brick run off of that bike and I'll play sherpa for him.  Later I plan to swim somewhere in the 2,100-2,500 yard range down in the Bay.

But for now, we are heading off to the Kona Brewing Company for some din-din (and no brews 😢)