The Big Dance

I'm sitting on a plane somewhere over the Pacific Ocean, headed to the Big Island – Kona. I've been to Kona before, run down Ali'i Drive, put my feet in the sand at Dig Me Beach, and walked the asphalt on the Kona Pier. It was a sleepy time of year in the little town and nothing like what I'm about to experience this week. Kona becomes a circus for one week in October each year. Thousands of athletes, family and friends, and industry professionals converge for the Ironman World Championships. With a few exceptions you have to earn the right to subject yourself to the heat and winds of the lava fields for anywhere from 8 to 17 hours. It's a grueling day for sure but the suffering is something many triathletes dream of and few actually get to experience. And that's what this first trip to Kona on race week is all about for me – the experience.

If you've followed my blog this past year you've caught glimpses of my journey. I've worked hard and invested a lot of time, energy, and money with the goal of some day earning myself the right to swim, bike, and run 140.6 miles with 2000 of the best long course triathletes in the world. I qualified less than 60 days ago at the one-and-done Ironman US Championships in New York City. I knew I had a good shot at qualifying but wasn't prepared for the reality of it happening. The excitement of a podium finish and Kona slot was quickly replaced with the stress and anxiety of having to do it all over again in two months. Not just the training and racing but the expense of a week-long vacation to HI (which conveniently became a one-year anniversary present for my wife) and time away from work that I didn't have saved up. 2 weeks after IMNYC I forced myself back into some training but had ZERO motivation. I honestly dreaded getting out of bed every morning. On top of that I needed to work 50hr weeks to stockpile enough comp time to cover the week I'd be taking off. It was the toughest month or so I can remember having to deal with in a long time but I managed to pull through it with the support of my wife.

Eventually I was enjoying training again, although definitely on a minimalist schedule. I only needed to do enough to maintain basic endurance so I focused on a weekly long ride and long run. If I felt like getting anything else in that was a bonus. I had a couple of good long runs and a really strong 70 mile ride in Pensacola Beach during a road trip to DeLuna Fest a couple of weeks back. I also had a blast running 38 miles over 6 legs of the Colonial 200 Ultra Relay with Team 2 Boobs, 5 Dudes Sept 28-29. I averaged about 6:40/mile and we crushed the previous course record. I haven't run a step in the 10+ days since. Otherwise, I've done a couple of 25 mile group rides and had a couple ~30min open water swims in the past 2 weeks. That's the extent of my training and I feel completely at ease with it.

So if you are going to follow my progress online (I'm bib #1383) Oct 13 don't worry if I'm a little slow out of the water and my bike/run splits seem a bit off. I'm doing just fine – sitting back and enjoying the day. It's going to be a really nice cap to a great season and a fun week in that sleepy little town on the big Island. We're planning to take in the whole experience. We're staying in a condo apartment right on Ali'i behind the famous Lava Java within 5 blocks of the pier and all of the race week action. I'll be swimming out to the Coffees of Hawaii floating espresso bar, partaking in the infamous underpants run, attending both the welcome dinner and awards banquet, looking for glimpses of Macca and Crowie, meeting up with friends, and visiting the Kona Brewery on several occasions – need to stay hydrated. I don't have any specific race goals except to enjoy the day but I'm thinking a 10:30-11hr finish is reasonable – 1:15-1:20 swim, 5:30-5:45 ride, 3:30ish run.

Stay tuned through the week for a daily photo blog update.

View from below - Ironman World Championships