KONA!!!

Can you believe it!? Race day is actually here. After 3 years the Ironman World Championship is finally back in Kona, and I'm one of the lucky athletes who gets to compete here. Let's do this. 

Jeremy and I had never transitioned fully from Colorado time, so when I woke up it didn't even feel early. It was a very relaxed morning eating my breakfast, getting my tattoos on and then the walk down to the pier.  They had us filter around the back of the hotel to go through body marking first before entering transition. I found myself shoulder to shoulder with Laura Siddal, Laura Phillip, Lucy Charles, and all the other pro women who are getting their day ready too. In transition I still wasn't nervous. I had a checklist in my head of what I needed to take care of and I checked off my items one by one; pump the tires, check the gearing, check the bike computer, deposit fuel, attached shoes, and then there was nothing left. I grabbed my cap and goggles and left transition to go find Jeremy. 

(Talking to Scott.  Looks like a real interview)

If the day goes according to plan, the next time I'll see this finish line will be at sunset.

I made sure to get there really early. Partly because I was only the second age group wave, and partly because I find it's just easier to relax once instead of rushing through transition and forgetting something. I entered my swim corral and had plenty of time to sit there with the other women. Most races I've been to the atmosphere is very competitive. All of the ladies who want it are biting it the bit, truly wanting those championship slots at the end of the day. But all of the women here have already made it. We've all done what we need to do to get here and today was going to be a celebration. It was one of the most relaxed corrals I've ever been in. 

I was supposed to line up right in front, even at a world championship. So I did. I was one of the first ladies to walk down those stairs and I had them to myself. I felt like a queen walking into that water. Kona has a floating start, so I swam 100 m out to the start buoys and used it as a chance to warm up. At the black buoys we waited behind all of the paddle boarders for our turn. We had a lot of time to wait and we kept drifting forward. The paddle boarders kept having to push us back. But finally that conch shell sounded and we took off.

 

My race plan had me going out hard for the first 400 m to make sure I didn't miss that first front pack. I did what I thought I was supposed to do and went out hard. I realized my watch wasn't running after not hearing my lap alert, so I pressed start again but knew I wouldn't have a running time throughout the day. The water was fairly clear for me on the way out, but I did start running into a couple of 30-34 ladies near the turnaround. We turned around two great big boats, they wanted to make sure we weren't cutting any corners. And as I made that final turn I smiled as I noticed the bow of one of the ships was painted like shark teeth. It made me smile. Then I looked down I saw a race photographer down there under the water taking pictures, so I waved at him, and that made me smile again. I had decided earlier that day that I was going to make it as positive of an experience as possible. I was going to wave at every photographer, smile at every spectator, thank every officer on the course, and celebrate being there. After the turnaround I found myself in a pack of women with my same colored cap. They were all strung out in a line and I was having a hard time getting inside of the pack, but I wasn't going to let them leave. This is my first real experience swimming with a pack of women my age. It was awesome. I started chaffing on under my armpits which was new and that hurt, but there's nothing I could do about it so I just kept swimming. I swam stroke for stroke with the woman beside me and felt like I was exactly where I needed to be. Climbing out at the stairs was little chaotic since I came out with so many women and I don't truly remember most of it, but I was glad to be out. 

Into T1 and I got everything situated still feeling good. I saw Jeremy immediately on Palani and he hollered that I was 8th out of the water. Really my pack was 4th through 10th, so I am really happy with that placement. 

We have a weird loop followed by an out and back in town before heading out into the Queen K. It was a nice way to enjoy the spectators though before the lonely climb to Hawi.

Dan told me that my job that day was to make friends with Queen K, so I did. I flattered her, and told her how beautiful her island and her culture were. Basically my routine for the ride was eat, drink, pray, eat, drink, pray. I knew that in order to have a successful race that nutrition was going to be key. I made sure I took my gel at the bottom of every hour, a solid at the top of every hour, and I was going through a whole bottle of electrolytes every hour. In addition to my normal race fuel I had packed two peanut butter Uncrustable sandwiches and those were going to be my treat during the day. I thought I nailed my nutrition. Because I had packed such a variety of things I was able to rotate through all of my fuel and didn't get sick of any of it. Dan wanted my watts at 150 but I was a little bit low closer to 140. I was remembering the words from the breakfast the day before about patience and how easy it is to blow up later in the day because of biking too hard too early, so I just let my watts stay where they were. I was passed by some woman as expected, but wasn't a blowout like I've had in the past. The aid stations were super long so I had time to take care of everything I needed to. Mostly I was just trying to settle my mind in for a very long day and prepared to tackle whatever heat or winds we're going to be on the course that day. I got to the turnaround at Hawi and couldn't believe that it was time to turn around. My main goal on the bike was to not get a flat and not have a mechanical which would prevent me from finishing the race.  So being halfway done was huge. I thoroughly enjoy the descent down Hawi. It's nice when I know these roads fairly well. Coming back into town everyone had told me to expect a really dark spot around mile 90 and I don't know if it was the fact that I had a peanut butter sandwich to keep me going or the fact that I happened to have a cloud cover that exact moment but it wasn't bad at all. In fact I was starting to catch bikers who passed me earlier. I saw the pro women starting out on their run as I was coming into town and it felt pretty good that I wasn't that far behind them. When I got off my bike I didn't even feel tired. I was pumped. All along I knew that if I could get off the bike then I could finish this race. 

I started running and was so grateful for that training run with my friends a couple weeks prior. The aid stations were going to be every mile and a half apart, which is pretty far for a race like this. But luckily I knew exactly what that felt like. So my plan was to walk each aid station to get the fuel I needed, but then keep pace in between. I was holding 8:20 again. I was feeling amazing. I saw Jeremy out there on Ali'i as I ran past a couple of times and was so happy to have him there with me. This was a team effort getting here I couldn't imagine doing this race without him. 

I originally had an iced towel wrapped around my neck when I came out of T2, but I dropped it thinking it was going to be too heavy to carry. Quickly I realized my error and ended up picking up another athlete's towel which I kept with me the rest of the run. Other athletes afterwards complained about how hot it was on the run. One woman said it was close to 90° that day, but I didn't feel that. I had an iced towel on my neck and I had ice down the front of my shirt, I was sitting pretty. Jan Frodeno (Ironman World Champion) was volunteering at the aid station on Palani and as I passed by I thanked him by name.  He gave me a huge pat on the back and a little push to get me up and over the hill. It was kind of cool.

Mentally I'd broken up the run into four 10kms, the first one out and back on Ali'i, the second one up to the energy lab, the third one in the energy lab, and the fourth one was the home stretch back into the finish line. After the second 10K I started feeling a little tired, so I backed off my effort a little bit. I saw Jocelyn walking out of the energy lab at that point and knew that she had to run into problems. I had a feeling she wasn't going to finish the race which was too bad for her. In the energy lab I was starting to go a little fuzzy in the head, so I stopped for my special needs bag, pulled out some ibuprofen and made sure I took some Coke. Everything kicked in by the time I got back up to the Queen K. I was starting to get really excited because I knew I only had a 10K left before I crossed that finish line. I had met my goals for the race up to that point, and if I kept going like I was it was going to be a good time. I put my head down and did everything I could to keep up my form and keep up my pace. Jeremy was obviously watching my splits, and was nervous by the times I was putting down. He wanted to tell me to slow down because he was afraid I was going out too hard, but I was feeling amazing and new that I had nailed my pace and nailed my nutrition. 

I had expected to cry the entire way down that finish chute and as I crossed that finish line. I was not prepared to be smiling from ear to ear. You could not wipe that grin off my face the whole day even if you tried. Jeremy volunteered to be a finish line catcher and we coordinated it so I'd be crossing the finish line during his shift. I gave a little triumphant hop across that finish line.  I did it!  I finished! 

 

I saw Jeremy at the bottom of the ramp and I went to give him a hug...then immediately collapsed. My legs just gave out, they had carried me through 140 mi and said that they were done. The catchers actually had to support me all the way to the athlete recovery area where I sat down. 

I finished in time of 10:45. I took 28th in my age group. Only 86 age groupers beat me. I hit every goal I had set out for myself for this race. This season I haven't had a race where I really felt like I could be proud of what I did. But this race was completely different, and I did everything I needed to do to make this race successful. 

Jeremy sat me down in the athlete recovery area and left me with my phone. As I sat on that bamboo mat I had a chance to look through my phone because it was exploding with messages. Cambrie and McKenzie sent me congratulations texts. I was receiving phone calls from my mom, texts from Lexi. I learned that my Uncle Bruce and Aunt Barbara sat down to watch the race, my friends here were tracking me, and there were even teachers at school who are watching the coverage hoping to see me. I had no idea I had such a huge support crew cheering me on back home while I was living this dream day. Jeremy had to go and finish his volunteer shift but it meant that I had a couple of hours just to sit and soak it all in. I finished before sunset which is a big thing on the big island, so I was able to sit and watch the sunset over the water as I watched more and more athletes come across that finish line. 

Ultimately I decided that I could not have asked for a more perfect day. The island was kind today. The wind and the heat didn't knock me down. But more than just the cooperation for the big island, the race itself was a dream. Along the course I heard all the French calling, "Allez!  Allez!" I heard all the Spanish speakers calling out, "Vende! Vende!" And I saw all those little kids with their hands out stretched just hoping for high fives cheering with all their might for their moms out there.  I was missing my kids so I "adopted" each kid I passed to fill that void. Being on the island really was a special thing. I've heard of the magic of Kona and it's real. These are all athletes who've had to fight for their dream to get here, and some of the best in the world. The camaraderie, the community, and the respect and support we have for one another is unlike anything else. 

It's too early to say if I'll ever be back on the Big Island racing this race again, but if I only got one shot at this I couldn't have asked for anything more. It was everything I hoped it would be. It was a dream.

Final touches

It's the last day before race day! 

Jeremy and I woke up early to beat the heat to go do some final work down in the energy lab. The energy lab has such a reputation for being the place where people fall apart that I knew I'd be able to do a better job conquering it if I just saw it once. We tried to take some more pictures too. We've learned that we need a slightly better camera with a slightly better lens, but you can't beat the background of these things shots. 

We took my bike out to the lava rocks and tried to get some picture with my bike and the sea. We weren't the only ones either, although I think the other photographers out there are getting paid. 

After we felt warmed up and sharp, we headed back into town where we crashed the all-world athlete banquet. It was a banquet for the gold athletes only, which I am but I wasn't on the list. They let me in any way where we had a fairly simple breakfast of eggs and hash browns. The real draw was hearing Ironman legends speak on the panel, Matt Dixon, Mark Allen, and Dave Scott. The interview questions were pretty standard, but my takeaway from the event was be patient during the race and you won't regret it. 

Back at home I had to get my bike and bags ready for drop off. I couldn't believe the time crept up so quickly. Having a race on a Thursday is a strange thing, because you don't feel like the time has come yet. I had to lay everything out on the floor and double and triple check my lists to make sure I didn't miss anything going into these bags. I was relying heavily on Jeremy who has done 14 of these races to make sure that I packed correctly. I was especially nervous about my fueling on the bike. Before we left we had gone through and calculated out what we thought I'd need, but I was still concerned about how I was going to carry that fuel with me on the bike and make sure I put in the right pocket in T1. It's amazing how much stuff we travel if for these races but how little actually goes into these running bike gear bags. 

It was also time for bike check-in. I had heard stories about bike check being quite the parade with dealers lining the course, making tallies for every bike brand, component, pedal, helmets, bike computers, watches, and everything in between. I was so caught up at the moment that I forgot what half of my components were. 

But as I racked my bike on the pier it was very surreal. I've seen footage of this race for years with the helicopters hovering over the pier and the thousands of bikes racked there. Finally being an athlete on the pier with my bike was hard to truly comprehend. 

It didn't take me long to rack my bike but I didn't want to leave because it was such a special moment. I chatted with a few of the ladies next to me and found out that one of them was racing on her birthday! So that was going to be exciting for her. 

But as I was walking out I saw Jeremy waiting for me near the exit and I started doing a little happy dance. He asked if I was excited and I had to joke just a little bit I said. I was more than a little excited. The best part was is it wasn't the crazy nervous butterflies, but it was pure excitement. 

The rest of the day was time for feet up. We were lucky that our condo had air conditioning, because that was incredibly handy. The only unique race day prep was that I ended up braiding hair for some new friends!  Some ladies from the Facebook group were desperate to have braids for race day but couldn't find anyone available.  I'm no professional, but I am a mom who can braid.  So Sarah and Barbara dropped by for me to braid their hair.  It was a simple thing for me, but they were so, so happy.  Barbara as jumping up and down with excitement because she now felt like she was ready to roll.  Other than that it was a very standard night of chicken and rice for dinner and an early bedtime. Tomorrow is when we find out how preparation is gone and what kind of day the island has planned for us.

Taking time out at Two Step

One benefit to having visited the island a handful of times before is that Jeremy I didn't feel like we had to see every hot tourist spot this trip. We were able to take things nice and relaxed. Jeremy's idea of relaxing was very different than mine. He decided he wanted to bike up to Hawi and back. I did not want to spend that kind of energy, so while he rode the entire 112 mi bike course, I took a quick swim and met up with Byron to get a pre-race massage. 

That afternoon we still had time to kill so we decided to go down to Two Step beach and do some snorkeling. On our drive we ran into Kami! I knew she was here on the island, but I didn't know if we'd be able to meet up or not. I originally met at her at Base camp a couple years ago and it was fun to touch base with her again. She's been an inspiration for me on how to balance mom life and still have great bike splits. 

We also took a side road and found some little bakeries on the way to the beach. We picked up some banana macadamia nut bread, some coconut rice bowls, and some star fruit. I've never seen little stands like this anywhere else, so I love stopping when we can. 

By the time we got to the beach it was surprisingly the perfect temperature.  I was content to hang out on the rocks, listen to the waves and watch the sunset. Jeremy jumped in the water to do some snorkeling and said it was fabulous even though his mask and snorkel weren't working properly. 

Jeremy had a fun idea to do some fun letter pictures. I figured I could probably spell the word Kona with my arms and legs easily enough. That was fun to try to get right. 

Memories like this are what make these trips special.

Saying hello to Queen K and the world of Ironman

It felt like my typical race week prep was a couple days out of order this trip because of the Thursday race day. It meant that on day one Jeremy and I had a triathlon to do. We started out on the bike and took off down the Queen K. I was really lucky that I have biked the back half of this course now twice so I know exactly what to expect on the back end. I did not know how the section from Kona up to Waikoloa would feel. It turns out it feels just like the section to Hawi. The nice thing about this early morning ride is that it helped calm my fears even more. This was just another road, this was just another ride, and there was no stress here. For the first time I felt like Queen K and I could be friends. Jeremy was amazing this entire week and made sure we stopped for ample photo opportunities. You only get to do Kona the first time once. So we shamelessly stopped to take photos as we trained. 

After the bike we went for a run and realized just how humid it was going to be this week. I think the humidity was 80 to 90%. We were so slippery the entire week. Although we also had the benefit from the altitude drop, so our lungs felt like they were five times as big. We ran along Ali'i to see where I was going to be running on Thursday. There were a lot of independent companies set up along the course, even though they weren't the official sponsors they wanted to be a part of the action too. You could stop and get a drink or a gel from GU. Gatorade had something set up too. Everyone knew this is where the party was going to be. 

We stopped at Ironman village and I got my first donut of the week. It is race week, and I'm going to need the calories! 

We joined the hordes of people swimming out in the bay. We swam out in the water and admired all the fish and the coral reef below us, adapted to the swells, and practiced siding. It's a beautiful swim and I was excited for race day. Jeremy timed this picture "perfectly!"

Later that afternoon we decided to go to the parade of nations. I had foolishly not packed any of my 4th of July t-shirts, but I did wear blue since that was the best I had. Luckily one woman was tired of the Americans all looking homeless so she bought leis for all of us. Some of the other countries all had matching shirts or t-shirts, and had dance moves, routines, chants and cheers they broke out while out on the parade route. The Americans weren't that cool I'm afraid. As I walked I made friends with three more ladies.  I love meeting people at these races!  

We gathered with all the other athletes and then we marched down Ali'i. Jeremy was stood by the bleachers and was able to watch the whole parade. He said some countries were really fun to watch. I was also shocked by just how many countries there were and what an true international race this is. It was pretty humbling.

 

I loved hearing the Hawaiian procession along the course, because it just added so much cultural flair to where we were and helped it really sink in that we were racing in celebrating in Hawaii!  Let the party begin!

Kona fun begins!

I haven't posted at all about my journey to Kona because it happened so fast and seemed almost too good to be true. I was afraid it might be taken away.  Six weeks ago, I was driving McKenzie to gymnastics when I received a phone call. It was an unknown number but I picked it up anyway. It was a lady from Ironman. She asked if I had raced in Hawaii in June, and I confirmed that I had. She then asked if I wanted to go to Kona. I was so confused. Kona? That doesn't make any sense. I told her of course I want to go to Kona! But why is this even happening? She told me that one of the ladies who claimed her Kona slot at Honu 70.3 could no longer go and they wanted to offer the slot to me. This was shocking on so many levels. Mainly because Ironman never calls anybody. They send out emails, and don't care about customer service. So to receive a personal phone call was shocking. I told her absolutely I would take the slot! I just needed to make sure I had things ready to go. I immediately called Dan and asked if he could get me ready for Kona in 6 weeks. We were lucky in that I had just started my build for Ironman Chattanooga, so I was at least mentally preparing for full ironman training even thought I wasn't ready yet. My wheels were spinning as I drove home. I called Jeremy, my mom and Lexi. When I got home Cambrie was there and I was just still in shock. "I get to go to Kona!" I screamed.  "I get to go to Kona!" I still didn't believe it is the weeks kept getting closer. I checked and double checked to make sure I was registered and my name appeared in the participant list, but it still wasn't real. Because there is such a backlog of Ironman Kona athletes due to COVID the island was going to be very, very full. Most everyone had their accommodations, flights, and cars booked for about a year or more. So I was scrambling to find a place to stay. I kept refreshing Airbnb hoping to snag a cancellation. That's exactly what happened. I found a condo for Jeremy and I just a half mile from the pier. We couldn't have asked for a better location. The best part was, they hadn't jacked up the price because of Ironman week so we could actually afford it. There were so many miracles like that leading up to the race that it felt very truly like Heavenly Father was saying, "Here's a gift for you. I know how much you've wanted this and how hard you've worked for this." Suddenly my dreams were coming true. It didn't mean it was going to be an easy 6 weeks though, it's still Ironman training after all, and a hot world championship at that. So I turned down every other responsibility I had to focus solely on prepping for this race. I had two workouts a day, I would do one in the morning before the kids went to school and one in the heat after they were gone. Earlier I posted about one of my morning memorable running training sessions with my friends around McKay Lake. I was watching the days on the calendar tick down, 30 days, 10 days, and it felt unreal. 

None of the grandparents could watch the kids, so Christian and Mercedes Moon came to the house to stay with the kids for that week. It was just going to be Jeremy and I which changes how we vacation for a racecation. It was all Ironman all the time. I had been really stressed leading up to the race, especially about a week before. I began to doubt my preparation, my fitness, and whether I was going to be able to handle the unique conditions racing in Kona. But as soon as I landed on the island and I saw all of those other athletes, all of my fears just melted away. Some people report being intimidated by the other super fit people walking around at that time. For me, I looked around and I just saw my people. I know how to do this. I know how to race. I know exactly what I'm doing. We had a little hiccup with our bikes as they were rooted through Las Vegas and arrived at the airport a couple hours late. But at least they arrived at all! 

Our first stop on the island was the merchandise tent. There was no way I was going home without some Kona swag. Then I was able to go get checked in. One of the volunteers helping me check in was kind enough to take my phone and snap a couple pictures. I was actually crying as they put that wristband around my wrist. This has been a dream 6 years in the making. Even longer for Jeremy. We finally made it, we finally made it to Kona! 

The are around the King Kamehameha hotel was packed. I loved hearing all of the different languages being spoken and seeing other excited athletes and supporters.  Time for some photo ops! 

Hanging out on the pier and getting ready to celebrate one incredible week.