First
I have to apologize to everyone who has been keeping up with my Blog on
Triathletemag.com. The last entry was laughable now that I read it again -
rampant spelling mistakes, nonsense sentences, rambling. The amazing part was
that was written while I was completely sober, just really, really, really tired
(and obviously still a little bonky).
My first Hawaii experience was amazing. The hype is all true - this is an
incredible race. It really is The Big Show of triathlon. The only thing that
even comes close was the Olympics, but Hawaii is special because it is 100%
triathlon.
My race went exactly to plan. As an Iron-rookie there were so many unknowns for
me. Cliff and I went over all the possible scenarios and planned for every
eventuality. I executed my race plan perfectly - exiting the swim with a strong
group and riding hard for the first 40km to catch up to Michellie. There were
two girls off the front for the bike, but the real contenders for the win seemed
to all be in our group. I rode conservatively with the girls and I felt great
at Hawi, the halfway point, and took over 3rd for a while. At 80 miles on the
bike Chrissie Wellington went by. She was an unknown entity and the choice was
to go with her and chase the leaders or stay within myself and get off the bike
ready for a run race. I stuck with my plan and came into T2 with Kate Major, Jo
Lawn and Belinda Granger. I felt good (well, relatively speaking...I mean it
still is an Ironman!) heading out onto the run 4:30 down from the lead. I
settled into a comfortable pace and got ready for the long haul. My nutrition
was good and the pace felt easy. I was planning on running 3 hours - ambitious
considering the course record is 2:59 but I thought it could be done. Chrissie
was gradually pulling away - I didn't know what to do...should I run harder and
risk a blow up? 4:15/km pace feels awfully easy for the first hour, but what
would I be feeling at mile 18? Racing too early in the run has been the down
fall of many rookies so I forced myself to be patient and stick to my plan and
run my race. I ticked off the miles and as predicted the run got harder and
harder as we climbed Palani Hill and headed out to the Queen K. It is a long,
lonely slog out to the Energy Lab and I still felt good but was discouraged to
hear that the time gap was still increasing. I had a solid hold on second but
it looked like the win was slipping out of my grasp. At the turnaround at the
Energy Lab, with 12 km left to run I was almost 7 minutes down on first. I dug
in and ran harder. I picked up the pace up to the Queen K and battled the
headwinds home. Over the final 12 km I made back 2 minutes on Chrissie but it
was not enough. I was hurting on the last 3 miles - it was the hardest run I
have ever done and that was exactly how it should be. My legs were screaming
for mercy but I just focused on nutrition...I was so close to finishing my first
Ironman, I just wanted to get to that finish line already. I dug deep and
crossed the line in a 3:00 hour marathon - the 3rd fastest ever by a woman in
Kona. My eyes welled up with tears on Ali'i drive- a combination of relief that
it was over, happiness to have come second at my first one, and disappointment
for getting so close yet not winning. Ironman is a very emotional experience.
I had just about a perfect day out there. There could have been a lot more
adversity out there than I experienced. I made it through my first Hawaii
relatively unscathed (discounting the 2 IVs and 4 hours in the medical tent
afterwards) and had the second best performance ever in Kona by a complete
rookie.
And now I am an Ironman.
Maholo,
Sam
