KONA. This one word
sums up the pinnacle of the sport of triathlon.
It’s where the best of the best age group athletes get to compete on the
same stage as the pro’s, in the crystal clear waters of Kailua Bay, in the
storied tradewinds on the ride back from Hawi, and in the quiet lava fields
along the Queen K Highway. Back when I
picked up the sport back in 2013, Kona was a pipe dream. I never imagined that I would get to race on
this hallowed course. After I did my
first full Ironman in Arizona in 2015, and got totally hooked by Ironman, I
became more intrigued by Kona. I thought
it would be an amazing accomplishment to qualify for the World Championship,
but never had any desire to actually do the race! I thought the conditions sounded
awful…crosswinds so strong that people have been blown off their bike, humidity
that would make you melt, heat radiating back off the black lava fields. None of that appealed to me. But as my fitness started showing in my
training, I knew I wanted to prove to myself that I could get to Kona…and that
was my goal for my 2018 race – to qualify for Kona in 2019.
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| It's ME!! |
Well, as you know, my timeline jumped a bit ahead and I was
Kona bound in 2017! The circumstances
surrounding my qualification weren’t ideal for a great race in Kona – my
training was designed for me to reach peak fitness in August (not October), the
6 week turnaround between IMCDA and Kona was a lot of strain to put on my body,
and Kona wasn’t my “A” race. But since
there was no way I was turning down my chance to race in the World
Championships, I knew that my experience at the race was going to be all about
perspective. So I went into the race as
a Celebration of Life. I was going to do
my very best, but I was going to enjoy every aspect of the day. And I really truly enjoyed every minute I was
out there. I was the girl out there who
was smiling a big cheesy grin all day long.
I truly wouldn’t change a thing about my day, and I am so fired up to
get back there with Kona as my “A” race, to really test myself against the
island. And with that, here’s how the
day went down!
**If you want to see what Kona is really like, I made the recap video!!!
My 3 seconds of fame are around the 8:15 mark!**
Race Week
Race week started off a bit crazy with my bike not arriving
at Kona Airport, and after way too many phone calls came to learn that it never
made it on the original plane back in San Jose – Seriously?? So I was a bit stressed until it
arrived. But the husband and I lucked
out with the most gorgeous of AirB&B’s with the most wonderful hosts, so
that made the bike fiasco a bit easier to deal with! I swam in Kailua Bay every morning, bought all
the things at the merchandise tent and expo, rode a good 2/3 of the
bike course over the course of the week, got sweat tested by Levelen (game
changer!!), did the underpants run! Soon
it was Thursday and the rest of my amazing fam bam cheer squad arrived – Mom,
Dad, Brother Geoff, and #tripletsforlyfe training buddy Jenesse made the trip
all the way from Australia! Race week
had been pretty low key, but the enormity of the fact that I was racing in the
World Championships finally hit me at the Athletes Welcome Banquet on Thursday
night. When all of the first timers were
asked to stand, I could hardly contain my tears and was so choked up with
pride!
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| Clif bar coffee boat swim. If I could swim in the Ocean in Kona, I would NEVER complain about swim workouts! |
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| Levelen sweat testing...GAME CHANGER!! |
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| Pre race spin out on the Queen K! |
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| Coeur Sports ladies with Beats! |
Friday was a last spin and run, then it was time to check
everything in! Bike/gear check in was
nice and smooth, and you really do feel like a rock star. You walk down a red carpet lined chute where
all the big triathlon brands count the gear, and you even have your own escort
to your bike rack and a personal tour of the transition area. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it, so dinner was
the usual Thai food…followed by a massive rainstorm!! I was kind of nervous
that we would get showers again on race day, but our waiter predicted that the
storm would clear out the humidity and we would have great conditions – he was
right :)
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| Penny the P3 is racked and ready! |
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| Love them! Pre-race Thai feast |
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| Cannot believe my #tripletforlyfe made the trip from Down Under <3 |
Race Morning
Race morning went like every other…up dark and early,
brekkie of egg whites, banana, bagel with PB and honey, then my mom and I made
our way to an excellent parking spot due to my mom’s check in time for body
marking. I hung in the car, put in my
race day braids, and rocked out to my Eugene Marathon playlist until body
marking opened. Once I got there at
4:45, I made my way to my mom and Jenesse and the waterworks started! Seriously, I couldn’t stop choking up in
excitement and disbelief that I was actually going to be racing in Kona!! I topped off my tires and the nutrition on my
bike, then found the Coeur ladies for the very best Race Day Hugs! Joined back up with my mom and Jenesse, ran
into some of Coach Muddy’s other athletes, and then it was finally time to make
my way to the water.
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| All tatted up...cue the waterworks! |
Swim 1:11:06 - The
swim was awesome. The water was perfect,
warm and clear. I got in the water a few
minutes before the cannon went off, felt strong and confident as I swam to the
start line, and took in my surroundings as I bobbed with the 700 or so other
ladies. I had never done a mass start,
or a non-wetsuit swim, so I didn’t really know where to position myself. I think I ended up basically in the middle,
which seemed to work out just fine! I
found some great feet for the majority of the swim, which meant that I didn’t
need to sight too often! Each time I did sight, I was pleasantly surprised at
how much closer the Body Glove boat (the turnaround) was! The way back was a bit more chaotic because
the ladies had caught up to the slower men, but I was still able to stick with
the good feet and before I knew it, the stairs appeared! I ended up with a 1 minute swim PR, even in the
non-wetsuit, ocean swim, so I was stoked when I exited the water! Thanks Coach Tom!
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| Seriously - who is this happy coming out of the water?? |
T1: 5:23 - Since
my plan was to enjoy myself, I consciously took my time in transition. I made sure that I completely rinsed off the
salt water, and was completely dry when I put on my sunblock. That was one of the most important goals of
the day – DO NOT BURN! I know how much a
sunburn can screw me up, and I just didn’t want to be miserable. Those extra few minutes were definitely worth
it…I survived the day burn free!
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| Wheee!!! Photo courtesy of the Hubs! |
Bike 5:54:07 - Oh
my happy place! I simply loved riding my
bike out there! It was hilly, it was
windy, it was hot. But every time I
started to feel how hard it was, I looked over to the ocean, and just smiled. I made sure that I stuck to my nutrition
plan, and kept super freaking hydrated.
I think I ended up going through about 14 bottles!!! And the sweat testing from Levelen was huge –
In my past races, I thought I took in a lot of salt, but I was hugely
underestimating my level of sodium loss.
Basically I had learned that I lose a day’s worth of sodium in an
hour…this caused me to start cramping in my quads about ¾ of the way through
the bike at IMCDA, and my achiles would start cramping at the beginning of the
run. So in Kona, I knew that I needed to
up my game. I took in 1 thermotab every
10 minutes like clockwork on the bike…as mile 70 approached, I took stock of my
body – no cramping, mile 80 – still no cramping. I got through the entire bike without even
the HINT of a cramp!!! Science man – it’s amazing!
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| I mean...come on!!! #paradise |
It was also amazing to see so many beautiful Coeur kits out
on the course. It made spotting and
cheering for teammates so easy! I even
saw both of my IMCDA podium-mates out on the bike which was another fun boost!
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| Go Go Gomez!!! Brother and Dad on the lookout! |
T2: 8:22 - Again,
I took my sweet a$$ time in transition…I went to the bathroom, I put on
sunblock, I got water. I knew that the
marathon was going to be a beast, and I wanted to leave as comfortable as
possible. Mission accomplished.
Seriously though, I took forever.
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| My mom kept volunteering in T2 after her shift just to surprise me!! |
Run 4:31:20 - My
secret goal was to finish the course in under 12 hours. I figured that would be a respectable time
for my first race on the Big Island, with a 6 week turnaround, peaking
scheduled for IMCDA, and accounting for the elements that Madame Pele would
throw at the racers. Once I started out on
the course, I broke the marathon down into 4 main sections – 1) 10 mile out and
back on Ali’i drive, 2) 6ish miles along the Queen K to the energy lab, 3) the
4 mile out and back in the energy lab, 4) 6ish miles back along the Queen K to
the finish. The goal was to take each
aid station slow to make sure I grabbed all the ice, sponges, and water
possible to keep my core cool – thank goodness for the extra pockets in the
Coeur Sports sports bra to hold everything!
Seriously, the only times that I have boobs is during an Ironman with
all the things that go into my bra!
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| Custom Nike Pegasus colorway ;) Always #matchymatchy |
Ali’i drive is a giant party. Spectators line the road with music, water hoses,
and cheers so loud that it’s easy to get swept along those first 10 miles. I made a deal with myself that I would run
the first 10 miles, once I got to Palani Rd., then I could walk up the
hill. Before I knew it, that first
section was done! I saw my whole support
crew at the turn onto Palani, including hugs from Coach Muddy, which was a huge
boost before the complete opposite experience once I turned onto the Queen
K. Right after the aid station at the
top of the hill, the cheers die away, and it’s nothing but your thoughts and
your footsteps for the next 16 miles. I
did a lot of negotiating with myself along this part of the course…I would want
to walk, then I would check in and ask myself if anything was hurting – nothing
was, so I kept running. Luckily I came
upon a girl I had been leapfrogging with along Ali’I at the top of Palani, and
we proceeded to run the next 13ish miles side by side. I know that I would have walked so many times
had it not been for her…sometimes we chatted, but mostly we just ran in silent
camaraderie. (Thanks Jen!) We split up around the mile 23 aid station,
and it was a surreal experience to run along the Queen K in near total
darkness. It was almost easier, since I
couldn’t see the hills that were looming up ahead.
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| Bra is STUFFED...keeping me cool in the energy lab (Hi Jen :) |
Once I returned to the top of Palani, my emotions took over
for the last mile of the race. I was choked
up as I descended the hill, just in utter disbelief that the day was almost
over! I knew I was SO CLOSE…but the
final turn onto Ali’I seemed to take forever – I kept thinking, it must be the
next street…no, the next one? When I
finally did turn onto Ali’I, I was greeted with the screams and tears from my
mom and Jenesse, who were facetiming with my #mulletduo Eileen who was cheering
from California. And just like that, I
was on the red carpet, with the bright lights of the finish line and cheering
spectators going crazy. I crossed the
line with tears in my eyes and just full of gratitude for everything that I had
accomplished. After crossing the finish
line, there are tons of volunteers on hand to catch the racers, walk them
through the finish area, and make sure they don’t need to visit the medical
tent. I was so lucky to have the BEST
Coeur teammates catch me at the finish…perfect end to the perfect day!
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| So much emotion and gratitude |
Total Time: 11:50:18
Post Race
After the race, my amazing mom picked up my bike and gear
bags, and I finally found my fam bam after getting my medal, finisher’s kukui
nut necklace, and taking my finisher photo.
Since my nutrition was on point all day, I was actually hungry soon
after the race, so it was back to the house for so much pizza and sharing war
stories from the day with the fam.
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| Friendship goals!! I didn't have a wall to put my feet up on...love her! |
Luckily we stuck around until Tuesday, so Monday was a day to relax and
feast ;) Coeur hosted a brunch with our
amazing team at Daylight Mind…it was incredible meeting teammates from across
the country and rehashing race day with the ladies I shared the course
with. The rest of the day consisted of
this:
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| Pizza, IMWC medal, pool floatie, Mai Tai = GOALS |
We capped off the trip with a sunset dinner at Huggos. I couldn’t be more grateful for this
incredible group of humans who shared Kona 2017 with me. I cannot wait to be back in (fingers crossed)
2019!
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| Ohana |
