Ironman World Championship 2009 Race Week
Here we go--Kona! I decided after a successful short ZR run on wed., that I would pack-up the bike and head for the airport thursday morning at 5am. Kona bound! The leg was in no way perfect ,but it was better and I thought-- the race is still 9 days away it should be ok for race day-- Saturday, October 10th! I arrived on thursday evening at around 7 pm. My flight was a bit early, so I spent some time relaxing at the airport waiting for my ride--outside under the beautiful evening sky over Kona! It was so great to be back --WOW! Back on the Big Island--really exciting!
I stayed with some friends for the first few nights and then moved to the Kona Seaside Motel. This place was perfect for me, I had no vehicle and the Seaside is directly across from the pier(Race Start) --perfect. Well --now some training. Friday morning I headed down to the pier with a friend ,Paul Fronhofer -- we did an 1hr 20 min swim --incredible! If you have ever swam in the waters off Hawaii --you know what I mean--turtles,exotic fish and the clearest water in the world. Amazing! A truly humbling expierence-------and that would not be the only time that feeling comes over me. On to the Queen K Highway saturday morning at 8am with Paul(Paul rides for Serotta http://www.serotta.com/ ) and Don( Don won a lottery slot for Kona -it could not have happened to a nicer guy) we were really psyched to be out there. The Queen K slices through the lava fields along the edge of the pacific below the volcanos, it's sort of a desolate enviroment,but the mountains and the sea seem to give the vast barren landscape a heart beat.For me cycling out on the Queen K is a very unique expierence--this place is seriously magical! We rode out for 2hrs, turned around-- by the end of the ride I had consumed eight 20 ounce bottles of gatorade ,I have been practicing this hydration plan for the last 8-10 months, conditioning my system to tolerate that huge volume of liquid. I have a very high sweat rate,but with practice my system has made the adjustments.This race day hydration plan needs to be flawless,tempartures out here exceed the high 80's on most days and the humidty is usually pretty high. The plan for race day is 15-16 bottles over the duration of the bike ride(5hrs)--that will hopefully set me up for the run,avoiding a repeat of 2007. In 2007 I was toasted at mile 85-90 on the bike, I had only 5 bottles of gatorade, so my race was in serious jeopordy before the run even started . In 20o7 it was only minutes out of T2 and the walking began,it was a walk/run marathon with serious dehydration issues leading to some bad abdominal cramping. A 10hr32min finish and almost a visit to the med tent--ouch! So, after the ride with Paul and Don I headed out for a 30min Z1/Z2 run, this would be a test,my only run in the last 5 weeks was the one wed. before my flight and that was in ZR. I headed out in Z2 -- it was instant pain, but I decided to give it some time,maybe it would get better. No luck --I pulled the plug at 26 min and hobbled home. Not good, now what --one week away?
Race week -decisions. Jesse http://www.qt2systems.com/ my coach and I decided I would run in water all week and hope things would improve by next saturday. Sunday morning I headed for the Kailua-Kona Aquatic Center --this place rocks! It's free,it's outside, and there are two pools with 8-10 lanes each--I was so psyched! Oh they also have swim belts --yes! The next step was a visit to the ART (Active Release Technique)tent over at the pier. This service is great ,it's free for the athletes . ART is a practice that focuses on treating abnormal soft tissues through combining precisely directed tension with very specific patient movements . So my days during race week started at 5-5:30 am -- usually with a 6am swim down at the pier(IM Swim Course)--this was my favorite part of the day, I would be in and out before the masses of humanity showed up--and most mornings treated with a special visit from a turtle , dolphins and one morning a giant stingray that I nearly collided with--amazing! This ray was about 6-7 ft wide and at least 10 ft long including its long tail. Each morning after my swim it was over to the ART tent for a 40-50 min session. Then it was back to the room , load up the large quanities of liquid and head for the Queen K-- if lucky- spot a few mountain goats foraging on the slopes of the volcanos--these boys are rugged dudes! The slopes leading down to the waters edge are mostly dried up black lava flows from years of eruptions , I can't imagine trying to walk on this surface. And then a transition from the bike to the pool for some water running at the Aquatic Center. This was a typical day of training during race week ,usually completely done by 10-10:30 am and then it was some couch time watching the MLB playoffs and a visit to Lava Java or Starbucks.
As the week progressed the condition of my leg only slightly improved ,but my plan was still in place--- race day---Swim,Bike and try to Run. I could only hope that it would all work out by race day. So, throughout the week I focused on what I did have -- 10 days in Hawaii--enjoying the spirit and beauty of Aloha !--training for the greatest Ironman race in the World! I felt fortunate!
Here we go--Kona! I decided after a successful short ZR run on wed., that I would pack-up the bike and head for the airport thursday morning at 5am. Kona bound! The leg was in no way perfect ,but it was better and I thought-- the race is still 9 days away it should be ok for race day-- Saturday, October 10th! I arrived on thursday evening at around 7 pm. My flight was a bit early, so I spent some time relaxing at the airport waiting for my ride--outside under the beautiful evening sky over Kona! It was so great to be back --WOW! Back on the Big Island--really exciting!
I stayed with some friends for the first few nights and then moved to the Kona Seaside Motel. This place was perfect for me, I had no vehicle and the Seaside is directly across from the pier(Race Start) --perfect. Well --now some training. Friday morning I headed down to the pier with a friend ,Paul Fronhofer -- we did an 1hr 20 min swim --incredible! If you have ever swam in the waters off Hawaii --you know what I mean--turtles,exotic fish and the clearest water in the world. Amazing! A truly humbling expierence-------and that would not be the only time that feeling comes over me. On to the Queen K Highway saturday morning at 8am with Paul(Paul rides for Serotta http://www.serotta.com/ ) and Don( Don won a lottery slot for Kona -it could not have happened to a nicer guy) we were really psyched to be out there. The Queen K slices through the lava fields along the edge of the pacific below the volcanos, it's sort of a desolate enviroment,but the mountains and the sea seem to give the vast barren landscape a heart beat.For me cycling out on the Queen K is a very unique expierence--this place is seriously magical! We rode out for 2hrs, turned around-- by the end of the ride I had consumed eight 20 ounce bottles of gatorade ,I have been practicing this hydration plan for the last 8-10 months, conditioning my system to tolerate that huge volume of liquid. I have a very high sweat rate,but with practice my system has made the adjustments.This race day hydration plan needs to be flawless,tempartures out here exceed the high 80's on most days and the humidty is usually pretty high. The plan for race day is 15-16 bottles over the duration of the bike ride(5hrs)--that will hopefully set me up for the run,avoiding a repeat of 2007. In 2007 I was toasted at mile 85-90 on the bike, I had only 5 bottles of gatorade, so my race was in serious jeopordy before the run even started . In 20o7 it was only minutes out of T2 and the walking began,it was a walk/run marathon with serious dehydration issues leading to some bad abdominal cramping. A 10hr32min finish and almost a visit to the med tent--ouch! So, after the ride with Paul and Don I headed out for a 30min Z1/Z2 run, this would be a test,my only run in the last 5 weeks was the one wed. before my flight and that was in ZR. I headed out in Z2 -- it was instant pain, but I decided to give it some time,maybe it would get better. No luck --I pulled the plug at 26 min and hobbled home. Not good, now what --one week away?
Race week -decisions. Jesse http://www.qt2systems.com/ my coach and I decided I would run in water all week and hope things would improve by next saturday. Sunday morning I headed for the Kailua-Kona Aquatic Center --this place rocks! It's free,it's outside, and there are two pools with 8-10 lanes each--I was so psyched! Oh they also have swim belts --yes! The next step was a visit to the ART (Active Release Technique)tent over at the pier. This service is great ,it's free for the athletes . ART is a practice that focuses on treating abnormal soft tissues through combining precisely directed tension with very specific patient movements . So my days during race week started at 5-5:30 am -- usually with a 6am swim down at the pier(IM Swim Course)--this was my favorite part of the day, I would be in and out before the masses of humanity showed up--and most mornings treated with a special visit from a turtle , dolphins and one morning a giant stingray that I nearly collided with--amazing! This ray was about 6-7 ft wide and at least 10 ft long including its long tail. Each morning after my swim it was over to the ART tent for a 40-50 min session. Then it was back to the room , load up the large quanities of liquid and head for the Queen K-- if lucky- spot a few mountain goats foraging on the slopes of the volcanos--these boys are rugged dudes! The slopes leading down to the waters edge are mostly dried up black lava flows from years of eruptions , I can't imagine trying to walk on this surface. And then a transition from the bike to the pool for some water running at the Aquatic Center. This was a typical day of training during race week ,usually completely done by 10-10:30 am and then it was some couch time watching the MLB playoffs and a visit to Lava Java or Starbucks.
As the week progressed the condition of my leg only slightly improved ,but my plan was still in place--- race day---Swim,Bike and try to Run. I could only hope that it would all work out by race day. So, throughout the week I focused on what I did have -- 10 days in Hawaii--enjoying the spirit and beauty of Aloha !--training for the greatest Ironman race in the World! I felt fortunate!
Chris, you are the epitome of the gifted, gracious athlete. That you were able to dig in and pull up in Kona, despite your injury, speaks volumes about you as an athlete and as a person. Congratulations on a great victory. Your injury is a bleep on the screen; you'll be fine, thanks to your attitude, diligence and belief in Jesse's wisdom and your own good health.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to your ongoing blog insights. Keep them coming.
Renee
Chris,
ReplyDeleteGreat post........so interesting to hear it from the insiders perspective. I appreciate your description of Kona and the race scene.
The blog looks great! Keep it coming......