Getting to the start of an Ironman with the feeling that you've trained well is already an accomplishment, and that's how I felt when I was waist deep into the Lake Woodlands a few minutes before 7am and the sound of the canon. I knew that for the last months I've been crossing the thin line of overtraining and recovery and pushing my body with insane distances that Ironman Racing demands. So in that particular aspect I was calm and confident, I knew that I just couldn't have trained more... I trained practically what my body was capable to handle.
The start of an Ironman is definitely daunting, seeing 2000 Triathletes shredding water as close as possible to the virtual line between to yellow buoys floating in the water can be scary, even if you know that your swim is solid, because between those 2000 overexcited type A Triathletes a good chunk will always start way to fast and then die in the first 200 meters, but those are the ones that can mess up your race with a good elbow or kick into your face.
To avoid the craze of this mass start, I started as close as possible to the land, and away of the line of buoys that marked the long stretch of the 3.8k swim course, the idea was to start parallel to the craziness and slowly merge into the swim leader pack avoiding the hits and kicks of the first 200 meters. I wasn't the only one thinking about that strategy, I found myself with 3 friendly familiar faces, my two buddies from Mexico Javier and Esteban Rosas, Javier might be the Best triathlete Mexico has ever had, he went to the Olympics in Athens 2004 So I knew that I would be fine if I was able to keep an eye on this two wicked fast brothers, Glynn Turquand my buddy from X-Terra Wetsuits was also there, seeing familiar faces and exchanging words of encouragement was definitely a good start.
(By the way...... Thanks Glynn for the Suits! Both are Awesome! )
The gun went off and there we went, I kept my right eye on the Rosas Brothers, and the other eye on the swim leaders, I remember thinking OMG! I'm glad we started over here.
After 200 meters I lost the Rosas Brothers and merged into the lead pack. The swim went pretty well and without any major issues, after the long stretch there was a left turnaround buoy and then we turned right into a Channel that became narrow as you got closer to the swim exit near the Woodlands Riverwalk, this part was really cool, cause after swimming in the middle of a dark Lake you were able to see and hear the spectators lining in the sides of the channel.
As soon as I get to the exit ramp I hear Paola Screaming out of her lungs like usual, this time it was: "Muy Bien Pelucas Excelente Nadada" (that meant: Doing Great "Nickname" Excellent Swim time" I took a look at my watch and I saw a 58:46 that put me in 8th place in my Age Group and 66 Overall out of the water. (my average Hear rate for the swim was 154bpm)
From T1 I almost came Rasmus Henning Style Kona 2010 (with my X-Terra Speedsuit still on) Lost a few seconds there but still got on my Bike very happy and holding it together.
Already on the bike I was able to Test-Race my New Polar RCX5 with external Miniature GPS which was clipped to my Racing Belt, it proved to be a beauty of a machine as I will later explain...
On the Bike I decided to divide the Bike the course into 4 sectors of 45k each, the first 45k were by far the fastest, my Heart rate was ok and the course was wicked fast, no wind no hills, it was blazing fast, I timed it at 1:12 averaging 37.7km/h and 136bpm.
The second part got a little harder, some rolling hills appeared and before getting halfway point at 90k the wind kicked in, I kept my Hear rate the same and passed the halfway point in 2:32
The 3rd part was Windy, I was actually happy to see the wind picking up since that's the way I train in the Queen K! Lots of wind every single ride... This wind also made it harder that a Big group of "Cheaters" formed behind me :-) so I was ok with that, my Nutrition went "Perfect" More than ever I'm convinced that everyone eat too much Sugar and crap that mess up their Stomach, I drank water, and ate solid bars with enough Protein and not a crazy amount of Carbs... So I don't want to start a discussion here but trust me, if you want to step up your game Just Enter the ZONE! Read the Book! Learn what happens with the different kind of foods when enter your body and then you decide..... I'm not selling anything here :-)
I Finished the 180k in 5:08 7th in my Age group and 62nd Overall. I was Feeling pretty good and ready to Rock it on the Run, I knew I could run a 3:30 Marathon or less, that was my ticket to Kona! And I could almost touch it!
the Idea was to start with a very easy 2k and then 4 sectors of 10k just to keep it interesting and to watch my pace. The Beauty of the RCX5 is that you can change sport on the fly, from swimming to Bike and from Bike to Run and automatically it also records your transition times, all of this with separated splits, distance and even average Heart Rates, it's just a beautiful piece of equipment.
Ok lets get back onto the Run :-) The first 2 K easy and as planned 4:50k/min pace, first 10k also came pretty easy on 50 minutes. I was feeling great and I was pretty darn sure I was going to Run a sub 3:30 Marathon, at the Half Marathon marker my Run Time was 1:43 I could not see why I should have any problem.... But that's exactly what happened, a small mistake became a Huge Problem!
Around 20k onto the run the Heat went Crazy HOT! But the truth is that I usually do well with the heat, training in Kona obviously helps but I've always been like that. But since I was trying to do everything "Perfect" I decided to prepare my body to the Heat that was rising like a BBQ Grill, and decided to put ICE into my always comfortable white Kiwami Konami Racing Suit I grabbed a couple of ice cups and poured the ice in my chest and in my back. I know it may sound weird but I remember feeling cold, after a few kilometers it hit me, I felt like I couldn't breath deeply, just like if they have punched me in the ribs the day before..... then the pain appeared in my lower back... Now after a little research I think I brought into myself a case of Athletic Asthma... Practically the cold shock of the Ice into my Breathing Muscles made a complete mess.
At that point I think that small percentage of Oxygen that I lost in every breath put my legs into a terrible situation, because the muscle fatigue came right after that. I lost around 30 minutes in the second half of the run, had to walk at some stations and my pace went to hell.
The Run was a 3 loop course with 3 timing mats every 8.5miles plus a last one of 1 mile. My pace in those 8.5mi splits was 7:06min/mi 9:07min/mi 10:33min/mi and the last stretch of 1 mile 10:44.... I know it looks like I started way too fast and maybe I did, but I'm sure that the Ice was the reason of the dramatic drop in my pace.
My finish time was 10:08 13th place in my Age Group and 99th Overall, I didn't get the Kona Slot but I will definitely will get back onto it as soon as possible :-)
I really loved the race! I'm satisfied and Hungry for more. I can't wait for the Next one!
Now there's nothing more that I want to do than Race in my training grounds, Race Ironman Kona!
