I’ve been horribly remiss in posting lately, but I plan to remedy that with some updates from the past several weeks. It’s been well over a month now that I raced Ironman Hawaii for my third time, and despite the adage, it was not a charm, or even remotely charming. Of course I love visiting the islands, and there were many good lessons learned, but it’s never fun to have performances that do not reach your expectations.
Now that the day has come (and long since passed), I can be candid with the full story. 2011 has been one of my best seasons to date, with multiple wins and top finishes. I really don’t feel like I had a poor race, with the exception of Oceanside, where I entered with sub-optimal prep and a sinus infection. Otherwise, I felt like I put together my best performances in my racing career. Not only did I win races, but I also improved my times on courses, and enjoyed the competitions immensely. Kona came as an afterthought, as I really had not planned on racing it until I opted in at the last moment during the first selection. This is probably the biggest lesson I have learned from this year: no matter how fit you are, Kona must be the goal from the outset if you want to be fresh and ready on the day. Despite that fact, I put my head down and started getting the work done. I upped my run mileage significantly during the build, and it caused an injury. Even in Branson, I was unsure of my ability to run well, but everything went okay on race day, so I carried on. I was receiving some treatment for the calf muscle and tendon, but in hindsight it probably wasn’t enough, and I should have toned down some of the run training.
The race doesn’t require a novel to recount, but it’s worth talking about briefly. I had another great swim at a World Championships on a day when the currents played a bigger role and it was the roughest swim I’ve been in before. This gives me great hope for the future, since being near the front from the beginning is paramount to success in Kona. I biked well for most of the race and followed my plan. People were on the gas from the beginning, and I hung tough until Hawi where it became apparent that I was not going to do battle with some of the bigger bike guns. I was able to hit nutrition well for the first time in Hawaii, and felt good coming off the bike. I felt that I had the fuel to undertake the marathon and hydration/salt balance within acceptable parameters as well. The run went well for about three miles, and then I began limping. Another 6 miles of that to get back to town was enough, and I called it a day at the base of Palani. Although it’s never easy to call it a day that way, I knew it was the right call, and I was in considerable pain.
After a fair bit of downtime, I’m finally getting back to some more consistent, structured training. The body is rested, the mind is keen, and I am gearing up for some exciting early season adventures. First up is a camp with The Cycling House in Tucson (January 3-8th), and then a vacation race in Pucon (January 15th). More posts on the last few weeks of offseason and travel to come… Happy holidays to all.