Elena’s Ironman KONA 2012 Race Report
I have to be honest, I never thought I would be writing an Ironman World Championship race report (well at least not until I was like 80 and qualified by default.) In fact, as I sit at home and write this, one week after the race, I still feel like it wasn’t real. The whole trip seemed so surreal. In the months after IM Lake Placid until we left for the Big Island, I still couldn’t believe I was going to Kona. When we were in Kona, I saw all these fit people running, biking, and swimming around the whole place and thought to myself “I am not one of these people…am I?”
Re-wind 4 years ago: it was October, 2008. I just got married and was on my honeymoon to the Big Island of Hawaii. We happened to be there race week for the IMWC without even realizing it. We were staying at the Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel which is about 30 miles north on the Queen K from Kailua-Kona. Matt and I were fledgling triathletes. Neither of us knew what Kona (the race) was, never mind even dreamed of doing an Ironman. Matt was wearing a Falmouth Sprint T-shirt from earlier that summer and the valet driver asked if we were doing the race in Kona. We just looked at him like “what race are you talking about?” He explained and we thought people who would do an Ironman were crazy, especially if they did it here in the lava fields we just rode by on our way from the airport.
So here we are 4 years, several triathlons, and 2 Ironmans later. Guess I am crazy after all. After some flight delays, confiscated luggage (I have smuggled pit stop and CO2 on planes before), and some serious jet lag we made it to Kona International Airport on Wednesday October 10, 2012. From the moment we touched down I felt the energy. There were several other athletes on the plane with us and the flight attendant wished us all luck at the race. We walked outside to the outdoor airport and sleepily, yet excitedly, collected our luggage, got our rental car and headed to our hotel. We drove in the dark all the way down Ali’i Drive to the Sheraton in nearby Keahou. We passed the King Kamehameha Hotel, Dig Me Beach and the pier, and when I saw Lava Java on the left and Huggos to the right still brimming with people, I knew this was going to be an awesome experience.
I couldn’t sleep when we got the hotel even though it was 9pm Hawaii time, which meant 3 am Eastern Time. I was too excited. I got up at 2:46 am and tried unsuccessfully to keep sleeping. I had the day all planned out. We were going to Lava Java for breakfast where we would rub elbows with the pros, and drink delicious Kona coffee. Then we were going for a swim in the bay to the coffee boat. Matt swam the whole swim course while I went over to athlete check-in with a big, stupid smile on my face during the entire process. When they put that bright orange wristband that reads “KONA ATHLETE” on your wrist you feel like you have just been initiated into a special club, it’s awesome. Matt met up with me and dropped me off on the Queen K for a little bike ride where he was going to pick me up 20 miles down the road. When I approached the 20 mile mark, I saw a guy to my left in the lava fields finishing up a sign made from white coral rocks that read “GO EAM.” It took me a minute to realize that it was Matt out there and that the sign was for me! He told me that he remembered me saying on our honeymoon that if I ever made it to race in Kona if he would make me a sign in the lava fields. (I swear I don’t remember saying that but awww isn’t that sweet?) After we took pictures with my sign, we drove the rest of the bike course to the turn-around in Hawi to have lunch and shave ice. Back in Kailua, at the hotel, I took the rest of the afternoon to sit by the pool (in the shade with some water) to relax.
Thursday, October 11, 2012 was a big day for it was the day of the Kona Underpants Run. I think I was more excited for this 1.2 mile fun run around town with scantily clad people of all shapes and sizes than I was for the Ironman. As many of you know, Jim made us awesome Cyclonaut speedos to wear and I am not lying when I say we were the hit of the race. Everyone wanted our picture. We ended up on Triathlete magazine, Slow twitch, and the local NBC news. It was so much fun. This is when I saw my parents and aunt and uncle for the first time on the island. They got in only the night before, and made the trip to watch the UPR. It is quite a show, and I recommend everyone should experience it. After the UPR it was time for a little swim and bike ride, then off to the pool in the shade with water again to rest and eventually nap. At 6 pm I was meeting my family for the Welcome Dinner. This was the best welcome dinner ever. The stage was huge; it felt like you were going to a big-name concert. There were thousands of people from all over the world there. It was held outside under the stars behind the King Kamehameha hotel and it was a beautiful night. Mike Reilly always makes you feel so welcome and special, and they had Hula dancers and fire dancers there to start the night. They showed footage of the history of Ironman Hawaii which included a talk with Julie Moss and Kathleen McCartney from the 1982 Ironman Hawaii. Both were competing in this year’s race for the 30th anniversary of that famous race. Afterwards was the athlete meeting, and then off to bed!
Friday October 12, 2012: the day before the big race! I went for one last swim to the coffee boat (I couldn’t get enough of that) and had my big breakfast at Lava Java. My gear and bike check in didn’t start until 2:30 so I went back to the Sheraton to rest and make sure I had all my gear ready. Bike and gear check in is an event in itself at the World Championship. You have to walk your bike down this chute single file while counters are checking everything you have on your bike….bike brand, wheel brand, hydration set-up, helmet, componentry, pedals, they even ask what running shoes you will be wearing on race day. Then a volunteer has to personally escort you to drop off your bike and gear and escort you out of transition. Interesting side story: so while I was doing this, Matt saw the Ceepo rep and was pretty sure he was the owner of the company. (For those of you who don’t know, I ride a Ceepo Grace and it is a sexy bitch!) In order to get my bike, we found a bike shop in New Paltz, NY whose owner knew the owner of Ceepo bikes and he arranged for him to fly out from Japan and hand deliver my bike frame to the bike shop. While I was walking through the counters, Matt went up to him and said something along the lines of “remember when you delivered that bike to New York? Well, there’s that same bike in Kona.” Mr. Ceepo (that’s what I call him) remembered and later that day friended me on facebook…now only if he could get me some free stuff! Anyway, off to an early dinner of spaghetti and meatballs (my pre-race meal of choice) and an early bed time….like I slept at all that night!
October 13, 2012: Ironman World Championship, Kona, Hawaii. I woke up easier than for other races at 4:30 probably due to the 6 hour time difference. I ate my breakfast of 3 Ensures and coffee (I can’t eat solid foods before racing), changed into my race uniform, got my hydration and nutrition ready, and away we went to the race start. As soon as we pulled into the parking lot, I realized I left all of my hydration at the hotel, which was 6 miles away. No time to go back for it, we started looking for places that may be open at 5:00 am race morning. Luckily, there were a few coffee shops downtown that opened early for the race that had water and Gatorade for sale; not ideal, but I’m not letting this minor setback get to me. Matt walked me all the way until the athlete- only area, and for the time-being I felt very alone. I was ushered into the body marking area where they stamp your race numbers on, and then to weigh-in. Then I went to find my bike to pump up my tires and add my nutrition and hydration. I started to feel really nervous at this point because I hate being around thousands of nervous, world-class athletes, none of whom I recognize, until Paulito came up to my bike rack with a big smile and gave me some encouraging words. I felt so much better. It’s great having teammates at a race with you, especially in Kona. I gathered my swim cap, goggles, and swim skin and headed out to meet Matt and the fam outside the transition area. Jim, Paulito, Andy, and I all met up on the lawn in front of the Marriot with our respective families as we waited for the swim start. Paulito was dancing to the Hawaiian bongo drum music that they were playing and it made me feel a little more at ease. I have no idea why I was so nervous. I kept reminding myself that this was a bonus race and it didn’t even matter how I did. I think it was just because I wanted to make sure I finished, for myself and for my family who made the trip out to watch me; that and the fact that everyone I knew told me they would be tracking me all day…no pressure at all!
Swim
– At about 6:45 Jim, Andy, Pauilto and I got in the water together and exchanged our “good lucks” before we headed off to our spots. I went wide towards the front and while we waited for the cannon to not go off, I kept turning around to look at all the people lined up all along the swim course and took in the whole atmosphere. It was awesome. I can honestly say it was the best part of the day aside from finishing. As we waited, the sun came up over the mountain and it was just beautiful. Mike Reilly yelled out Go, go, go and off I went! My swim kind of sucked. I could never get into a rhythm, I swam off course at one point, got battered a lot more than usual, and it just seemed to take forever to get to the turnaround vessel. It was pretty choppy out there too and I swallowed lots of delicious sea water. Fortunately, the way back was easier than coming out and before I knew it, the pier was in view and you could start to hear the people on the shore cheering. I climbed the stairs, and went over to the showers to rinse off. I remember that my mouth felt so weird from all the salt water, my tongue felt thick, it was so gross. I was also pretty disoriented for some reason and went to the wrong rack to retrieve my bike gear bag. I had forgotten my bib number and grabbed gear bag 1537 (I am bib 1837.) Luckily a volunteer was right there to set me straight and lead me to the correct gear bag. In the changing tent a volunteer came over to help me with my stuff and then I ran outside to the sunscreen station to get slathered from head to ankle. I found my bike and went out of T1 to begin my long, long bike ride.
Bike-
-I had 2 major fears on the bike, a flat tire and being blown into the lava fields. On my practice ride on the Queen K it was super windy, and well, the flat tire thing….I didn’t get the nickname Flat Elena for nothing. I lost count of how many flats I had this season, including 2 in one MP ride. I flatted during the Pumpkinman Sprint this September and flatting during a race sucks! The first 30 miles of the ride are pretty uneventful. You do an out and back on the Kuakini Highway before you head out to the Queen K. There’s a pretty awesome tailwind that pushes you out of town on the first stretch on the Queen K. I thought I would take advantage of this and ride conservatively to save my legs for the rest of the ride and run. At around mile 30 my hips starting killing me. They hadn’t hurt all year while I was riding and now all of sudden they were on fire. I tried to calm down and loosen up….maybe I was just tight. After another few miles they started to feel better. I felt pretty good on the climb to Hawi. I tend do well on hilly courses, and I started to pass people on the climb. Then came the ridiculous head/crosswind from hell. Debris was blowing across the road, I couldn’t hear the people cheering on the sidelines, and all I heard was wind. I also caught a glimpse of Paulito waving at me while rocketing down the hill on the way back. I couldn’t wait to hit the turnaround. I finally got there, and it was smooth sailing all the way down to the small town of Kawaihae. The only problem was that I was getting this very bad occasional sharp knee pain. It hurt so bad, it actually caused me to cry out when it happened. It didn’t happen every pedal stroke; just every now and then…boom! It hurt like hell! That started to go away just as I made the turn back onto the Queen K with 32 miles left. I was thinking, great! 32 miles! I will be back in about 1 ½ hours! I can do 32 miles in my sleep! Yeah so much for the 1 ½ hour prediction. Over 2 hours later, I was still on the Queen K, battling this nasty headwind. I am not a strong cyclist in heavy wind and was feeling dejected and I just wanted to get off my bike! I neared the airport and guess who was cheering us all back to town? Chrissie Wellington! It’s not every day that Chrissie Wellington cheers for you as you’re riding along the Queen K so that put a big smile on my face and gave me the last bit of inspiration to get back to T2.
Run-
I took my sweet time in T2. They gave me a cold towel, some water, some perform, some ice, another cold towel. I really didn’t want to go back out there! But I decided to get out and do my thing on the run. The first few miles of my run felt amazing. I was just jogging along on Ali’i Drive. It was almost effortless. I felt that if I could just keep this effort the marathon should be fine. On the out and back I saw Andy looking so strong on his way back from the first turnaround. I loved this part of the run course. The ocean is right there and there are spectators cheering for you in different accents and languages. After the turnaround I made my way back up Palani Rd and out onto the Queen K. This is where the run gets boring. There aren’t very many spectators out there and the Queen K is just long and boring and it seems to keep going. I ended up passing Jim, he looked like he was in such pain with his foot but he just kept on trucking….so awesome! I also saw Andy and Paulito on their way home both looking so great and strong. At about mile 16, I crashed. I was finished and I knew it. Instead of forcing my body to keep moving at pace I allowed myself to chill out. I walked all the aid stations from this point on and came to grips with the fact that I wouldn’t be finishing before the sun went down which was my goal. From mile 16 to about 20, is the dreaded Natural Energy Lab section. It’s a lonely out and back section where you feel so close yet so far away from the finish. After emerging from that pit of despair, I was back on the Queen K headed toward town and I watched a glorious Kona sunset over the ocean. Then it was about getting to that finish line! Those final miles couldn’t tick by fast enough. The final mile is just about all downhill, but running down the steep section of Palani Rd kind of hurts your quads after hours of pounding the pavement! You can hear and see the finish area at this point and the excitement builds. I remember thinking “this is it! You’re about to have this moment and it’s going to be awesome.” I made the turn onto Ali’i for the last time and the people were cheering like crazy! I tried not to run too fast so I could take it all in and hopefully find my family standing alongside the finish chute. I saw my family over to the left and veered off to give some high fives before crossing the line. I must admit, it is a pretty emotional moment. I was fighting back tears as I was coming down the stretch. Tears of pain, joy, relief! It all comes out. It’s such a great moment, almost surreal. After I crossed the finish line, there were no catchers immediately available and when I stopped running, I fell. It’s true what they say, the mind keeps the body moving and once the mind shuts off the body follows. I was helped back up by the volunteers I was walked back to the finisher area where you get your medal, shirt, hat, and picture, and lots of food that I was too sick to my stomach to eat! I managed to get myself into the medical tent because apparently, after I had my finisher picture taken and was headed to the bathroom I passed out. Don’t remember a thing; I just wondered why people were walking me to the med tent when I came to. But I was fine and was released to my adoring fans! After a quick shower and change it was back down with the whole gang to watch the final finishers come in and to celebrate with some greasy food and some adult beverages.
The following days consisted mostly of 3 things: eating very unhealthy food, drinking a lot of fun tropical drinks and/or beer, and lying by a pool or a beach. That’s the way you should end all Ironmans. I didn’t want to leave the Big Island. I was sad the day we left. It feels like you are in a different world there, especially during race week. Hopefully, one day I will make it back, even if just to watch. It really was an amazing experience and I am glad to have shared it with my family and teammates.