On Thursday evening, we went to bed a little later than normal due to the athlete briefing which ran
from 8-9pm.
We managed to get into bed a little after 9:30pm and I was quick to
fall asleep. I made sure to stay in bed as long as possible on Friday morning to ensure I woke up
as rested as possible - especially knowing that the sleep before any race is usually a bit interrupted and restless due to pre-race thoughts.
After my normal pre-workout snack (2 waffles + nut
butter + syrup) which I eat before every workout, all year long, I walked to the pier for a short and easy swim in the ocean. It felt good to be out of the condo and exercising. The nerves seemed to build when I was inactive so anytime I was moving around, I felt more at ease. Karel had his normal pre-workout oatmeal mixture before his workout.
For my swim, I practiced in my race day one-piece kit (I brought two of them, one for race day and one for training) as I had never worn a one-piece rolled down under my Roka sleeveless swim skin. I feel more comfortable swimming without anything over my shoulders in a non-wetsuit swim. I also practiced in my pre-race goggles (TYR 2.0 Special ops, tinted lens) once more (I also wore them for the practice swim). After a very choppy swim to the coffee boat and back (no stopping for coffee), I did a quick
clean-up in the condo and went out for a short and easy jog on the start of the run course. My right leg felt a little wobbly but I didn't let it get to me. After my workout,
I had a delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs and some of a giant cinnamon roll
from Lava Java. Karel did a bike/run starting from the energy lab. We both had
1 scoop of the NBS pre-load in the morning with our breakfast meal.
Laying around all day until the afternoon bike/bag check-in was tough as my mind was wanting to think about the race – causing some nerves and anxiety. To take my mind off the race, I watched a few episodes of season 5 of Schitt's
Creek. This was just what I needed as I could laugh the day away and barely
thought about the race. I also looked at lost of pics of Ella on my phone - our sweet and wild little kitten. Throughout the day, I snacked on yogurt and fruit, had
pizza and fruit and then had an early dinner meal (around 5:00pm) of rice and cottage cheese. I didn't restrict myself with food - I pretty much ate every few hours and made sure to eat a bit more of calorie-rich foods than normal to fuel my energy tank.
Around 3pm, we gathered our race day stuff and walked our bikes and bike and run gear
bags to the King K hotel. I was actually looking forward to this experience as it’s always
a sight to see all the athletes, spectators and business professionals checking
out each athlete’s gear for the official “Kona bike count.” Some of the
companies were giving out free gear if you had something from their company
(ex. Enve wheels, Cervelo bikes, etc.).
After waiting in line for a volunteer
to escort us to our bike rack, I had a nice male volunteer walking me through
the transition area to my bike rack. After putting my bike in the floor rack in
the very far end of the transition area, my volunteer walked me to the gear bag
section. After hanging my bike gear bag and run gear bag, I made a mental note
of the flow of the transition area and then met Karel outside of the transition
area. Even though this was my 5th time doing IM Kona, I still made sure to ask questions and soaked it all in like I was a beginner.
Inside my gear bags:
Bike: Helmet, CEP compression socks, cycling shoes, heart rate monitor strap.
Run: Headband, cooling towel (damp in its container), Naked hydration belt, two
flasks filled only with NBS carbo-hydration powder, extra nutrition for the
race in small baggies (in my belt), race number (on my Naked belt), Nike knit
vapor fly shoes, extra pair of compression socks, spray sunscreen, Roka
sunglasses.
I packed my race day nutrition in baggies prior to leaving for Kona so it was easy for me to get my nutrition together on the day before the race. I filled my bike bottles in the late afternoon with powder/water and froze my special need bike bottles.
After returning back to the condo around 4:30pm, it started to rain. It rained
for a while and my first thought was our electronic shifting. But Karel assured
me all was ok as his incident last year with his Di2 was his error of snipping
the wire while packing the bike for the race and then not repairing it before
the race. It then rained the night before the race and caused the wire to fail. It rained for most of the evening.
After eating an early dinner and then an evening snack of granola and another
glass of NBS pre-load, I laid in bed and watched more Schitts Creek until I
fell asleep around 7:30pm. I went to bed feeling fueled, hydrated and excitedly
nervous.
It was somewhat of a restless night of sleep as I felt like I woke up every 3
hours. But I still felt rested when I got up in the morning. The sleep two nights before a race matters much more than what happens on the night before a race. My mood was
positive and I felt somewhat calm and at ease that the race was finally here.
We set the alarm for 3:40am and planned to leave the condo around 4:40am.
I made a slight change to my normal pre-race meal and had a cinnamon raisin
bagel instead of 2 waffles, just for a bit more calories. I topped the bagel
with butter on one side and PB on the other. I also had a large banana. I was
able to eat my entire meal without any issues. I also had another glass of NBS
pre-load. After a few bathrooms trips, we were out the door around 4:45am.
The morning check-in procedure went somewhat smooth. We were only allowed to bring in our clear race bags. We walked behind the King
K hotel, dropped off special needs bags (I only used the bike special needs bag
whereas Karel used both bags), received our tattoo bib numbers from a volulnteer and had a
volunteer put them on our arms. It was sticky hot in the morning so the cold water from applying our tattoos was very refreshing. Afterward, we were weighed in and then walked
to the transition area. I’d say this entire process took about 20 minutes. It was very organized and overwhelming at the same time. It was fun to see several familiar faces throughout the process.
I wasn't sure how the wave start process would work so I made sure to give myself plenty of time to get into the corral. We were instructed to be in the corral at least 25 minutes before our wave start or else we could be DQ'd if we didn't start with our assigned wave.
After putting our bottles and bike computer on our bike and pumping our tires (there were plenty of pumps in the transition area), we walked to the outside (or entrance) of transition area and applied sunscreen, body glide and did some relaxing until around 6am. At this point, Karel and I went our own ways after a pre-race kiss and hug. I went to the potty one last time and then made my way into the finish line area for the swim start corrals. The great thing about this new start was being able to watch start of the male and female pro race on the big screen by the finish line.
Although I was in line a good hour before my swim start, the time went by fast. I chatted with my friend Emily, spotted Karel one last time and then put on my cap and goggles around 7am. I actually liked the wave start as it was organized and smooth. While I had a few nervous butterflies in my belly I knew once I got into the water, I would feel at ease. Literally, my butterflies flew away when my feet touched the sand and the cool ocean water.
After making my way to the swim start (which felt like it took forever to swim there), I positioned myself to the far left of the buoys as my plan was to swim toward the buoys but not directly next to them. Although the 18-39 female wave was not huge, I still wanted to set myself up for clear water as I was swimming. The volunteers on their paddleboards were keeping us all in line but the chop of the water made it difficult to stay in one place. I knew this would be a tough swim from the view of the chop in the water. It was rather wavy as we were going up and down while treading water for the start.
I heard someone say 30 more seconds and at that time, I found myself calm, ready and prepared for whatever the day had in store for me.
