IM Kona '19: Quick recap

The Ironman distance is a beast of a race. Swimming 2.4 miles, biking 112 miles and running 26.2 miles is no easy feat for the body. There is no right, best or perfect way to prepare as every journey to the start line is different. Every athlete has his/her own path, which is either straight forward and smooth or filled with bumps, detours and maybe even a few road closed signs.

Some athletes make extreme sacrifices and investments to get to the starting line. Some athletes have a team of supporters and professionals to assist in the journey. Regardless of who helps you get to the start line, it is ultimately up to you - the athlete - to get yourself to the finish line.

For the majority of athletes participating in the Ironman World Championship, they represent the best of the best from around the world. Qualifying is not easy as it requires great fitness, preparation and a whole lot of luck. Interestingly, when the best of the best all arrive to the Ironman World Championship, it's easy to compare yourself to others and feel a tremendous amount of pressure to give a best ever performance. With great expectations to perform better than ever before, it's easy to feel overwhelmed by the magnitude of a World Championship event and to confuse best effort with best ever. You see, to feel satisfied, accomplished and joyful at the Ironman World Championship, you have to race smart. With this comes gratitude, respect and having a sensible or practical idea of what can be achieved. Although competing on the world stage can bring out world class performances, many athletes experience great disappointment and sadness that something special didn't happen on race day or that the race didn't showcase a current level of fitness. When this happens, a once passionate, excited and fit athlete can question ambitions, self-worth and future capabilities.

On Saturday October 12th, 2019, I completed my 17th Ironman. Going into this event, I didn't see myself getting to the start line due to 10 weeks of no running and another 2 weeks of only indoor treadmill running. It wasn't until I set foot on the island that I did my first outdoor run - appropriately in the energy lab. While I was confident in my swim and bike fitness, I was unsure of how the day would go as I covered 26.2 miles. With a hodgepodge of emotions - ranging from excited, confident and worried - I focused on facts, not assumptions. The reality was that I removed outside pressure, focused what was within my control, relied on past experience (and muscle memory) and I never lost sight of the gratitude I had to compete at my 5th Ironman World Championship.

As for the race itself, I had a 7-minute swim course PR and my first time breaking an hour in a non-wetsuit Ironman swim (not counting Ironman Chattanooga). I also had a 3-minute bike PR. I found myself strong and resilient as I raced the swim and the bike. This allowed me to finish the bike in 5th place in my age group. Never in my wildest dreams would have imagined I would have been in a podium position off the bike! As for the run, I am in no way disappointed. If anything, I am extremely satisfied. You see, I didn't need a PR/strong/fast run to feel accomplished with my IM Kona performance. Knowing that my run fitness was not where it needed to be to compete with the many fast ladies in my age group, I set mini goals to achieve throughout the run. I only walked the aid stations, I kept my mind positive, I worked through mental demons that tried to get me to stop and walk more than I did, I nailed my nutrition (on the bike and run), I didn't experience any GI issues throughout the entire race and I felt like I put together my best effort on the day from start to finish. I had a smile on my face for all 140.6 miles and I crossed the finish line feeling extremely proud of my body.

I believe experience, failure, overcoming setbacks and keeping a level-head allowed me to put together an incredible race performance - in my own standards - at the Ironman World Championship. Far too many race with extreme pressure. They race for glory or an end result (time/place). While there are those who want you to succeed, there are those who want you to fail. When racing for 140.6 miles, you can't be worried about what other people will think of you. Training for and racing an Ironman is a journey that only you and your mind share. Despite dealing with many obstacles this summer, I am happy that I could end on a high note - feeling thankful, satisfied and accomplished with my race day performance.

As for Karel, he had a PR swim but struggled with hip/leg/back/glute pain for most of the ride. This is nothing new for him as it's always a limiter when he trains and races. Because it's easy to let ego get in the way all in an effort to protect self-worth and self-image, Karel powered through the pain and accepted that it would take him much longer than he ever had anticipated to cover 112 miles. With wobbly legs through T2, Karel ignored the "shitty committee" in his head (thanks coach Cait for that saying!) and powered through the marathon. Although slower than what he trained for, he found the strength to get to the finish line. It's certainly hard to finish a race knowing that your body was a limiter but that's Ironman for you. And in Kona, every little weakness on the day is magnified due to the competition, coure and outside elements of mother nature.

Thank you for your support, cheers and encouragement. More to come with the rest of my Ironman Kona race recap.

Marni Sumbal 
2.4 mile swim: 59.36
T1: 4:13
112 mile bike: 5:27.49
T2: 3:48
26.2 mile run: 4:12.38
Total: 10:48.02

Karel Sumbal
2.4 mile swim: 1:03.14
T1: 2:41
112 mile bike: 5:23.11
T2: 5:03
26.2 mile run: 3:15.05
Total: 9:49.12

A big thank you to our coach Cait Snow for guiding us through this season. Despite many obstacles over the summer, she never gave up on us. Also a big thank you to the Trimarni team affiliates and supporters. We are grateful for your continued support! 

Congrats to everyone who raced at the Ironman World Championship. Be proud of yourself and don't forget to thank your body. 

IM Kona RR '15: Post-race

After receiving my medal and swag, I waited and waited around the food area for Karel. 

Karel and I typically don't have a "meet-up" place after an Ironman because by the time Karel crosses the line ahead of me, gets some food/drinks and possibly changes into clean clothes (from his pre-swim bag), he is waiting for me to finish.

But this time around, Karel did his normal post race to-do's.....

Smile for the camera for his sub-10 hour, IM Kona debut performance of 9:55

2.4 mile swim - 1:13:47

T1: 3:36

112 mile bike: 5:06:50

T2: 4:04

26.2 mile run: 3:27:12:29

57th AG (35-39)

252 Male

271 Overall

And almost pass-out.

After Karel waited for over an hour, he heard from a friend that I had DNF'd soon after the energy lab (as that is what it showed on the IM tracker).

Karel became very worried about me and he went to the timing people inside the Queen K to figure out what was going on with me.

The timing people had no answers as to why I DNF'd (at this time, Karel did not know that I was walking and having a rough time on the course) and Karel insisted that he find out where I was - but they were no help as they didn't know what happened to me.

Then Karel went to the medical people to see if I had been pulled off the course. I was not there and Karel became even more worried.

The medical people told him that the athletes who are extremely ill or seriously hurt, go to the hospital and not to the med tent.

Now this worried Karel even more.

Poor Karel - instead of enjoying his accomplishment, he was "running" all around trying to find out what happened to me. He did not have his phone (as he left it in our condo) so he was simply relying on others to find out where I was.

Since almost two hours had passed since Karel crossed the finish line, he went back to our condo as he was going to head to the hospitals to try to find me.

When he got to the condo, he looked at his phone and saw a text from me "I'm in the food area."

Not knowing what happened to me, my finishing time or any other details, he immediately called me, beyond worried, and felt so relieved that I was ok.

I felt so bad about his post-race stress.
He was just happy that I was ok.

He later told me that he knew I would not quit as he knows I like to overcome obstacles and I can be a bit stubborn when it comes to finding a way to cross a finish line, so that was why he was so worried because he knew it had to have been something very serious for me to DNF.

Luckily, it was an error on the IM tracker that showed DNF and it was eventually fixed.
Sorry if I worried everyone!

Once I heard from Karel, I hobbled my way back to the condo. I was greeted by a wonderful sign on our door from Trimarni athlete Cindy and her son Austin (Thank you!)

Karel gave me a big hug and at that point, I was so numb to how the entire race day and post race went down that I headed straight to the couch and just collapsed.

I didn't really want to talk about my race but I really wanted to hear about Karel's race (as I still didn't know what he overall time was or how his foot held up) so I just laid on the couch (with my eyes closed - too much energy to keep them open) and listened to Karel tell me about his day. 

I was so happy for him. I just love exchanging war stories post race and Karel had plenty of them. 

It was nearing 8:30pm when I finally got into the shower and had a little food (milk and leftover pizza - two of my fav things post race) and afterward, I recorded my post-race video.

Around 9 or 9:30pm, we headed back to the transition to pick up our bags and our bikes. 

But before getting our bags, the hunger started to kick-in so we had pizza, ice cream, french fries and sugar-coated doughnut holes. They were all simply amazing.
And some water to wash down everything.

We picked up our bikes and then our gear bags and then stood in a short line for the volunteers to check to make sure all of our numbers matched up and then we slowly headed back to our condo (thank goodness the Kona Plaza is only a block away from the race).

We bumped into a few friends who wanted to know how we did - honestly, this helped to talk about it rather than to keep my feelings inside. Being able to say "I finished" and have a medal to show for it, outweighed the struggles I had on race day.

My chest and neck was still a bit tender but not as bad as before. Looking back, I wonder if I should have just stopped on the side of the road and waited it out for 5-10 minutes to see if the feeling would pass instead of trying to keep moving?
Even as a coach, I have to admit that as an athlete, it's so hard to make good/wise/smart decisions on race day.

It was pretty special to walk around after the race as the spectators make every athlete (even those who don't finish) feel so awesome.

Karel even got a beer from someone who was passing out local brews to the finishers. 

After dropping off our gear in our condo, we laid around until 11pm, reading all of the nice words on social media to us and then headed back to the finish line to cheer on the final finishers. 

I love the last hour of an Ironman but in Kona, it's pretty spectacular to see the crowds and the hundreds and hundreds of people who support those final finishers. It's seriously a huge party!

It was also cool to hear that at IMKY, they were broadcasting the final hour of IM Kona (11:30pm Kona time = 5:30am Kentucky time) in the IMKY transition area. Talk about some instant motivation!

Well, there you have it. A recap of racing 140.6 miles in Kona at the Ironman World Championship. We did it. 

We are 2015 Ironman World Championship finishers. 

Perhaps the #1 goal was accomplished as every Ironman athlete wants to finish, prior to thinking about place or time goals.

I still have unfinished business on that island and I am ok if it's never finished. It's truly a great experience to be there, knowing that qualifying is far from easy these days. 

I learned a lot from this race. Although I felt defeated at times, I am proud of my body for allowing me to cross that finish line - I suppose things could have been a lot worse.

I am proud of my body for staying injury free for over 2.5 years now and without sickness for over 8 years.

I feel lucky that I could share this journey and experience with Karel and extremely lucky to now be a 10x Ironman and 4x Ironman World Championship finisher. 

It's very easy to write a race report when everything goes well.

It's extremely difficult to find the words when the outcome is far from what you, as the athlete, anticipated and trained for.

For athletes who race and feel as if the outcome does not match the commitment to training, all the training, investments (monetary and emotional), time and focus can feel wasted.
However, that is far from the truth. 

I will not let this race performance doubt my previous training. 

As an athlete and coach, I understand we can't expect for our body to always be at our best or to perform at our best, all the time.
It's important to feel prepared going into a race and to race with a smart plan but the most obvious unknown on race day is how your body will perform in the race day conditions and on the course.
And I think that is one of the best parts of racing in an extreme event like an Ironman.....feeling prepared but having the strength, skills and determination to overcome obstacles. 

By reflecting on this race, through a race report, I now have something to look back on. Great race performances are in my future but I'm sure the not-so-great ones will happen again and I will continue to learn about the sport.

My mission remained the same from the start to the finish -  I never gave up during the race because it was always my #1 intention to get to the start line with a healthy body and to cross the finish line. I never take an Ironman start or finish for granted. 

I will not let one race define my current fitness or override previous racing accomplishments.
I will continue to train with a great passion and dedication as I still have a deep desire to continue to seek personal growth and improvement in my sport that keeps me happy and healthy. 

Thank you for reading. 

IM Kona ''15 - reflections

After crossing 10 Ironman finish lines, I have learned something from each one of them.
On Saturday, I learned how strong my mind can be even when my body does not cooperate.
I also reminded myself why Kona is the sight of the Ironman World Championship - racing here is a  a humbling experience to race with the best athletes in the world on a very challenging race course.
IM Kona can crush dreams or can make dreams come true. 

Over the past 9 years, I have had great races where I could do what I love to do on race day -  race with only my mind as my only limiter on race day and perform with a healthy and strong body.
But then I've had races where my body didn't perform well.
No matter the race, I have found myself crossing the finish line and wanting to do better. 

There was always a next time as I have never given up even when races didn't go as planned. 

I've been in this position before. Actually, the situation is so similar that it's almost scary. 

Back in 2010 I qualified for the 2011 Ironman World Championship.
Just last year, I qualified for the Ironman World Championship. 

In 2010 and 2014, I qualified for the 2011 and 2015 IM World Championship at the same race - Ironman Wisconsin. 

In 2010 and 2011 - Karel watched me race in Wisconsin and Kona.
In 2014 and 2015 - Karel raced with me in Wisconsin and Kona.

In 2011, I went into Kona with a very healthy body and mind, felt confident in my fitness. But, the race didn't go as planned. I struggled on the run and found myself wanting to quit early on Ali'i drive. It was a very tough day.
It was a challenge to say the least but I managed to cross my 2nd IM Kona finish line. 

Fast forward 3 years later and I found myself in the same situation. Certainly, I didn't think about it on a race day as I was in a world of hurt on the run and my only focus was on finishing.
With almost exactly the same scenario but nothing significant to blame (not nutrition, previous training or race day pacing) - I just felt off all day in Kona.
 

I never let that feeling get to me as I knew my day was not coming together as I liked after the swim and after the bike. Even when I set foot on the run, my body didn't feel good but I didn't let that get to me. 

Now that I have had a few days to reflect, recover and think about my 4th Ironman World Championship finish, I can confidently say that I would not have done anything differently with my training leading up to the race or how I raced this race. I honestly did the best I could and funny enough, I felt really strong (endurance wise) on the swim and the bike but my times were not what I had anticipated. I didn't have any significant low moments on the swim or the bike (well - the last 32 miles of headwind on the bike was a big mental battle) and even while feeling off on the run, I was still able to run from aid station to aid station with a fairly relative good pace in the very hot temps.
I wasn't out to chase times but then again, how I perceived the effort didn't match with how I perceived my times. 

I find great joy in racing, especially at the longer distances, but it is a challenge to be "on" for 10+ hours. Training is fun and I feel that as athletes, we often take it for granted how tough it is on race day compared to training. 

In training, we check off workouts. We can stop, we can modify, we can adjust. Athletes and coaches often say that race day is the "easiest" training day because of the volunteers, aid stations, spectators and the fact that you get to race with a tapered body and months of training behind you but ask any competitive endurance athlete and he/she will tell you how mentally and physically exhausting it is to "race" in an endurance event.

On Ironman race day, the performance counts. For 140.6 miles, you are faced with challenges to overcome and many mind/body arguments.  There are no guarantees for race day. 

After months and months of training, you have only one day to perform at your best. Even if we feel great on race day or the weather is ideal for a "fast" race, race day is never easy. 

I never want to make excuses for a race. I will not put blame on outside variables or myself. I could not have done anything different on or before race day for a different outcome. Over the course of 140.6 miles in Kona, I did what I could, on a challenging day, on a very challenging course. I owe a big thank you to my body that I finished but I now carry a slight ache in my heart that it wasn't my day.

But as I said before, I've been in this position before. And with being presented with this scenario just a few years ago, I know my choices. 

Give up or give it another try.

Right now, I will give up on getting back to Kona for a while but I don't want to give up on triathlon racing. 

I have never given up on race day in my 10 Ironman races as I have finished every Ironman that I have started.
I won't let one Ironman race to define me as an athlete. It wasn't about my IM Kona finish time but the hardest take-away for me is that my body won over my mind.

I will not forget the great season that I have had this year as well as my many accomplishments, wins, PR's and Kona qualifications over the past three years.
I will not give up on wanting to better myself on race day.

Last time I found myself in this position in 2011, I had my best season the following year. I was training and racing faster than ever all thanks to a mental and physical break from the Ironman distance. I was able to race more and I worked on many weaknesses. After 2012, despite a hiatus from running due to another hip/back injury, I have done some amazing things with my body over the past 3 years including 5 Ironman finishes (and 2 IM World Championship finishes, a 10:17 IM PR at IM Austria with a 3:39 IM run), winning the amateur female title at 3 half IM events and training/racing injury free. 

I'm disappointed in how the race went on Saturday but I am proud that I never gave up.
When you are walking with several miles to go and it is impossible to run, a bicycle, car or moped looks very inviting. I'd be lying if the thought didn't cross my mind that there was an "easier" way to get to the finish area - however, that way would mean not crossing the finish line and not receiving a finisher medal. 

And even though things were not going my way throughout the day, I never convinced myself during the race that I was having a bad day. It was only when I could no longer race with my mind in the last 7 miles of the run, that I felt defeated.

As I leave the island today knowing that on race day, I could not have done anything different for a different result, I will eventually find closure in my IM Kona performance.
And with a few Campy kisses tomorrow and the excitement for a well needed off-season, I will move on knowing that this is not my life but my lifestyle.
Life is still awesome and I still love triathlon racing.
I love the highs, the lows and everything in between and the many life lessons that I learn with racing long distance triathlons.

I am incredibly grateful to my body for allowing me to compete in this extreme endurance triathlon sport, I feel so lucky for all that I have accomplished in the past and I love being able to share this awesome lifestyle with Karel.

Thank you for your support and for letting me be honest and candid with my racing experiences.
My IM Kona race recaps will be coming soon....