IM Kona '15 RR - Pre-race + 1.2 mile swim

It was a very restless night of sleep for me. Oddly enough, I tend to sleep very well on the night before my races but this pre-race sleep (or lack thereof) was unusual. Karel, on the other hand, slept amazingly well.

As I watched the clock, which seemed like every hour, go from 1am, 2am, 3am...it was finally time to wake-up at 3:45am. 

Karel started the coffee and we both ate our pre-race meals and started to get hydrated. The overall mood in our condo was positive as we were both ready to get this 140.6 mile party started. 

After getting dressed in our race gear, filling my powder-filled bike and run bottles with cold water (Karel froze his special needs bike and all of his run bottles - which didn't help as they both were warm when he got to them) and double checking that we had everything, we walked out of our condo (Kona Plaza) and to the race venue, just a few minutes away. 

It is very motivating to see the finish line (aka final destination) at an Ironman as you are walking to the race start.

I didn't overlook the spectacle that we were about to be part of as spectators were already claiming spots by sitting on the wall to watch the swim start at 5:15am.

The crowds of volunteers, athletes and spectators were building and I could feel a lot of positive energy. 

Even though I checked the weather before the race (primarily wind direction as the temperature rarely changes on paper), it's always a question as to what the course conditions will bring to each athlete. 

The pre-race to-do's moved very quickly and the volunteers were great. First we handed off our bike and run special needs bags to the volunteers in each truck and then walked to our right to the body marking tent.

It was so wonderful to see Linsey Corbin welcoming us into the body marking tent.

Karel and I grabbed our numbers and then we went to the same volunteer to apply our bib number tattoos. 

Afterward, we walked toward the scales to get weighed and then it was a few more security checks with only our clear pre-swim bags allowed (absolutely no backpacks or other bags were allowed in transition area). 

Everything was very well marked and again, the volunteers were amazing. 

I felt waves of excitement and nerves and I was also tired from not sleeping but I stayed positive and reminded myself that as soon as I got into the water, like usual, I would feel "ready" to race.  

Karel walked with me to my bike to pump-up my tubular tires and double-check my bike and then we said our good luck wishes before we parted ways.

The transition area was packed. It was tight to move around but the volunteers were doing their best to keep everything running smoothly. 

After putting my 3 bottles on my bike, putting on my Garmin 810 on my bike and making sure my helmet would not get knocked off by another athlete after the swim, I walked over to the run bags to put my flasks into my Nathan hydration belt.

Once again, with tight security, a volunteer had to escort me to me bag and watch me put my flasks into my bag. I was not allowed to remove anything from my bag. 

After all my to-do's were complete in transition, I waited in line for the bathroom on the far end of the pier (by my bike) and since I had a lot of time until my wave started at 7;10am, I didn't feel rushed (which was a nice feeling). 

I kept reminding myself how lucky I am to be here and whenever an athlete would ask me if this was my first time, it was very humbling to say "this is my 4th Kona." I know how hard it is to qualify for Kona and I feel so lucky that I have been able to qualify for Kona at 4 Ironman races. 

After the potty break, I walked out of the transition area (away from the swim start) to drop off my pre-swim bag which contained my phone (turned off), sandals, an extra pair of goggles, body glide, sunscreen and my clothing from before the race. Since we were staying just a block from the race start, I didn't put any post-race clothes into my bag.

I kept my goggles, cap and speedsuit and also had a throw away plastic 20-ounce bottle of 120- calories of sport drink to sip on (and a few Clif blocks).

I laid on the grass while hearing the cannon go off for the male professionals at 6:30am. Then it was time for the female professionals at 6:35am and I waited until 6:45am before walking back through the transition area, toward the water. 

As the male age groupers were entering the water before their 7am start, I thought about Karel and what is emotions must be like as this was his first Kona and his first ocean mass start. Treading water for over 10 minutes, getting pushed, kicked and shoved - and that wasn't even the actual swim start!

The following pictures are from Triathlete.com 

Karel was the most nervous about the swim (regarding the entire Ironman in Kona). He told me that once he got the swim over with - he would be able to relax. 

The stairs were in place (only on race day) for the athletes to walk into the water before swimming out to the start line (I'm guessing about 50 yards away).

Karel and I were reminded by Coach Matt Dixon to not overlook our surroundings and to take a moment to soak everything in. The helicopter in the sky, the tens of thousands spectators, the scuba divers with video cameras under the water, the other athletes around us and the 5,000 volunteers.
The beautiful Kona fishes did not show up for race day.

It was a very special moment - never to be forgotten. 

After the guys were off, it was time for the 20% of IM Kona participants who were female to make our way to the swim start.

The female age-groupers had a 7:10am start and I watched the clock to start swimming out at 7am. With a "smaller" wave with just women age groupers (which was great!), I didn't need to be treading water that long to get a spot near the middle/front.

It only took a minute or two to get to the start but it was nice to move the body. I instantly felt better. 

The clock by Mike Riley read 7:03am.....we waited and waited. We had to move over to the left a bit because the male professionals were on their way back which occupied some time.
Finally it was 7:08am and Mike Riley yelled "Ladies are you ready?"

It was a great feeling to hear so many strong, healthy and awesome female athletes cheer "YES".
GIRL POWER!

At 7:09am, the water started to feel a bit more choppy and 5 seconds, 4 seconds, 3 seconds, 2 seconds, 1 seconds.....

BOOM - we were off!!

Honestly -it just felt SO good to move.

It was hard to find a rhythm as everyone was trying to battle for clean water and to break into groups of similar abilities. Often, this doesn't happen until 1/2 way of an Ironman swim but it does seem to calm down after about 15-20 minutes.

There were lots of buoys on this out and back 2.4 mile course which made sighting in the ocean much easier but the water felt a bit choppy. I found this to be odd because typically for IM Kona, there is more of a push going out and more chop and resistance going back.

I didn't try to think ahead with my thoughts so I just focused on one buoy to the next.

My stroke felt good and with my biggest worry that my back was going to bother me (as it had been for the past 1.5 months), my back wasn't a factor.
I felt strong with both arms in the water!

The turn around boat came quickly and since I didn't turn on my Garmin 910 for the swim (on purpose), I didn't know my time but it felt like I swam to the boat rather quickly. 

After making a right turn around the boat, to the turn buoy, it was time to head straight back to the pier/swim exit. 

The water didn't not calm down and if anything, it felt choppier. It wasn't horrible but little did I know that "hard going out and hard going back" would be a common theme for me during this race.

I caught up with many blue caps and managed to stay with a few pink caps. It was impossible to know where I was positioned in the mix of female age group athletes but based on the number of blue male age group caps that I was passing, I felt as if this was turning out to be a very fast swim for me. 

Unlike years in the past, I never got tired during this IM Kona 2.4 mile swim. Typically, this ocean swim (without a wetsuit) tires me out in the last 400-600 meters or so but I felt strong all the way to the end.

As I was nearing the pier, I didn't try to pick it up as I wanted to exit feeling fresh and ready to bike.

After 1+ hour of swimming in the ocean, I stood up on the stand and jogged my way to the stairs. Excited to see my time, I felt really confident that this swim was a huge improvement from years past. I looked up on the clock and saw 1:08.06. 

Ugh...seriously?

After feeling so good, never feeling tired and passing so many blue caps - I had my first taste of defeat BUT I was not going to let it get to me. Still, with 9+ hours of racing ahead and many more miles to cover with my body, I quickly moved on mentally as there was nothing I could do about it
(Thank goodness I didn't have my watch on as I could only imagine all of the thoughts in my head if I saw my time as I was swimming and focused on that instead of how strong I felt in the water). 

I ran through the hoses to quickly wash off, grabbed my T1 (bike bag) which was in an awesome spot (2nd from the end) and ran into the women's changing tent.

With a tip from Karel, I ran through the changing to the very end so I didn't have to squeeze my way through people after I got my bike gear on. The tent was a  bit crowded but I found a chair and dumped out my bag with the help of an awesome volunteer.

Because I had my chip on my right ankle with a safety pin, I asked her to remove my chip and hold on to it until I put on my compression socks. I put on my right sock and asked her to  put on my chip (with safety pin). She was awesome and so helpful. I then put on my other CEP compression sock, then my cycling shoes and grabbed my new Oakley sunglasses and sport nutrition for my pockets (Clif Blocks and a wafer) and headed out of the tent. I didn't change clothes so I was all set and ran out of transition (my volunteer put  my swim stuff into my bike bag for me).

The carpet in the transition was a little slippery so it was tough to "run" with my cycling shoes on so I was careful to not hurt myself.
Although it really would not have mattered considering how hot it was, I didn't want to carry my shoes because of my socks getting wet on the carpet - looking back, I should have just carried my shoes to my bike which I have done at several other Ironman races (I prefer to mount my bike with my cycling shoes already on my feet). 

I ran to my bike, put on my helmet, readjusted my sunglasses, turned on my bike computer, quickly pinched my front and back wheels to make sure they had good tire pressure from the morning (no leaks) and rolled my way through athletes to make my way out of the transition area.

Another tip from Karel - instead of immediately mounting my bike after the mount line, I ran my bike to the far right (as that is where I was closest to) by the barricade and about 2 bike lengths away from everyone else and then mounted my bike - it provided a much smoother bike mount than trying to do it with so many athletes around right on the mount line.

I clipped in, pressed start on my bike computer and off I went to discover what Madame Pele had planned for us for our 112 mile ride. 

As for Karel.........

It was a wrestling match for him. He said from the start, it was really rough water until the turn around. He was mentally prepared for it but nothing really can prepare you for the madness of a mass start - especially with so many talented and fit athletes in one arena.

Karel would try to find clean water but he said it never lasted long. Sometimes he would  drift off course with a group but then back toward the buoys. When he got to the turn around, he looked at his watch and it said 32 minutes which he was so happy about.

But on the way back, even though the water was a bit more clean for smooth swimming, it was not a fast swim back.

Karel stayed calm but there were a few times when he would accidentally tap a foot in front of him (as there is no way around it) and the athlete would kick obsessively as if he was sending a message "don't touch me!". This was the only thing that bothered Karel and as it kept happening, Karel wanted more and more to be out of the water.

Karel said that people were exiting the water in groups of 8-10 every few seconds so it was another wrestling match just to get out of the water.

Karel looked at his watch (which read 2.69 miles) and read 1:13:47.

Karel was disappointed but he quickly remembered that there was nothing he could do about it and it time to focus on the bike. 

Stay tuned for the 112 mile bike race recap....

Challenge Williamsburg Race Report - Pre-race + 1.2 mile swim

My alarm went off at 4:05am which gave me 10 minutes to make some coffee with the help of our home electric kettle that we brought + instant coffee (Nescafe Classico), take Campy outside and then fill my Nathan hydration belt flasks (2 of them) with cold water.
I sipped on aminos + electrolytes in a small bottle of water and a mug of coffee w/ milk and grabbed my T2 gear (in a drawstring bag that I brought) which included: running shoes, my dad's Corvette hat, race belt,  number (safety pinned), Nathan hydration belt + flasks (with extra nutrition in my belt pocket: margarita Clif blocks, salt tube  and Clif Bar Gel)  and a small towel and headed 10 minutes down the road to T2. I parked and made the 10-15 minute walk to transition.

I decided the night before the race that I would go to T2 first thing in the morning (it opened at 4:30am) to drop off my run gear by myself. Since my mom was driving us to the beach (T1/race start) we did not need to board the bus shuttles. Our athletes ended up on the shuttle buses and they all said it was very easy and not waiting involved. 

I dropped off my run gear in my designated rack and kept my run shoes in my drawstring bag just in case it rained (lesson learned from Knoxville - although not sure it mattered as cold/wet feet may have been nice in the heat - minus the potential blisters). 

I double checked my gear at least four times - it is so different to just lay out run gear and then know that it will be hours until you see it again and then headed back to the car around 4:40am to make it back to the hotel by 4:55am. 

I took a banana with me for the car ride home so I started my pre-race fueling around 4:55am (2 hours before race start).

When I got back to the hotel room, my mom and Karel (and Campy) were up and I ate my typical pre-race meal of banana (consumed in car) a rice cake dressed up with lots of maple syrup, raisins, cinnamon and peanut butter. I brought everything with me from home and laid it all out the night before so it was easy to make and consume. 

I continued to sip on my pre-race bottle throughout the morning so in all I consumed around 28-32 ounce fluid in the 2.5 hours before the race start and around 400 calories and around 1200 mg sodium. 

Karel drove us to T2 and we parked in the spectator parking lot (cars had to be out by 9:30, athletes who drove could park in a different lot but no shuttles back to T1 after the race) across from the transition area. 

My mom and Campy stayed in the car for 15 minutes or so while Karel and I went to the transition area to pump up our tires with our pump. We had our race numbers on us already (race number temporary tats) so it was a very smooth entry in and out of setting up our gear.

I laid out my helmet, shoes, Oakley Women RPM shades and compression socks. Since calf sleeves were not allowed in the water with it being non-wet suit legal, I decided to wear my CEP socks instead of putting on socks and calf sleeves. I also had a towel to wipe off my feet and my T1 bag which I was to put all my swim gear in after the swim to be transported to T2 by the volunteers.
We were given a dry clothes bag but we put our clothing, transition bag and pump in our car.


Campy came to greet me after we left transition area and it was very nice to have his great energy around us. He makes every situation less stressful. 

Thanks for the pic Elizabeth!

We all (Trimarni athletes) gathered for a picture after transitioned closed for half athletes at 6:20 (and after a bathroom stop) and off we went on the grassy field toward the swim start. 

I had my pre race drink in a plastic bottle so I tossed it in a garbage can as we were walking to the swim start. 

Thanks Elizabeth for the great pictures! 

I warmed up for about 10-15 minutes in the water with a few strokes to get comfortable, then I would just hang out since the water was extremely shallow. When the pro males were making their way back to the beach, you could see many dolphin dives as the water was not deep at all.

I chatted with Amy before the start and we talked about the best strategy with the shallow water and we both decided that swimming or dolphin diving would move us more than walking (and I don't think either of us considered walking in the swim portion).

At 6:50am we all corralled behind the timing line on the beach and then made our way into the water. It was an in the water start although we could all touch the bottom. The water was extremely warm and the sun was rising as we were waiting for our 6:55am start.

Thanks Elizabeth for the great pictures! 

Our wave included all women, relays and the aquabike so Karel was in my wave (he later mentioned how awesome it is to swim with the ladies and not the guys - he said there is no pushing or swimming over each other. He loved the calmness of swimming with the ladies :) )

At 6:55am we were off. I tried really hard to stay with Amy who is a former D1 swimmer and extremely fast but despite swimming as fast/hard as I could, I just couldn't hang. I was a bit frustrated that I missed her pack of a few pink caps but oh well, time to just focus on myself.

I had heard from previous years about the current in the water and I can say that I never felt as if we had it easy as if the current was in our favor. I felt like the entire 1.2 miles, I was fighting hard to not swim off course because the current was constantly changing. 

My main focus was to feel myself catching the water and moving through the water but never losing sight of the buoys. I spotted a lot, probably every 4-6 strokes. 

When I made my way around the 2 buoy, I noticed that despite trying to swim a bit harder than I did at Knoxville, I wasn't as tired. I felt strong in the water but for some reason, it just didn't feel fast. As I start swimming toward the shore before one last right hand turn around a buoy to head toward the finish (there was one more turn buoy to go around near the finish), I felt as if my sub 5 hour time goal was not in reach for I feared a very slow swim just because of the difficulty I was experiencing trying to stay on course. As I was swimming to the last buoy by the finish, I noticed that several athletes were walking. I could not feel the bottom with my hands (maybe because I am only 5 feet "tall") but I never considered walking as I was swimming.  We kept the buoys on our right the entire swim (except the last buoy to swim around toward the finish) and the buoys were very well marked so you could see which was a turn buoy (candy corn colors) and the red buoys were for spotting. Challenge did a great job marking the swim course.

Nearing the shore, I saw many athletes walking. I stood up but I was not walking very fast. I dolphined dived back into the water and swam some more. I kept doing this until I could stand and run out of the water. 

When I exited the water, I made the long run on the grass (so much better than concrete!) and entered transition. I first put my swim gear in my Swim to Bike bag and that stayed near my rack. My mom was there with Campy and I couldn't help but smile that Campy had crawled under the railing around transition and was laying down watching me. It took a lot for me to not go over and kiss him (Karel would not be happy that I spent time in transition to kiss Campy - he would say - Marni that's free speed!). I removed my chip to put on my socks (I have to say in my head "chip, chip, chip" over and over so I don't forget to put it on), helmet, Oakley RPM sunglasses and shoes, powered on my Garmin 500 on my bike as I was running out of transition and I asked my mom what place and she said she thought 4th or 5th female. 

Karel leaving T1...just a few minutes after me!

My competitive spirit was there and I was excited to see what my body could do on this "fast flat"  course. 

I mounted my bike, hit start on my Garmin bike computer, clipped in and pedaled my way on a bumpy side road until I reached the main road. I made a left hand turn, got aero and off I went for 56 miles of chasing the girls ahead of me. 

RACE RESULTS:

MARNI
1.2 mile swim: 31:56
T1: 3:07

KAREL
1.2 mile swim: 33:40
T1: 2:16 

Stay tuned for my 56 mile bike recap. 

If you have any questions that you'd like me to cover in my race recap, just send me an email.