First off, I want to thank all of you for checking in on this blog. I plan on submitting daily reports here about my daily encounters in Hawaii. I do want to start out and talk a little bit about Ironman Hawaii and what it takes to get into this event. For those of you new to reading about this sport, the swim is 2.4 miles, followed by 112 miles on the bike, finishing up with a 26.2 mile marathon. However, when you look at getting to Hawaii, you have to qualify to get to this event. What does qualifying take?? Well, it means that one needs to have both a lucky and fast day as there are only a few spots allocated per Ironman event to get to Ironman Hawaii or often called the World Championships. Last year, I finished 8th in my age group. The total number of participants for this event is appox. 1800. Roughly 1500 are qualifiers, while the rest are lottery winners. As a side note, every year they auction 6 spots on ebay with each slot going for appox. $45,000!!! Crazy.
My journey started nearly 4 years ago with my buddy Tony talking about doing these triathlons and it was piquing my interest because I had stopped playing soccer and wanted to keep in shape. I started getting into triathlons for fun and not thinking much about what it took to be decent at this sport. I didn't have much of a bike, in fact, my title "Triple Crank" comes from a bike that I used during the first year of doing triathlons and the bike weighed about 25 pounds...heavy by bike standards. I didn't push myself too hard the first year as I was just getting my feet wet, no pun intended, with regards to the sport. Sure, I did 1/2 marathons, marathons, and biked a bit, but I wasn't used to putting three sports into one event. The next year, I signed up for Ironman Wisconsin and just started training. No plan, no real expectations, just wanting to stay fit. Towards the middle of the summer, I hooked up with a group called Wisconsin Multisport, and they were nice enough to give me some tips, share experiences, etc.
My first Ironman (2006) was a blast, although very cold and windy conditions. When I was done, I felt like I left something on the table. I felt like I didn't push it to my limits. The sport and distance were uncharted water and I didn't know if I should put my toe in or dive in head first.
Well, 2007 came and I dove in head first. My goal was to get myself in position to qualify for Hawaii. No easy task, but coming from an endurance background, I thought I might have a decent shot. I worked very hard that year and averaged about 15 hours a week for training. I started understanding the pacing aspects of Ironman and had teammates that were willing to pass along their expertise. The race approached quickly and I was feeling great. Needless to say, without going into tremendous detail, I qualified for Hawaii in 2007 at Ironman Wisconsin (as it is a qualifier for the 2008 World Championships) by the skin of my teeth.
Fast forward a year, and I have built upon my base fitness and feel confident with where I am both physically and mentally. Ironman Hawaii is a very different type of race. First off, you have the best of the best competing in ones respective age group. On top of that, you add the vicious winds and blazing heat that makes this race very humbling. Do I know what to expect? Nope. Do I care? Nope. The reason why I don't have expectations for this race is because it is so unpredictable. I have a plan in place, but you just never know when something can go wrong. It's funny, when I don't put a lot of pressure on myself, I end up doing better than if I try and plan the race out. However, I believe I have an excellent "skeleton plan" and will be able to fill in that skeleton as the day goes on.
My plan for this race is very simple. Swim relaxed, be patient on the bike until mile 85, and then pace out the marathon. Sounds easy, right?? Well, I wish it were, but you have the X factor involved and that really comes down to nutrition during the race. Typically, I burn around 10,000 calories during this type of a race, so it is important to fuel along the way as best as possible.
Anyways, I appreciate all of the support from everyone and look forward to giving you daily updates of my journey. The race is Saturday, October 11th and it starts at 7:00 Hawaiian time which is either 12:00 CST or 1:00 EST.
Mahalo!
