Race Report

Race Morning

First off, I want to thank all of you who have been checking in and of course my support crew here in Hawaii. The race itself was spectacular and I enjoyed every minute of it....for the most part.

Navy Seals dropping in
The day started at 4:00 a.m. as I had a good sleep throughout the night and felt rested. I went over to body marking and checked out my bike and put my bottles/food in place. I went back to the house and sat for about an hour and had my typical bagel/peanut butter along with a bowl of oatmeal. I didn't really feel nervous for this race because I didn't have too high of expectations and wanted to let the race come to me.

As we were walking out to get into the water, two Navy Seals jumped out of a plane as they were doing the race that mornining..very cool. As we approached the pier, we saw 4 more jumpers from the plane and it gave me goose bumps just seeing it.

I got into the water at about 6:40 and the pros went off at about 6:45. They had Hawaiian drummers out on the wall and it was very loud and energizing. The helicopters were all over the place with NBC covering the event from all angles. The national anthem was sung and the cannon went off for the pros. You would have thought the cannon went off for the age groupers as they swam out to the swim start. It is a deep water start, so you end up treading water for about 15 minutes....not fun with all of the pushing and jockeying of postion that went on.

All of a sudden, the cannon went off and it was a sea of arms and legs all over the place. I tried to get into some clear water, but there was none to be found. I felt like the entire field passed me on the swim as I didn't feel like I was moving very fast. I only got punched in the face once, but got slapped a few times. Once we hit the turn, I felt some chaffing going on with my inner arm and it was burning as the salt water hit the open wound. I drank a few cups of salt water and before you know it, the swim was over.

1:10 - I was hoping for 1:00...but again, 10 minutes isn't that big of a deal.

The bike

Enjoying the start of the bike

This was a very interesting bike course. At the beginning, I was looking down at my odometer and was averaging over 22 mph. and I thought that it was a nice pace and I was comfortable. At about mile 30 the winds starting picking up and I thought, if this is what we were going to get for wind today, it wouldn't be that bad. Well, I didn't realize that it would just get stronger and stronger as you get closer to the Hawi turnaround. Two people were blown off of their bikes and it wasn't a pretty sight. I was feeling pretty good at mile 80, but all of a sudden I popped at about mile 95. I am not sure if it was because I grinded against the wind too much or what. I saw my average go from 21 mph to 20.8, 20.7, etc. down to 20.1. I felt frustrated, but I got over it and tried to salvage a good marathon out of it.

A few "hot laps" before going out of town

End of the bike (below)

5:34 bike split - not pleased, but still enjoying the race

Time to Run!

I started the marathon with a new plan that I had practiced on hot days during the summer months. I packed 12 oz. of chicken broth in a gatorade bottle to start the run and drank it until it was gone. I believe this paid off later in the race and was glad that I did it. The run started out great as I saw all the people that came out to Kona for support and it gave me a lift in energy. Bottom line...I enjoyed this race vs. racing to kill myself. However, I still wanted to make something out of the marathon as I trained for this all summer. The sun was hot and my pace was pretty steady for the first 8 miles. My heart rate was around 155 and holding at this point, so I tried to keep it in that range. I know that I can run 13-15 miles with a HR of about 167, but I didn't know the course well enough, plus it was hot, to start hammering.

I turned right on some street, I can't remember the name of it and then I saw the eventual winner, Craig Alexander ripping down this hill towards the finish. Wow, I think he ended up with a 6:18 pace...insane. I got out to the Queen K highway where there is nothing but an aid station every mile. No spectators, a hot sun, and nothing but bodies moving slowly. I came across Desiree Ficker (2006 runner-up) walking and hunched over. Then I came across Blake Becker...walking (No disrespect to him because he puts down some wicked times). The Hawaiian heat hurts people. I was so amazed to see what 108 degrees can do to someone's mindset. Not only do they throw you into the energy lab at mile 17, they also show you a thermometer before you make the 4 mile journey. I looked at a lot of people's splits and most, if not all, dropped off a lot at mile 17. I came out of the lava field feeling ok, but had a cramp in my left hamstring. I stopped and stretched for about 20 seconds, but knew that I couldn't continue stopping as my Garmin watch was reading a 35 minute pace..not good. I started feeling fresh again as I was heading back to Kona. Hit an aid station, walk through it to maximize fluids, and continue on.

At mile 24, I saw my buddy Brad Dettman with a video camera in hand and I asked him what time it was. He said, it was 5:15 p.m. At that moment in time, I set a new goal....finish under 10:30. I looked at my Garmin and I was doing 8:15/min/mile pace. Not fast enough (I trust my Garmin over Brad...just kidding, buddy!), eventhough he told me I shouldn't have a problem getting in under 10:30. I picked up my pace the last two miles and clocked off 7 min/pace and felt ok because of the cheering and sighting of the finish. Brad was at the most perfect spot for support because, at this point, you are very close to town, but you are mentally spent......I don't know if he had an instinct about that spot, but Brad got me under the 10:30 mark. I whipped through the last aid station, grabbed some water, and headed home. I came around the bend on Ali'i Dr., and I saw 10:29, but I couldn't make out what the seconds looked like. I was 100 yards away and the time should 10:29:09. I knew that I would get in under the 10:30 mark....the time, 10:29:26!

Run time: 3:38 - felt comfortable and didn't kill myself

What a great experience! It is one of those things one can treasure forever! After I had a chance to digest the race, I am satisfied with how it went. Sure, I would do some things differently, but that is how you learn! I don't remember who stated the quote, "It is the journey, not the destination." That is what makes me look back at this experience with the fondest of memories.

With mom and dad

With Natalie

We had some issues getting over to Maui, so I haven't been able to get pictures uploaded, but I should have some time tomorrow. Thanks for checking in and thanks to those that flew 4000 miles for support. I can't begin to express my gratitude. Most importantly, thanks to my wife, Natalie, who sacraficed many early mornings and racing weekends to make this dream come true. I couldn't have done any of this without you and of course, our soon to be addition to the family on March 17th!!!

Sunburn!

Thanks for taking

the journey...pics to follow!

Craig Alexander - the champion

A Magical Day

Wow! What a challenging race that was. This will be very short report...a longer one will follow. The experience itself was so spectacular. The atmosphere was amazing and the energy was like nothing I have ever seen before. I was pretty happy with my race considering that I faded a bit on the bike due to the strong winds out on the course. However, I tried to get into a groove on the run and stick with my plan...which in my mind, worked out pretty well. The temps reached 108 degrees yesterday and it crushed a lot of people.

Feeling pretty good today minus the sunburn and the 2 gallons of salt water I drank.


More to come.

Game Day!

Everything is locked and loaded for tomorrow. I don't have a lot of information to share as it was a quick swim of 15 minutes and about a 15 minute run today. Just an FYI that you can follow the race on www.ironmanlive.com

On a side note, at about 6 a.m. the Navy Seals were practicing their fly over parachute jumps into the ocean right outside of our house...very cool. Natalie will get some shots of this tomorrow during the live production.

Thanks again for checking in and I am looking forward to tomorrow. I will post a race report at some time over the next day or so, but it maybe after having a few beers at the Kona Brewery...excellent place to hangout.

Rest Day

Today was a great day to do a whole lot of nothing. We woke up and went down to the traditional underwear run, as you can see by the pictures below. One of my favorite memories of this run is the folks that think they need to wear their heart rate monitors for a 400 yard shuffle.....good god!!

My folks and I went down the Ironman Village and looked around a bit, while the rest of the gang stayed back and hung out at the pool. They started putting up the fencing and bleachers along Alii Drive and the media keeps on growing as we get closer to race day. Last year they had a handful of Navy Seals jump out of the plane and into the ocean, which appears to be on tap again for Saturday. However, there will be one individual that will jump out of the plane, land in the water, and will transition to do the Ironman.....Dave Goggins (an accomplished Ultra-marathoner and Navy Seal). That would be an interesting warm up to say the least.

Other than that, Natalie decided she wanted to do a photo shoot with the bike/uniform on the lava fields.........which I initially opposed, but they did turn out to be kind of fun.

They started shutting down a lot of the roads and come Friday evening, it will be very difficult to get around by car.

I will send out more tomorrow!

Swimming with the Dolphins

Cruise ship view from our Lanai.

#1 female American finisher in 2007

http://www.dede-griesbauer.com/bio.html

Today, was a very relaxing day of hanging out and not doing a whole lot. It was mostly overcast today with a nice breeze coming off of the ocean. I woke up this morning and rode for about an hour on the Queen K highway. My goal was to get out there yesterday, but ran out of time. The roads are really smooth in comparison to what we encounter in Wisconsin. I now understand why this bike course can chew up your legs. The winds were very light this morning, but the climbs were very long....which is fine. I also had a chance to swim again and I looked down and saw a pod of about 5 dolphins, very cool. Now, if I could only find a fin to grab onto for Saturday!

I had a chance to register today and I looked right next to me and, low and behold, it was Rutger Beke from Belgium (took 4th? in 2006). I had a chance to chat with him a bit, and he is a really nice guy. I couldn't believe how tall and lean he was. I also saw Norman Stadler again today.....he drinks a lot of coffee!

Natalie and I by this cool tree

The start and finish point of the race.

Monday and Tuesday

It seems like is has been a week since my last entry, but we've had a busy two days. Between the time changes, walking through town, and our excursion out to the volcanoes today, I am pretty much beat. However, the next three days will be focused on Saturday. My legs feel great and and the mental focus is coming around.

The water/swim out here is unbelievable! You can see down to the ocean floor....seems more like snorkeling than swimming. It was really cool to see the likes of Norman Stadler (2006 champion) and Desiree Ficker (2006 runner-up) jumping into the water next to the oridnary folks as well. Norman has his posse with him and his Kleinwort vehicle that follows him around all day. No sign of Macca, but I think he will be onsite tomorrow to give a talk. The town was really hopping on Tuesday as they opened the village for the participants and, as Tom Janicki always states, had all the merchandise you could ever want at "Disney Land" prices.

I did some navigation of the bike course and was surprised to see that it is rather hilly, but more of sustained climbing vs. the rollers we have in Wisconsin. I am excited to hear that the temperatures will be a balmy 85 degrees with a 5-15 mph wind. I have attached some pictures on the site of volcanoes, random shots, and other things. I will post more later.

Thanks!

Kona Breezes

Well, we finally arrived here (Sunday) in Kona and suffice to say, it was a long day of travel. It is about 5:00 in the morning on Monday and I can't sleep due to the time change. Not too much to report at this time, which is good news (from a travel perspective). All of our bags arrived without a hitch. My folks will be coming in today, so I hope that their travel into Hawaii will be as error free as ours was.

We didn't have much time to look around yesterday, because we wanted to stock up on some groceries before everything was picked over. Milk was $5.45/gallon...ouch! I am used to $2.39/gallon....too be expected I guess.

I will be taking some pictures today and putting them up on the website for everyone to see. It was a pretty calm day yesterday....not too much of a buzz yet, as I am sure a lot of the athletes are still arriving in the next day or so. However, it was a neat feeling getting off the plane and knowing that you are finally here!

Today will be a nice day to get acclimated to the surroundings a bit. We (Natalie and I) were in Kona about 5 years ago for a family vacation, so we are somewhat familiar with the area, but a lot has been built up. I will be able to post some more information later today, so stay tuned.

On a training note, I will probably do a 30-40 minute swim and about a 30-40 minute run to start getting used to the heat and humidity. The temps have been hovering around 87 degrees and the humidity has also been pretty high...not sure on those stats 80 - 90% appox.

I wanted to send out a quick "congratulations" to Mark Bradley (Wisconsin Multisport) for qualifying for the Boston Marathon yesterday. I guess those 20 mile workouts on the track really paid off.....HA!

I will report back later today!

Mahalo