Ironman Hawaii 2009 – What a beater!
Oh my did that hurt. That run hurt, those last 16 miles hurt. The last 4 miles felt like death.
I went too hard on the bike, got caught up in the moment. It was fun, but if you have fun on the bike you pay for it on the run. Fellow teammate Chris Ganter and Adam Otstot from Richmond raced, here are paces for the bike segment. Also included Alexander and Wellington to see how they paced the bike.
I pushed the middle section too much. Danilo Palmucci, a 46 year old who’s placed as high as 14th overall, told me to stop accelerating up the hills, it’s too early and I was burning myself out. I should have listened to him. Otstot, who went on to run a 3:03 marathon, had an even pace up the climb to Hawi and back down. I pushed the pace pretty good up the climb to the turnaround point and then hammered the downhill. Ganter and Otstot are stronger cyclists, they split 5:14 & 5:17 compared to my 5:03! What was I thinking! Self control and discipline are so important in an event like this.
Then the run, ouch. Wheels came off pretty quick, just as we made the right turn up Palani at the 10 mile mark. Paces for the run…
Otstot had an amazing race, he went by around mile 17 and was moving! The heart rate data tells it all…
That’s what a slow death in the run portion of an ironman looks like. Spike from miles 15 to 20 as we made the climb out of the energy lab. Headwind on the way out which felt great, on the way back the tailwind feels stagnant like running in an oven.
Mile 10 – When the visor gets low things are getting ugly
Lessons learned:
- Develop a plan and stick to it
- Enjoy the moment, try not to get caught up in it
- Be patient, treat the swim & bike as a warm up for the run
BIG thanks to Katie, Michelle, Slake, and MikE for taking care of me post race. I was a mess. Now some time to enjoy Hawaii… and think about Clearwater.
