Two Months Late- Ironman World Championship- Race Day

Race morning as a spectator began early... very early. As I mentioned in my previous post, our hotel 7 miles south of the pier off of Ali'i Drive. With only two major roads heading into downtown, we knew our opportunities to get into the race area and good parking were limited. And of those two roads, one was the run course (Ali'i Drive) and the other was the bike Course (Queen K).

So we left the hotel at 4:45am. :) Yuck! That time of the morning is no fun if you aren't the one competing! LOL I can't imagine the stress of being an athlete at an Ironman; Let alone the World Championship.

Kenny and I first made our way to the sea wall at the swim start and lord were people already our in droves. We were lucky enough to snag some real estate behind a great group of spectators and eventually managed to cram like 8 of our friends up there with us. It was a bit cozy.

Here I am early in the morning sitting on the race wall

So so Dark. We sat on the wall for a long while.

The Calm in the Early Hours Before the Pro Start

Pros Getting in the Water

Watching the pro start was really cool. It is neat to see them in their practice before the cannon and to just notice that they get jittery too. However the awesome part cam with watching all of the age groupers get into the water. There were hoards and hoards of them. With only one set of stairs to get in the water it took all of 30 minutes to get each of them in the water and up to the start line.

Age Groupers Entering the Water

Because some were in the water upwards of 20 minutes, they found creative ways to hang out so that they weren't treading water forever and wasting energy.

Hanging out before the start

Hanging on to an outrigger

Somehow Joe found us on the sea wall and managed to come and great us all with the Matchette Family Salute. We chatted for a few before he went out to start his race day.

Joe Before the start

And then they were off. This is only a portion of the start area. They spanned the entire bay.

Age Group Start

This picture was taken before the swimmers started getting into the water but you can see just how far the spectators were lining the bay to watch the swim start. We had an awesome view. Once everyone was in the water. swimmers spanned the majority of this entire bay in preparation for the swim.

A Sea of spectators

 And yes, much like a 10 year old, I was very amused by the fact that ford put a car on a float in the middle of the swim start. A Real Car! I halfway think that would be an amazing view of the start or a really scary encounter!

Yes, that is a real car!

Gen and I managed to snap a picture together before heading our separate ways to do our respective cheering.

Always the best photos with Gen!

After the swim start Kenny and i I made our way out on to the bike course to get photos. We were able to snap some good ones but had many failed attempts. Here are some that turned out good.

Andy Potts

Marino Vanhoenacker

Henning, Mckenzie and Bell

Chrissie Wellington

Mirinda Carfrae

Crazy Joe!

After Seeing the Athletes off we opted to head for some breakfast at the U-Top-It Restaurant in Downtown. We both has omelets and would highly recommend this place for a meal. They have some really neat and unique menu items.

Next we made our way down to the finish line and hung out with our friends Scott and Tami while watching the race action on the finish line jumbo tron and tracking Marni and Joe on our cell phone.

Once the Pros neared the end of their bike we made our way over to transition to watch them begin their runs!

Chris Lieto

I Love Caroline Steffan and Her Pink!

Chrissie and Her Smile (& Muscles!)

Mirinda Heading Out on the Run

From that point it was getting later in the afternoon and Kenny and I knew that we needed to make our way back to the car in order to collect our volunteer shirts for the 8pm-11pm shift so that we would have time to change. We also wanted to make sure that we gave ourselves time to catch Joe and Marni on the run down Ali'i Drive.  However, we made it back from the car in time for the Pro Finish! That was an amazing sight to see and the atmosphere was crazy.

First Came Craig Alexander!

Finishing Strong with a Huge Smile on his Face

 

Chrissie Grabbing a Flag for the Finish

Just Seconds Behind Chrissie was Mirinda

 
Then to Ali'i Drive for Marni and Joe. Well unfortunately timing was a bit off and we missed Marni but we did Catch Joe!

Joe, Always Smiling- I love it!

We enjoyed some more time with Scott and Tami as we had a great dinner on the water at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. Funny thought, 3 of us had chicken, only one had shrimp!

From there we made our way back out onto Ali'i Drive to try and catch Marni as she was heading into the finish. I am sad that the only pictures I was able to catch of her that day turned out wonky but the four of us had a blast cheering her down Ali'i.

Marni a quarter mile from the finish

Always Smiling and ready to pass a competitor!

From there we had to leave our friends and make a dash to the car to drop the camera and all of our belongings for our volunteer shift. So unfortunately no more photos! We did make a mandatory stop at Starbucks for some much needed caffeine and water. It didn't matter how much water we carried on ourselves all day long, we could not stay hydrated!

We did have the opportunity to stand on the "Hot Corner" after the sun whent down for about 20-30 minutes to cheer on runners as they were coming in and making their way toward Ali'i drive but more importantly to cheer on those who were heading out to the energy lab. I wish I could have caught some photos of the amazing determination on the faces of each athlete as they passed by this area. They could hear the finish line, they had already been on this corner three times before and they knew they still had 16 miles to go on their marathon. It was quiet but you could each each individual voice standing out on the road cheering. Amazing!

As soon as Kenny and I knew were were heading to Kona, we immediately signed up to be a volunteer. Our first choice was to be a finisher at what we predicted would be Joe's finish time but unfortunately we didn't not get that shift. Instead we were assigned to the 8pm-11pm shift. We missed seeing Joe on the hot corner while we were out cheering but as luck would have it, we arrived at our shift about 15 minutes early just in time to get our orientation and  hear "Joe Matchette, You Are An IRONMAN!" We shared some hugs back behind the Jumbo tron and then off to volunteer we went.

Kenny and I were finish line catchers. For the un-Ironman-initiated, these are volunteers who greet each finisher at the finish line and escort them through the finish area. Sometimes these means literally catching someone so that they don't fall (140.6 miles is a lot to endure) and sometimes it just means walking with a competitor, chatting with them and showing them where to go. We had our share of competitors who needed medical attention and then we had many others who were just happy to see a smiling volunteer and the finish line.

If you want to relive the finish line, here is a video sponsored by Universal Sports which is coverage of the whole day. All 18 hours and 10 minutes of coverage!
http://www.universalsports.com/video/assetid=035aaa7a-3c4d-49fa-90f2-845ca20de1cf.html#watch

To highlight my friends and my volunteer experience, look at the video at the following times.
(These are video times, not finish line times. Look at the actual video timer in the bottom right hand)

Marni Sumbal- 12:02:00 (She Jumps at the Finish Line! My Coach, so proud of her!)
Joe Matchette- 13:37:40 (Mike Reilly Talks about him for a long time, He Stops to hugs is family. Congrats Joe!)
Tara Costa- 14:56:15 (Biggest Loser Competitor)
Darryl Lem-  17:18:57 (The best competitor we caught all evening! So Happy and Thankful and I swear I know him from somewhere. And you can see us!)
Scott Rigsby- 17:21:35 (Double Amputee from Atlanta!)
Lew Hollander- 17:45:20 (Oldest Male Finisher)
Harriet Anderson- 17:55:20 (Oldest Female Finisher, Greeted by her Husband and you can see Kenny and I catching her!)
The Last Unofficial Finisher- 17:59:25

And that my friends is a wrap. Sorry it took so so long but look at it this way; It is just one more way to relive the world championship until next year's triathlon season!

Until then, thanks for reading!

At the amazing outdoor airport, leaving kona :(

Relaxation, Riding and Retul

This past weekend was all about the three Rs: Relaxation, Riding and Retul!

Kenny and I had the wonderful opportunity to travel down to Jacksonville to visit both of our coaches this past weekend. Since we just finished our recovery time after our goal race of the season, we really wanted some face time with the coaches to hang out and talk next season. Because they are only a few hours away, the trips are super convenient travel wise but still a great way to get away from home.

Relaxation!

As we head into the off season, Kenny is set to begin his pure cycling training for his first season as a racer, while I am looking to boost the weakest of my three sports, the run. Knowing that the "off" season will bring with it some tough training we wanted to relax one last time and chat goals with the coaches all while enjoying the company of great friends. Thus the idea of a weekend in Jacksonville was born. We had previously done a similar trip about a year ago and found it extremely beneficial and fun.

We arrived on Friday night just in time to have dinner with Marni and Karel (our coaches and friends.) As mentioned before, Marni is my coach and Karel is Kenny's coach. And lucky us they are married and are extremely fun to hang out with. We went to the Red Elephant which apparently is a chain restaurant who on your first visit gives you a free elephant ear. LOL I did have a great salad and yes I even had part of the free elephant ear. I do believe that may have been my first bite of fried food in several months.

Saturday called for a ride (detailed below), my Retul Fit (also detailed below), the Northeast Florida Veg Fest and a fabulous home cooked meal at the Sumbal House.  Veg Fest was a fun outing down in the River Park area of Jacksonville. Many vendors came out to set up booths and promote a vegetarian lifestyle. I enjoyed listening to the local music, seeing all of the visiting dogs and sampling some fun products/food. The weather decided to be a bit chilly but it didn't stop people from coming out. I would compare the atmosphere similar to that of a local market. Definitely something to check out and I hope that the event continues to grow in the coming years. Our dinner was a fabulous Marni creation of  potato fries (baked), salad with tons of yummies and steak (cooked by Kenny).

We concluded our weekend with sleeping in on Sunday, having a nice breakfast at the hotel and heading home. It was just what we both had in mind.. relaxing... fun ... and away from home.

Riding! 

What trip would be complete without a little bike riding. On Saturday morning Karel, Marni, Kenny and I all took off for a nice 1.5 hour ride through the wonderful area of Nocatee. The goal was simple, enjoy the company of friends, while getting in a good solid ride. Oddly enough in this group of cyclists, I was the "slow kid". Guess that is what happens when you cycle with your husband and coaches. :)

First let me say that I LOVE RIDING IN FLORIDA! It was so nice to have a break from the hills of middle Georgia. What we have around us is nothing that I would consider horrible or hard in the way of hills but it definitely isn't flat. Florida on the other hand is flat, flat, "flat"ski. The only hill I saw from our entire 25 mile ride was an overpass. As I learned last year during my visit with Marni, flats really are my forte; this trip proved to me the same fact. Even in the crazy wind we averaged over 18 mph. I got off my bike feeling refreshed and amazing instead of fatigued with burning legs. Another thing I loved about the area we rode in was minimal traffic, large bike lanes and respectful drivers! Cyclist bliss!

I followed up the ride with a simple one mile run just for muscle memory purposes. I don't want the legs to forget that feeling and necessity for quick turnover.

Retul!

Kenny surprised me by scheduling a Retul fit for Princess during our trip to Jacksonville. I was fit on my bike about 1.5 years ago and although it was a good experience at that time, I have learned so much more about myself and cycling that I knew I needed a different experience/fitter. Having heard wonderful things about Retul (and the Jacksonville Trek experience specifically), Kenny jumped on the opportunity to get this done for me while we were in town.

On Saturday after our ride and a wonderful breakfast at the Sumbal House, we headed over the to Jacksonville Trek Beach Store to meet with Jeff Kopp the owner of Jacksonville Trek who would be doing my fit! Jeff is tremendously knowledgeable and extremely personable. He made me feel at ease and explained each step of the process to me in such a way that I felt not only informed but actually in charge of the decisions I was making for my bike.

The Retul process is fairly simple and straight forward. First you do an interview of sorts to give information about your goals, race distances, flexibility and experience. Then of course you jump on the trainer to start the fit process. Retul uses a data collection process by which they hook wires up to you at key pivot points on the body and measure your angles and movement. I called this the shock therapy section because it looked like Jeff hooked me to a machine in order to send me electrical pulses. Jeff and I had quiet a few laughs about it, it was funny to me.

Even though I had a camera on me, I didnt get any pictures of my fit so instead I grabbed this one from the internet of Chris Lieto getting his Retul Fit. You can see the wires that are velcroed to your skin in order to collect data.

They take the data that was collected and compare it against the normative data that is collected from Retul fitters across the world. Ultimately they are trying to find a good fit for you while paying attention to the recent trends in the triathlon fit process. Next adjustments are made followed by another session of data collection to make sure everything looks good and feels right. Your final data is collected electronically and sorted for your future reference and for future fitting purposes.

Overall my fit process took 2 hours and I am extremely happy with the results. We ended up dropping my handlebars (YIPPIE), moving my elbow pads back and moving my seat just a tiny bit down and forward. The new positioning closes me in a bit more rather than leaving me stretched out like my previous fit did. It is a position that feels natural and comfortable while still putting me in a more aerodynamic position.I have only done one trainer ride since the fit but at this point I would give it a complete thumbs up! Once I get a few road rides in, I will give you the final verdict!

If you are looking for a fitting process (and I would definitely recommend getting fit on your bike), I would highly suggest the Retul Process. And if luck has you in the Jacksonville area with your bike, do it at Jacksonville Trek! It was well worth the drive for me!

My trip to the Ironman World Championship- Pre Race

Go big or go home..

That is the saying right?

Well true to the saying, my first experience with a full ironman event was the biggest you could find, the Ironman World Championships in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. For my non triathlon friends, this would be similar to your first football game being the Superbowl. It's a big deal!

Earlier this year, we found out that a friend of ours was selected for a lottery spot for Kona and we all volunteered enthusiastically to go along for the ride as spectators. It sounded like the best excuse for a vacation in Hawaii while supporting a friend in the biggest race ever. Lucky for me, my coach qualified for the World Championship back last September at Ironman Wisconsin, so Kenny and I had two friends to cheer for.

Meet "Crazy" Joe- Just after Registering!

Meet Marni- My Coach and Her Husband Karel- Kenny's Coach!

So consider this my reverse race report of the Ironman World Championship. The "I didn't race but still have plenty of things to say that won't fit into one blog" race report. :)

From the get go, I was super excited about immersing myself in the full Kona experience. I wanted to get as much from this without actually racing. After a week in Hawaii, I can definitely say that not only was it a phenomenal vacation but a rockin time at the most competitive triathlon race in the world. (For me this is way more exciting than the Olympics).

We were lucky to arrive in Kona a week before the race.

Leaving home and the gross Dunkin Donuts- I am forever a Starbucks girl!

In the air on the way to Kona- Kenny hates self portraits!

At one week out the energy in the air was both electrifying and extremely intimidating. Driving out to the hotel from the airport on the first night, there were gobs of people rocking 6 minute miles in the rain up and down the main strip of Ali'i Drive. Holy crap, these were some amazing athletes. While we do have our share of elite/egotistical asses in the sport of triathlon, I would say for the most part triathletes are an extremely amazing, welcoming community, more than any other sport I have seen. Kona was no different.

I mean seriously, what other sport has professional athletes that are so personable and approachable. Some incredibly awesome people!

Rinny After Checking Her Bike

Macca after a casual swim- Not competing this year but hanging out on the big island

Crissie heading to check her Bike

Two great things I "participated" in during Kona week were the coffee boat and running in the Hawaii Natural Energy Lab. Both of these experiences helped me better to appreciate the triathlon community and the difficulty of this particular race.

First, Imagine a sailboat about 400-500 yards offshore in choppy water serving shots of espresso. Add several hundred athletes at any given time and you have the Kona Coffee Boat sponsored by Coffees of Hawaii. I was lucky to make this swim twice during race week any LOVED it. I grew up in Florida and have been in the ocean plenty. However, since my days as a triathlete, I have never done an ocean swim. The waters at the Kona pier are rough and the waves don't mess around. It's nothing horrific but when you are used to a lined pool or lake/river, it takes some getting used to. My swims in Kona to the coffee boost gave me a boost that I can do salt water triathlons and possibly do them well. Oh did I mention the espresso was free. Seriously, the best swim idea ever.

I also took the opportunity to do a short run the Natural Energy Lab with Joe and Randy. Well it was more like Joe went for a visualization run, Randy photographed Joe while he ran and I huffed and puffed it behind them just trying to keep them in my sights and not die. The energy lab is somewhere around miles 17-23 of the marathon which are already horrible miles to begin with any marathon but the energy lab makes to so much worse. Big wide open spaces with no shade and typically no cloud cover surrounded by lava fields. To say it is hot is an extreme understatement. My short 3 miler was no exception. I was drenched by a mile and half before I realized at my turn around point that the return route was all uphill. Even though the run felt horrific, I actually made good time and am so happy I experienced that part of the ironman course.

The ironman village which is set up all down Ali'i Drive by various vendors is amazing. There is tons of "demo"ing of the latest and greatest products for our sport and tons of swag that can be had. The accessibility to each of the companies is incredible and it is really an enjoyable walk up and down the road. Kenny and I must have visited Ali'i Drive 5 of the 6 possible days while in Kona. We talked to Trek, Bontragger, 110% Recovery, Rudy Project, Nuun, Sram/Quarq and many others with questions we had or problems we needed solved. All were resolved or addressed by those we met with. I now have enough visors to fuel my runs for the next 3 years!

Hanging out at the 110% Booth. My Favorite Recovery Gear!

An awesome new paint option for Trek- Safety Green!

 
Aside from the ironman festivities, we did take some time to enjoy our vacation with friends. Basic observation of Hawaii for those who are thinking of visiting, it is expensive. There is lots of money to be spent. Going out to eat is super spendy, groceries cost a bit more, hotels can cost a fortune, gas is high, etc. There are better ways to stretch your dollar. When we visit the world championship again, I think we are likely to get a condo closer into town so that we can cook our meals instead of having to depend on restaurants. Groceries a expensive but cheaper than eating out all the time.

That is the short and dirty of our visit to Hawaii minus actual race day. Here are the photos from the trip. Actual race day report coming next!

Views from the Hotel

We stayed at the Outrigger Keauhou Beach Resort which was about 7 miles south of the Kona Pier. Overall observation of the hotel is that it is  your basic hotel. Nothing fancy but nothing worth complaining about. Basic amenities. We choose it because it had an included morning breakfast buffet which turned out to be amazing. As mentioned above, next time we likely will rent a condo instead of staying here but it was just fine for our first visit!

Bird on our Balcony

Birds staying warm at the Breakfast Area

View from our Balcony- Left Side

View from our Balcony- Right Side

View from the Hotel Lobby

Downtown Kona

We explored downtown Kona just about every day we were in town. It essentially exists of  Ali'i Drive and a few side roads. The actual vendors in town for the race made the atmosphere on Ali'i amazing and we enjoyed just hanging out and talking with everyone. Tons of tiny restaurants with excellent food!

I loved this sign at the visitors center

The view from our table at the thai restaurant on Ali'i Drive

Kenny and I waiting for Joe to emerge from Registration. 

Group Snorkeling Trip

Our large group of 20 decided to do a group snorkeling trip in addition to a luau while we were in Kona. The snorkeling trip was lead by the Sea Paradise which was awesome. It was a morning 5 hour trip with a small breakfast and full lunch provided. We visited two locations and even got to see a ton of dolphins.

Goofing off in the water! I loved swimming!

Cool view of the coral! (And our camera survived the water)

Hanging out on the boat

Some of the many spinner dolphins that swam next to our boat

 Volcanoes National Park

Kenny and I took a side trip to Volcanoes National Park. We figured if we were this close to a volcano, we better go and see one. Total we spent 4 hours in the park and could have spent way more time there. 4 hours was not nearly enough time.  The volcano is about 2 hours away from Kona so it was quite the trip. Oh and virtually no radio stations work on the 2 hour trip. LOL

Here are a few high lights of our day trip.

Steam coming from the Caldera

A steam vent

The Sulfur Banks

Heading to the Lava Tube

Lava as far as the eye could see

Where lava flow closed the road

 

Standing on Lava where it closed the road

The Water Arch

 

A view from the Water Arch

Amazing View from the Water Arch

Black Sand Beach

On our way back to Kona from the volcano, we stopped at the black sand beach on a recommendation from a friend. It was really neat to see the black sand and I wish we could of had more time to get in the water.

Captivating Black Sand from Lava

My foot on the black sand

An amazing view on the black sand beach