Race Report - Ironman Hawaii 2009

I had a pleasant surprise after the Canada event when I had my regular coffee with Greg MacKenzie of Pharmacy 777. Greg had been talking with his business partners and they had decided to step up my level of sponsorship by offering a very generous incentive for each podium finish I achieve in any prominent long course event.
Not only did 777 offer the incentive, it was backdated to the Busselton half event, meaning I was able to benefit from three podium finishes in that time.

I can’t thank Greg and the 777 team enough for their generosity.

I’ll have to be honest here and say that from my personal perspective, that of an athlete, the Hawaii event almost turned out to be a waste of time and money. I did, however, experience the day as a racer, after being a spectator and supporter of Raija last year, and I am confident this will count for something when I return to do the event again.

In my capacity as a coach, my trip was much more positive. I had two athletes racing – Brad Wall in the 18-24 division and Belinda Brooks in the 30-34 division.

I have been looking after Brad now for a number of years, and I have watched him progress from a typically unfit footballer, to a Hawaii qualifier. Brad’s enthusiasm and dedication to the task at hand rubs off on the “Ogden Academy” group as a whole.

After seeing how much of a challenge the heat presented to Brad in the first few training sessions in Hawaii, I thought the lad may find it very difficult on race day. Despite this, Brad managed a 10 hour 10 minute finish and 11th placing in his age group in unusually hot conditions.

To achieve this, Brad had to overcome the setback of his aero bar pads rotating downwards, dropping his elbow height 25mm, resulting in back pain. It was pretty annoying as there was no indication of this happening in training in the lead up to race day. As a result, it came as no surprise that he felt terrible on the bike all day.
Brad has signed up for the Busselton Ironman event to take advantage of his current fitness level. Thereafter, he has plans to stop training and get fat.

I wrote a program for Belinda and watched from afar at her progress. Belinda was very independent and seemed very happy working through the program on her own without too much interference. I heard from Belinda occasionally and it was often to ask me if she could do more training than I prescribed for her in the program.
I watched Belinda run down the finish chute in 10th placing in her division – which I felt was an exceptional effort on a difficult day.

I was very proud of both Brad and Belinda.

Ironman Canada was on the 30th of August which gave me a 6 week final preparation for Hawaii. The plan was to rest for 10 days, put in a solid three week block of training and then taper down for 10 days prior to the Hawaii event. Not ideal, especially when Jetlag at both ends was factored in, but I thought I may be able to get to the start line in Hawaii in reasonable shape.

The first part of the plan, the 10 days of rest, went well – there is something very easy about resting – and I started training in earnest on the 10th of September.

On the weekend of the 19th of September, 9 days into the training block, I completed a time trial on the Saturday in which I pushed very hard for the last 40 minutes, followed by a run off the bike. On the Sunday morning I completed a long run during which I met my training goals but was very tired and sore afterwards. On Monday I lasted 1.5 kilometres in the pool before getting out and having the balance of the day off. I then had the next two days off and really struggled to start training again on the Thursday.

All my sessions following the weekend of the 19th in the lead up to Hawaii were less than encouraging, with my power/pace and heart rate relationships unfavourable, and I arrived at the start line far from confident of a good performance.
Confidence in your preparation is everything in this game, and if you don’t have it, you have nothing. I was hoping for the best on the day, but it was difficult to dismiss the negative thoughts. As I was treading water waiting for the start, it felt like I didn’t belong there. I started back from the front line, choosing to line up on the second row, which is a good indication of where I was psychologically at the time.

It is unforgivable to start anywhere other than at the front, as, in the majority of instances, the quality of the start will determine which pack is swum in for the duration of the swim and positioning back from the front line is a disadvantage even before the gun goes off.

I was waiting for the start in the vicinity of Craig Alexander, who was on the front line, of course, and Norman Stadler, who was on the second row with me. Is it any wonder then that Norman never gets out of the water anywhere near the front of proceedings.

I wished Craig good luck and got a favourable response as always. Out of courtesy I thought I might wish Norman good luck too. In response, he grunted something and gave me the “who the hell are you” look. I think he may have been under a bit of pressure at the time and I will forgive him in this instance – ha ha ha.

Norman was hard to escape all week – for everyone. He was in Kona with his financial institution sponsored triathlon team, of which there were at least 8 members. The team had hired a fleet of minivans, all of which had a team portrait displayed on the rear window, and, no matter where you went, there was always a team minivan in the vicinity. It was a marketing master stroke.

When the gun went off, I didn’t swim as hard as I usually do for some reason, and was engulfed by the throng. I am not really used to this as most of the events I compete in have only about 50 or so professionals racing. That being said, it wasn’t really that much of a concern as I knew it would settle down at some point, and some territory would open up.

I spent the first 1000m of the swim moving up in proceedings, going from feet to feet, before I found the group I would swim with for the rest of the journey. At the turnaround, I noticed bad chafe on my neck, and would have to put up with some discomfort until the end of the swim, and then in the days following the race.

Not long after rounding the turnaround, I decided to go to the front of the pack and do some work in an attempt to limit the losses to the leading packs of swimmers. I actually felt ok and towed the group all the way to the finish, gaining a small amount of ground on the pack immediately in front. I exited in 53.26, some two and a half minutes back from the leading group, but felt I was swimming well enough on the day to hang with a faster pack. For this to happen though, I needed a faster start.

I had trouble with my nutrition in both the Japan and Canada races and consulted with Robert Kunz from First Endurance in the lead up to Hawaii. He gave me some very good advice and outlined a nutrition plan for me using the First Endurance products in the lead up to the race. I have to thank Robert for this as he definitely had no obligation whatsoever to do so.

Unfortunately, when I got on the bike I really struggled. I can’t remember how many athletes passed me going up the gradual climb of Kuakini Highway on the first out and back section of the cycle course, but it was a significant number.

I did feel like I gained some rhythm after the first five kilometres, and started to catch a few athletes up some of the gradual climbs out on the Queen K, but then at the 40 kilometre point I dropped my chain off the 11 cog and it got stuck between the cassette and frame. I refrained from pedalling further, jamming the chain into the gap between the cassette and frame, then got off my bike, pulled the chain out and placed it back on the cassette cogs. I probably lost all of thirty seconds, and it the end it didn’t matter, but it was bloody annoying at the time all the same.

I got going again and started to pick up a few more athletes, and by the time I had reached the climb up to Hawi, I was towing a pack of 6 to 8 athletes.

There was a fairly solid headwind to negotiate in the 5-6 kilometres up to Hawi, but the rest of the journey out to Hawi was relatively tame. It was hot for sure, but the cross winds were just not blowing this year and I think this contributed to the large groups staying together on the bike for the majority of the day. The year before, the leaders were pretty well spread out by the time they got to T2.

As I approached the turnaround in Hawi, there were very large groups of athletes going the other way on their return journey to Kona and they were minutes in front of me. I was starting to feel fatigued at this point and it immediately dawned on me that I was going to lose significantly more time to the groups on the way back to town. I accepted that fact and soldiered on regardless, but my fitness only allowed a further 40 kilometres of solid effort before I really got tired and started to slow down. What I couldn’t believe was that I still had a few guys sitting on my wheel at this stage.

To make matters worse, with about 40 km to cycle, the cross/head wind started to get relatively strong and make tired legs even more tired. I still maintain that the wind wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been, but it was tough enough.
It was at this point that I noticed the heat for the first time of the day. For the first time I was thinking to myself that it is pretty hot out here.

With 20km to cycle I had virtually given up the ghost. I am not proud of myself for doing so, but my thoughts drifted to the upcoming Busselton event, and I cruised into the finish. Chrissie Wellington passed me in this time and I was in awe of how good she actually is on the bike relative to her peers.

I rolled into town, got off the bike and withdrew from the race. Raija was extremely disappointed with me for not starting the run and finishing the race, but, at the time it seemed silly to do so. I wasn’t running well, I was a long way behind and had no hope of finishing in a prize money winning position, it was extremely hot, I was sunburnt already and I was racing my home town event in 8 weeks time.

I understood how Raija felt and immediately felt bad because I upset her with my actions. I was also disappointed with myself for not starting the run and at least having a go. I felt terrible psychologically after the event, but the more I have thought about it, the more comfortable I am with the decision I made at the time.

There will be some calling me soft for not finishing, and that is fair enough, I can take it. When it really matters though, I know I have the character to step up to the challenge. The challenge for me is not to finish, and, with all due respect, given enough time, anyone can do that. The challenge is to compete to the very best of my ability and I didn’t have the necessary preparation to be able to do so in this event.

Next time I compete in Hawaii, I will give myself the best chance of competing at my best.

It is here where I must thank Kieran Bell from Biosymm for his continued support. He is without a doubt, in my opinion, the best practitioner in Perth and has kept me in motion for a few years now.

I must also thank Murray and Craig from Sports Fever for their continuing support. A new Sports Fever establishment recently opened in the CBD, so check it out if you are working or visiting the city.

Next for me is the Busselton Ironman event on the 5th of December.

Robbie Pickard was kind enough to write a program for the event for me, which I will be following in the lead up. Raija has also entered the Busselton event which means she will have to get out of bed in the mornings to train.

Ogden Academy will have a number of athletes racing Busselton as well, so it should be an enjoyable weekend.