Day 10 – Part 2: After the race

After recovering from the direct strains of the race in the finish area, unfortunately there was only a cold shower and a massage.

After that, I was able to reasonably move again and decided to pack up to cheer other participants at the finish. Meanwhile, it was after 7 pm, the sun had gone down for a while and so I hobbled into the transition zone to get my bags and my bike and take them to the apartment. Then I went back again to experience the atmosphere in the finish area (see video). It was already 9 pm when I got back because after such a race everything takes a bit longer – after all, I’ m not the youngest anymore or at least I don’t feel that way.

The goal of many athletes on Hawaii is the “Day Light Finish “, i.e., arriving before sunset. This corresponds to about 10.5 – 11 hours of race time depending on the starting time. However, the finish is closed at 00:30 am, i.e. whoever arrives after that, will not be ranked. At this point, the last starters are already 16.5 hours on their way. It is a tradition in Kona that the winners (this year a German double victory with Jan Frodeno and Anne Haug) welcome the late finishers. Thus, the atmosphere reaches its peak at 9 pm:

The oldest and only starter in the age group M85, an 87-year-old Japanese, wanted to repeat his success from last year (he crossed the finish line at 00:29 am), but this time it didn’t work out. ince he has been coming to Kona for years, this could be an incentive to come back next year – maybe today just wasn’t his best day. The oldest finisher this year was 76. I personally can’t imagine doing sport for 16 hours straight – but if you need it ;).

At some point the exhaustion was greater than the euphoria, and I went to bed.

Day 10 – Part 1: It’s race day – let’s go!

It’s race day! The big day I’ve been working towards for the last months (since November 2018) has finally come. At 3:45 a.m . I get out of bed. For breakfast I have fresh pancakes – this has become a tradition. After breakfast, around 4:15 a.m., the remaining things are being prepared for the race: Mixing drinks, packing food for the bike, etc. Already it is 4:45 a.m. and we are off. The shuttle service takes a while to get to the starting area – we are not the only ones.

The calm before the storm:

In the starting area we pass security and head towards the traditional body marking. Very nice people stick your starting number on your arm:

 

After that there is still about one hour left to stow the bike bottles and food on the bike. After 20 minutes I am ready and enjoy the atmosphere while waiting for my start at 7:05 am.

You have to be in your starting block 20 minutes before the start; there is still enough time to put on my swimsuit, glasses, and so on. The tension is huge. The pros have just started. Finally, my starting group is called and we have to swim about 100 m to the imaginary starting line between the two black pyramids. We swim clockwise, you can see the buoys on the picture. At the back they are two small boats, they mark the turning point.

The race

Then the horn honks and off we go.

Swimming

Since swimming is my weakest discipline, I try to swim as relaxed as possible and not lose my breath. It was raining all night and it was a bit stormy, so the water is cloudy – no fish today. There are also some rather high waves, but they don’t bother much because they don’t break in deep water.

At the beginning you look for someone a little faster than yourself and get in the “water shadow”. You need some luck for that and I immediately find someone with whom I can get around the first third. It takes a while until I reach the boats at the turning point. When I’m finally there, I take a quick look at the watch, 36 minutes – 3-4 minutes faster than expected. Now, I “only” have to go back. After another 39 minutes I’m back in the transition zone, the way back was a bit more exhausting. After 1:15 h in the water I have to be careful that my calves don’t cramp when I put my feet on the ground. 1:15 h – a good time for me, it can stay that way.

I take my time for the first change: Carefully shower with fresh water, take off my swimsuit, put on my cycling shoes, put on my helmet and off I go to the bike and am on my way.

Cycling

To warm up it goes up a bit. Then turn right onto a 12 km long turning point track. Contrary to all assumptions it goes permanently uphill to the turning point. Wind slightly from the front. In the first part of the race I’m used to pass a lot of better swimmers – also here. Finally, it leads onto the Queen-K Highway and with a lot of tailwind towards Hawi, the turning point at 95km.

Most of the way to the turning point was relatively easy to ride, frequent tail wind allowed a high speed and we moved quickly through the lava desert. From time to time the wind came from the side and sometimes from the front. It quickly became clear that today the wind was not as calm as predicted. Between Waikoloa at km 48 and Waikui at km 60 the wind was blowing very strong from the right. Here, the air between the two volcanoes is pushed through by the trade wind and thus accelerated strongly. But with enough inclination no problem for now. From here, the 30 km long but gentle climb leads to Hawi. Here, you change the direction from northeast to northwest, so that the strong wind now comes from behind – the climb is quite easy. After a while I meet the first pros. They started half an hour earlier and are already on their way back. Doesn’t look very fast – they probably ride against the wind – haha. However, before long, approx. 12 km before Hawi, the wind turns. Now it is coming strongly from the front, from time to time also a strong gust from the side, and it is still going uphill. These coming 12 km on the bike course were the toughest for me. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, I am at the turning point in Hawi – the wind is now coming from behind again and going downhill begins.

The joy about the tailwind makes me go down fast, with peaks of more than 70 km/h it is going down again. Suddenly, a blow from the right, a gust of wind hits me so hard that I have to make a strong turn. Shortly after again, only from the left this time. At 70 km/h, that’s a lot more than at 25 km/h. These are the dreaded shear winds near Hawi, which are the reason why disc wheels are forbidden on this route. Later I found out that some of the lighter female participants were simply “knocked over”. But all in all typical Hawaiian weather, the myth must come from somewhere. After a few involuntary twists I’m back down in Waikui and it’s a short stretch steep uphill. Wind blows with approx. 60 km/h from the front. This part is short, but it’s heavy and a few important grains get lost here. Finally, it is the last 60 km back. The wind blows as on the outward trip, so you lose what you won on the outward trip and vice versa. The last 20 km are very tough and don’t seem to end. Meanwhile the body doesn’t feel like cycling anymore and it becomes noticeably hot. I slow down a bit to recover for the final run and eat my remaining gels.

Altogether I supplied about 2000 kcal during cycling. Hopefully, that will be enough to complete the run. When running, the body needs more energy, so there is less left for digestion. The difficulty is to choose the pace so that you can still get enough energy through your digestion while running. f you run too fast, the energy supply collapses and you have to run much slower – that’s not very comfortable. This is commonly referred to as “bursting”.

Running

The second change goes smoothly. In the transition zone your bike is taken from you and you receive your bag – helmet off, running shoes on, cap and sunglasses on and off you go. Stop – please don’t forget the sun screen this time.

The first quarter of the running course is hot and humid. It is cloudy, but it has rained recently. Fortunately, there is a refreshment station every 1.6 km. I stuff all my bags with ice cubes and a few more in the front. This way you can bear the heat. An average of 4:30-4:40 per km was planned, that works quite well. After about two kilometres all ice cubes melted, so I’m busy filling up and keeping myself completely wet. On top of that there is cola and sports drink at every station. On top of that there is cola and sports drink at every station. And sponges, which you can stuff into your jersey and which later lie around at the refreshment stations (if you throw something away outside the stations, you will be punished with a time penalty or disqualified because of “littering”).

After the loop through Kailua the route climbs up the Queen K Highway. It’s still quite warm with 31-33°, but now it’s cloudy and more comfortable than before and not so humid. From here it goes straight on forever, past the airport and then finally down to the Energy Lab. Here, sea water is pumped up from a depth of 6000 m. This is 6° cold and so you can provide any temperature you want with the surface water and grow lobsters and abalone, which could not survive in the 28° warm Pacific.

Up here it is also too warm for lobsters but still cloudy, so that today you don’t have to endure 40° or more as so often. At a relatively constant speed we head towards the turning point and back to the Queen K Highway at km 31.5. Three quarters are done and it is going well. Only an increasing pressure on the left big toe and occasional cramps in the right foot lifter cause me to think. So I slow down a bit to not risk anything. Meanwhile, the average has dropped to 4:50 but I’ m still on schedule. In triathlon the run starts at the half marathon mark: here you usually know whether you have overdone or not.

Only 10 km to go, they’re usually a piece of cake. Now I count backwards and keep going. Only 5 km left. I don’t feel like having Coke or sports drink anymore and consider skipping the next refreshment. Since this can pay for itself, I force myself to drink the obligatory three cups. Finally, the Queen-K Highway comes to an end and we turn right down the hill. Only 2 km to go – you can already hear the finish area, but you still have to run a loop. These last 2 kilometres I run unleashed to the finish, about 1 min/km faster than just now and manage to gain some positions. After 9:48 h I cross the finish line and even undercut the dream time of 9:59 h by 10 minutes, , probably also thanks to the clouds.

The finish

Maximilian, you are an Ironman! Although these words can now be heard in every Ironman competition at the finish line, here in Kona, the cradle of the long distance triathlon, they have a completely different value.

The emotions that come after such a finish can be overwhelming. You have worked towards it for several months and only know if it will work or not until shortly before the finish.

A nice young woman takes me by the hand and leads me into the recovery area. She asks me my name, where I come from and how I feel. Since I can answer all the questions, she disappears again to welcome the next athlete and I can collect my after-race bag with my change of clothes.

The next two hours you will recover from the strain by taking in salty food and replenishing your fluid level. A glance into my shoes shows that the left toe is swollen and blue. Now that the effect of the body’s own stress hormones is wearing off, it’ s starting to hurt – ouch. Unfortunately, everyone in Germany is asleep by now, otherwise you would be able to send some messages that you made it. It is now 5:05 p.m. …