Todd Israel Kona Race Report - 2010

22/10/2010 4:58:24 AM

Pro wave took off at 6.30am. About 1800 age groupers swarmed the water for the 7am deep water mass start. I made my best effort to start at the front and right in the middle to get the most direct line to the buoys but it was a bit of a free for all. The deep water mass start looks amazing on TV but is a ridiculous and insane way to begin the ironman.

The first 500 meters of the swim it felt like I was in a boxing ring with Mike Tyson. Once we managed to drop the bulk of the starters the swim settled down I decided to sit in as I thought I was with the lead age group swim pack. However, there was another group about 50meters ahead and when I hit the turnaround point I decided to try and bridge the gap but just ended up leading the pack that I was in. All in all I was happy with my swim 56:19 minutes, but will know for next time not to start in the middle.

Transition one was rather slow, 4.00minutes to be exact. Getting the techno savy cool temp and sun smart top on took more time than I thought.

On the bike leg I decided to hold back for the first 15 km until I got out of town and onto the Queen Kau HWY. I was feeling good and just did my own thing on the bike. The pace was fast until the bottom of the hill that leads up to Hawi where the turnaround point was. At that point I was in two minds on whether to go hard up the hill or just stay in a rhythm. I went for the conservative option. The wind heading up to Hawi was solid and I was thinking to myself when I turn around I'm going to fly down this hill. I wasn't wrong. I was hitting speeds in excess of 65 km per hour and didn't have any more gears left to go faster. The cross winds were crazy and I was holding onto the aero bars as tightly as I could. Once down the hill I got back into a rhythm and focused on making it to transition. It was starting to get hot at this point of the race and it was hard to focus on nutrition and re-hydrating enough so I could hit the run feeling good. The support on the bike from all the spectators and volunteers was amazing. I was happy with my bike 4:52:31hr and was glad I didn't kill myself out there.

I headed into transition thinking that I was going to have a great race and I just needed to put my strongest leg together.

With another 4minute transition due a long toilet brake, I headed out. I was feeling good a got into a rhythm running 4minute kph pace. The heat of the day had well and truly arrived and the body was feeling it. However, I was still moving well and had high hopes for myself. At the 18 km mark, the base of Palani hill I had run myself into second place for my age group. By the half way point of the run I was coming first in my age group. However, that good feeling and great pace was not to continue for the rest of the run leg unfortunately.

I am not sure what went wrong, it could have been my nutrition, the heat or just mental but my body started to slow down. It was hard to watch other athletes pass by and know that you couldn't even muster an effort to stay with them. The last 12 km was hard, but I was heading home. I crossed the line to complete only my second ironman in 9:12:43 hrs. It was hard to enjoy the experience for the first few days because I just kept thinking what if, but then that is racing. Some days it goes the way you want and other days the experience is meant to make you stronger for next time.

Thanks for all the people that gave me support and I am looking forward to my next race as a Balmoral Triathlete.

By: Todd Israel

Source:

Race Report Todd Israel Hawaii Ironman