The time has finally come for us to say that it's IM Kona race week!! The town has transformed into a bit of a spectacle but that's all because the Ironman World Championship is a big event for triathletes from all over the world. With signage on buildings and triathletes everywhere, it's an exciting experience to be surrounded by so many like-minded, fit and dedicated triathletes. The picture above is from our condo, overlooking the farmers market and the Ironman Expo. It's always a beautiful site to see the big cruise ships settling in for the day.
On Friday evening, we ventured out to White Sands Beach (just past the airport) for a relaxing dip in the ocean and some snorkeling (we used our pool snorkels). We timed it perfectly as it was a bit cloudy and in the late afternoon to minimize our time out in the direct sunlight. We have been using lots of sunscreen to prevent burning.
It was so great to welcome our athlete Ericka to town. This is her first IM Kona (second time to the big island) so it's super fun to share our insider details, tips and tricks that we have learned over the years. We parked at the energy lab and started our ride from there. We did a 1:40 hr ride on the Queen K and included 4 x 10 minute IM effort intervals w/ 3 min EZ spin between. The wind was much less than the past few days so it was much less physically taxing. After the ride we did a 30-35 minute run in the energy lab. Karel and I noticed that our HR was responding a bit better in the heat. I wore my cooling towel for this run and it helped tremendously as it holds water and I could give it a squeeze anytime to keep myself cool. I have also been consuming way more fluids than normal - for a 30 minute run, I go through 10 ounce water and 10 ounce sport drink (skratch). After the brick, Karel and I went to the grocery again to stock up on more food.
On Saturday evening, we all (including Erick's husband Tim) went for a dip in the ocean. It was super casual as I didn't even wear a swim cap and just had on a two piece bathing suit. We swam about 20 minutes, with stops to look at fishes. It was nice to finish the swim as the sun was setting.
Sunday morning was a light day of training with only a swim and run. We were done training by 10am, which meant a lot of relaxing for the rest of the day. Since race week is going to be super crazy, chaotic and busy, it was nice to almost feel a bit bored on Sunday.
On Sunday morning, we walked to the pier around 6am to pick up our packet for the Ho'ala Ironman Training Swim. We have participated in this swim for the past few years and it's always a great way to shake off (or swim off) some pre-race nerves, get fully acclimated to the salty water and to swim in a big mass of triathletes. For this event, the course is almost the exact set-up to the Ironman race day course except on race day, there are more buoys (for this event, there are only buoys on the way out but no buoys on the way back) and on race day, the finish is at the pier entrance. For this event, we finish on the other side of the pier - closer to the King K hotel.
Karel and I spent about 10 minutes warming up and floating around and positioning ourselves to the outside (left) of the buoys, about 15 yards out. Once the horn went off, it was a fast take-out effort to keep up with the masses. Surprisingly, I didn't get swum over and I felt like I was able to find clean water to keep good swimming mechanics. I swam pretty hard for the first 1000 yards and then settled into a rhythm until the 2nd turn buoy. I reached the 2nd turn buoy and as usual, the water felt much slower with a bit more of a chop. I didn't find the water choppy but it was certainly a bit slower on the way back. Because there were no buoys to sight off of, I was using the tall electrical post behind the hotel for sighting until the kayak/lifeguards were pushing us far left. I wasn't sure if there was some new turn buoy before the swim exit so I followed the pack. But then we started to zig zag back toward the pier so not sure why we were pushed away from the kayak people. Oh well - all good experience to work with others but also to have to sight often. I finished the swim with a strong effort at the end, otherwise, I felt like it was all very strong but sustainable. I was much slower coming back but ended up with a swim time of 58:17. I really wanted to see 57 minutes but maybe that will have to wait until race day. Karel swam amazingly well with his best ever non-wetsuit swim in the ocean of 1:01.21. He really pushed hard at the end but otherwise he felt really good in the water. And our athlete Ericka also did the swim (not as an official participant) and she had a huge PR of 1:02! It was a great day for everyone.
It was nice to spend some time with the JD crew before and after the swim. Even though we are coached by Cait Snow, we are part of Julie Dibens coaching company which has been great to have 4 eyes watching us (but Cait is the one who designs and oversees our training). We also joined some of Julie's athletes in the energy lab for a post swim run. Karel did 42 minutes and I ran an easy 25 minutes. The goal for both of us was to keep the run very aerobic. Karel was able to keep his HR in the low to mid 140's and I managed to keep my heart rate at an average of 129 bpm - a BIG improvement from the 150+ HR I experienced during my first run on the island.
