Hawaii Ironman World Championships

Kona, 13th October 2007 

It's always reassuring to get a few handy tips from somebody who has already done the race you're about to compete in. Simon Edye's most useful tip of many was 'Just think of it as a day out'. That statement can be taken in a number of different ways but now that I'm back from Hawaii, I think I know what he meant...

It was quite a relief to be on the flight to Kona because I knew that the bulk of my training was over and I could start to taper. Karl Sherry and I were on the same flight because he had convinced me that we needed to get to Kona at least 10 days before the race in order to acclimatize and recover from crossing millions of time zones. Our hotel, the Kona Seaside, was excellently located – about 2 minutes from Digme Beach (race start) and good value too.

We swam almost every day on part of the race course and witnessed a gradual increase in swimmers so that just before race day it was chaos, with people swimming in both directions and colliding with each other. Good race preparation maybe? 

As the numbers of competitors built up, the town was transformed into a huge race start/finish/transition area. With 1700 competitors and nearly 3 times as many volunteers, it became quite crowded. Somehow I managed to stay fairly calm in the pre-race build-up. I attended a 'Master Women's breakfast' one morning at which almost all the over 40's women seemed to have done Kona at least 16 times and have a minimum of 3 children.

Although almost everybody else succumbed (including Karl) I resisted the pressure to buy a Blue Seventy swimsuit, as worn by Norman Stadler when he won Ironman Hawaii last year. I thought about it but decided that I would only ever wear it once so it wouldn't be worth it.

When we racked our bikes I spotted Leanda Cave who was trying not to be recognised. I've never seen such a luxurious transition, covered entirely in posh new Ironman carpet. In the middle of Digme Bay a brand new Ford vehicle was perched on a floating inflatable.

I slept quite well, ate my Ambrosia creamed rice for breakfast and went off to get body marked. Another of Simon's tips had been to hold back at the swim start in order to avoid the fray. I might have taken this a bit too far as I was still chatting to someone whilst standing on the beach, when the canon went off and almost everybody else crossed the start line. It wasn't far from the shore and I did manage to avoid any pushing/shoving/kicking which was a great relief.

In transition I tried to gobble an energy bar and apply sunscreen before starting the long haul up to Hawi and back. I've been asked what I thought about for 6 hours on the bike and the answer is that I had to concentrate quite hard to manage the hydration. I'd decided not to use the official drink (Gatorade – very sickly) but this meant I had to have all my drink with me, some of it in concentrated form to be diluted at aid stations. The notorious winds at the top end of the island took the form of gusty crosswinds which almost knocked me off my bike altogether.

Heading back towards T2 I felt as if I was going slower and slower and the last 12 miles were a bit of a slog. It was a great relief to remove my bike shoes in T2 but my feet hurt a lot (never wear brand new shoes for a long race) and I was worried I wouldn't be able to run. Luckily when I put on my running shoes they felt extremely comfortable!

The run was, for the most part, quite fun: lots of variety as it started off following the coast, then went along the Queen K Highway and then into the notorious Natural Energy Lab. I'd been curious about this phenomenon and I'd heard many tales of how gruelling this section of the race was. In my head I imagined an inferno with vertical sides and so I was dreading it. In reality it was a short gentle downhill to a place near the coast, then back up again. On the day I just happened to be approaching it as the sun set and that was quite atmospheric. 

Naturally it became much cooler once it was dark. I enjoyed this final night time section which was very well supported by spectators. The finish line was awesome and crossing it was wonderful. The man really did say 'You are an Iron Man' to every single finisher! I was so elated that I stayed at the finish line to watch more people come in until the cut-off time of midnight. At 11.45 a double below-the-knee amputee finished. Many films will be made about his amazing feat.

The whole Hawaii experience now seems a bit unreal. Was it a dream??

My hamstring tells me not, and I am being plagued by the frequently asked question 'What next?'

Suggestions welcome. 

Postscript

Thanks very much.

Article by Penny Edwards
Page created: 14th November 2007. Updated: 15th November 2007.