I have never had such an up and down day like I did in the Hawaii Ironman yesterday!
I started well in the swim and soon found Faris Al Sultans feet which I fought over throughout the swim with my friend Dirk Bockel. A group of four got some time on us by the end of the swim but I was at the front of the large group that filed into transition 3 minutes later.
Onto the bike I was able to take my time and relax through the town section before the pace picked up on the Queen K. Over the first 20 miles we swallowed up Flannagan, Potts and Jacobs leaving Phil Graves in the lead about 1 min 20 secs ahead. I rode in a good position towards the front of the large pack.
Once we made the turn at Kawaihae towards Hawi the pace seemed to pick up a little and I noticed Lieto, Vanhoenacker, Al Sultan and Collucci were trying to get a gap. I went with them for a bit but decided I didn't want to "redline" at this point of the course but then fund I myself had gotten a gap on the large pack. I settled into a good rhythm on the last climb to the turn-a-round and found that I had put a minute into the pack. Stuck in no mans land I rode the next 20 miles solo waiting to see if someone would join me from the group. I was in 5th place and in a position I hadn't accounted for in my pre race plan. At the top of Spencer hill Maik Twelseik of Germany charged past me but he was flying and I couldn't go with his pace. Rasmus Henning then caught me and we worked together for 10-12 miles dangling 30-40 seconds ahead of the pack. We decided to sit up and wait for the group which caught us near the bottom of Scenic Lookout with about 20 miles to go. Right at that point Normann Stadler and Chris McCormack broke away and made it to transition three minutes ahead of us.
I finished the bike in 9th place and went onto the run with Terenzo Bozzone and Craig Alexander (the eventual race winner). We soon past Reinaldo Collucci and Normann Stadler and I was running well in 8th place. One thing I want to do in the race was give myself the best opportunity to go for the top ten and I thought in the first 10 miles I might just do it. I felt good and stuck to my pacing. I lost 2 places on the run out to the Energy Lab and was passed by both Andy Potts and a fast finishing Timo Bacht soon after. With about 5 miles to go I hit a real low and started to get a little funny and dizzy in the head. I had to slow down and get some calories into me quick! Shortly after Mathias Hecht and Eneko Llanos passed me and I was now in 15th place where I would eventually finish.
In hindsight the solo effort halfway through the bike and running out a little too hard in the beginning caught up with me in the back half of the marathon. Still, I am happy to walk away from a really tough day with 15th place after a long and hard season of racing. I learnt a lot in the race yesterday and I already can't wait to return in 2010 and shoot for that top 10 (or maybe even better) result.
I am going to put the feet up for a few days and enjoy the beach and some time with the friends and family! I have signed up for the Xterra World Championships in Maui in two weeks time so that should be fun. I haven't decided if I will end the season there or if I will line up at Clearwater. I guess I have a little thinking to do.
Thanks to everyone for the support over the past week and especially yesterday!
RESULTS - HAWAII IRONMAN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
| ATHLETE | AGE/DIV | SWIM | BIKE | RUN | |||
| 1 | Alexander, Craig | 36/MPRO | 00:50:57 | 04:37:33 | 02:48:05 | 08:20:21 | |
| 2 | Lieto, Chris | 37/MPRO | 00:51:07 | 04:25:10 | 03:02:35 | 08:22:56 | |
| 3 | Raelert, Andreas | 33/MPRO | 00:51:00 | 04:38:00 | 02:51:04 | 08:24:32 | |
| 4 | McCormack, Chris | 35/MPRO | 00:52:51 | 04:32:44 | 02:55:58 | 08:25:20 | |
| 5 | Henning, Rasmus | 34/MPRO | 00:51:06 | 04:37:07 | 02:55:33 | 08:28:17 | |
| 6 | Bracht, Timo | 34/MPRO | 00:54:30 | 04:33:49 | 02:56:27 | 08:28:52 | |
| 7 | Bockel, Dirk | 33/MPRO | 00:50:50 | 04:37:28 | 02:57:41 | 08:29:55 | |
| 8 | Jacobs, Pete | 28/MPRO | 00:50:03 | 04:38:41 | 02:57:13 | 08:30:15 | |
| 9 | Potts, Andy | 33/MPRO | 00:47:45 | 04:46:06 | 02:52:14 | 08:30:30 | |
| 10 | Al-Sultan, Faris | 31/MPRO | 00:50:53 | 04:33:40 | 03:03:10 | 08:31:44 | |
| 11 | Bozzone, Terenzo | 24/MPRO | 00:50:55 | 04:37:25 | 03:02:46 | 08:34:45 | |
| 12 | Twelsiek, Maik | 29/MPRO | 00:52:54 | 04:28:34 | 03:09:27 | 08:35:10 | |
| 13 | Hecht, Mathias | 29/MPRO | 00:50:54 | 04:37:31 | 03:04:47 | 08:37:29 | |
| 14 | Llanos, Eneko | 33/MPRO | 00:51:06 | 04:37:17 | 03:05:02 | 08:37:55 | |
| 15 | McKenzie, Luke | 28/MPRO | 00:50:51 | 04:37:29 | 03:06:19 | 08:38:38 |
RACE DAY PIX
re race with dad
Nervous 30 mins to start
Navy seal sky divers before the start
And we are off!
Opening miles of the bike
Heading out onto the Queen K
Mile one of the marathon running with Terenzo Bozzone and race winner Craig Alexander
It was hot out there yesterday!
Top of the last hill. Almost home!
Greeted by my beautiful fiancee Amanda at the finishline
