2014 Kona Race Report - Aloha!! Now that I am back from Kona I thought I would re-cap the race given a little recovery! First I must say how appreciated I was for ALL the well wishes throughout the week of the race and post race. It was amazing the support I received and added so much to the entire experience I had…so thank you to everyone your support I love you all and Ma halo!!! Pre Race - It has been quite a journey just to qualify and get to race Kona. I tried years ago and never could put an Ironman race together to allow me to qualify. Last year at Lake Tahoe the IM Gods were smiling on me and I was able to qualify. So flying into Kona and seeing the lava fields upon landing was such a thrill, so happy to finally be here! Having heard and watched the race (on T.V.) I couldn’t wait to actually see the course and participate in this historic race. During the week getting adjusted to the heat and humidity and just soaking in all that Kona had to offer was the plan. I knew based on previous experiences that the heat and humidity were going to be personal factors. I qualified in Tahoe where the cold, hills, and altitude were the biggest factors of the race, factors that played into my strengths as an athlete. The heat training that I did to get ready for the race was generally miserable and for the most part had a huge negative impact on my performance. So I knew it was a roll of the dice on how I would perform at KONA. The main 2 goals of the race were, as in Lake Tahoe… 1) Have fun and finish. 2) Race the best that I could. So with that in mind the week of the race was just that …enjoy the experience and prepare for my personal best effort. Two things that concerned me during the week was one, I was not feeling good on the bike at all. For whatever reason I was uncomfortable on the saddle, and the legs in general did not feel great on the bike all week (unusual since I had logged in thousands of miles on this saddle and there was no change to position), and two, after a 10 min run I was completely soaked with sweat. Well..I just thought I needed a few more days to rest the legs and hydrated big time throughout the week and hoped that I could just hold it together on the bike to get to the run where I had been feeling really good the last month of training and taper… Race Day…. Swim I was relaxed for the day and being in the race area was so cool. All the bags were ready, the bike was set and it was just a matter of getting to the race start… I wanted to spread the good will and was wishing everyone luck and happened to put my hand on the shoulder of a gentleman that was walking ahead of me in transition and wished him luck...he turned and it was Mark Allen (not racing)...so cool. Prior to the swim hung out with Craig Lanzo who I had met during a practice swim and actually was staying 2 doors down from me. He had done the race a number of times and helped me get an idea of what the race start would be like, very helpful. The anticipation during the countdown was awesome and the jockeying of position was actually fun… and of course hearing that famous Kona canon going off told everyone it was go time! This was the first race in a long time that I was in my own personal mosh pit for most of the swim. I swam with about 10-16 guys most of the swim...I felt very relaxed and aside from getting slapped in the face a few dozen time and the rolling waves on the return it was fine. I did drink a wee bit of the salt water and the 2nd half of the swim and it seemed to take forever getting back to the finish but seeing the scuba divers at the bottom watching us pass was a first! I got to the steps out of Kailua Pier feeling fine. Got to my bike, threw on the shoes, helmet, and.slammed down some OSMO and was off. Bike My goal was to stay relaxed on the bike for the first 20-40 miles and then try to stay strong saving for the run. It became apparent very quickly that my bike legs just were not there. Guys were flying by me and my hope was just that I was staying relax and they were going to pay for their efforts later in the run, unfortunately this was not the case… On a side note, this was the WORST drafting I have EVER seen in any race I have ever participated in. Since I was being passed by most of the biking world I had the best seat in the house to witness this. Packs of riders were consistently passing me and drafting. I was blown away by the mass cheating in this race, what an embarrassment! Ok…back to my miserable ride! Not only were my legs crappy my a$$ never felt good on the saddle. In fact, it was the most sore aspect of my body after the race...no idea why... was my skinny butt..again who knows why. As many of you may have heard the winds were as bad as they have been in over 10 years. Going downhill at 12-13MPH into 20-25 MPH winds at mile 30 watching a full water bottle rolling UPHILL towards you gives you an idea of how it was for about 90 of the 112 miles. At that point of the race I knew it was going to be difficult at best, legs were already starting to feel fatigued. (perhaps over training...who knows). At mile 50 going up to Havi the first of the leg cramps kicked in..my butt still in agony, and then my straw flew out of my water bottle, just keeps getting better! My nutrition plan was shot has I could not eat anything solid...bars were like cardboard (ate 2 bonk breakers and 2 sleeves Clif Blocks on the entire ride..not good) ...and my hydration plan was nixed due to water bottle issues so I relied on coke and poweraid. Mile 95, I had to stop as my right leg was in full cramp mode. So I stretched and tried to relax...started riding and noticed my rear wheel rubbing...had to re-adjust a couple of times...was this going on for the whole ride..who knows, just one of those days. Got going again and just survived the rest of the ride back to the transition. Once I got back to transition it was difficult to remove my shoes without cramping...looking forward to that marathon!! Took about 3-4 minutes to get my act together in the change tent and set out on the run….I do have to admit that during the ride I did remember to look around…..soak in the lava fields and amazing views of Kona…though I had the worst ride ever I was still happy just to be there…and seeing a challenged athlete cranking away, arms only, up the hill to Havi reminded me that life is good, and it was still a great day to finish a race! Run Heading out on the run the whole goal was to manage cramping. No matter how tough any athlete is if your legs are cramping you can’t run…so being relaxed and running to avoid cramps were the goals. Seeing Brandee and my Dad on the run course was a thrill and gave me huge motivation along with the crowd support on Ali’I drive helped me for that first 10 miles. Heading out to Alii my legs were pretty wiped but I was holding it together and actually running. I knew something was going on when I put ice in my mouth and it was bubbling…weird. Could not eat anything due to stomach issues but was drinking water, cola, and a little of the poweraid. The first 10 miles on the out and back on Ali’I back into town were ok though I was beginning to get lightheaded, my guess due to lack of calories. Got to the hill on Palani and decided to walk, just in case, knowing that I still had 16 miles to go. Once I crested Palani onto the Queen K and my body decided to work against me. The temperature rose about 5-10 degrees on the Queen K and felt a wave of overheating and my heart rate jumped considerably, and a wave of light headiness fell over me, it was as if all the energy had been zapped out of me.. At this point the lack of calories through the bike and early part of the run were really catching up to me, I started walking at this point and it took about 5-10min to convince myself that I could run…so I did. Between mile 14-15 were the dry heaves (too much sugar from coke on bike and run???)…never having experienced this in a race it was a bit disconcerting. That lasted for a few minutes on the side of the Queen. Once those passed just focused on running the best I could, filled my water bottle with ice and water and sprayed myself between aid stations to stay cool and hydrate. About this time a woman was heading toward me on the wrong side of the road getting to an aide station…it was none other than Natasha Badmann, smiling of course! I gave her a high five and we continue on our separate ways! At about mile 16-17 feeling a little better I was able to run in between the aid stations from there on. Heading down into the energy lab was actually a thrill having heard about it so much and knowing the history of the race. The best part was finding an aid station that had ice cold grapes (voted best grapes ever in the history of grapes)…those 4 grapes and the 4 GU chomps were to only food I ate the entire run. I survived on that and water for the last 16 miles of the “run”. The last 6 miles of the run heading out of the lab back to town were just focused on running between the aid stations…I chatted with another athlete for a while and actually counted my steps just focus on running (I got to a thousand a couple of times). I have to say that the volunteers on the aid stations were amazing and could not thank them enough for helping me get through the race. Though I would have preferred not to have finished in the dark I did get one of the best sunsets on the Queen K that I have ever seen, epic! On the last hill up to Palani Dr. about 2 miles from the finish I tried to pick it up and run the rest of the way, the downhill helped to maintain momentum! Once into town I was so excited to get to the finish line. When I turned the corner onto Ali’I Dr. the crowds were awesome and the lights of the finish line could be seen! Heading toward the shoot I found Brandee on the side…gave her quick kiss and headed to the finish. Hearing my name, “Chris Danesi you are an Ironman” in Kona was unbelievable. I did not have the race I wanted but overcame my own issues to finish….what a thrill be in that moment!! Post Race - After the finish it took about :30 seconds for my body to tell me your day is done (actually it had been telling me that for a few hours but I chose to ignore it). Two volunteers helped me to the med tent as my hands and face were a combination of numb and tingling. I was very light headed and stomach was it own person time bomb. They lead me to a chair and tried to sip some soup…after two pukes it was onto 2 IV’S with a healthy shot of magnesium (as my entire body was cramping, they could not take my pulse as my hands completely cramped trying to do so.not to mention my legs going into full violent cramps) that alleviated all the cramping…note to self…take more magnesium during hot days!! After about 2 hours in the med tent (big thank you to Dr. Franklin for all the assistance..fellow Burner) I was able to walk out of the med tent with Brandee and enjoy the fact that I had competed in World Championships and that check-mark had been accomplished! We came back for the finish of the race and the Hawaiian ceremony..Seeing the countdown and all the finishers coming in at the end is so exciting and I never miss that opportunity to witness that effort. Again…thank you to everyone that participated with me on this journey. Whether on bike rides, runs, or swims throughout the years. Well wishers and fellow competitors, you have all made this race possible and infinity better. And a special thank you to Brandee. She has been there every step of the way and I could not have done it without her!! Love you Babe!
Posted on: Tue, 21 Oct 2014 16:38:17 +0000
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