October 28, 2008

Kona Play by Play

Luke McKenzie

It's been a few days since the Hawaii Ironman and I have finally gotten around to writing a race report.

It definitely was one tough day at the office! It was full of highs and lows and everything in between. It just wouldn't be Kona without drama.

I got off to a good start in the swim but soon found that there were several packs of 3-4 guys spread way apart heading out to the turn around boat. It was hard to know who was taking the best and fastest line. The ocean seemed a little calmer than the previous two years I have raced here and the swim back to shore seemed to go really quickly. I swam conservatively in a bunch of 6-8 guys and I led the group into the pier, exiting the water in 6th place.



I felt great during the opening miles of the bike and was right at the pointy end of a group as we raced through the town section and onto the Queen K. The group seemed to sort itself into a long line and I established myself near the front with Eneko Llanos, Faris Al Sultan, Chris McCormack (Macca) and Craig Alexander (Crowie).

Riding in 6th place, I was happy with the pace and was right where I wanted to be when my world came crashing down around me. Just after going through an aid station before the scenic lookout descent, I looked up to see that the gap between myself and Macca had reduced from the legal 10 meters and instead of pulling out of the draft zone and going around him I made a mistake and hit my brakes only to look straight over at referee Jimmy Riccitello who instantly pulled a red card on me. I couldn't believe it. That meant 4 minutes at the penalty tent and a definite loss of contact with the key group of leaders.

My stop at the penalty tent was agonizing. To have been right near the front end of the race then standing on the side of the road watching everyone fly past was not fun at all. Luckily I had my bike sponsor Scott Montgomery (SCOTT bicycles) and Suzette Ayotte (Fizik) on hand (they were spotting for Ironman live) and they calmed me down and told me my race was not over. Thanks for your words Scott and Suzette!

I jumped back on four long minutes later and initially rode well after my short break but it was soon apparent that I had set out too hard. Once I hit the climbs at the bottom of Hawi I was toast and a bunch of guys blew past me like I was standing still. I rode the rest of Hawi in no man's land and was in trouble. I had to back off the pace and regain myself or my race would have been over.

The ride back was horrible. The winds were at their strongest and I went through several good and bad patches. A few times I thought my race was done but then I would ease off just a little and get my rhythm back. Coming back into Kona town, I passed two previous Hawaii Champions Luc Van Lierde and Thomas Hellrigel and that gave me a little boost. Maybe I could still manage a good result after all?
Ironman Play by Play - Luke Mckenzie
I think I hit the run in about 30th but it was soon apparent that there were people in serious trouble. Had all these guys ridden too hard? I passed four guys in the first 3 miles who were either walking, vomiting or had pulled out. Each time I got a little boost and it lifted my spirits.

At the Church turnaround, I counted 26 runners and considering my up and down ride I wasn't in a bad position at all. By the time I had run back to town I had passed a few more guys and was now up to 23rd place. Everyone kept yelling "they're all in trouble", because a lot of the early run leaders had hit the wall and I was wondering if it was possible I could crack the top 20 again?

Half way out to the Energy Lab I was feeling great, holding a good 3-hour marathon pace when I unexpectedly began to vomit just after I ran through an aid station. Three or four times I hurled up orange Gatorade. From that point I was in trouble again. The only thing I could bear to eat or drink was Coke. My pace reduced to a crawl for a few miles and three or four guys ran past me. Once the Coke seemed to "kick in" I got back to a good rhythm and ran strong to the finish for 29th place in 9 hours and 2 minutes. Not exactly what I was looking for but considering how my day panned out I will take that result any day.

It was a good experience in the end to have to deal with such a tough day mentally. Like Amanda said to me out on the course "If you want to win this race one day you have to learn to suffer." Hopefully someday that time in 2008 when I gutted out a tough day will come back to help me push to the line for the win :-)

Thanks for all the support and messages of encouragement I have received over the past few weeks. I know I didn't have "my day" this year in Hawaii but I lived to fight another day and will be on the start line next October ready to do battle once again!

Next stop for me... Clearwater, Florida for the Ironman 70.3 World Championships (November 8) then back to Australia for Ironman Western Australia (December 7) to finish my 2008 season.   To follow the latest on Luke please go to www.lukemckenzie.com