Long course triathlon is not a good spectator sport. For the first hour you watch a gaggle of swim caps navigating the course, then they all get on their bikes and ride off, out of sight. A few hours later they return, change into running gear, and disappear once again.
Last Saturday I raced Ironman 70.3 Hawaii, aka “Honu.” This has to be, hands down, the most beautiful Ironman race in the world. Well, at least the swim and bike. The run is not so much beautiful as it is challenging, snaking through the Mauna Lani golf course. By that point what beauty is there is easily overlooked by the desperate desire to get to the finish.
This is my race report. I have split it into two parts. This first part is more conceptual, and the second part is more analytical.
Before I begin I must tip my hat to Jimmy Carter, who passed away on Sunday. We should look to him as a model of how to serve. We athletes, and even more so coaches, must never lose sight of our responsibility to serve our community, in whatever way we can.
My take away message for 2024 is this. When life gets hard, having a crazy big goal can help get you through the rough patches.
A top priority for any coach is to get their athletes to the start line without injury. I did that this year, in spite of a heavier run training program. My last long bike workout was on October 20. Soon after that I made the decision that Pattie would not be strong enough to travel to Mexico for my IM Cozumel race, nor would she be strong enough to be left alone at home. I still had the Honolulu Marathon penciled in on my calendar, so I cleared away most of the remaining bike workouts and replaced them with runs.
I found this insightful and useful. Funny, too, but then anything involvement bodily functions is. It reminds of an old familiar saying concerning Kona, "If you haven't peed by Hawi you aren't drinking enough." Maybe I should add that tn my kit design.
From my fellow triathlete, coach, and FB friend Thomas E. Skelton III, used by permission:
Somebody has to talk about this and thankfully for you all, I’m uniquely qualified to help!
It was the best of marathons. It was the worst of marathons. There was darkness and light. Hope and despair. We had the road before us. All we had to do was finish. I did. But there were times along the way when I thought I was going to die. I puked near mile 20, just a tablespoon of thick, gelatinous yellow bile. I crawled up Diamond Head, stopping often to cool off and recharge my empty battery. For the entire second half I swore this would be my last.
When COVID-19 turned the world upside-down, I found myself, like a lot of people, taking a long, hard look at what had been my routine, and what I might change that would provide greater satisfaction. I chose to become a coach. What appealed to me the most was the shift from focusing on myself to helping others achieve their goals. Now that I think about it, that describes my professional career as an IT tech support person. Season planning is a popular coaching topic. Every fall, around this time, I see advertisements from coaches offering to help athletes plan their next season.