IM World Champs Pt 2

To start off, I want to throw out some numbers that were mentioned during the Ironman Awards Ceremony:

During the race, the longest transition time was 57:37 (T2) and the longest combined transition time was 1:01:37 (T1 + T2). Incredible. But what's more incredible is the guy who spent an hour-plus in transition still finished in 12:36:44.

On the flip side, Torenzo Bozzone had the fastest combined T times at 03:40 (01:43, 01:57).

Kona Day 3: October 9

PRE-RACE DAY

I got in another swim along IM course first thing. To be honest, the first day I was so caught up in the excitement and the free coffee that I didn’t get in a regular butt-kicking sorta swim. So Friday, knowing the course better, I spent a solid hour pushing myself, mainly working on swimming straight while maintaining intensity. I ditched Lava Java and opted for post-swim brekkie (veggie omelet) at a restaurant where I could watch the finish line being built. The lady said there were a lot of veggie omelets being ordered lately, go figure.

With less than 24 hours till race start, there was definitely a different vibe in town on Friday. You could feel the tension in the air. No longer were cyclists and runners passing by every 0.5 seconds. Instead, participants had to drop off their bikes, and some clearly had the wide-eyed, “holy sh*t what have I gotten myself into” looks as they marched down Ali’i Drive. Others, like Linsey Corbin and Faris Al-Sutan were all smiles (photos courtesy of www.finishline-multisport.com):

Kevin of finishline-multisport.com and many others opted to post up at transition all day to watch every single person check in—a great op to meet pros, photos, etc. Plus, it’s Kevin’s mission in life to be friends with everyone in triathlon. I must say, he’s doing an excellent job at it so far. On the flip side, for bike companies and such, this is where they tally how popular they are at Kona. How many people rode Cervelo? We’ll know soon.

I’m a little ADD, so I knew I wouldn’t be able to stand at transition all day.

Instead, I met up with friends (and made cute new friends like that little dude above) then went for my run, which went a lot better than Thursday’s—I could hold a decent pace and went farther...about 7 miles. On the way I was refilling water and chatted with some local surer bros. It’s was the typical “dude, yea bra, surf or die” sort of convo. I loved it because I had been talking triathlon nonstop and hadn’t even thought about surfing in paradise. Unfortunately, I never had time to do so, but I at least learned where some good spots were from the dudes.

While we were chatting, Torenzo Bozzone ran by—one last quickie—and I pointed out to the surfers that he was in contention to maybe win. Their response, “Dude, that guy has tiny little chicken legs, no way bra.”

I eventually made it to the bike check in that afternoon. Through conversation and thanks to Kevin, I landed a spot in a car that’d be going out onto the bike course during the race. The driver was Mario Huys, a former pro and coach of Yvonne Van Vlerken and rookie pro Mickey Weiss. Mario is such a nice guy—a heavy German accent so hard to understand at times, but I always nodded, smiled and asked more questions. I felt honored that I’d spend half of race day with him. Mario was 11^th in Kona the year I was born. Mario's in the middle here:

I also got a chance to meet Rebekah Keat and her twin sis. Super nice girls. I'm really bummed she got DQ'd after the race. I don't know the whole story, and even if I did, it's not really my place to discuss that sort of thing. All I know is she's a phenomenal athlete and she would have been 5th woman had her race counted. I mean, look at her calves compared to mine; she is pure muscle (photo courtesy of finishline-multisport.com):

I stayed at transition until everyone was checked in and it became a ghost town except for the overnight-watch crew, several photographers and some nearby local fisherman. Seeing all the bikes lined peacefully was awesome. There was no turning back now for the 1,779 racers. I talked to one overnight guard, and he was so honored and proud to have the responsibility of watching the bikes. His enthusiasm almost brought tears to my eyes. Here he is:

I also couldn't help but laugh at the placement of the Penalty Box. There's no excuse for cheating or whatever penalty is issued, and the officials clearly don't take it lightly--they really must want the perpetrator to feel in the dumps.

We spent the evening soaking in all the sights. It was like the calm before the storm. Only hours and the place would be going off! photo courtesy of www.finishline-multisport.com:

Luke McKenzie getting in One. Last. Run.

That night, after hearing how cool and fun Thurs night was, I joined the party people at Lulu’s. The guy I was teamed up to work with, Ben Greenfield, got me to drink a foo-fooey cranberry vodka because they are “healthier with less calories than beer.” Whatever, it takes fewer to do the job, so I obliged.

Some dudes showed up, we were all talking, and one happened to be Cliff English, Chrissie Wellington’s coach for a brief time. For those who don’t know, Chrissie has had a tumultuous year with her coaching/team situations. From TBB (Brett Sutton) to Cliff to currently being self-coached. So, I had the balls to ask Cliff the story of what happened with that whole ordeal—particularly why he’s no longer Chrissie’s coach—and he told me! It was an amazing story, and I’ll keep it at that. Cliff is a great guy and I was honored to talk with him.

I found my bed at 1 or 2 a.m. Sweet. I would be waking up at 4 a.m. to head to the race. Maybe not the wisest way to lead into what would be another 20+ hour day, but, again, who sleeps in Kona? I’d worry about that later.

(In fact, as I write this, I’m back home and am catching up on all that sleep I missed: I've had two 10+ hour sleeps since I've been home—rare for me—plus I napped yesterday too.)

I’m saving the Race Day blog entry to be it’s own post. But here’s a little preview. Dean Sprague of San Diego was in our group at Seaside so I watched him eating his pre-race breakfast (gotta note what the fast guys do, right?). Well here’s part of what he ate:

The other part was some Pop Tarts and a GU-mix drink. Classic. And, hell, he raced well so guess it worked! Keep in mind, this is also the same guy that bought us beers the day before and had done his share of partying in the nights leading up to the race...

"The good thing about Hawaii...."

"... is wonderful K-o-n-aaaaa." (the song by Pepper, anyone?)

So this is where I spent the majority of my trip:

I don't know anything about video editing so excuse the sound of wind and lack of cool music.

Ironman World Championships Pt 1

Watching the Ironman World Championships is in the top-5 greatest experiences of my life, so far. With a jam-packed week of amazingness, there’s no way I can fit my whole trip into one blog, so I’m going to break it up into multiple postings. I’ll start with pre-race fun.

Macca photo courtesy of Kevin @ www.finishline-multisport.com:

Kona Day 1, Oct. 7

Wednesday was a 22-hour day, but unfortunately only a few of those were spent awake in Kona. Traveling sucks. We finally got in and dropped off our bags at the Seaside Inn (a great place to stay if you want to be within walking distance of all the Ironman events), then went to go pick up our media credentials at the King Kam. Talk about hooked up! I had no idea we’d be getting so much free schwag as "just the reporters."

View from the room at Seaside

After that my first mission was to find Lava Java and eat there. Mission successful. Yum.

Wednesday night I met up with some local OC people for dinner at Kona Brewing Co. (Thanks Kevin Rauch!!!) It was great pizza, but I skipped the beer that night... would have fallen asleep right on the table. By the time I got back to the hotel I was spent.

But who sleeps in Kona?

Kona Day 2, Oct. 8
I got just enough shut eye only to wake at sunrise on Thursday for, what else, but a swim at Dig Me Beach along the IM course. I know everyone says this, but it’s truly the place to be in the morning with the hottest bods you can imagine in little itty bitty swimsuits. They put my fitness/physique to shame.

Now, if I had access to an ocean like Kona’s, I’d be one hell of a swimmer. I never wanted to get out, and I was amped to practice swimming straight minus a black line. It's warm, clear water, awesome fish and coral to look at and—the best—there's free coffee 700 yds out! Coffees of Hawaii anchors up to serve fresh brew to all swimmers. The first sip is bitter and salty, but after that it’s actually quite refreshing.

I swam early enough to be at the annual Underpants Run at 8 a.m. But, get this, while swimming back in I got stung by something on my neck (sea lice apparently). It burned soooo f-ing bad. My first though—while still ~700 yds out—was, “Oh crap, I just got stung by some weird tropical thing and now I’m going to pass out, drown and die.” Needless to say, I swam fast.

I survived, but basically had to ignore the burning because I refused to miss the U-Run. I figured running around in something skimpy would be a good distraction.

So fun. I’ll let the pictures do the talking:

Greg Welch leading the pack on moped, Paul Huddle running in the lead, equipped with much-needed HR monitor and mega phone (courtesy www.finishline-multisport.com).
Amanda Lovato and "anonymous" BoratWeird place to run into your ex... Brad and me

A bunch of fast people (Ian, Charisa, Kevin, Kristin), and meMJ in the lead (photo courtesy of www.finishline-multisport.com)

After that Thursday included more Lava Java, a pro press conference, mingling with media, taking pictures, being in awe. I had to get over my star shock seeing the pros within touching distance. For most the Ironman and media guys, like PNF and Bob Babbitt, it’s no big deal. So I had to play it cool and pretend that it was no big deal for me that I was looking a table lined with Terenzo Bozzone, Eneko Llanos, Faris Al-Sutan, Crowie, Chrissie, Linsey Corbin, Yvonne Van Vlerken, Sandra Wallenhorst, Michellie Jones and Mirinda Carfrae.

My first observation was, wow… I had no idea Torenzo was so hot! He’s funny too… on the topic of speed suits, everyone had to give their opinions and he simply stated, “I think we heard everything and personally I don’t give a shit.”

MJ's hot bike

Meanwhile, stinging continued, up into my ear. It eventually subsided, but not before I tried the ol’ pee trick (ewww)…

No, I didn’t pour my pee on myself—to messy. Instead, I peed on a wash cloth and pressed it against my neck. No joke. But that still didn’t work too well. So, while eating at Lava Java, I asked the owner for vinegar and napkins. He asked if I wanted white or balsamic.

Thursday was also my first taste of running in Hawaiian heat and humidity. Holy crap, 5 miles never hurt so bad. It made me glad that I didn’t qualify for Kona yet. I’m still in my infancy phase with triathlon, and definitely have no rush to get ahead of myself.

After recovering from the heat, I’m pretty sure I ate dinner at Lava Java that night too. I invested way too much money there in a matter of days. But the free Internet was convenient and the crowd is always entertaining ..
The partying started Thursday night, but I opted out. I was still in my “I’m doing Clearwater so drinking and staying up late is not part of the plan” phase. That soon changed on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. Ha. You only live once, right?

Stay tuned for more.... and if you want to see all my Kona pictures, friend me on Facebook.

Mission Bay Tri from the Sidelines

So much to do before I leave for Kona on Wednesday, and I at least want to recap an incredible weekend in San Diego. But first, a little self-promoting. I'll be covering Ironman Championships the days leading up to the race, race day and post-race, with all my reports on EverymanTri and on Twitter at @tawneeprazak and @everymantri. Check it out! I'll be teaming up with Ben Greenfield, Kevin at Finishline-Multisport.com and many other folks on the BI.

Now onto this past weekend....

The father-son duo Mike & Calvin (read about them here) drove down from NorCal and successfully completed the Mission Bay Triathlon Sunday morning. Calvin was one of two 10-year-olds who did the race, the youngest participants, and had a speedy time of 1:26! His dad was racing by his side the entire time. So glad I got to watch. I'll let some photos do the talking:





My dad was also set to race in MB, but an unfortunate bike accident kept him from being able to do so. He's ok but pretty banged up and sore; we're just thankful nothing worse happened. I unfortunately can't discuss the details, but I will say: Wear a helmet because it's the other guy out there who you can't trust.

Larry, my dad's best friend from college/training buddy, was still able to race but it was clearly very bittersweet without my dad. Still, for Larry it was quite a day... Last year, Larry was diagnosed with an aggressive form of throat cancer last year, and things were not looking good for him. But he held on strong, endured chemo, fought the cancer and WON. Training and racing in the Mission Bay Triathlon was not only a huge personal accomplishment, but a huge moment for Larry's family and friends. There was not a dry eye among us when he crossed that finish line. Both his 20-something sons also raced in MB, so needless to say it was a special day.

My dad & Larry...
Larry crossing the finish line at 1:26, wow!...

Then there's my mom, aka the speed demon, who also raced. Back-to-back weekends of racing for her! "Never again," she says, haha. Whatever, mom... She pulled off yet another podium finish at 1:10, despite some hiccups: Her chain fell of during the bike costing her precious time, she got lost in T2 sorta, some sort of water issue. But in the end she experienced her first-ever sprint-to-the-finish battle with a woman in her AG and won that, which secured her 3rd place spot, as well as 3rd place in 50-54 women for the entire Koz Enterprises Triathlon Series!!!!

Look at those buff arms!

With all these participants I had to keep track of, I was one busy girl! Thankfully I found an open Starbucks at 5 a.m. and got my Venti Americano caffeine fix.

The race was a blast, and I'm so happy I made the decision to give up my spot and be a spectathlete & sherpa. Just as fun as race-day was the day before the race. Good times, especially with my sister, who was cool enough to come down from Cal Poly SLO and hang out with us. The fact that her new Scott road bike was waiting for her at our house probably helped in that decision to drive down. Whatever got her down, I was stoked, she's good company to have around. As we get older we keep getting closer, and (gasp!) we don't even fight anymore!

On Saturday, we got dropped off by the 'rents in North County SD and rode our bikes to Mission Bay. Karlee killed it, particularly on her first attempt up Torrey Pines.
A million stop signals later (grrr) we arrived at the hotel where we hit the in-house restaurant & spa for a bit before hitting the town for the night. (Traveling with parents = good... dad posts us up in nice hotels, like the Paradise Resort on Mission Bay. Traveling with me alone = you're brave... get ready for the cheap motels that smell like old socks.)



The view from our suite....

After quality pool time with the whole crew we all gathered at Wahoo's for a solid pre-race meal. I picked Calvin's brain about all his training, asked if he was ready for the race, etc. One of his comments: "Is this going to be on your blog?" How cute. I have to say, the kid is very confident, in a healthy way, and is bound to do some great things if he keeps it up, which I'm sure he will, especially with the cool parents he has! Dinner:

Calvin's giant pre-race burrito....

After Wahoo's Karlee and I had to ditch the crew who needed their sleep, and we headed to Pacific Beach to, ya know....

....get some of this amazingness:

Yea, not quite the beers you were expecting, right? We were the anomalies to the drunken Saturday-night crowd on Garnet. Sitting on the curb, eating fro yo and watching the mayhem was pretty fun. Hands down better than being one of the drunks. We also stumbled upon a random pumpkin patch where the owner was blasting some classic rock that had those 10-min solos. I'm pretty sure he's been living in PB since the '60s, yea one of those guys who never made it out. Super nice guy. We bought a pumpkin. He asked if we wanted our picture taken...

After all the fun of pre-race, races, post-race meals, etc., it was time for me to torture myself. The weekend wouldn't be complete without that, right? Innocently enough, I got dropped off in Oceanside to make the long trek home on my bike. Little did I know the headwind of death would haunt me the entire ride home. I swear, it was by far one of the hardest rides I've ever been on (entirely northbound = headwind never ended). I kept thinking of all the excuses I could make to have my parents come pick me up. But I didn't call. Just kept thinking about them, and before I knew it, I was home! And exhausted.

Only one more bike ride left until a week sans Felt. But that means a week of paradise. I can cope.

Aloha!