I arrived in Kona, by myself, on Monday Oct.10th in the afternoon.. Mike had business travel in Europe the two weeks before Kona and then would be off to Asia for the 2 weeks after Kona. We had originally thought he would not come at all but had decided he would join me just before the race.  At the last minute, I was able to get a shared room at the Kona Royal Resort with Lori Travis whom I met at the Counterpart camps this year.      

The day I arrived I went to Costco and got a bunch of fruit, bagels, peanut butter some pomegranate juice; and other foods that I normally eat.  I was pretty tired, and got to bed at about 7:30 that night.

Tuesday morning I went for a 20 minute run, and then I met Billy Edwards and Scott Jones. We went for a swim.  I was a bit worried about this as I have never done an ocean swim however I LOVED IT and looked forward to this every morning. Scott was a comfort to be with as he has done this before and was very helpful; Billy kept me laughing. That afternoon I drove the run course, and then went out by myself to ride the bike course for about 2 hours.  My first impression was that this was deceivingly difficult.  The constant rollers, with the threat of strong winds, have the potential to just suck all your energy.  When I got back, Billy, Lara Cooper and I went to Keahou beach (great snorkeling) and swam with a turtle and some amazing fish.  I later met up with Scott and Billy again to watch the athlete parade.  They tried to get me into it, but I wasn’t quite up for that.  Then we went to the expo and after that had dinner (Italian). That was a long day!

Wednesday morning I did my 20 minute run and swam.  I picked up Lori at the airport at noon then brought her back to the hotel and got her settled in. I went to the Athlete meeting then Lori and I went to Mathew Reynolds’s place for a dinner with friends. There were CpC athletes there and firends from Seattle. My friend Cindy was there and I found out she had recently gotten married to her boyfriend Ben Bigglestone!  Congratulations to both of them and a big THANK YOU to Mathew for hosting the party!

Thursday morning Lori, Pastor Dan and I went for a swim then Lori and I headed back to the Women’s Master breakfast.  Mark Allen was our surprise guest speaker…it was very interesting to hear him speak, he spoke about some of his past races and joked around a bit.  The rest of the day I took off.  I drove out to Hawi by myself to check out the bike course and had lunch out there at great little Italian restaurant. That evening my husband Michael arrived.

Friday morning, after a. short run, Mike and I walked down to the beach and I did a 20 minute swim.  We then drove the run course again and I thought about how I was going to break this up mentally in my mind on race day.  I did a short ride and then got everything ready to check in.  Lori and I rode our bikes down together.  As we were walking through the line there was this camera crew following me. I couldn’t figure it out..  I would walk and they would follow… Finally I turned around and standing right behind me was Peter Reid!  That was pretty cool!  At 4pm Mike and I went and got pizza for dinner. 

Race Day!

I slept really well which was a nice surprise. My alarm went off at 3:30. We went to Denny’s for breakfast (5 eggs and an English muffin) then to Starbucks for coffee. I was very calm and relaxed; I had felt this way all week!

The Swim

I started the swim about 15 yards back from the rope. I decided to stay to the inside, along the buoys.  It wasn’t particularly rough; I was surprised… I had heard horror stories about how rough the swim was.  I did not experience this but I did get my goggles knocked off early in the race and had to deal with saltwater in the eyes.  They kept leaking after that, until I finally stopped and pulled them much tighter.  This may have been a mistake because this gave me a major headache.  For the first half of the swim I felt good.  I did get off course once but other than that it was going well. About 300 yards past the turn around, the swells started to get to me.  It’s a strange feeling when you are trying to sight, and you see someone swimming about six feet above you!  I started feeling nauseous, which has never happened to me before in a swim.  I didn’t know what was happening at first.  My first thought was that I was having a panic attack…  but  I felt so relaxed. Then I realized it must be the motion. I kept swimming but was really struggling with my goggles that were too tight and feeling like I was going to throw up.  I decided to stop sighting, get right next to someone and just stay there.  That seemed to help a bit. When I was about 500 yards out I realized I was swimming next to Sarah Reinertsen.  I swam next to here the rest of the way in.  You can see her in the background of my swim photo.  She is such an inspiration!

I finished the swim at 1:26:02.  This was much slower than I had hoped for. I tried not to think about it and I kept reminding myself it’s a long day and it's not over until it’s over. Anything can happen.

The Bike

I was hoping for a 6 hour bike, but was ready for a much longer ride if the wind came up (fortunately this was a really mild wind for Kona).  I kept my heart rate at 145, which was about 5 beats lower than my average for IMC.   I stayed focused on getting my nutrition right.  My computer wasn’t working, so I had no idea of my speed, but it didn’t matter as I was completely focused on my heart rate and RPE.  At no point did I feel like I was working too hard.  I finished the bike at 6:06:33, and felt really good. 

The Run

Coming out of T2 I felt great… none of the typical stomach issues.  My nutrition on the bike left me feeling good and my legs felt strong. I really focused on keeping my HR down on the way out to Keahou and back to Palani.  I wore my fuel belt with coke and grabbed water and ice at each aid station.  I like to hold the cup of ice while I run…I put a little water in it grab the top together and let the ice melt into my hand.  Also like the rhythmic sound of the ice it probably drives everyone around me crazy but it is somehow calming to me.  Chris Whyte passed me about mile 3 or 4 he asked me how I was doing and gave me some words of encouragement,  it was so nice to see him and he looked great and seemed to be having a great day!  By the first split at 5.2 miles, I was running 9:23’s and my HR was in the low 150s.  I was watching girls and guys go flying by me.    For the next 12.4 miles, up to the Energy Lab, I slowed down even more and ran this split at 9:34’s. My stomach still felt good, none of the terrible pains that I sometimes get.  I did start to get some side stitches.  When this happened I would change my breathing pattern and this really seemed to help. 

Just as I was heading into the Energy Lab someone yelled my name.  I looked over and it was Rhea Shaw.  We had stayed together for much of  the IMC run.  It was nice to see a familiar face and to know that she was happy and looking good , so I assumed she was having a good day.  At the Energy Lab turnaround, with 8.6 miles to go, I decided to push it.  I still felt strong, but I was starting to feel some little aches and pain in the legs that I did not feel at IMC.  I found myself passing quite a few people and was just so happy the end was in sight.  I ended up running this last split in 8:52’s, and finished the race with an Ironman PR for the run at 4:03:35.  I was very happy with that.  I didn’t walk any part of the marathon and I negative split it as well…something my friend Billy didn’t think I could do in Kona : ) Little did he know I took that as a challenge ; )

The 10 weeks between IM Canada and IM Kona had been pretty hectic. I took 2 weeks off after IMC.  I did do a bit of swimming during that time but that was it.  My plan was to start back into my normal training the 3rd week following the race. My son Stephen came home sick during the first week of school with a cold and I was the first one to get it from him.. September is always one of the most hectic months for me as a mom...back to school, homework,  football for the boys  and this year my daughter's first formal dance to get ready for..  At the end of September, Mike was also gone for two weeks in Europe.  I was able to run regularly throughout this period, (focusing more on frequency than on distance), but there was just no time to do the long rides.  I did the 100 mile “Livestrong ride” in September, and one other 80 mile ride, but other than that it was short rides 2-2.5 hours.  I was OK with this as my kids come first and this is always a critical time of year for them.  I couldn't have been happier with how my year turned out. I had set many goals throughout the year for myself and had achieved almost all of them.  This was a fabulous year for me.

Overall I was happy with my performance. My goal was to have a solid race and not fall apart and I did this. It was about what I expected.  My run and bike were around what I thought they would be. My only disappointment was my swim I was hoping for at least a 1:15 swim. It was truly a great day and one I will remember the rest of my life.  It was great to spend time with Billy, Scott, Lori, Lara and Chris before the race.  My roommate Lori had a phenomenal race!  She finished with a 10:37 and placed 7th in our AG!  I would like to be able to do that someday! 

Again I would like to thank all of you who helped me to achieve this dream. Without your support and belief in me non of this would have been possible. I am already looking forward to the challenges I will face next year, both as an athlete and a coach.

Jill

Split info:

Nutrition info:

Breakfast   

• 5 eggs, english muffin with butter, water and of course a DIET COKE!
• Tall white chocolate mocha
• Gu and water

Bike  

• 5 gummie worms every hour.  I would have 2 at the start of every hour then 1 every 15 minutes this is 150 cal.
• I also had 3 endurolytes every hour
• Every hour I would drink half a 24 oz  bottle on my bike that had Carbo Pro solution in it (this was another 10 calories an hour)
• Every aid station I grabbed water and drank as much as I could. Once the first bottle of Carbo Pro was gone I threw the bottle and would get a water to keep on the bike and would sip that with the Carbo Pro mixture throughout the hour. I drank about a bottle and half every hour and felt great.

Run   

• I took 4 endurolytes just before I came off the bike. 
• I then drink coke and water for the whole run.  At each aid station I grab a water and ice…pour some of the water in the ice, then drink the rest of the water.. then I grab a coke…drink a couple of swallows of that then run with my cup of ice. 
• About the middle of each mile I take a couple drinks of the coke from my fuelbelt.
• At mile 13 I take 4 more endurolytes
• Water and coke for the rest of the run