Alice's Kona Report

Really the journey began when I qualified at Port Macquarie Ironman 2006. After battling a few personal issues I had the race of my life and qualified for one of the world’s most prestigious event. I was so excited but at the same time a little worried because now I had to do another Ironman. I had heard so many different stories about Hawaii. Some said it’s so windy, it’s hot, but the road is smooth – oh and there is pretty fish to look at in the swim. When I told people that I was doing the Hawaiian Ironman – some seemed quite surprised, even a little shocked. (Not sure why)

After Port Mac Ironman I decided to take about 6 weeks off training so the 1st bit of running training was the Sydney Half Marathon. John had told me to go easy (i.e. E1/E) so I went out as fast as I could and raced the whole 21 km in E3/E4. I think I totally blew up in the last 2-3 km and ended up running a PB by about 20 seconds. (Not to mention beating Stephen by about 10 minutes) As a result of not listening to John, thinking I was invincible & totally smashing myself I ended up with a knee injury. So just when I was more than ready to start my 20 week programme for Kona, it was already going pear-shaped. I had “runner’s knee”. John did say to me “I told you so, and that I need to learn to listen”. Not sure whether my injury was worth smashing Stephen by 10 minutes – maybe? Anyway after about 6 weeks of physio, massage, stretching, MRI scan, Yoga, being paranoid and thinking I could never run again - I slowly began to start to run – walk 2 minutes/run 5 minutes and then gradually increasing the running time. Finally I could run 4 kms without stopping. In the meantime I was focusing on my bike and swim and in some ways my running injury was a blessing in disguise because my cycling really improved. I did have a major extra added bonus – Giant sponsored me a brand new time trial bike. (which I absolutely love – it’s awesome.)

Training in winter was really hard both physically and mentally. Up at 5 am in 4 degrees, dark, and cold - while everyone else was in bed hibernating. It’s just not pleasant and I honestly think that I couldn’t train through another Australian winter. I remember being freezing cold from the rain and wind and the only thing that kept me training was that I was competing in a World Championship – The Famous Hawaiian Ironman. There were some upsides about training in winter which was the group I trained with – Lisa, Jacqui, Vic, Gezz, John Mergler, Dingo, Damo, Stirling, Dave, Amanda. (Not John because all he just kept sending us emails about how warm, sunny and hot it was in Ibiza.) Then there was the “Scott Penny’s camp in Cairns & Port Douglas at the end of August with Prueski, Luke, Jason, Mathias and last but not least – Amanda. Bike camp was awesome – we rode about 700km, swam about 14 km, and ran 50 – 75 km in about 8 days. Back from Bike camp and all of a sudden it was only 4 weeks until I left for Kona. My training kms were getting pretty high and for awhile my weekends consisted of Saturday 100km bikes and then on Sunday 160 km – 180 km with 24 km run off the bike.

I entered Gold Coast Half as a team (3 x weeks before Kona) because I was only going to do the swim and the bike as I didn’t trust myself on the run as it was too close to Hawaii. My team runners kept quitting on me so I ended up racing all 3 legs but just had to take it easy on the run. It was really difficult to take it easy on the run because of my competitive nature but this time I did listen to John because I did not want to ruin my race for Hawaii.

The following weekend after Gold Coast I left for Honolulu. I arrived in Kona 2 weeks before the race to help acclimatise in the Hawaii heat. My 1st thoughts of Kona was that it reminded me of home (of where I grew up in outback Australia) There is a road between Broken Hill and Wilcannia which 180 km of straight road and not much scenery or changes so it feels like you aren’t getting anywhere – that’s what the Queen K Highway is like. On the first day I went for a ride and run with John and John Mergler – it was really hot and my heart rate was much higher than usual. I kind of expected that though from what everyone had told me but I must admit that I did think it would be hard to do an Ironman in those conditions. Eva arrived the next day – was so nice to see her since I hadn’t seen her for 7 months and after living together and seeing each other every day – was really great to catch up.

So 2 weeks in Kona and slowly it got busier and busier with athletes and spectators arriving. Everyone was talking about this and that, what about this, what about that. In the end I had to convince myself that there is no point worrying about the things you can’t control – just worry about the things you can control. My mum arrived and then Amanda arrived and so now I was getting a little nervous and only 2 days to go. Fit and tanned people everywhere so I blended in well….ha ha.

The day before I put my bike into transition – it’s very organised I almost felt like a professional. They escort you to your bike position and you put your race bags in – even though I had double, triple checked my race bags (I checked Eva’s, she checked mine) I was still paranoid that I had forgotten something. Race morning I was up at 3.50 am to eat my 800 calories and then Eva, Chris, Stirling and I drove down to the race start and then got our numbers stamped into our arms. Finally – it was the moment I had been waiting for – it was like a pressure cooker ready to go off. The atmosphere was amazing and there was so much energy around – I was pretty excited. Entered into the water, the chopper was circling above us and the gun went off.

I started swimming – not too hard because I knew it wasn’t an easy swim. So I thought to myself “where are the pretty fish” (I don’t really remember seeing them) however I did see John Hill after about 1 km. I said hello and he smiled – quite a funny moment. I could see the boat which was the half way mark and it didn’t seem to take long to get there which meant I just had to make it back to the big Gatorade Bottle – it seemed to be further on the way back. Eventually I made it back to the Pier and I was out of the water – checked my watch and it was 1.11 swim (that didn’t really mean much because you can’t tell much from the swim – I didn’t know whether it was fast or slow)

So I ran to get my bag, then into the change rooms and onto my bike. Loaded up with all my nutrition before I knew it I was on the bike course. I rode passed Mum, Mona and Amanda standing in the middle of the
“Queen K” and Amanda told me I was in 25th and I think Mum was almost crying with excitement (I was happy with 25th because I wanted to finish top 20 in my age group and it was early days) – I went to look at my heart rate monitor and wasn’t working - heck. I didn’t think I was going too hard but sometimes you can’t tell with all the excitement and adrenalin so I was trying to get my heart rate monitor working but still about 30 kms into the bike it wasn’t working. Finally about about 45 kms it started working – 145 (shit that’s only E1) so I tried to go a bit harder but I didn’t really feel myself and was also a little bit scared of blowing up. Greg Welch had told before the race – “Whatever you do – make sure you leave some for the run” I was waiting for the wind and the sun to come out but it wasn’t that windy and it wasn’t that hot either. There were a few packs that overtook me and I tried to go with them but it just didn’t feel right so I did my own race. I was riding along the Queen K and thinking “Wow – I am actually doing Hawaii” and then I would concentrate again and look at my speedo because exactly every 20 minutes I had a gel and also made sure that I drank at least 750 mls per hour. I was a little bit unco at the aid stations and I actually hit one of the volunteers with an empty water bottle – (I felt terrible about it) I was really strict on my nutrition so that kept my mind busy and before I knew it I cycled past all the “Tritravel Gang” just before you turn left to Hawi – that was great to have all the Aussies & Dingo’s crew cheering because there wasn’t much cheering along the Queen K. There was just black lava.

Up to Hawi and I saw all the leaders coming back – I didn’t mind the climb up to Hawi and it was a bit of change of scenery and then at the turn around about (95 km) Wendo was there cheering me on (it was awesome to have someone there – thanks Wendo) I flew down Hawi at about 60 km/hour and caught up to Nicole Ward (fellow aussie competitor in my age group). Before I knew it I was back on the Queen K and the road was wet but it didn’t rain on me so I missed that part of the race. I had ridden about 120 km and it was quite steamy and windy and I didn’t feel the best – every time I looked at my speedo I am sure it said about 27 km/h and I was trying to go faster but my legs just didn’t really want to go. In hindsight I probably should have had some caffeine to get me through. Nicole and I spent the next 30 km together taking it in turns (legally of course) and then I started to feel a bit better and I finally got to the cemetery which I think was about 30 km to go. On the home stretch now – just the airport (where Teresa Rider went flying passed) me and then I was back in town. What a relief – I made it through the bike course, no flat tyres and my ride time of 5.52 (that’s my fastest Ironman bike by 9 minutes so I was pretty happy) so now just the run to go.

Back into transition – the one good thing about Ironman is that they take your bike for you and I was so glad to give it away and start the marathon. Nicole and I were in the change tent together and she was bit quicker than me but I wasn’t far behind. Out of transition and up the hill and I overtook Nicole in the 1st km and I felt ok. It was hot though – bloody hot in fact and I saw Mum, Amanda and Mona again and I they were cheering like crazy. So up Alii drive and I saw John Hill, John Mergler, Dingo, Stirling Chris W, Eva and they all looked pretty good at that stage. I was glad that everyone was having a good race and it’s nice to see everyone and know that you’re not alone. John Hill said – “Its cooler on the way back” I made it to the blue church which is the turn around and every station along the way I drank cola and water and grabbed some ice and let it melt into my hands. It didn’t seem to be much cooler on the way back so I am not sure what John was on about. I was overtaking a few people I was running a bit under 5 min/km pace – my heart rate was high though – I was in high E3 for the first 10 km which I did in 47 mins and then back on the Queen K and there was still people coming in on bikes (I was so glad that wasn’t me). I had divided the Queen K into sections – traffic light, boat harbour, brown sign (half way). Blue shed and then the energy lab so I didn’t find it too bad and at the half way mark I did in 1 hour 45 min so I just had to keep that pace for the rest of the way but I got slower and slower. Some people had started to walk now and they were running in and out of the porta loos, sitting on the side of the road, walking, stopping, vomiting etc. There was no way that I was going to stop or even walk. I could see the energy lab now and I didn’t feel too bad. I turned right into the energy lab and the music was pumping and there was a sense that kind of told me that it’s ok to walk now because everyone else was walking. I remembered what JC had told me in his good luck email about the carnage in the energy lab and not to give up like everyone else so I stayed strong and kept running. I actually ran out of caffeine gels because I miscalculated the special needs station – its was at 30 km not 24 like I thought so I kind of started running low on energy but didn’t want to try anything new so I had to wait until the special needs for my next gel. I was a little worried but knew it wouldn’t stop me from running. I made it to the turn around at the energy lap and now just had to run up the hill and back onto the Queen K – I wasn’t feeling too bad although the sun was going down and I didn’t want to finish in the dark. Back onto the Queen K and Nicole was still just behind me but all of a sudden I started feeling really exhausted and my legs were just ticking over at about 6 minute km pace. Nicole took off and I tried to go with her but my legs wouldn’t go any faster. I made to the 23 mile mark and I looked at my watch and tried to work out how far that was in km and whether I could break 11 hours. I worked out it was about 4 ½ km and that if I kept running then I would break 11 hours – that’s the only reason I kept running. My legs were totally gone but I could see Kona and knew I just had to run up the hill and then down Palani hill. So I made it up the hill and then running down Palani hill was so hard – my toes and feet were hurting – infact everything was hurting. I think the crowd kept me going though. I turned left after Palani hill and knew that as soon as I saw the “Service Station Ball” I only had about 500m metres to go and then onto the famous Alii Drive. It seemed to take forever to see that “Service Station Ball” but I made it and then onto Alii drive. The crowd were going crazy – you would have thought I was winning the whole race. I was pretty emotional, I stopped to get the Aussie flag from my best friend and supporter, Amanda and then ran across the finish line with Mum yelling and crying - “Go Ali – you’re just wonderful” – then that was it, my glory, the build up – My first Kona was over - just like that in 10 hours, 58 minutes and 26 seconds.

I think the whole journey to get there has been the highlight of my life and has taught me so much about myself, goals, sacrifices and what’s important in life – never give up on your dreams.

Last but not least I couldn’t have done it without John Hill – both on a personal level and coaching level his support & understanding has been amazing. My family, especially my sisters and mum for believing in me and always being there. Amanda for keeping me sane while trying to stick to John Hill’s programme and for listening to all of my crap. Margaret-anne – my manager at work for being so supportive both personally and professionally and for also being my no. 1 fan.