How to qualify for Kona? (Page 2)

tkbslc - 2007-12-03 4:02 PM

So If you have to be able to go sub 10 to get into Kona, how come so many people finish WAY after that? Over 1200 people finished after 10 hours at the last race. Where are all those people coming from?

 

PennState - 2007-12-03 3:40 PM

The best advice I could give is chhose good parents as Bear said, and I'll second the lifhting weights thing... in fact this seems to be the key

BTW, you should ask Bryan Dunn as he actually qualified for Kona this year... hopefully he'll chime in.

Atak Kat - 2007-12-03 3:29 PM

Lots of great info in this thread

Kona Qualifying - What it takes

Shermbelle - 2007-12-03 5:46 PM

To clear up so there is no confusion, when weight lifting you should be focusing on your max bench press

BrianPBN - 2007-12-04 12:27 PM I may be able to impart some advice into the mix as qualifying for IMH was my sole focus in the sport since I did my 1st IM in '97 eventually qualifying at IMF '03. What I basically did was look a the qualifying times of the events I was aiming to get that slot, and focus my training to get me to that time. The problem is, that time isn't always static, sometimes it's faster, sometimes it's slower, but if you're not in that time realm, don't obsess yourself with qualifying as you'll be setting yourself up for disappointment, even if you have an amazing race. If you have aspirations of getting to Hawaii through qualifying, just a few suggestions: 1. Review the Race: 1st analyze the historical results of the race you intend to make your attempt. If you're a 30yr old male capable of going 9:50 on a banner PR day and heading to IMWA, don't be disatisfied if you go 9:40, are 15th in the age group w/ no Kona slot. If it is an event where you need to go <9:40 and you know on your best, most amazing day you cannot crack 10:30, you may not be ready to make your bid to qualify. 2. Be Realistic in Your Training/Racing: This sounds so obvious, but how many athletes do you know who project a time and hit it or are faster? Conversely, how many do you know who predict a time and are slower than that projection - often by hours? I know MANY more that fall into the latter. You're going to do yourself a huge dis-service by aiming for a time which you realistically can't hit. That doesn't mean you shouldn't aim high - by all means you should. What I mean is that if you have a marathon PR of 3:30 and are aiming to run 3:35 off the bike, that's probably not going to happen. If you have a 1/2 IM PR of 4:57 and you're aiming to break 10hrs in an IM, it's probably not going to happen. By giving yourself realistic targets, hitting them and then adjusting those targets w/ faster goals is the way to get faster and eventually qualify. For myself, doing #'s 1&2, I was keying in on trying to qualify at IMF '01. I had determined I needed to go <9:50 to qualify as the slot had gone in 9:50 or slower (+/-) every yr. I trained my butt off (see bryancd's suggestion ) to go <9:50, went 9:47 and the slot went in 9:44 (DOH!!). Back to the drawing board, the bar continues to be reset - faster faster faster, I knew I had to run considerably faster in my next attempt, so I focused '02 on my running and planned to head back there in '03. Again, I followed step 1 and saw that I would now probably need to be <9:40 to get a slot - trained to do that and went 9:31....and got the last slot! I'm planning on heading back to Kona in a yr or 2 when I can focus on my training again and know a 9:31-type time at IMF won't get me a slot anymore, so what do you think I'm going to train to do? The moral of the story is, keep you eye on the prize and you'll eventually hit that target if you have a methodical approach and the physiology to do so. It's just 2 easy steps - right ;o)