Kona Qualifying- What it takes.. (Page 3)

Agree 100%

This is similar to my conclusion from the "do you have IT?" thread from a few months ago:

"Each of us may or may not have IT, but most of us will never know as we need to put in 110% effort over a long period of time before we know what our real limit is."

This has been a great thread! I am doing IMWI in 23 days and 11 hrs and my goal all along has been to try to qualify for Kona, knowing that any number of circumstances beyond my control can interfere with that goal. When I signed up a year ago my intentions were to build my running and focus on swimming fast over the winter while maintaining my biking by spinning indoors.

I was coming off a femoral stress fracture that killed my 2006 season and managed to slowly build my running up to doing my first marathon in May, in 3:22. I had every intention of going the journey on my own until about June when I talked to a coach who I ended up hiring. That was the smartest thing I have ever done in training. He actually cut out a lot of hours that I was training and my workouts had a lot more focus and intensity. Until this season I had only done a handful of sprints. This year I did my first oly, my first HIM and now onward to IMWI!

The coach that I hired has done a number of Ironman races and qualified for Kona at IMLP this year. After a few weeks of questioning his workouts and not feeling I was running enough he reassured me that I was and I decided to put my trust in him through the HIM and see how it turned out. Before the HIM my longest run off the bike was 30 minutes and I was terrified going into the race, I ended up PRing my 1/2 mary by a minute at the end of the HIM!!! I have complete trust in him now.  

 
After all the training that has gone into this I know that the spot is within reach. It's a matter of executing the plan and keeping up with nutrition without letting my mind wander during the race. Genetics has a part in performance but in the end it comes down to how much are you willing to sacrifice to put the training in. I have a wife, 3 kids commute 12 hrs a week to my job and without the support of my wife, kids and co-workers this would not have a chance of happening.

FWIW, my VO2 Max is 67 and hope to go 53:00 swim, 5:15 bike and 3:40 run for a sub 10:00 race! 

Swimming is where my background is and I was hoping for a sub 50 swim but haven't been in the water much and a 53 is very realistic. My ride last weekend was 113 miles, 5700' ascent at 21.26 avg. (1:19). My HIM a few weeks ago was a 1:37 and felt I could hold that pace forever. I feel I am ready, I just have to see what the day brings!! I can tell you for sure that I am very ready to taper!!!

Thanks for posting this thread, it's getting me pumped!!! 

The 31:30 was a shock but all the times were elevated. May have been a long course or the fact that there was a couple hundred yards of running in the water because the lake was so low then another long run before T1. All of my 4250 yd pool swims come in at 53-54 mins and typically negative split. I feel pretty good about the swim.

With your 1:00 swim at IMAZ, where did you start out in the pack? Did you get pounded at all? I typically start in front on the outside and stay out of the washing machine but I have never swam with 2500 people at the start!

OK Bryan, I can’t take a challenge sitting down.  I held off on contributing to this thread until after IM WI next month because I wanted to reply as a Kona qualifier, not a Kona wannabee.  To be blunt….. in a friendly way so don’t take offense Bryan…. after 30+ years of competing at a fairly decent level (primarily a runner and x-c skier, only my 2^nd season in triathlons this year) I didn’t need this thread to gain confidence or get motivated to step up to tell the world I can do this.  Before I give my plan, here is my background:

Myself: 46 years old, runner/x-c skier since high school.  Started marathons in 1997, have completed 10 marathons all except 2 (Boston (got sick prior to race) and NY (too hot!)  ) under 3:00.  PR 2:51:23 in 2002 (also ran 2:51:53 in 2004).  I ran an open half-marathon this past June in 1:17:39 with the sole intent of running solid 6:00 min/mi pace, rather than racing all out.

I’m having a pretty successful season this year with 1 AG win, 3 AG podiums (plus 2 others disallowed due to registering in Elite wave), and 4 top 10 overall run splits. I did not taper for a single race this season, including the Spirit of Racine HIM in July:  HIM results: 4:37:31 (39:53 swim, 2:25:54 bike, 1:28:58 run)   63/1256 OA placing, 3/85 M45-49. 

My first and only IM was at IM WI last year.  I got sick with a cold 3 days before the race and my body just didn’t handle the cold temps, wind and rain very well (that was an epic day!!).  Plus, it was only my first full season in tris.  Anyway, my goal for that day was 10:30 (one of my training buddies Kona qualified with a 10:32 and got 2^nd in our AG that day). 

My 2006 result:  11:32:22 (1:19:28 swim, 6:01:35 bike on a road bike with clip-ons, 3:55:52 run – embarrassing)  315/2439 overall, 21/257 M45-49

Past 5 years at IM WI M45-49:

                 # slots (# rolldowns)    Finish time last qualifier   KQ time disregarding rolldowns

2006                    7 (1)                             11:04:53                           11:03:50

2005                    6 (3)                             11:26:33                           11:06:32

2004                    5 (0)                             10:41:28                           10:41:28

2003                    6 (3)                             11:15:10                           11:03:00

2002                    6 (0)                             10:32:47                           10:32:47

What I will do in 2007:  

Swim:  1:15

Bike:    5:30

Run:     3:20

Total 10:05  (anything under 10:30 should get a Kona qualification for my age group – see above stats from previous IM WI races)

Swim:  1:15   There is no way around it…I suck…I know I suck…my training buddies know I suck….little kids at the pool know I suck…did I mention I suck at the swim?  So, if I did a 39:53 at my HIM in July, why do I think magic will happen and I can go less than double my HIM swim split next month?  1. There was no taper for the HIM.  2. The past 2 weeks I’ve been taking swim lessons from a former Canadian national swim champ, Kona qualifier with a 49 min IM WI swim split.  3. Since taking lessons in this short time I have cut my avg 50 m swim time (full length 50 m pool) by 3 seconds – that is literally an eternity in swimming terms, and WILL translate to a faster IM split for a given fitness level based on technique improvement alone (my pull was nearly non-existent prior to lessons). 4. I have been doing about 1:07-1:10 for our OW lake swims on Wed eve, although the measurement is not exact it is approx 2.3 miles.  5.  I’m just plain gonna do it darn it!  (P.S.  I AM going to work with my swim coach in the offseason and WILL swim a sub 60 IM next year).

Bike:  5:30  (20.3 mph)  On August 5, I did the IM WI bike loop 3 times (approx 120 mi total) in 6:10.  This does not include the couple of minutes for stopping to fill water bottles after each lap. I don’t know what a realistic HIM to IM bike conversion would be, but if I did a 2:25 in a HIM in July (on my new bike) I don’t think 5:30 IM is unrealistic.  I’ve made a map of the entire course with mile markers and I know the topography of each section of the course so I am in the process of developing a pacing plan of attack for each segment.  I bought a Felt DA triathlon bike a few weeks ago (thanks Vickie !) so that alone will get me a few minutes over last year.    

Run:   3:20  (7:38 min/mi pace) Running is my strength.  Based on my duathlon, triathlon and open running performances this year, I think this is a highly realistic run goal.  Let’s say I take my open half marathon time from July and convert it to a predicted open marathon time (2:42) and then add 30 minutes (a common IM split predictor).  That ends up being a 3:12 for an IM run split - in theory, which as everyone knows is much different than reality!.  Throw on another 8 minutes to give me a 3:20.  Or, let’s take my HIM run split from July, double it and add 30 minutes…that will end up being a 3:28…still within reason for going sub 10:30.

Realistic?   We’ll see. I’ve done the training (no time to give details) to back it up.  I know I’ve used the words “prediction” and “conversion” here a fair amount, but I don’t think I’m being overly optimistic.  Anything can, and probably will, happen on race day.  You simply take what the day gives you.  I’m not seeking approval by posting this here…just laying it on the line.

Unless something weird happens, Jim (Birkierunner) will be on the podium and going to Kona in 2008. 

Damn right it would!!

Alright here it is:

Swim - 1:15

Bike - 5:00 (or better)

Run - 3:30 (or better)

I'm gonna need a 9:45 or better to even get a KQ shot at Florida, so I'll need to be a tick faster in each thing plus transition times.

And it will be first tested at Chesapeakeman Aqua Velo where I plan on blowing my wad on the bike to see what I can do (because I don't have to run).

If I don't make it there then it will be 1:10, 5:20, 3:30 at IMLP to get the slot.  Have to be in the 10:30 or better there.

Awsome thread.

I love this analytical sh*t.

5:20 bike split at IMLP- you haven't seen the course yet, have you?  

And Rick, I seem to remember seeing you walking last year after blowing up at Eagleman.  I'm not trying to discourage you from getting to Kona (and I do expect you to get to Kona, at least at some point), but that bike course in particular, with all the climbing at the end, has a way of causing a lot of suffering on the run if one does their "could" bike split rather than their "should" bike split as Patrick McCrann and Rick Strauss would say.  Given the carnage I saw on that run course (all these 11-14 hour finishers walking and in terrible shape), the key to this course is to ride the bike course smart and pass all those that didn't on the marathon. This is a course to race your own race and let others destroy their chances along the way.  I just better not see you walking (other than at an aid station) there next year  

That would be last year thank you very much ....... the 2:24 I ripped off this year (with only 700 miles on the bike for the year at that point) was top 6% of the entire field with only 2 of the female pros going faster ....... followed with a casual 1:44 run more than made up for that race ...... after all I knocked an hour off of my time doing this year on minimal training as a "B" race and I still had a crappy swim.

I'm not worried about the bike (or run).  I can rip off a 5:00 bike if I want on a flat course fairly easily.  It is getting to the bike comfortably that will set up the rest of the race ...... If I'm not off the bike at FL within the 6:10 - 6:15 (total time) range than there will be very little reason to go all out and blow up on the marathon to try and get the KQ.  At that point it will just be about the experience.