2009 has been an epic year for my training and racing. I had 3 main goals coming into this season; 1. Set a new ½ IM PR, 2. Set a new IM PR, and 3. Qualify for Kona. I managed to break my ½ IM PR in each of the 2 long course events I raced earlier in the season so going into AZ I already considered this year a success regardless of the outcome in Tempe. While I didn’t feel pressure for a great result in AZ everything in my training and racing from January through November indicated I was on track for a break through race in my 7th attempt at the IM distance.3 weeks before Tempe I went with Aim’s family to Kona on their annual trip to Hawaii. This was my final week of larger volume work before AZ and it was great to be able to train in a hot climate to simulate the conditions I expected in Tempe. Also training along the Hawaii IM course was great motivation to push myself in AZ so I could return to Kona in 2010 to race the big dance. The highlight of our time in Hawaii was riding from Kawaihae to Hawi twice with Aims. 99% of my training is done solo so it was special to be able to share such a beautiful ride with her. All in all it was a week of great training and relaxation that was perfect preparation for AZ.
Fast forward 10 days and Aim and I are in Tempe staying with our friends Chris and Brooke. The evening before the race I sat down with Chris to give him my goal splits so they would have an idea of when to look for me out on the course. My ideal times were 55 minutes for the swim, 5 hours for the bike and 3:10 for the run. Adding in 5 minutes for transition time these splits added up to a 9:10 finish. While this time looked achievable on paper I honestly thought 9:25 was much closer to the finish time I was capable of as I thought I could hit either the bike or run splits but I didn’t expect to make both.Starting about 2 months out from AZ every night before I’d go to sleep I’d lie in bed and visualize the race. I must have rehearsed the race 100+ times before ever actually jumping into Tempe Town Lake. Through all these mental simulations I don’t remember ever once visualizing crossing the finish line. Strangely enough the night before the event in my dream I went through the entire race including the finish which I crossed in a time of 9:20. Race morning I woke up with a strange confidence thinking that since I could do it in a dream I could surely do it in real life. I’ve never felt so relaxed yet confident on an IM race morning, a good sign for what was yet to come.
Before I knew it I was treading water on the far right of the start line with the same relaxed confidence I’ve had for the past several months. A few minutes before the start canon sounded I rolled onto my back to look up at the thousands of spectators on the bridge above. I took this moment to appreciate all the work I’ve done to get to where I am today and remind myself to race smart and never stop fighting.
The canon fires and the day begins. My swimming tends to get stronger in the 2nd ½ of the event so I started out with a long steady stroke and slowly worked my way from the right side of the lake to the inside line towards the turn buoy. After the halfway point I notched up my effort for a strong finish to the swim. Exiting the water I felt like I had a great swim and I should be relatively close to the front of the pack. In transition I was surprised by how many other guys were in the change tent next to me and I immediately felt pressure to get out on the bike ASAP. In the haze of my rush I forgot the fasten my helmet strap and almost mounted my bike without doing so, this would have incurred me a time penalty. Thankfully the spectators standing next to the bike mount line all were yelling “helmet strap, helmet strap”. As I stopped to clip on my helmet I mistakenly dropped my bike and it seemed like my world was falling apart. Thankfully a volunteer picked up my bike and in no time I was off onto the course. As I rode away from the transition zone I realized I had totally lost my focus in my stress of getting too competitive in the transition tent. I actually laughed a little as I realized how funny it must have been to watch me go crazy for a few minutes back there. I decided to put all that behind me, forget about everyone else and run my own race for the next 8+ hours.
The 1st lap of the bike was good; I felt strong, the temp was still cool and there wasn’t much wind to contend with. I finished this lap in about 1:38, 2 minutes ahead of the 5 hour pace I was shooting for. 2nd lap was a lot tougher. There was a strong and steady headwind the entire way out so I reminded myself that based on the last 2 times I’ve done this race the winds are usually lighter for the 3rd lap so I could afford to push harder through this 2nd lap hoping that the winds would die down on the next lap. I ended up finishing lap 2 in about 1:42 so I was still roughly on pace to finish the bike in about 5 hours. In my previous attempts in this race my legs were pretty much spent after the 1st 2 laps of the bike. This year was amazingly better and as I made the turn onto the final lap of the bike I still felt strong and I knew I could afford to attack the final lap. My memory of the wind patterns served me well because the winds were much lighter on the final lap and I ended up finishing the bike in just over my goal time with a split of 5:01.In my past 6 IM I’ve never been able to run the pace my legs wanted to because I’ve always had stomach issues which forced me to slow down. These GI issues have generally been the result of too much fluid / substance in my gut. In the week leading up to the race I read an article saying the one of the biggest mistakes people make during an IM is trying to consume too many calories during the bike which results in stomach issues during the run. Since I hadn’t had any GI trouble in the 2 long course events earlier this season where I had taken in fewer calories per hour than I would have in previous years I figured I should also scale down my IM nutrition plan to try and finish the bike with an empty stomach so I can attack, attack, attack the run.
Finishing off the bike after consuming 1700 calories consisting of 4 bottles of drink and 3.5 packs of shot blocks, I had an empty gut, my legs felt strong, and I was 100% confident today was the day for me to kill a little marathon action. I blow through transition and as I pass Aim, B &C heading out on the run course I give them each a high five with a huge smile on my face and tell them “I’m feeling awesome”. My plan for the run today was to setup a strong pace over the 1st 3 miles, lock into the steady pace over the next 17 miles, and hopefully all this will set me up to close out with a fast final 10k. Basically this strategy means you race a 10k after a 8+ hour warmup.
Starting out the 1st lap of the run the course was empty and while I didn’t know my overall or age group position I was confident if I could run a solid marathon I had a very strong chance to qualify for Hawaii and maybe even finish top 3 in my age group. Realizing that I was within reach of realizing my dream of Hawaii made me get a little emotional and I had to tell myself to pull it together and focus as a lot can go awry during a marathon. Finishing the 1st lap I passed Aim, B & C as Chris runs alongside me and tells me “dude you’re killing it, you’re in 4th in your age group and 3rd place just 2 minutes ahead. Go get him!”If there was ever a perfect thing for me to hear during a race that was it. Running is my WMD and knowing that 3rd place is only 2 minutes ahead I charge on with the singular goal of attack, attack, attack. About 2 miles later I pass a guy in my age group who I assume is the 3rd place guy Chris referred to. Sure enough he’s not wearing a shirt and there’s no way I’ll let myself loose to a shirtless guy. Not gonna happen. As I pass him I surge ahead thinking that if I don’t make a decisive pass he could try to latch onto my heels. I maintain that same strong pace through the rest of the 2nd lap and heading out onto the 3rd lap I know nothing can stop me now. I now have only 8 miles to go to achieve everything I’ve worked so hard for.
As I pass the 20 mile mark I kick up the pace thinking this is it, this is everything I’ve ever wanted, it’s time to close out this IM with a killer 10k. To motivate me to keep surging ahead I keep telling myself that shirtless guy is right behind me and I can’t afford to stop fighting even for a second. With about 3 miles to go I see a spectator from Boulder who recognizes me and he tells me it’s about 8:50 into the race and I realize that I might finish in 9:15, are you freaking kidding me? Incredible!
I crest the final climb on the far side of the lake and realize it’s all downhill or flat from here on out so I again notch up the pace. 2 miles to go and I’m crossing the final bridge heading towards the finish line. 1 mile to go and I really stride it out. As I fly through the final mile the spectators are cheering me on and a few were yelling “awesome smile Max!” I don’t really remember smiling but it’s sweet to think back on the race and visualize myself killing the final 10k grinning ear-to-ear. I make the best turn of the day as a peel off the main run course and onto the final .2 miles of the race. I glance over my shoulder a few times to make sure I don’t have any finish line poachers hovering behind me. There’s no one in sight so I ease up my pace to take in the moment. I see Aims, B & C and I make the final turn into the finish chute and amazingly there’s a beautiful 9:12 on the clock mounted above the finish line. I cross the line in 9:12:07, in what was definitely the most special race, and day, of my life.While I’ve long dreamed of the moment when I’d earn my first Hawaii slot I thought I’d be more emotional than what I felt today. I think I was too happy, amazed and exhausted to get chocked up too much. After meeting up with Aim, B & C I was in a lot of pain so not even thinking about what my results were I went over to get a massage from one of the volunteers. After a nice long massage we finally went to check the results to confirm what we already assumed that yes indeed I qualified for the 2010 Ironman World Championship in Kona, HI. Not only did I qualify but I also finished 3rd in my age group, 26th overall, and I beat half the professional men’s field. This was absolutely my strongest placing at any major race ever. Simply perfect and amazing.
Reflecting back on my results I ended up accomplishing my 2 remaining goals for the year by qualifying for Hawaii and setting a new IM PR. Additionally I set a new marathon PR of 3:09, beating my NYC Marathon time by 5 minutes and having the added bonus the run split was fast enough to qualify for the Boston Marathon. My average pace over the final 10k of the run was a crazy 6:41 and I was probably running sub-6:30 for the final 2 miles. I knocked off 38 minutes from last year’s time by going a full 20 minutes faster on both the bike and run. It would have been fantastic to go 20 minutes faster on either bike or run but to drop so much time over both sections is more than I ever imagined was possible. The day after the race I felt strange as I’ve suddenly reached the single goal I’ve been working toward for the past several years. Now I’m free to set my sights on a new goal. Going forward I know I can go faster and next I want to break 4 hours in a ½ IM and go sub-9 hours in an IM. It’s crazy to think that just over 1 year ago I was hoping to go sub-10 hours for the 1st time and now I’m a mere 12 minutes away from breaking the 9 hour mark.
I’ve had a lot of people ask me what made the difference this year. I’ve increased my training volume and intensity over the past 12 months and while there’s no doubt this has helped me make significant improvements on both the bike and run, my core focus and drive hasn’t wavered since I began training for my 1st IM back in 2005. IM success doesn’t come overnight and I believe it takes several years to develop the endurance, strength, and patience to excel in IM racing. Big thanks to my coach Kevin Konczak for always believing in me and for methodically crafting a successful training plan since we started working together in 2005.
I’ve been training for IM for the past 5 years and I’ve been preparing for this specific race for 11 months, yet despite all my anticipation it seems to have come and gone all too quickly. Looking back on the race what I’ll remember most is that I was able to share my perfect day with Aim, Brooke and Chris. Thanks to each of you for always supporting me.I remember riding on the trainer in my basement back in January while I was just dreaming of qualifying for Kona wondering if it would happen this year or 5 years down the road. Back then I would have never believed someone if they told me this season I’d run a 1:19 ½ marathon, do a 4:15 ½ IM, go 9:12 in AZ and qualify for Kona. This has been an epic year and next season can only get better with the inclusion of Ironman Hawaii on the race schedule.
Until next time...
-Maxwell
Results
Overall: 26th (2500)
Age Group: 3rd (237)
Times: 9:12:07 (56:59, 5:01:08, 3:09:12)
