To state the obvious right off the bat, what an amazing race! I just couldn't turn away. I love how effortlessly Andy Potts pulls away in the swim. Sure, he swims alone, and it's lonely leading a race that early, but he needs to play to his strengths. When he got passed just a couple miles into the bike I expected Andreas to make a push. Although being with the front group, he never really surged... Most shocking on the bike had to be Crowie actually riding with the front pack! Who knew he could do that??!! Maybe it's the new Specialized Shiv, or maybe he just had a bone to pick with everyone who read Macca's book "I'm Here to Win", in which he flat out says Crowie can't ride. Quite an impressive feat. On the women's side of the race, holy shit Julie Dibbens! When she came off the bike 20+ minutes in front of Chrissie and Rinnie I didn't think they had a chance to catch her. She could run 50(ish) seconds per mile slower than those girls and still stroll across the line first. Unfortunately, between pushing too hard and some foot problems she dropped out of the marathon. As IM athletes/enthusiasts/fans we know the race is really won and lost on the marathon. And what a marathon it was. The men's race was tight. The women's race was was tight. Neither winner posted the fastest run split (but they were close), nor were they leading off the bike.
Macca made an interesting point in his book, which I just finished reading, that in 2010 Andreas spent so much energy just reaching Macca that by the time he got there he had already reached his goal and had to recalculate how much energy he needed to get across the line first. That's where Macca won. I didn't see that happening this year. I thought Raelert was going to hold that 6:00min/mile pace through the whole thing. Unfortunately for him, Crowie was just too strong. It's absolutely incredible what those guys and girls do.
Maddy actually called me and started watching the end up in NYC. I love that she has developed an interest (even if it is just to humor me) and knows all the big names. I got teary toward the end of the race just thinking about what Crowie and Chrissie were able to do. Listening to them speak was what pushed me over the edge because of how humble and truly human they are. If somehow you missed it, Universal Sports still has the FULL 18 hours of coverage up on their website to watch, if you're interested (watch here!). I'll probably go back and watch some of it before it airs on NBC in December. Something unbelievable is that it's being broadcast tomorrow (**some time last week) in Australia according to Crowie's facebook page. The US has got to get a quicker turn around and start feeding all those crazy IM addicts in the states. We also, as a country, need to start developing better feeding programs and valuing the sport to become more competitive at international competitions....but more on that another day.
So during this week of non-stop IMWC thinking, I've come to the re-realization that I MUST get there some day. It kind of stinks that most athletes that get to Kona by finishing in the top 3-5% of their race end up in the 50th percentile in Kona, but it's an experience that I need to have in my life. It's hard to sit back and say I won't go after it asap, but I need to take care of other things first. The bottom line, I'll get there.
Some interesting info I picked up through reading articles, watching clips/interviews, and listening to a couple podcasts with regards to Kona... If you complete 12 full IM's you're automatically accepted to race KONA! (23ish minutes in KonaPodCast). Now the compromise is that it might not be the very next year. It could take quite a few years for WTC to get everyone in. But even still, it's great to know that those spending sooo much time, energy, and money on ironman will have the chance to race the big island. I would never just enter the lottery. That's not how I want to make it there. But if for some reason I just can't get a qualifying slot, it would make me feel better knowing that I earned it by racing enough to get in.
That's all for now. More coming soon. MRI on my possible sports hernia Wednesday.
you totally have what it takes to get there bro-
ReplyDeletenow that you have been through the distance you know what you face and where and when you can take it just a slight notch up. Obviously you were right there this year on your first attempt, and would have taken a slot with just a slightly better swim split. Even more important you will know how to improve and tweak your full training cycle to your benefit.