2013 Ironman World Championship - Race Report

Background
This was my second time racing Kona. In 2009 I qualified via IMLOU. I toed the line just 6 weeks later, exhausted and came away with a 10:45. This time around I qualified at the other end of the spectrum, IMWIS 2012. This allowed me 13 months to train and prepare to race in Oct! As I've detailed in my blog, this approached was also less than ideal for me. Late in my build-up, I struggled with injury and burnout.

Pre-race Goals
On each of my qualifying runs I grabbed the last spot in my AG. Arriving in Kona, I was not delusional with any goals of being competitive within the AG. Instead I set some specific goals racing against the clock and focused on pacing with a strategy to finish strong, with confidence to bring another ironman chapter to a close.

1. Sub 1hr swim with a smart/controlled effort
2. <200W bike, nail nutrition, finish strong (hope for 5:20)
3. 3:20 marathon, ease in to goal pace
4. Sub 10
5. Sub 9:43 (IM PR)

Goals - Kona 2013

Before I go into where I want to be (IMH goals) I want to step back and start with where I'm coming from.

Background
In 2007 for my first ironman, I had no idea what I was doing. I swam biked and ran as much as I could, slowly adapting my definition of what it meant to Go Long. I made a lot of the 1st time Ironman mistakes on race day and was lucky to sneak in just under 10:45 at IMLP.

In 2009 I was still racing without a power meter and had very few commitments. I racked up big volume and knowing what I know now about bike effort and discomfort, I was likely racking up hour after hour at sub75%FTP. Big volume and a little more race experience was enough to get me by. I went 9:46 at IMLOU and snagged my first ticket to Kona. Racing 6 weeks post IMLOU was brutal but as a 1st timer to Kona it was everything I expected it to be. INCREDIBLE!....