Tony Herndon @ KONA!

On a day when conditions were very tough I learned first hand why racing at Kona is like no other race in the world. Having completed two other Ironman races and placing in the top 150 in both I felt like I might place well at this race. Nothing can be farther from the truth. Below is as much as a detailed racap as I can remember.

The night before I developed a GI bug that came back to haunt me during the race. I was so nervous that I could not sleep more than an hour at a time. I cannot do justice in describing the excitement and atmosphere leading up to the race. I realized that I was about to compete in something that I have dreamed about since 1982 when I watched Dave Scott run in the lava fields.

Swim- The swim went better than I thought. The water was fairly choppy but I was able to swim out wide and avoid most of the fighting that can occur in these races. I feel into a group that was swimming about the pace that I wanted to go. My goal was to come in at 58-60 minutes. In past races I was 53 minutes but wetsuits were allowed and that was in Lake Placid which is like swimming in a pool. Finishing up the swim I got goose bumps hearing the music and seeing everyone on the pier. Place was about 300 out of the water.

Bike- My coach had ridden the course on Monday and warned me about the conditions out on the course. The first 10 miles were an out and back with a gentle climb. My coach wanted me to hold back which is difficult to do early when everyone is screaming the announcer is calling your name out over the PA system etc.
The first hour was gentle climbs and descents and I was able to hold my power where I wanted and drink my food.
The second hour we hit a rough area with significant cross winds for about 10 miles that made it difficult to keep my bike upright let alone maintain the power range that my coach had outlined. My shoulder started to hurt a bit from stabilizing my bike. My power average was 178 for the first two hours. Goal was 175.
Third and fourth hours were the most difficult on the course. The famous climb up Hawi that everyone had warned me about was worse than I had thought. A 18 mile climb that took about an hour and 45 minutes. Crosswinds were from 40-60 mph and I seriously thought that I might not be able to bring it home.(Think Hurricane Gustav type winds) Well finally at the top of the climb, we had a nice downhill portion until the trade winds turned and headwinds which stayed with us the remainder of the race. Unfortunately, my stomach turned sour and I started developing intestinal cramping. I had to ditch my liquid nutrition plan and tried to eat Cliff shots which were more conentrated and the same amout of calories. I was nauseated and could only take about half of them down. My power average was 165 within my range at this point.
Hours 5-6:37 were a real struggle I had to force hydration and nutrition and tried to enjoy the lava fields and ocean views. Power fell to 160 and then 143 over last 30 minutes. HR was within range the entire ride at 135 bpm. My legs actually felt okay afer 112 miles and I was never so happy to be off the bike.
Place off of the bike was about 1300th.

Run- Well on run I knew that I might be in trouble because of my stomach. First mile was 8:00 minute which was a little slow but felt okay. I tried to drink my nutrition but just could not stomach it. Each mile I struggled to drink something. I tried water which would not give me nutrition, gatorade diluted with water which still made me gag and coke which was too sweet and soup which actually felt the best. The first 10 miles were out and back and I was able to see my family twice on the run which was a huge lift but after I left them I had 16 miles to go and it turned into the proverbial "death march" My goal turned from running 7:15 pace to running from one mile to the next mile. The temperature cooled down at this point. At mile 19 out nutrition bags were waiting for us but I could not eat anything at that point and just went throught the water stops trying to drink water.
The last 5 miles were in the dark with no street lights. It was interesting to say the least. Finally as I came back into town and hit mile 25 I realized I would accomplish my goal although much slower than I would have hoped. Seriously, I could care less at this point. My family was waiting at mile 26 and I finished the last 100 yards with pride and feeling a little bad that they had to wait 12 hours for me to finish. Overall finish was about 1200th with a time of 12:31.

I wanted to thank everyone again for all of the support along the way, I told Elena(wife) that I am not sure that I would have finished if I did not have my family there and all of you guys at home that had supported me.