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1. Can you describe the difference in how you feel racing Kona as opposed to
racing other IM events?
It is a very difficult event to prepare for in many ways. The race is at the end of the season, so making sure you arrive injury free and healthy is important and secondly it is the biggest race of the year, so when you decide to start in the event, basically the rest of your season is judged upon your performance in that single race. For these two reasons the added pressure of this event make it a much different feel to any other event you compete in. You have your own personal ambitions and expectations that come with racing in Kona, but really the pressure and the build comes from the level of hype that this single event generates within our sport. It is our Wimbledon. I think many other Ironman races in the World hold just as much significance, and are actually bigger events to win, but within our sports history and the media around this race, it is THE event on the racing calendar. You know it is going to be a tough day. Not a fast day, but hard, and that is always tough to get your head around
2. With all the great courses around the world now for IM events, how do
you rate the Kona course?
To be honest the Kona course is very bland and quite boring. After racing a lot in Europe the atmosphere in Kona is a real let down as well. The course has it days. If the wind and humidity are up, you will not find a tougher event in the world to do. If you get a good day, it is a relatively easy event. I have tasted both types of conditions and they are so far ranging it is like you are racing two different events. I think this is what makes the mystique of this event so special, because you never know what you are going to get. The swim is nice, the bike can be challenging and the heat and humidity on the run make it very tough. Over all I rate the Kona course as a very unpredictable event that can be your worst nightmare or a day you conquer quite easily. Some athletes will find it very easy as the speed is not high and they handle humidity better than others, some will see it as the toughest day on earth. It is not the course that does this, but the conditions.
3. Over the 30 years the champs have been going, what and by who do you rate as being the standout best ever performance?
For me the greatest performance I have viewed in Kona was the victory by Mark Allen in 1995 when he ran over the top of Thomas Hellriegal to win his 6th Kona title. It was an amazing performance and an absolute superman effort. I also think the year Norman Stadler won his second World title in 2006 with the bike ride and run he put together. That was amazing.
> 4. How has your preparation been going leading into the race?
I feel pretty good to be honest. The key to success in Kona is arriving at the event with a little left to give. We have been really aware this year of not digging too many holes in training. I have had a very heavy racing schedule but have enjoyed this and tried not to over do my training volumes. We have some serious work to do over the next few weeks, but overall I am really excited about the race. I just love being able to compete in Kona. For so many years it was about winning the race and proving myself. I really am content as an athlete in myself, and my career. I have achieved everything I have ever wanted to do in the sport and much more. In these last few years of my career, I really want to take some time and enjoy the journey and the events with my family and for myself. I really feel the last few years have been super enjoyable and my results have been excellent with this mindset. Kona this year will be great fun.
5. Do you have a lucky charm or ritual you must perform for the race?
I have to eat Lasagna the night before the event. My mother cooked this for me when I was boy before every event I ever did, so I have carried this with me through all my career. I also put two photos of my girls on each side of my handlebars. It is always a picture of them laughing or smiling. I often look down at them and have a smile myself. This often keeps everything in perspective for me now.
6. What are you best and worst experiences of racing Kona?
I have tasted every Hawaii emotion there is. I think this has given me a fine appreciation of this event. For me it was harder to win this race than it was an ITU World Championship. I still believe the ITU World Cup circuit is the most competitive circuit in the World and to be successful on this circuit you need to know how to prepare, plan and execute. Hawaii is a very different beast in the sense, that if you can perform well in heat and humidity then this is a race you can be successful at. If not then it may pose a problem for you. For this reason I don’t necessarily think that the best athletes are always winning in Kona. They are stellar athletes, don’t get me wrong, but some of the sports best ever triathlete’s never won in Kona, only because their physiology did not allow it to occur. I felt I was almost one of those athletes, and it took me quite some time to build a race strategy and plan that would allow me to execute a race that ultimately won the event. I don’t thin it was my best race at the distance. I have had much better races in Europe at the distance. This being said,
I think my worst experience in Kona was in 2002. When I first came across to Ironman Hawaii in 2002, I had not lost a non-drafting Triathlon in 2 years. I won Ironman on debut and had done 2 half Ironmans and won both of those. I had been racing very well on the World Cup circuit with two wins the previous year and 4-podium finishes. I figured I would do the same in Kona. I really was a rookie and when I look back now I cringe at the mistakes I made and how raw and silly I was. I got off the bike with a 13- minute lead and folded in the lava fields. It was ugly. I had many years in Kona where I really struggled in the conditions. These failings made me learn about what I needed to do to perform for long periods of time in this heat. It was obvious the distance was not the issue as I was winning Ironmans around the World in super fast times and in highly stacked fields against the guys who were winning in Kona. I had figure out a way to allow my body to get as close to 100 percent out of myself in these conditions.
I think my most satisfying race was the event where I came through and finished in 6th place in 2005. I was having another terrible day and almost dropped out of the event. I was so far behind, and had got off my bike to quit out near the bike turn at Havi. Thomas Hellriegal rode past me, yelled at me to get back on my bike and talked me back into the event. I threw every thing I had learned about race day nutrition out the door and started drinking coke only and caffeine Gels. I was 20 minutes behind Faris at Havi and in the end he beat me by 7 minutes. I put together the fastest marathon of the day to win the race and finally conquer this fear of the marathon in Hawaii. I had run 2:40 marathons off the bike in other events around the World, and finally posted the fastest time on a tough day in Kona<!--EndFragment-->
