Brad Williams- Professional Triathlete ARCHIVES: IM Korea Race Report-KONA BOUND!

6 July 2011-

It really hasn't quite set in what happened on Sunday. I would like to say it was the toughest thing I have ever done but quite honestly it was just a long training day. The thing about IM is it is just a constant grind at the same "slow" pace. But first off, I just want to say THANK YOU to everyone that was following along on race day. Luckily my buddy John was there to update Facebook via twitter as I had a feeling that IM Live was going to be crap. So a BIG thanks to John for keeping everyone updated and for all the support during and after the race.

If you would like a more technical and "tri geek" race report check this one out on Slowtwitch: http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=3420518;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread

The day started out just like every other race day, except a lot earlier. I woke up at 0345 and ate the normal breakfast of 2 instant packs of Oatmeal, 1 Banana, and then a new addition of a thin sliced whole grain bagel. I went to bed having the race day business looming, but I was able to hold it off and actually woke up and took care of business first thing in the morning. Always a good sign when you have a long day ahead of you.

We left the hotel early and got to transition area right around 0510. Started off by dropping off the special need bags and body marking was right there as well. After that it was off to find a bathroom, well the line was ridiculous but we found a bathroom in the coffee shop. They weren't letting athletes use the bathroom though, so we sat down bought a coffee and then I slipped into the hallway where the bathroom was when they weren't looking. Taking care of business was accomplished twice before the race so I felt confident in being good for the whole race. After coffee I headed over to transition area and got everything setup. Then I had some time to just relax before race start. The race jitters were there but I wasn't feeling too bad.

Myself and David Temple, a good friend and training partner here at Osan!

Swim- I just hung out on the beach and didn't get a warmup in. I knew the swim was a long 2.4 miles so figured I would slowly get into my rythym. Well the swim start was pretty brutal, I got kicked, punched, tugged, but luckily after 500 meters of the washing machine effect it all cleared up. I found some feet to draft off of and then found some clean water to swim in. I felt comfortable on the whole swim other than bumping into the rope and buoys a few times, which is equivelant to getting punched. I came out of the first loop grabbed some water and headed back in. I didn't get a time split which I didn't mind as I figured I was on pace. Second loop was un eventful, couldn't find anyone to draft off of and just swam on my own. Overall I felt good about my swim, but even when coming out of the water I still hadn't got a split. So up the beach and in to T1 I went.

The "washing machine" of a swim start!

T1- I had no problem finding my bag on the rack and I was right into the changing tent. No wetsuit strippers were available which kind of sucked but I managed to get it of quite quickly. Got on the helmet and off I was out to the bike. Luckily John was outside of the transition area next to my bike and told me I swam around 57 minutes. First words out of my mouth were "That had to be short"(the course). Had a good exit out of the transition and off I went on the bike.

Headed out on the bike

Bike- I went out and had a plan to take the first hour easy. This was a big mental thing that I had to accept as quite a few people went fyling by me for the first hour. I waited about 30 minutes until I started taking in my calories in. Once I started eating all was good and my stomach was happy to have some food. I stayed on top of my nutrition and continued to monitor my power meter to make sure I was not pushing too hard. By the half way point I was slowly passing all of those people that went flying by me. The bike was pretty un eventful for the most part, I just concentrated on eating and hydrating. By the 150K point we had a line of about 15 guys that were riding legal for the most part, although it was hard as some guys would sit up and then the group would bunch up. Then a climb or two would come and the group would come together up the climb. But other than that I would say the bike course was pretty clean and they actually handed out a handful of penalties which was a suprise to me but I was happy to see it happen as Korea is known for it drafting with no penalties.

Cruising along the coast, beautiful bike course!

T2- John was there and told me I was holding my own and was in the top 6. I knew there was a guy who was a beast on the bike and I asked John where he was and he was 35 minutes up on me. Luckily I was prepared to know he was going to crush the bike and was just hoping I could have a good run and he would have a bad one. Unfortunatley he just crushed the whole course and had a great day, more to come on that later. Our "group" that came into T2 had some problems getting off their bikes and I was about 6 back and watched 3 guys pile up and fall of their bikes, pretty comical to say the least. I took my time getting off the bike, I was already off to one side to do a flying dismount but there wasn't enough bike catchers so I had to wait a few seconds to pass my bike off. Then I was into my run shoes and off I went.

Run- I knew with it being pretty hot and humid my run pace was going to have to adjust. After about the first mile I was aggrivated with my Garmin telling me to speed up, so I turned off the pace alert. I just kept my head in the game watched my nutrition and pushed on, just at a slower pace than planned. The first lap went pretty smooth and I didn't walk much, other than the waterstops. On the start of the second lap the first hill really took it out of me. The sun had just come out and it got HOT, I felt my body temp rising and was in a world of hurt. It was 2K till the next water stop and a majority of it was uphill. A guy that was in our group on the bike came by me and got me going with him. The good thing was it got me to the water stop quicker the bad thing was it was just out right painful. I got to the water stop drank some pepsi and just drenched myself in cold water. Then at that point the 2nd place female pro passed me, Maki who is on Team TBB and is from Japan. I had met her in Singapore and she remembered me from there. We ran together for about 4 or 5 miles, until the last turn around which was about 10K till the finish. I broke down again and started walking and she just kept on trucking on. I got to the turn around after walking about 1/2 mile and got drenched with cold water again drank some pepsi and took in some calories. Some other guys from our ride came along and got me back to running. We ran the last 9K together and up the last hill they continued on and I slowed back to a walk. I had mentally checked out as I did some math an my Garmin said 25 miles and the time of day was 1657, meaning I was not going to break 10. I glanced back around the same time and realized a guy in my AG was coming. I was not sure if he was on his first lap or second so I started running again, well it was more like a trot. I came down the last hill and there was John, Brett and Madden. Brett is my friend from Japan and Madden is his son, they handed me the US Flag and I rounded the last corner. I got to see the 2 guys that I had ran the last 9K with cross the line in what looked like sub 10. The one guy crossed it in 9:59:59, but the official time ended up being 10:00:02, I felt pretty bad for him as he was pushing it hard at the end. At least his finishing picture will show sub 10 ;) As for me I crossed the line at 10:00:31 officially and couldn't of been happier, my first IM was complete!

I look tiny next to that statue!

I had the American flag flying behind me until the last 10 meters and I haven't found a photo of it yet :( This one still turned out good! PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!

Run Stats:

Splits: Placings with just Amatuers
Swim-58:35-39th Overall/7th AG
Bike-5:15:57-29th Overall/5th AG
Run- 3:40:54-41st Overall/8th AG
Total: 10:00:31* Kona Qualified :)
AG-4th/35(finishers)44(starters)- The top3 in my AG M25-29 were also in the Top 10 Overall including Pros, the Amateur winner was in my AG. I would say our AG was quite stacked, well those first 3 guys ;)!
19th Overall Amateur out of 806 Starters
27th Overall Including Pros
(The results did not have T1/T2 times in them and athlete tracker was not working)
Finish Picture:

And that is the Golden Ticket to Kona :)!!!!!

Gear:
Wetsuit- 2008 Zoot Zenith
Kit- Kiwami Konami (AWESOME!)
Shoes- Zoot TT 4.0
Glasses- Oakley Jawbones
GPS: Forerunner 305

Nutrition:
Pre Meal- 1 Banana, 2 packets of Quaker Instant Oatmeal (Apple Cinnamon), 1 Thin Sliced Whole Grain Bagel, 1 Cup of Coffee.
Swim- 1 cup of water after first loop
Bike- 2 Concentrated Bottles (1 at start/1 at special needs which was frozen night before) of 4 scoops Perpetum+5oz of EFS Liquid Shot+1 Hammer Gel, 1 packets of Honey Stinger Organic Chews, 2 packs of Clif Blocks, Approx 5 sport bottles of Gatorade, Approx 2 bottles of water. Total Calories: Approx-2800
Run- 2 Gel Flask of 3oz EFS Liquid Shot+2 Hammer Gel, ½ bottle of Coke at Special Needs, Aprrox 12 small cups of Pepsi, Approx 6 small cups of Gatorade, Approx 12 cups of water, and 20 Gallons of Ice cold water poured over head/body!

I can't THANK everyone enough for all the support that was sent my way during and after the race. Truly amazing to have such awesome family and friends in my life. I am looking forward to the journey to Kona as it is only 95 days away. I look forward to sharing some stories along the way with everyone and hoping to just inspire 1 person at a time to begin a healthy lifestyle. THANKS AGAIN!