Hi All my friends,
Once there was a young man with a big dream who came to Kona on 2003 for his IM Hawaii debut. He stepped down from the plane and started to suffer imedaitltly because of grueling weather condition he never experienced before. Some how he managed to finish the race on 93 spot still happy to be part of it all! Now six years later and after steady learning process on these tricky lava fields his getting to understand what it takes to become a champion here. Well you can say that I m a slow learner but it took seven years for great Mark Allen to understand that.
My day started out like last few years it has been in Kona, after checking my self into T1 I spent my last half an hour with my supporters in front of King Kam. I m quite sure if where in Kona then you couldn’t miss a group of very nice people with huge Blu-Black´n Whit flags following the race. It gives me lots of extra strength to have them on the course.
Swim start was little nervous like always in Kona but after half a mile everybody seemed to find their place under the sun and settled down in good rhythm. I was trying to follow some 55-56´ legs but unfortunately lost them just before turnaround boat. Well then on I just tried to keep myself sheltered behind other swimmers to save as much energy as possible. I exited the water with 59´ feeling quit fresh. Quick T1 and off I went. First hour on the bike felt hard, first Steffen Riesen, well known cyclist, passed me and moments later Mr. Larsen flew past me. I felt crappy but I was still doing 310-320 watts, exactly what I planned. I was starting to feel pit better around scenic point and I noticed that I was way faster then others on the fast sections. On the bottom of Hawi it started to blow quit strong which brought a little smile into my face! At Hawi I was very surprised to see that I was only 7´ back from lead (it was 8´ in Waikoloa) and now the fun begins on downhill! Well it is quit fast with 58-11 gearing doing 100 rpm believe me. After downhill I saw my supporters with big flags they were very excited to report that I was holding 12 spot and just 6.20 behind leader. I kept on holding my 300 watts and I was feeling surprisingly comfortable with it. I entered T2 6´ behind the lead and on 6th position.
ASI photo
After another quick transition I started my run feeling ok and doing 6.30 for a mile. By mile 4 I was 4.40 behind and that was the closest I ever got. I started to suffer, my stomach shuted down and I had to slow down a lot. I tried to restart my system with the toilet stop but it didn’t help much so I just kept on going and trying different things. People were passing me one by one and by NEL I was on 19th position. On my way back from NEL I caught some of the good cyclist and started to get my rhythm back. I finished 14th and 29´ behind winner with poor 3.16 marathon still very happy about my best ever race in Kona which makes also best ever Estonian in Kona too. The days best bike time 4.26´ with 308 watts avg. was very nice! Compeering to last year 4.38´ with 322 watts avg. with the same weight! Scott Plasma 2 is fast especially with Hed Jet 60 C2 wheels! These things work well together!
After starting to work with Jimmy Riccitello two years ago my finishing trend in Kona went up significantly which show clearly that we are on right path. There is still long way to go especially figuring out the right nutrition for the run so I could finally really race it till the end. There is no reason why I shouldn’t be able to run under 3h marathons. I have done it before and also after very hard bike rides!
My trend in Kona after my debut on 2003:
- 2003 – 93.
- 2004 – 49.
- 2005 – 41.
- 2006 – 46.
- 2007 – 24.
- 2008 – 13.
ASI photo.
- Swim: 59.
- Bike: 4.26.
- Run: 3.16
- Total: 8.46
Thank you all for your sms, emails and good words before and after the race. Every little thing helps! Thank You!
Thanks for all my Great Sponsors: SL production, theTriLife.com, Sportland, Hawaii Express, Eesti Kaitsejõud, Scott, Hed, SIS, Blueseventy, Oakley and Fiziik
