Greetings and welcome to the Next Level Newsletter – Special Kona 2005 edition!
First up- Athlete news:
- Doug Campbell PRs the Salmon Chase 10k, taking 3rd AG
- Matt Thibodeau PRs by 3 minutes at the Hartford Half-Marathon
- Candice Pulliam drops 20 minutes at the Health First Olympic Distance Triathlon
- Paul Menegazzi takes 4th AG at the Sand Key Triathlon
- Robin Williams PRs by 9 minutes at the Disney Classic 10k
- Coach Marty conquers the Lava fields of Kona
Ford Ironman World Championships:
Wow, what a day. It was an experience like nothing else, racing with the best in the world in our chosen sport. I had a great time and finished with a smile on my face. Thanks for all the positive thoughts and vibes out there. The swim was uneventful, I lined up near the Body Glove boat on the left side and was able to clear the pack quickly. Got into a decent draft with a strung out group and stayed with them until the turnaround. Then the fella in front of me fell off the pace and I tried to catch back up to a pack of about six but no go. Cruised in to about a :55.The bike was not bad, we had a tail wind out for quite a bit. The turn to Havi was difficult, uphill and into the wind. Coming back down from Havi was fast! I stayed relaxed on the bike and rode by heart-rate as I was saving my effort for the run. Was amazed to be passed by at least 200 people on the bike …despite riding around 5:12. There are some fast, strong people in the world!
Got off the bike and felt decent, but the heat and humidity quickly turned me into a puddle of goo. I was sweating so profusely that I couldn’t keep up with my fluid loss. This made things tough. I stayed mentally positive and resolved to do what I could. I was out of T2 in 6:16 and change, which gave me a shot at breaking 10 hours. By the halfway point this goal had become to hang tough and make it under 11 hours. I had to do more walking than I like, but hey, if it was easy it wouldn’t be the world championships! My stomach shut down around mile 20 and I threw up a bunch of liquid at 23. Couldn’t drink anything from there on. Pre-race weight: 160. Post-race weight: 150. Who needs Jenny Craig?
When I made the turn onto Ali’i Drive, all the pain went away. 1000s of screaming spectators guided be to the finish…in a total time of 10:53.18. It was a lot of fun and thanks for all your support.
Richard’s Run for Life:
As you know, I was also racing Hawaii to raise funds for Richard’s Run for Life. Thanks to those of you who have made commitments already. If you’d like to help out this charitable cause, please click this link to see what you can do. Thanks so much.New article:
I wrote a new article on tapering that you might find useful. Check it out here.YMCA Swimming:
Thanks for the wonderful luau, everyone! The team threw me a going away party on Tuesday morning. We continue to have a great time training together and making friends. Check it out here.As usual, there’s more but it’s time for me to go get some breakfast and do some relaxin’ – Hawaii style. See you next time!
Enjoy your sport,
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Marty Gaal
One Step Beyond Multisport Coaching
osbmultisport.com
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