Why Kona? I asked myself this question in my last blog. I know that I’ve tried to answer this question before. I’m certain that I’ve blogged about it. But one thing is clear to me and that is nothing is certain. What we think one day is just what we think that day. We can change our minds, we can learn new things, we can recognize that our motives can shift. As I start my journey of evaluating my priorities, I begin with my journey to Kona.
As I written before, this journey began when I watched Wide World of Sports in 1982 and saw Julie Moss crawl across the finish line at the Ironman. Something connected in me about committing to a goal to a degree that nothing could stop me. I believe in setting the bar high, so high in fact, that sometimes it is unreachable. Kona has been that bar for me over the years. From the time I set a goal of doing an ironman when I turned 40, to when I absolutely committed to doing an ironman once I turned 50. I remember that first ironman, done just 6 months after breaking my hip socket and clavicle. In my mind, I was trying to figure out how to qualify for Kona. It’s kind of silly, looking back, how in my mind I would calculate what I needed to do, even though there really was no evidence that I was capable of doing it. Yet, the bar was there.
After retiring for the first time, I thought that I’d increase my training and work towards qualifying for Kona for “real.” Life happened, I got plantar fasciitis, a new business venture, other life stressors. I made my prioritization decisions. Qualifying for Kona moved further away for a period of time, and might have fallen off my radar if not for the brilliance of the World Triathlon Corporation. They came up with a device called the “Legacy Program.” Complete 12 Ironman's and qualify for Kona. The game was on, in earnest. In 2014, I completed three full Ironman’s. I registered fo three more in 2015, but skipped the first one due to an injury and starting a new job. I managed to do the second one, though it was tough, and I was fortunate that the third one was cancelled (I was actually relieved). In reality, I’d already moved on in my life to deciding that I still had a career related priority that mattered. My desire to help advance the health and wellbeing of older adults in our society had managed to work its way to the forefront of my desires. Ironically, once I felt settled in my new work endeavor, the Kona desire reemerged.
Twenty miles every week for twenty weeks became my goal in 2016. The near term goal was clear, the long term goal was Kona. It was obvious that the marathon was my “weak link” in ironman competitions. my swim was decent, my bike was solid. If I could run a fast marathon, I could be competitive. And, in fact, I was. My showing at the 2016 Ironman Boulder confirmed my suspicions. I ended up 6th in my age group, just one place off the podium, still 45 minutes from a Kona qualifying slot, but more tantalizingly, I would have won the 60-64 age group. Yes, three years was a long way to go to try to hold my form and fitness. And, in many ways, 2016 was my “last hurrah,” until now. So, why Kona? I haven’t answered that question in this blog, so I will continue in my next one!
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