Journey to Kona Day 222: The Ironman "Light Switch"

I'll never forget the feeling of a light switch going off during the bike portion of my first ironman in 2010.  I was around mile 80 on the St. George bike course, still with a considerable amount of climbing left, when it happened.  After fourteen ironman's I now know what it means and what to do. It usually means that you're not adequately nourished, or your fatigue level has hit a wall.  The solution is to slow down, eat, drink, and recover.  It's a long day and there's actually time to gain by slowing down.  Pushing hard is not only the wrong approach, but any short term time gains are overshadowed by far greater time losses later in the race.  During Ironman Chattanooga in 2016 I got dehydrated towards the end of the bike, and didn't realize it until I got to the first mile of the run.  But, I knew what to do.  I walked until mile 6, hydrated, nourished, and recovered.  I then ran the last 20 miles, passing most if not all of the people who had passed me while I was walking.

I encountered the "light switch" during my long run today.  I was following a strict MAF protocol for my run today.  I was solely focused on my HR and never looked at my pace.  The first mile was around 120 bpm, and my HR came up to ~130 by my third mile. The next eight miles saw my heart rate go up slowly, but still was mostly in the low 130's. I was sweating a ton, and probably not drinking enough.  Since the loops were 5.2 miles, and I only brought one bottle along to drink, I certainly wasn't getting enough fluids for the amount I was sweating.  That won't happen at Kona.  I'll be able to practice in hot yoga for drinking a ton while sweating a ton.  Still, my legs felt fine, albeit still fatigued from Friday's bike ride.

My run pace actually held very steady right around 10 minute per mile pace through 11 miles.  My heart rate was also ok, considering that it was getting warmer the longer I ran.  From a MAF perspective, my first 11 miles were excellent.  And then the light switch went off.  Miles 12-16 were a slog.  My heart rate was trying to increase, and I managed to keep it from going up too much as my pace dropped a full minute to 11 minute per mile.  The interesting thing was that I held that for five miles.  My legs were tired, with no soreness whatsoever. This was about fatigue, and possible hydration and nutrition.  However, to some degree, I think that this was the fatigue that I wrote about yesterday.  It was time to start my taper.  My 20 mile long run would be 16 miles today.  My three hour run, would be 2 hours and 45 minutes.  Physically, there was no reason to push further on either front.  I know that I can run a marathon.  I know that I can suffer with the elements.  I know that I can slog forward despite fatigue.

I hope that I won't feel the "light switch" go on during Kona.  But, if it does, I'll know what to do.  In the meantime, it's time to start my taper!