Journey to Kona Day 246: Lessons from my Legacy Qualifying Race, IM Santa Rosa 2017, #12!

Three days before Kona, and today I reminisce about the Ironman that got me here. There's an irony as well, since I've been feeling a bit under the weather while I await my big day.  Ironman Santa Rosa in 2017 was a bittersweet race.  The sweet part was the fact that finishing it punched my ticket to Kona.  The bitter part was that I "joked" that it was my least favorite Ironman (until the next IM Santa Rosa, it would turn out).  Why was it my least favorite?  Because I raced with a full blown cold.  It wasn't that I didn't have a decent performance that day. In fact, it is still my Ironman bike PR. It wasn't that I was probably about 30 minutes slower than I should have been. It wasn't that my age group placement wasn't quite up to the level that I've come to expect from myself.

Ironman Santa Rosa 2017 was my least favorite Ironman because I had a cold.  Who likes having a cold? Who feels good when they have a cold? It's funny, because I pride myself on having a high pain threshold, which I do. I just hate it when I have a cold.  It's a miserable feeling that I just don't like.  While I don't have a cold this week, I've been struggling with sinus issues.  I'm hoping to have these issues behind me by race day, but if I don't I can call upon my Santa Rosa experience to help pull me through on Saturday.  There is one take home from my race report (http://wassdoc.blogspot.com/2017/07/kona-legacy-spot-and-my-least-enjoyable.html) that is notable, I did better in regards to feeling the misery of a cold once it warmed up!  It was chilly in Santa Rosa that morning, and through the early parts of the bike ride.  It won't be chilly in Kona, not early, not ever!

The human body has always fascinated me.  That may be one reason that I decided to become a doctor.  It's certainly the reason that I'm a Geriatrician.  As a older triathlete, I continue to be astounded by what the human body can do.  My head and neck aren't 100% today, but the rest of my body feels pretty good.  I struggle a little with my respiratory tract when my sinuses are acting up.  I had asthma as a child, and occasionally my body remembers that by bringing back some symptoms from those days.  Again, the warm air and humidity should actually help that aspect of things. On the other hand, when any of us struggle with little things like this, we can look at people like Rudy Garcia-Tolson and see what he's accomplished by focusing on what tools he has available to him.

I also remember persevering on the run at Santa Rosa.  The middle lap was tough, I was slowing down, but I didn't want to carry that through to the last lap.  That's what I love the most about Ironman, dealing with those tough times and pushing through them.  Much like I did in 2009 in my only DNF, riding my bike 48 miles and walking 3.5 miles with a fractured hip socket and clavicle.  There really isn't much that I can't tolerate to complete an Ironman.  On Saturday, I will deal with whatever comes my way on the greatest Ironman stage in the world!  This is the course that humbled Julie Moss.  It humbled Mark Allen several times before he "figured it out." Even the great Paula Newby-Fraser was not immune to the wiles of Kona.  I could go on and on.  My race plan is becoming clearer by the day, and if I'm not 100%, that will only push me to follow my plan even more diligently.  Following that plan is what will get me to the finish in the most expeditious fashion. That's what I learned from my Legacy qualifying race in 2017, Ironman Santa Rosa.