My Brother is Competing in the Hawaiian Ironman Race!

Tired after your 5 mile run? Try 2.4-miles of swimming, 112-miles of biking, and a 26.2-mile marathon run through tough ocean waves, and challenging lava-covered terrain … all in one day. That is what my brother, Dustin, will be doing Saturday, October 9th at the Ironman World Championshipin Kona, Hawaii. And I will be there to watch him! (Pic is of Dustin, on the left)

The Kona Ironman World Championshipis the cream of the crop when it comes to Ironman Triathalons. You have to qualify to be allowed to compete in the race – or be very lucky and get yourself a spot through the lottery. This race began at an Awards Ceremony for a relay running race in Honolulu in 1977. A group of local athletes discussed the idea of an endurance triathlon and combining three major events that already existed on the island. John Collins suggested combining them and making it a single-day event. Later that evening, Collins took the stage announcing the event and that “whoever finishes first, we will call him the IRONMAN.” It has since become triathlon’s Super Bowl, Wimbledon, World Series, World Cup, and Tour de France all rolled into one. For more info, check out this link.

Dustin stats
Age: 38
Ht: 5 10″
Wt: 142
Previous iron man triathlons: Great Floridian, Ironman Lake Placid, Ironman Cour De Alene, Ironman Cozumel
Previous marathons: Baystate, Boston, Vermont City (Burlington), Hyannis

My interview with Dustin pre-race / pre-arrival in Kona
Martha: So what is your typical peak training week like?
Dustin:
Swimming – 4 X per week with Lowell, Ma.,  YMCA Master’s team.  Distances range from 2.5K – 4K with mixed strokes.  Practices will vary in length and intensity depending on the racing schedule.  We substituted 1 indoor workout this summer with an outdoor distance swim in Merrimack River.  We swim 1500m upriver followed by 1500m downriver.  Despite what you may have heard, the Merrimack is quite clean.  They’ve done an amazing job removing debris from the banks and regulating industrial activity along the river.  There’s swimming, boating, and wildlife everywhere!  (pic is of Dustin in the Ironman Cozumel swim leg … can you pick him out of 2000 swimmers?)

Cycling – 4 X per week.  1 night per week I ride with the Gooddales cycling club.  This ride is 40 miles at aerobic threshold pace.  Other rides during the week include 2, 35 milers at a fairly easy pace followed by an 80 – 110  ride on either Saturday or Sunday.  This ride will typically include a 45 minute run immediately after.

Running– 5 x per week.  My running schedule includes 5 runs per week.  Tuesday includes a 50 minute recovery run.  Wednesday is a 5 mile run at the track with 3 miles of interval work broken as 1/4 to 1/2 mile repeats at 10k pace.  Thursday and Friday are a 50 – 60 minute easy run with a 2 hr run on the weekend.

Martha: How many calories do you eat on a typical training day?
Dustin: Honestly, I do not count calories.  I try to make decisions based on the quality of  nutrition versus matching my input versus output.  With that said, I’m very cognizant that you have to properly restore your body’s nutrients after a long day/week in order to make sure your body has what it needs to heal and be ready for the next workout.  I’m a creature of habit when it comes to eating.  Breakfast is always either a “super” smoothie with cereal or a 3 eggomelet. I usually snack on fruit or whatever is floating around my office around mid-morning.  Lunch is always a well balanced meal including a large salad, beef or fish, and nacho chips.  I ALWAYS have a bag nacho chips.  I have another large salad with dinner and either a serving of beef or another good protein and carbohydrate.  I found 4 egg omelets for dinner are great!  You can add almost anything and they taste delicious.  I compliment my salads with a lot of avocado, olive oil, and sea salt.

Martha: Do you find it difficult to keep weight on during peak training season? If so, what do you do to keep from becoming a skeleton?
Dustin: Yes!  I’m still looking for the right mix of sport and nutrition to keep the pounds from falling off!  I’m pretty consistent with eating throughout the day, but it’s still difficult to maintain weight when you commit between 10 – 20hrs to sport per week.

Martha:What time does the Ironman race start?  ( I ask this question a little fearfully as I’m not a morning person …)
Dustin: Ironman Hawaii starts at 7:00 A.M.  There’s a 17 hr. cutoff.
(Pic is of Dustin at the Cozumel ironman)

Martha: How did you qualify to get in?
Dustin:I qualified by placing 8th in my age group at Ironman Cozumel, Mexico in November 2009.  Going into the race, I had no expectation that my result would be good enough for an Ironman Hawaii qualification spot.  It had been 4 years since I participated in an Ironman.  I was just looking for a fun adventure in an interesting destination.  At about 10k into the marathon, there was a large group of spectators that were keeping tabs on the participants and gave us some feedback regarding how we were doing in our respective divisions.  They alerted me that I was fairly high up in my age group. At that point, I committed to a specific minute per mile pace that I believed would have prevented me from getting passed or possibly passing others in my division.  The strategy paid off!  (pic of Dustin 2nd from right at Paris race)

Martha: About how many people in the race?
Dustin: At Ironman Cozumel, I believe there were about 2200 registered with about 2000  completing the race.  I believe there are 1500 – 1700 at Ironman Hawaii.

Hardcore athletic events are not new to Dustin. Some of you may remember the crazy bike race called Paris-Brest-Paris.  This race consists of a 750 mile, out-and-back bike race from Paris to a coastal town in France called Brest. Check out my previous post on this race.

Best of luck to Dustin!

Stay tuned for my report from Hawaii …