Matt Nussbaum – Age Grouper

Everything that I’ve done for the last year has been driving toward this day. I was a little worried the night prior that my nerves weren’t running higher which was weird to realize and think about. I had planned and replanned every aspect that I could and had the race plan committed to memory. All that was left was to exercise the fitness I’ve worked so hard to build and make it happen.

I got to the venue way earlier than needed but that gave me plenty of time to use the portojohn and get to the corral to sit and center myself. The cannon for the pros was the thing that really woke me up to what was about to happen. It was mostly nervous excitement. My group was the 2nd age group to go off which gave me an extra couple minutes to breath and calm myself down. I saw Colin and got a 3 word pep talk as we were being guided to the water which helped too. The long swim to tread water at the start line was great for me mentally. It gave me a chance to get in some strokes and hang out in my element.

I lined up on the outside edge figuring the minor extra distance was worth clear water. That was definitely the right way to go. It looked pretty chaotic in the thick of it just treading so I can only imagine what it was like when the horn went off. I went pretty hard off the line with fairly clear water for the first two buoys.

I pulled my line in toward the buoys after the second one which was a little too early and wound up fighting the group a bit. I got water splashed in my mouth on a lot of breaths during the chaos. I didn’t want to swing back out so I waited another minute or two to recover from the start pace and surged hard to try and split away from the group. A lot of the front of the group tried to stay with me for probably 30 seconds before falling off so my move pretty much worked. It was just one other guy with me at that point. I wound up actually recognizing it was the guy who led the whole Maine swim with me. We swam side by side at a decent clip until we ran into the back of the previous wave and had to maneuver through.

We stayed together pushing through the group around the first turn. I squeezed through a hole just before the second turn and dropped him there. I felt a jellyfish sting my arm, neck, and foot just after the second turn which was more annoying than anything else. I stayed on the gas for the return leg and held a tight line next to the buoys which was oddly well inside the people I was passing. The water got a little surgy and rough approaching the pier and swim exit. It was super calm until then so I can’t really complain. Also, it’s hard to complain about a 54:20 swim.

I took my time in transition making sure to hose off the salt, get my swim skin off, drink some water, and get my gear on right before jogging in bike shoes to my rack spot. I’m sure I could have gone 30 seconds or a minute faster but felt like that was a fairly marginal price to make totally sure I was ready for a tough ride.

I went out way too hard trying to fight through the masses on the Palani/Kuakini circuit. My legs were a bit more tired than they should have been when I finally settled in on the Queen K. I decided to undershoot my power targets a bit to make sure I was recovered well before I was going to need to push up the hill to Hawi. I was in and out of a couple different groups as people passed me and then eased so far off that I had to pass them back. By the time I got to Mauna Lani, I was pretty solidly with a good group. I heard and then saw the race official moto coming up from behind us as we were heading up one of the rollers and I remembered Colin telling me to gun it if that happens to make absolute sure I wouldn’t get called for drafting. I went hard and passed 4 guys to the front and settled back in to the right pace. I saw her writing in her notebook as she went past so I think someone in the group got called. That happened at least two more times on the ride up to Hawi which were a whole bunch more surges that I wasn’t planning on.

I was right on track with my nutrition from the start of the bike leg which I think is a first for me. The aid stations went pretty perfectly beside running over a dropped bottle in the first one. I grabbed and stowed the first bottle if I was going to need to use it for mix and always grabbed one to spray myself for cooling in between sips before dropping it empty just as instructed. Unfortunately at some point on the climb to Hawi my stomach decided something was not right and started letting water back up. It was only about half of a mouthful in a given ejection but I hadn’t experienced it since some rough swims last season. I’m assuming it was just sea water that took a while to get recognized.

Despite the stomach issue, I kept pushing the slightly lower power target all the way up to Hawi and around the turn to head back. The crosswinds were pretty light on the day. There was the occasional gust to keep me awake but it sounds like it can be way worse. The pack thinned out more and more as the miles clicked off. I felt like I was alone a lot of the time other than someone blowing past and quickly heading into the distance. The last 10 or 15 miles had an awesome tailwind. I was pushing low watts and still going 30-35 which is a great feeling. My legs didn’t feel great at the end but I knew I could make the marathon happen. I was pretty stoked to have made it well under 5 hours too.

I pulled my shoes off riding the last quarter mile so I could run in socks instead of clomping in cleats. I got my bike racked quickly thanks to some volunteers directing me and headed to the change tent to prepare myself for the hard part. I sat to put on my shoes, race belt, sunscreen, and the water belt that I decided to use just in case the aid stations were stingy. I ate my banana power walking out of transition and grabbed a couple cups of water on the move. Just as with T1, I’m sure I could have gone faster but I felt it was a fair price.

My stomach was still pretty ragged and my legs were feeling the miles. I’m almost a little grateful that I didn’t feel great since it made it mentally easier to stick to the pace plan. The target seemed pretty slow but I had no idea what would happen once things got real. The run down Alii was pretty cool with tons of spectators and a bunch of houses spraying runners with hoses. I just clicked off the miles on target letting people pass me without giving them a 2nd though. I was only a little surprised to see people breathing heavy and starting to blow up in the first 7 miles. I power walked through each aid station to make sure to get my hydration down and some ice in my suit. I saw Colin looking strong going one way down Alii as I was going back up and there was a quick fist bump. My stomach was finally coming around when I turned up Palani hill and I started the quick shuffle up that. Colin’s advice to go slow slow up that rang in my ears and I followed the instructions keeping my heart rate as low as I could. It helped that there was an aid station in the middle to walk through too. That was the point I decided the water belt was doing more harm to my stomach than any other good so dunking it into the trash can was pretty satisfying.

I got over the hill quickly after that and continued onto the Queen K for the start of the hard part. I was feeling really good jogging down the highway with more and more people starting to fall off. I was feeling good but didn’t want to cook myself so I gave it a couple extra miles beyond the plan before squeezing the throttle a bit to play it safe. I could see the turn that would take me to the energy lab from a ways away but it was hard to tell how far. That stretch felt like it went on forever. When I finally took the turn it was pretty freeing jogging down the hill toward the energy lab. There were some strong looking people running back up and a fair number of others walking back up broken. I was determined not to let that be me. I got around the turnaround and the end and started making my way back up. I saw Colin again maybe 10 minutes later. I just stayed calm and stuck to the plan. I was willing to let my heart rate get to about 158 before dialing back trying to ride it. It was so hot running up that hill with what felt like still air. When I finally made it back to the Queen K for the return to town, I totally understood just how that section could break you if you went too hard ahead of it.

My feet were screaming running back up the highway. There were only 8 miles to go so I did my best to ignore it and click off the miles. The stretch back down the Queen K felt longer than the run up. I was elated when I got to the last hill that took me to the top of Palani. The crowd at the crest blasting music and cheering was a welcome sight. I turned down the hill for the most painful part of the run. It felt like nails were being driven into each of my toes. I stopped caring about the pain when I turned onto Kuakini highway and started picking up the pace for the final stretch. I turned onto Alii toward the finish and ran down the best chute in the sport.

Finally crossing that finish line was more rewarding than I could have imagined and I was absolutely blown away when I saw 9:32 on my watch. I thought it would be cool to PR here, but I never dreamed that I would do it by over 20 minutes. I’ll need to think about new, bigger goals for next year and beyond but for now I think it’s time for vacation.

Swim Split: 0:54:20 (17th AG – 78th Overall)

Bike Split: 4:49:41 (61st AG – 234th Overall)

Run Split: 3:39:17 (138th AG – 619th Overall)

Overall Time: 9:32:31 (76th AG – 271st Overall)