Suzie Trains Maui BLOG

I was sorry to have missed the very special Maui Marathon. Although, many miles away, a special friend and athlete, Phil McGain was there enjoying the gorgeous scenery and tells the story like many before of his race adventures. His time, an impressive 4 hours 9 minutes, although his goal was to be under 4; he had a smooth start, but couldnt’ find his second bottle of hidden Coke. Towards the end, suffered severe dreaded cramping but of course still finished with a smile.

“I’m feeling good, so I start to pick up the pace just a bit. I hit half marathon in 1 hour 57 minutes, I’m now shooting for a sub 4 hour marathon and if things go well, maybe 3.55. Now at 8.45 pace and going strong. Coming up to Lahaina I had stashed some Coke bottles the day before, so I pick up my first one, I remember exactly where it was, but the second, I spaced on, couldn’t find it, oh well.”

Another entertaining story of the race that captured 2600 participant’s hearts from around the globe on our treasured island. Phil, thanks for the fun and inspiring read. I’m sure the runners that you’ll be helping next month on the Big Island for the IRONMAN, will be thrilled to see you there.. Thanks, Suzie!

Maui Marathon, Septemer 2009
Number 8 in the Bag, can’t believe it’s my 8th marathon. Always go into these crazy races with high expectations, trying to figure out your finish time, getting the right pace at each part of the race. I had a good build up, mostly working on my speed, but did do some long runs, 17, 20, 17, then tapering down to 12 the week before.

It was a 5.30am start from the Kaahumanu shopping center. The usual hot shots were there which I recongnised and had a quick chat, Wild Billy Conner, Arol, Jamie Kemmel leading the leaders on this bike. I was near the front of the line, not sure why because I’m not very fast, but ma y as well be the front of the pack at least for a few seconds.

BANG, right on 5.30, we were off in the dark, heading down, not sure the name of the street, but we quickly get onto the highway leading over to Maalaea, nice pace around 9 minute miles, starting to get sweaty pretty quick, it was going to be a hot one. Half way across the sun was rising over the mighty Haleakala, which was beautiful. Eventually turned left at the lights and headed down hill to Maalaea Harbour. Cruising down this hill was fun, now at around a 8 minute mile pace, which was too much for me, but what the hell, we are going downhill. Continue reading Maui Marathon September 20 2009 Phil McGain Great Finish Another Great Story

This is the final journal entry of our Maui’s, Phil McGain as he crosses the finish line! As always, entertaining and very inspiring!

“I started to high five and low five anyone who put out there hand and even people who didn’t put out there hand, I was on a high at this point, I was about to finish, I wanted to make the most of it.”

The RUN 26.2 miles of pain and pleasure.

I sat down and pulled off my bike shirt, throw on my running shirt, get my compression socks on which are really tight and hard to pull on, shoes are on, tied, hat on, GPS on, I bolt out of there which seemed like a few minutes but I think it was more like 4 minutes. I look down at my GPS and see my pace at 11 minute per mile, slow down I tell myself, you want to be around 11.5 minute per mile until you get your running legs and get a feel for how your energy level is. I come to the first aid station, people everywhere, “water, coke, gel, Iso, cake, bars, fruit”, it’s all there. Yes this race is well-catered and good thing. I grab a water and have my first gel and a salt tablet. I’m feeling wonderful.  The entire run course is lined with people, all cheering, sitting in chairs, drinking German beer, sleeping, enjoying the fact that we are out here doing all the work and they get to sit relax and watch. Continue reading Maui’s, Phil McGain Part 3 “The Run” Germany IRONMAN

Phil writes and recaps part I of the race: The Swim!
“Already I’m hitting people as I stay afloat and they are hitting me, arms, legs, hands, knee’s.”

Phil's Finish!

The big Day. Ironman Germany, European Championship

It’s Thursday now after the race and my head is still fresh from the day. Where to start? Some words run through my head, amazing, my perfect race, incredible human spirit, challenging, ecstatic, electric atmosphere.

Im going to split this up into 3 separate reports, Swim, bike and run, they are going to be long.

Sunday I woke up at 4am and immediately had some energy drink, the rule of thumb is eat and drink 3 hours before race time so the body has time to digest the food into the system and then 15 minutes before the start have another energy drink with a gel.

Oatmeal, fruit, a powerbar, two bottles of Hammer pupeution endurance mix. It wasn’t easy to get all that down in such a short time, but I managed, I already felt full from that, oh well. I finished packing my bottles with endurance mix in them, got on my race gear, which is tri shorts and a biking top, wrapped around my heart rate monitor strap, tossed my wetsuit over my shoulder with my back pack and headed out the door down to the lobby. Thinking as I went down the elevator, “have I forgotten anything, what else do I need”, ok I had pre race nerves. I had my bike, my bike shoes, running shoes, wetsuit, goggles, swim cap, race number, gels, powerbars, salt tablets, clothes to change into afterwards, there must be more which I can’t remember now. There is a lot of stuff you need for the long day of racing and one thing forgotten can bite you in the butt at some stage during the day.

The lobby was full of activity at 4.45am, people everywhere, eating, drinking coffee, running out the door. This was it, it was race morning at the continental hotel, the place was a buzz with adrenaline with some of the best athlete’s on the planet. Terrenzo walked passed and wished me good luck, Macca seemed relaxed chatting to some friends, the Germans had their game faces on. Finally on the bus which was full, I immediately heard chatter, “how do you feel?, how many Ironmans have you done?, the stories were all around already. The fellow next to me was English so we got chatting, it was his fourth Ironman, so I immediately asked for his words of wisdom. “take it easy on the second half of the bike leg, don’t blow up the legs”, it was good advice, but how will I know? How fast can I go, when can I push it? The other words of wisdom, “was make sure you eat every 20 minutes on the bike”, which I’ve heard now from everyone and probably one of the most important aspects of the race. If you run down your calories without replenishing then your in big trouble and you can’t catch up.

We arrive at the swim lake and the place is packed with thousands of people, camera’s everywhere, the competitors piling into the transition area preparing their bikes for the 112 mile journey, volunteers to help you if you need anything. I got to my bike and put down my stuff. Time to pee already. Heading to the porta potties I see no lines, which is amazing for a race like this. The Germans again have done a great job on the organization. Back to my bike and I prepare my water bottles and food, get them on the bike, look around for a pump to check my tire pressure, finally found one and got that job out of the way. It’s now only 5.45am, but I know time is going to pass quickly before the 7am start. Double check my bike area and get my shoes in place ready when I come up out of the water and transition onto my bike. Ahah, my new Helmut is sitting on my aerobars ready to get tossed on my head, race belt with my number, is beside it.

Back to the bathrooms again for number 2, sorry about the detail, but it’s so clear now as I visualize myself back at race day. I have time so I want to check out the pro’s bikes and see what they are up too. The area where the pro’s bikes are is crowded, everyone is trying to get a glimpse of these super athlete’s, including myself. Most of the pro’s are not even there, they are already down at the water getting warmed up for the swim.

It’s now 6.30am so I figure one more check on my bike, get my wetsuit on and head down to the water’s edge to get my feet wet. The pro’s start a 6.45am, so I want to check out that start because right after the age groupers are going to start crowding the starting line, I don’t want to be left behind in the pack too much at the start. Funny Phil!!!

The pro’s start on time and within minutes they disappear out into the lake. They will do the 2.4 mile swim between 45 and 50 minutes. Yep that is twice as fast as me. Less than 1 minute per 100 metres. Try it, get in a pool and swim 100 metres, they are flying I can assure you, but not just the swim, they are full speed the whole race, red lining it, pushing the very limits of human endurance and pain.

We move up to the line with 10 minutes to go before the start. I’m about mid way on the line, about 20 metres back. I’m treading water now as well as everyone else, it’s still 10 minutes to go. Already I’m hitting people as I stay afloat and they are hitting me, arms, legs, hands, knee’s. Not much conversation either. Im excited to get going but still 5 more minutes of treading water in one spot. I take a look around and see at least 75 yards behind me full of bodies, red swim caps, the shore line is full of thousands of people, I hear the commentator “3 minutes to start”, then more hitting with arms and legs, people are crowding to the starting line which is protected by about 30 kayaks keeping everyone back. You just can’t help touching people as they move closer and closer to the starting line, but no where to move.

“One minute to start time”. Excitement overwhelms my body at this stage, I start hooting and yelling as does everyone else, “30 seconds to start time”. I think this is it, I’m going to start my first Ironman in less than one minute, all the training, the pain, the sweat for this one day. BANG we start, but we don’t move, I start a slow movement of my arms going forward very slowly. Bodies everywhere, all hitting like “dodgem cars at a fair”. The crowd starts to move now and I’m swimming forward but still hitting people with every stroke and kick. After about 10 minutes of what seems like start and stop swimming I get into a good rhythm of breathing, working on getting my heart rate to slow down. I’m working on drafting off people in front of me, which isn’t hard now with hundreds of people very close by. All of a sudden I feel a hand run over my head and it catches the strap of my goggles, they are sliding off my head within a few seconds, so I grab them with one hand and pull them down again, boy that was close. I’ve heard stories of people losing there goggles and swimming the whole swim leg without them.

I look up and watch for the buoys. We arrive at the first turn buoy which is 600 meters from the start, what a mess, bodies everywhere, I slow down again working my way around the bouy. “Now that wasn’t too bad, I’m a quarter of the way now and feeling good”.

I’m starting to find some space to get into a good stroke count and still breathing consistently. I’m feeling easy in the water and my heart rate seems to have slowed down now. Oh crap, what is that, a cramp in my calf muscle, shit, it wasn’t bad but enough to get my attention and slow me down slightly, it must be the cold water. I go on a few more minutes but decide to stop and work some blood into my lower legs, so I roll onto my back and do some floating for about 10-15 seconds. A little stretch in the calves, a good look around to take in this atmosphere of the race. People swimming far ahead of me and far behind me, “good I’m not last”. I get back into my rhythm and head to the shore which is the end of the first 2000 meters. Still people are hitting me and I’m hitting them, all accidently of course. I touch ground and move up out of the water onto the dry sand, walk about 10 yards around a bouy and back into the water for the next section of the swim which is 1800 metres. I take a look around me as I get swept back into the water by the mass of humans in wetsuits, no time to waste get in there Phil and get moving, not far to go now. Within 20 minutes it’s time to swim around another turn bouy at the other end of the lake, which wasn’t too bad, finally the crowd is thinning, it’s now on the final stretch back to the beach.

I keep looking up to find the shore but it doesn’t get closer very quickly, so the head is back down and I’m swimming like a demon now. I see the bottom and my fingers start to scrap the sand, it’s time to stand up. Now upright I look at my watch, it read 8.18am, I couldn’t believe my time, fantastic, 2.4 miles in less than one hour and twenty minutes, I’m pumped.

I peel down my wetsuit as I walk up the steep hill towards Transition 1, my heart rate is racing, it’s got to be over 160 at this point. The crowd is screaming, I hear names being called, “water anyone, Iso drink, water, water here”, the aid station is 3 deep of athlete’s already hydrating, it’s still bumper to bumper with competitors moving towards their bikes.

Check back for Phil’s entry of the bike transition! Way to go Phil! Suzie

Phil Congratulations to you! We were on the edge, wondering how you did this past Sunday.  Can’t wait to have you back on Maui and come up to house to celebrate. Don’t worry, I’ll only be serving granola mix and maybe some bagels and fruit!  Suzie

Phil wrote on Sunday July 5th 2009 “amazing race. very pleased. finished in 13 hours 28 minutes. super stoked. will report tomorrow. I’m high as a kite right now after my result. super happy with my run, it fantastic. I’ll tell all later.

 thanks for your support for the past two weeks, I had you guys on my mind during the last 6 miles, drawing on all the positive energy. phil”my official results. I’ll take a few days for my race brief, so many things happened, all good though.phil

 Phil is now in Milan enjoying a few days of rest ( rumor is he’s running a 30 mile race on Sunday)

Post Phil a comment!

Phil writes today:
“Two weeks to go and feeling good. “

Last Friday was time to hit the road again on the bike and get a short bike workout in. Headed out early from Paia and went across to Kihie. I hit 40 MPH on the way across and then heading back I realized why, it was very very windy. So I put my head down and kept pedaling until I got to Kahului, going about 10 MPH at times, man that is hard work. A good hour and a half by the time I got back to Paia. Now rest for the day and get in some stretching and recovery time.

Time to plan the weekend for my long run (with a short ride before), and long ride (4.5 hours with a half hour run after), a swim workout and the Slalom Race series at Kanaha on Saturday. I’ll get to swim masters at 7.30am on Saturday and get my swim workout out of the way before the slalom racing, that should be doable. So on Saturday I headed up to Pukalani pool and did my swim workout for an hour, then got in my breakfast while driving down to Kanaha and got ready to go windsurfing. A really windy day at Kanaha. We got in the pro division in the morning and the age group races in the afternoon. I did ok in the morning and won my age group in the afternoon, using a 5.9 and sailing super overpowered most of the time. Windsurfing is definitely easier than training for an ironman.

After a relaxing Saturday afternoon and evening I got up early on Fathers day and started my short ride at 7 am from Paia. Too easy!, down to Kahului and back was just about an hour, which I needed to get in before putting on the shoes and then running to lower Kanaha and back behind the airport. Yep this took 2 hours. I felt great on the run, a good even pace with a little kick in the last few miles to put some burn into the legs.

My wonderful daughter, Madison took me out to the Maui Film Festival on Sunday night in Wailea to see the Lebron James movie. What a great story, mostly about this childhood days with his basketball buddies, how they all stayed together through early prep school and then won the state and National championship as seniors. Very inspiring stuff.

I’m going to have to sleep in on Monday to get in my extra sleep after getting home late. Monday arrives about 8am, got in some work, then headed down to Paia to start my long ride. Oh boy, it looks super windy and rainy today. I started off about 10.30 from Baldwin in the rain with the wind on my back. The rain wasn’t fun, but the wind sure makes you feel good doing 30 MPH on the flat into Kahului. Finally the rain stopped in town and the sun came out as I headed across to Wailea. Still warming up as I headed across but I could feel the strength in my legs today, surprising after my long run yesterday and windsurfing on Saturday. Some nice hills to push up as I got to Wailea, got the heart rate in to zone 3 (140-147). Yep all these super athletes talk about zone 1,2,3 and 4 with heart rate and then a lot of them are into the Watt meters as well on the bike, which I have no idea about at the moment. I use a heart rate monitor for most of my workouts, which keeps me in the right zone.

Time to head over to Maalaea, but first I have to get up that windy hill from Kihie to the lights up South Kihie road. Turned left and heading down into Maalaea I could feel the wind on my back about 35 knots, so I put the hammer down to see how fast I could go, I hit my top speed at 42 MPH, feeling well in control. Not looking forward to the ride back into the wind though.

Got to Lahaina and hit the store for a Coke, so I can get a little kick before I have to battle the winds out of Maalaea again. I could see the spray off the tops of the waves coming through “thousand peaks”, it was WINDY and I could feel it blowing me sides ways at times on the bike, having to focus and keep pedaling to stay in control.

Around the corner at Maalaea, now it was time to “get the head down” and start the punishment back to Kahului into the wind. Not fun, but a good workout, the legs were still feeling strong but burning deep in the muscles. Finally turned the corner out of Dairy Road onto Hana Hwy, this was the home stretch, I was already 4 hours, 15 minutes into the ride. Got back to Baldwin and looked down at my trip meter, 77 miles. 4 hours 36 minutes. No time to rest, “get the shoes on Phil and get out on the road for your transition run”. A little less running this week after the long ride, 30 minutes easy. Done, get in some soft stretching and a shower at the beach. What a windy day, but the legs were feeling good. I think I’m going to make it for 112 miles.