Madame Pele Giveth, and she Taketh Away...
As always, Volcano Goddess Madame Pele giveth and she taketh away…
Winning her AG at Oceanside 70.3 earlier this year, PhysFarm athlete Colleen Capper was looking for the race of her life in Kona: a podium slot, and the coveted wooden bowl trophy. We trained, and devised the plan down to the watt and minute per mile. Colleen swam 1:34 and biked an impressive 6:04, but it really all came together on the run. She held back and ran steadily for the first 17 miles of the run, allowing her competition to beat themselves up in the heat. Then, she put the hammer down, dropping her pace by almost 1.5 minute per mile. No one was able to answer her, and Collen crossed the line with a 3:51 marathon. It was not only a Kona PR, and not just a marathon PR: Colleen ran faster than any of her previous stand-alone marathons save one. Colleen finished 5th in her age group, collecting the magic wooden bowl. She’ll be eating her Wheaties out of that from now on. Or possibly drinking her mai-tais from it…
Colleen is pretty hard-core. No, seriously. I know you think you’re tough and all that, but check this out: Colleen broke her wrist in a crash in the middle of September. Undaunted, she got a gore-tex cast that she could swim with, made some adjustments to her aerobars to accommodate the cast, and just kept training. The cast came off three days before the race. Unreal.
PhysFarm athlete (and BPC Coach) Joe Donahue also had a fantastic race. Last year, after a rough bike leg, I watched he and Pele duke it out to a painful 11:18. This year, he was looking for something more, and asked me to coach him to the finish he knew he was capable of. Once again, it all came down to the run, but this year Joe came out swinging. Joe swam 1:05, and rode a strong 5:31 before setting out on the run. Joe hung tough for a 3:45 marathon in the Kona heat, which was good for about a 45 minute PR!
Unfortunately, Pele was not so kind to some of the other competitors. An obnoxious head cold was making the rounds, most notably taking out Kona Queen Chrissie Wellington, but also PhysFarm athlete and podium hopeful Catriona Morrison. Cat was feeling well enough to toe the line on race day, and was able to execute the plan through mile 80 of the bike, but there just wasn’t enough left in the tank to throw down her storied run. She was forced to abandon shortly after the bike leg. It was a tough pill to swallow, after picking up the Swine Flu on the plane to Kona last year, but doubtless she will be back next year to look Madame Pele in the eye once again.
