Final Steps to the IRONMAN World Championships in Kona

Ironman, October 10, 2024

As athletes approach the final weeks of preparation for the Ironman World Championships in Kona, the focus shifts from building fitness to fine-tuning race readiness and ensuring a smooth transition into race day. By focusing on the following areas, athletes will head into the Ironman World Championships in Kona with a solid plan, both physically and mentally prepared to tackle the race.

Tapering Effectively

  • Reduce Training Volume: The main goal in the final weeks is to taper off volume while maintaining intensity. The body needs to rest and recover, but short bursts of race-paced intensity help keep muscles sharp.
  • Avoid Overtraining: It's easy to feel like you should do more in the final weeks, but overdoing it at this stage can lead to fatigue and subpar race performance. The key thing here is to trust the foundation you’ve laid down over the previous months.
  • Mental Tapering: Start visualizing the race. Go through the swim, bike, and run mentally, imagining the conditions in Kona, the crowds, and how you’ll handle each segment. Draw on past race experiences, or talk to athletes who have raced in Kona in the past to learn how they coped with the various conditions.

Race-Specific Preparation

  • Heat Acclimation: Kona’s heat and humidity are notorious. Hopefully you have been doing plenty of training in a hot environment. If you haven’t yet, it’s still not too late. You can employ some heat acclimation strategies such as sauna sessions, indoor trainer rides in heated rooms, or running during the warmest part of the day; in these days prior to heading to Kona.
  • Wind Preparation: The winds on the bike course can be unpredictable and strong. Train on windy days, and select the right bike equipment to help you build confidence in handling the Kona winds. Probably the most important one is using a shallower front wheel than you would usually ride in lighter wind conditions. Also make sure your aerobar position allows you to remain stable and in control when you meet gusting winds from the side.
  • Swim Practice in Open Water: Kona’s swim is in the open ocean, and many athletes may not regularly train in open water. You will encounter a unique swell on the water, which can behave differently to inner-harbour swims. Incorporating open-water swims in a variety of water conditions the weeks leading up to the event is crucial. Here in New Zealand it’s still a bit too cold to swim in the Open Water, so I will look to adapt quickly as soon as I arrive in Kona.

Nutrition and Hydration Strategy

  • Practice Race Day Nutrition: The final weeks are ideal for practicing nutrition strategy on long training rides and runs. Fine-tune your hydration, electrolytes, and energy intake. Make sure the plan works well in the heat. Have a backup plan incase things don’t pan out as you’d expect…yes it’s still possible to lose drink bottles on the smooth Queen K Highway.
  • Pre-Race Fueling: Leading into the race, athletes should dial in food intake, focusing on clean, fresh, good quality food, in the final 2-3 days while avoiding gastrointestinal issues.
  • Hydration Plan: Staying hydrated in Kona’s heat is essential. Athletes should have a race-day hydration strategy that accounts for the hot and humid conditions, ensuring they replace lost fluids and electrolytes effectively. Also in the days leading up to the race, make sure you are keeping hydrated.

Gear Check and Travel Tips

  • Pack Early: Make a checklist of all race-day essentials well in advance. This includes race kits, nutrition, bike gear, and running shoes. Kona is fairly remote, so forgetting key items that you usually source easily from home, can cause stress if they aren’t available on the island.
  • Bike Preparation: Before traveling, have a professional bike tune-up. Traveling with a bike can be tricky, so use a sturdy bike case and ensure you have all tools needed to reassemble it on arrival. Make sure you’ve practiced packing your bike before as you don’t want any nasty surprises if it’s new to you. Also take plenty of photos of your bike packed up so you have evidence incase anything happens to it in transit.
  • Travel Logistics: Make sure you know how you are getting from the Airport to your accommodation. There are no public buses from Kona Airport into town, so you will need a Taxi/Uber or have a Hire Car…or someone picking you up.

Race Course Recon

  • Swim Course Preview: Athletes should try to swim at the pier where the race starts. Knowing the entry, exit points, and where the buoys will be can help with race-day nerves. If you get a chance to take part in the familiarisation swim on the Sunday before then that will help. Other than that just enjoy the swim out to the coffee boat on the other days leading into the race.
  • Bike Course Preview: Drive or cycle key sections of the bike course, especially the climb to Hawi, to get a sense of the elevation and wind conditions. Be aware of the roads you shouldn’t be riding on prior to the race, primarily those south of Kona, as these are very busy and narrow.
  • Run Course Preview: Familiarize yourself with key sections of the run, especially Ali’i Drive, Palani Hill, the Queen Ka’ahumanu Highway and the infamous Energy Lab, where heat and fatigue tend to hit hardest….actually that’s the whole run course. Maybe just run parts and cycle others.

Mindset and Relaxation

  • Stay Calm: I try to encourage the athletes I coach to stay focused but relaxed. Mindset can make or break the Kona experience, especially given the competitive field. It can be easier said than done, but find a way you can help calm yourself down.
  • Avoid Last-Minute Comparisons: In Kona, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the caliber of athletes. Stick to your plan and don’t be tempted to compare your training to others in the final days. Just looking at an athlete and thinking how fit they are isn’t helpful as you have no context of who they are, what their goals are, how experienced they are, what their injury state is…chances are they’re probably looking at you thinking the exact same thing.
  • Sleep and Recovery: Focus on good sleep hygiene, especially in the final week. Incorporate light stretching, massage, or foam rolling to keep muscles fresh and limber. Try to make your room as cool and quiet as you can to optimise your sleep.

Final Thoughts on Race Week

  • Attend the Pre-Race Briefing: While it's easy to get carried away in the excitement, ensure that you attend the mandatory pre-race briefing to familiarize yourself with any last-minute course changes or details.
  • Keep Moving: During race week, avoid sitting too much. Stay active with short, easy workouts to keep the body in motion while allowing for full recovery. But make sure you have a drink with you to remain hydrated.

Back