Race Coverage

The Best and the Worst...

Wednesday, 21 October 2015 00:10

TriJuice.com / Nick Morales Photo

By Ruth Brennan Morrey (ruthbrennanmorrey.com)

The 2015 Ironman World Championship race in Kailua-Kona on October 10, 2015 was the greatest personal test. Rolled into one, for different reasons, it was the best and the worst race of my life. Never before have I felt so strong, so ready, so eager, so fit, so mentally prepared for a race I knew in advance would be a self-inflicted battle. This thorough preparation was a prerequisite, however, not an exception—this was the world championships—pro or age grouper, everyone had put everything into this day and all were ready.

As a Kona pro rookie, the “talk” about the race difficulty put the endeavor into a tidy perspective package instilling both fear and respect in the weeks and months leading up. Typically a negative connotation, “fear” in my mind, was a positive attribute, preparing a strong athlete, mostly mentally, for the extreme and erratic conditions of fierce winds, volcanic “vog”, dense humidity, and furnace-like heat....

We prepared for this. We prepared my body. We prepared my mind. Confidence was high and fear was managed. Nothing else could have been done—this, in my heart, is true. But this World Championship race, my friends, is different. It is radically different from any other sporting event in the world. The course is manageable, but the conditions are unrelenting. Post-race, I’m convinced that success at Kona has minimal to do with physical preparation, and more to do with how a unique athlete’s body is able (or unable) to tolerate its elements. In my opinion, the ideal preparation doesn’t exist. READ MORE