{"id":6648,"date":"2020-11-11T22:53:06","date_gmt":"2020-11-11T22:53:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sportsnewsforyou.com\/?p=6648"},"modified":"2020-11-11T22:53:06","modified_gmt":"2020-11-11T22:53:06","slug":"kona-2019-an-age-groupers-perspective","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/?p=6648","title":{"rendered":"Kona 2019: An age-grouper\u2019s perspective"},"content":{"rendered":"

With over two thousand age-group athletes competing, the 2019 Ironman World Championships were far from being just about Frodeno and Brownlee, Charles-Barclay and Haug.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Click Here: liverpool mens jersey<\/a><\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The GB team had a sizeable contingent of around 150 racers, having qualified from Ironman races around the globe in the 2019 and late 2018 season.<\/p>\n

One such athlete was Will Newbery, a long-term presence on the UK tri scene, former national champion and head coach at \u20189 Endurance\u00a0Coaching\u2019.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Having hit his goal of going sub-10hrs in the M40-44 category in Saturday\u2019s 226km-long race, here\u2019s Will\u2019s verdict on the Kona experience for age-groupers\u2026<\/p>\n

ON THE KONA RACE WEEK EXPERIENCE<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kona is like Disney land for triathletes. All the big brands are grabbing your attention, all the fittest humans in the world wandering round in their Speedos. There\u2019s a huge buzz for the few days before, and some panic training to try to emulate the super athletes when really you should be resting! The locals are so friendly and they seem genuinely happy and in awe of everyone.\u00a0<\/p>\n

ON REPRESENTING GB<\/strong><\/p>\n

I went to the Parade of Nations and that\u2019s a brilliant experience, but I wanted to have a bit more time with close friends and family rather than do the Team GB thing. I had eight athletes \u2013 and myself \u2013 that I\u2019ve helped coach over the years here, so I tried to give them support if they needed it.<\/p>\n

ON THE HAWAII SWIM<\/strong><\/p>\n

The course is so tough. On paper it should be fairly easy but the elements add a whole new dimension. The heat wasn\u2019t ridiculous on Saturday but the humidity hit hard. The swim waves were interesting and definitely broke up the majority of the packs but disrupted the swim. My age-group started 2nd and within 400m we were catching the weaker swimmers from the group in front.<\/p>\n

ON THE BIKE & RUN<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The wind on the last 55km of the bike was brutal but the run is awesome. Ali\u2019i drive is crazy. Busy. Loud. It\u2019s tougher than you\u2019d think with the gentle undulations. And the Queen K is like an oven with no wind. And it\u2019s so quiet out there with no traffic, so the only noise is your feet on the asphalt and the aid stations.<\/p>\n

ON THE KONA FINISH LINE EXPERIENCE<\/strong><\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The return to Kona town is okay but by that time the energy reserves are fading. Coming down Palani is a blessing because you know you\u2019re a mile from home, but it\u2019s so painful on your quads. With cheering and shouting crowds, it\u2019s one of triathlon\u2019s most recognisable finish line experiences and it doesn\u2019t disappoint. I set out to go sub-10hr and managed to do that, so I\u2019m super happy.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With over two thousand age-group athletes competing, the 2019 Ironman World Championships were far from being just about Frodeno and Brownlee, Charles-Barclay and Haug.\u00a0 Click Here: liverpool mens jersey Advertisement The GB team had a sizeable contingent of around 150 racers, having qualified from Ironman races around the globe in the 2019 and late 2018…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6648","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6648","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6648"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6648\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}