Kona 2013 – The Pre-race Report

by B.J. Christenson

It is here again that wonderful month of October where ball clubs either call it a season or dream about advancing to the World Series. October is also a special month for triathletes because that is when the Hawaii Ironman is held. During this month all eyes are pointed towards Kona and the Ironman World Championship.

This is my 7th Kona and I hope that is lucky number 7 – cross my fingers, knock on wood, wish on a shooting star, and any other thing you do for luck. I suppose luck plays a small role in that I hope I am not eaten by a shark, have a flat on the bike, or cramp on the run. Though should all 3 of those things happen I would consider myself lucky. Other than that luck has nothing to do with it. You simply race on the fitness you have that day. The winner is not lucky they simply executed a winning strategy that let their fitness get them to the finish line before everyone else.

But we all say good luck to each other for some reason.

We all do our best and sometimes we get disappointed when our best wasn’t good enough. But in the end the race is really between ourselves and the clock. For whatever reason I have found myself getting a bit more anxious than normal and feeling the pressure to perform on triathlon’s biggest stage. As anxiety rises I calm it back down, remembering the reason I do this:

I love this sport, I love training, I love racing, I love meeting new people.

When I find my balance I feel better and look forward to competing and performing.

Not only do I look forward to it but I am excited to see some other Utah athletes perform as well. Utah is such an amazing place to train and race. We may get overshadowed by the triathlon meccas of Boulder and San Diego but we honestly have the best training imaginable right outside our doors. So when the chips are down, which they are certain to be at some point in the race, I will think how lucky I am to be here and lucky to know that I am not alone.

Take luck my fellow athletes and have a wonderful race.

Here is a list of athletes you can track on race day (I may not have everyone listed so if I missed you I apologize):

MEN

Lyle Anderson

Chuck Sperazza

Marc Rosello

Dan Aamodt

David Yang

Dean Bullock

Spencer Woolston

B.J. Christenson

WOMEN

Sue Pope

Cherell Jordin

Teri Cashmore

Diane Tracy

Jeanette Schellenberg

Megahn Henry

Marty Smith

Katy Cargiulo

You can follow all of the 2013 Kona Athletes here: http://bit.ly/1atGgZ4