Kona Qualifying- What it takes..

This is a very interesting post, thanks Bryan, for the "look back," and Aaron for the "look forward."

I have a couple ggod friends who have qualified in the last few years, and they just wanted it more, so put in the time they had to (and most had coaches)

The following is not, in any respect, to diminish the amazingly hard work you and other qualifiers have put in, but there is also a genetic aspect.  1:00 on the swim is doable.  I could probably do 5:30 on the right course after another 2 or 3 years of base and fitness and nutrition work.   A sub 4 marathon?  that's a dream for perhaps another life, coming from a "starting at age 38 runner who, two years later, can hold 8:30s in a 5K on a good day".

But it sure is interesting watching from the stands

11:50 was the last qualifier in my AG at IMLP...so qualifying times are highly dependant on your sex/AG.

I admire your dedication and that of Aarons to have qualifying for Kona as a goal and executing your workouts as outlined by your coach and making all your workouts.

For many of us, we have kids, work and unexpected things that come up. I have a coach and miss a workout maybe once every two months. I don't have the desire or genetic ability to qualify for Kona.

I believe a huge factor in our potential ability is our genes given to us by our parents. Bryan clearly you have good genes as your Mom went to Kona. But it was your hard work, smart training, hiring a great coach that got you there....very impressive. I think you sum it up very well " The sacrifices are beyond what you may have done before."

I really enjoy reading about your Kona journey and training....we are all pulling for you to go to Kona and do awesome! 

Yes and no... Many might work very hard and might get very close to KQ but the truth is that those qualifying to kona or running a 2:30 hrs mary or completing a sub 2:00hr Olympic work hard AND have good genes. Unfortunately a bunch will never accomplish that dream/goal regardless of how hard they work. BUT I would say this: you’ll never know until you give it a real try and work very very hard to get close that goal; and that means LOTS of dedication, sacrifice and discipline, which IMO is the biggest limiter for 99% of the athletes with that dream.

Not to be too argumentative, because it's mostly good advice, but I wouldn't fully agree on a couple points. 

First, a (good) coach may be a huge help.  But it is not "essential".  There are and continue to be athlete's who qualify without a coach.

Second, IM training and Kona qualifying training differ only if by "IM training" you are simply implying training to finish the distance.  If you train to optimize your performance given your limitations, I'd argue there's no difference.

The key (as noted in your comments about hitting all your workouts) is consistency and quality.  Then combine that with smart race execution.  That will yield optimal results.  And if you've taken the time to build the engine and/or have been blessed with the right genes, then a Kona qualification may result.

I do agree that many people who are capable sabotage their chances for success by either not training properly and/or not racing smart.  A good coach would probably make the difference for them (assuming they listen to said coach).

This is an interesting discussion....good points made by all.

Bryan you are certainly not joking about winning the genetic lottery! I have watched you over these last months (I wish you would log your workouts on here so we could all see what you do) and are amazed at your progress. You are definitely the exception rather than the rule on how much progress you have made in the past year.

I agree with Jorge on how qualifying for Kona or anyother big race (i.e. Boston) is a mix of genetics and hard work. I can take someone with a VO2 in the 50's and have them be the most dedicated athlete in the world, never miss a workout, and maximize everything that I give them and still not even come close, wheras you have an athlete with a VO2 in the low 70's that trains hard but not to the letter, and comes out with a qualifying slot.

I would disagree with you JK on the coach not being essential for a qualifying effort. I am sure that there are many self coached people who make it to Kona every year, but I honestly feel that if you are going to center your season around one race and one chance to make it to the Big Show you need another set of knowledgeable eyes making sure that your plan is building on itself (like Aaron said every workout has a purpose) and that you have enough recovery built in also. I find that most of the Elite/top AG athletes that we get are guilty of not recovering enough on their own and that in turn hinders their development.  I think this is especially important for those in a highly competative AG where you need to be a psedo-pro to even have a chance.

Good stuff in this thread for those out there who are dreaming of the Big Island.

Footnote: I would be curious to see what the average VO2 Max reading is for each AG in Kona.  I would bet that with the exception of a few outliers on the curve that it is 70+.

 Even the women?  Man I really missed out on the athlete genes!  Oh well.

You guys are making it sound like it is the search for the holy grail or something ........... I'll throw out that it is as much heart and dedication as it is raw talent and training paces.

It doesn't matter if you can swim an hour and ride in five if throw the towel in mentally after halfway on the run.

I'll also argue that training at the limit/extreme day in and day out (even if it is at the limit of that days training zones) is generally a bad thing.  There is a reason a "recovery" day is a recovery day.  It is to allow your body to regenerate and recoup.  To keep pushing at every opportunity is a recipe for disaster.  I've personally been through that with my cycling training years ago and is the reason I totally got out of the sport and it took me 5 years to even want to throw my leg over a bike again.

As far as the coach thing goes??  I'll say whatever floats your boat, but it is not always necessary to have to have someone tell you what to do and when to do it.  I think that is really a personal thing (going back to the motivation and heart - mental aspects).  Even if someone has a coach (as you demonstrated with your examples Bryan) it does not mean they will do all the workouts or make it to their goals as planned.  The coach isn't there at 5 in the morning to drag your azz out of bed to get that run in ......

I think the general agreement, from me as well, is that it takes a true dedication and attitude mentally that you have to put yourself totally into the goal to be able to achieve it.  But it also takes pure guts and desire when you are on the course.  And it also totally depends on who shows up that day and on the course iteself.  You can train your azz off and peak perfectly, but there just might be 10 - 12 guys in your AG that did the exact same thing and have their perfect race and eek out the slots.

It is also important to mentally prepare yourself for even if you have your best race but don't get that slot.  I would imagine that someone who is not ready for that could "ruin" their triathlon enjoyment from not getting it ......

But what do I know, I've never qualified for anything major (unless you count Boston which is time based, not competitive based - and that I would have gotten a roll-down slot for the 70.3 WC this year at Eagleman if I had wanted it, which I didn't).

Me too. But I do have heart and guts. That's why I like Daremo's post .

Eh.  Agree to disagree on this.  Maybe it's just semantics anyway.  I see absolutely no difference.

And RM, again it's the word "essential".  If it's essential, then one can't qualify without a coach.  But people have and do.  Therefore it is not essential--though certainly a valuable asset.

And I would take the other side of your bet on the majority of AG qualifiers having a VO2max of 70+.  I bet a VO2max in the 50s is plenty to qualify. 

bryancd - 2007-08-12 10:14 PM My last VO2 test was a a 74.8, for what's it worth.

Holy crap!  That's pretty damn kick azz!

Never tested, but an "estimator" based on my running PR's I set early in the year puts me only in the low 60's.

Damn, you're a oxygen-intake-stud!

bryancd - 2007-08-12 10:14 PM My last VO2 test was a a 74.8, for what's it worth.

That explains a lot!! Considering most elite marathoners are in the high 60s.
I agree that you should know within a few minutes what your finishing time will be in all races. There is no magic on race day to where you are all of a sudden going to race faster than you train. If you have not seen the continued improvement throughout your training then you are doing something wrong.
Unfortunately for a lot of people who want to qualify for KONA, it will take longer and more dedication than the ones who have the great genes. For Bryan, he could do it in 10 months. For others it might take 3 years, for some it will never happen.
I always wonder when I see some training times of athletes and they go into a race with KONA aspirations. I think to myself, there is no way, if they push themselves to even come close by hammering the bike.....they will blow up on the run for sure!!!

It boils down to a lot of people can qualify, but for some it takes a lot more dedication and time. In the end having better genes makes it easier b/c you can see the results a lot quicker!!