Episode 234: Keys to Kona - Strategies for Success at the Hawaii Ironman World Championships

It’s that time of the year again, as athletes from all parts of the world gear up for the Hawaii Ironman World Championships.

Whether you're planning to compete, supporting friends, or you're just an enthusiast, ironman master coach Matt Dixon invites you to follow along as he shares everything you need to know about how to achieve success in Kona.

In this episode of the Purple Patch Podcast, Matt draws from his 15 years of experience helping athletes thrive at the Hawaii Ironman World Championships and provides a breakdown of the preparation, training, and logistical elements you need to consider before ever setting foot on the island.

Purple Patch has guided more than 750 athletes to qualification at the World Championships, has coached multiple age group world champions, and has had numerous purple patch pros in the top 10 overall, including athletes such as Chris Lieto, Rachel Joyce, and Sarah Piampiano.

Matt takes the lessons he has learned from coaching these athletes and shares a detailed walkthrough of what you can expect in Kona, from landing to leaving.

The episode is broken into two parts:

Part 1: pre-arrival and nailing race week

Part 2: Race execution - swim-bike-run, nutrition, and mindset.

In part one you will learn:

• Key strategies to adopt before you travel - How to arrive fit, fresh, and ready to handle the crazy of Kona week.

(11:49) "your mission and goal is to arrive to Hawaii as systemically fresh as possible. You want to also be prepared physiologically to meet the conditions as best as you can. So you want to get there really fresh and already have some physiological adaptations in hand so that you are ready to navigate the heat. If you can achieve those two big things, then what you can do in Hawaii is start to prime for the race."

• A framework of how to optimize race week - Balancing training and preparation with the Kona experience.
• The hit list - answers to the most common questions athletes have around race week.

In part two you will learn:

• Strategies around success in Kona - race day mindset and execution

(38:10) "if you want your best race performance, the truth is that it's never going to come from you chasing splits. Having predetermined ideas of what you want to swim, what you want to bike, and what you run or run and trying to adhere a race plan to that is a fool's errand. Instead, success is going to come about through an element of control, really smart self-management, a great amount of persistence, and continued problem solving over all of the challenges that you will meet across the whole of the day."

• Key elements around race craft, fueling, and hydration.
• How to navigate recovery and reflection.

So many athletes ruin their performance potential through a series of mistakes they make in their preparation or execution during race week. The goal of this episode is to provide you with details of the experience and recommendations to help you set up for your best Hawaii Ironman Race experience.

Episode Timestamps

00:00 - 04:04 - Welcome and Episode Introduction

04:12 - 07:58 - Matt's News-ings

08:05 - Episode 234: Keys to Kona - Strategies for Success at the Hawaii Ironman World Championships

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