INTRODUCTION
This is the fourth of ten untold stories about the incredible moments of personal challenge and the decisions made that led to the 1989 side-by-side eight-hour battle between Dave Scott and Mark Allen. Everyone has seen accounts of the race itself. Neither Dave nor Mark have told this story from each of their perspectives. But, more importantly, no one has ever heard the details of each of their personal journeys during the year leading up to The Greatest Race Ever Run.
In the upcoming stories Dave and Mark will reveal their personal struggles, their daily triumphs, and the seemingly impossible challenges that brought them to this iconic clash.
Both Dave Scott and Mark Allen would be in Boulder during the early summer. No sessions would be done together. Dave’s wife Anna was pregnant and not happy to be so far from their previous home in Davis, CA. Mark committed to training for the ITU Olympic Distance World Championships that would take place in early August. Both had to make choices that would affect their preparation for Kona. Dave eventually returned to Davis. Mark dropped all longer days in hopes of an Olympic distance World Championship. Would there be time for either to be ready for the showdown in October?
Scott Zagarino
Mark Allen
“As an athlete there were always decisions to be made about my year that put one goal up front and, as a result, made another goal impossible to achieve. One of those choices was closing in on me in the early summer of 1989. I wanted to make the US team that would race in the first ever Olympic Distance World Championships that August. But to make the team, I’d have to drop my focus on longer distance training and Kona. In fact, I’d have to completely shift my training in a way that could be a death blow to any dream I had of putting together a good race in Hawaii.
If I kept up the long days of training necessary for Kona, which could approach eight hours of work, there was no way I’d make the Olympic-distance team. If I traded those days for intense one-hour sessions, I’d likely make the US team, but risk losing the endurance I’d built over the previous six months. This was the choice I faced—striving for either goal would make the other impossible.
But why not shift my focus? I was zero for six at putting together good races at the IRONMAN. And since this was the first ever Triathlon World Championship recognized by the International Olympic Committee and was the first step in triathlon’s march to the Olympic Games, I decided I wanted to be the first ever official Olympic Distance World Champion.”
Dave Scott
“Returning home from the Gold Coast with a true spanking from Mark, the only way I felt I could cure my self doubt was to not relax my training. My early season racing had been satisfactory but not at the level I would have hoped. Winning all four races in my early season had been my goal. Conquering the last of these races at the Gold Coast had been key to my self-driven early season forecast.
My performance at the Gold Coast had signaled a downturn in my season plan. Mark’s remarkable run speed that enabled him to catch me, smashed any hopes that he would be caught in that race. I was close to my goal, but Mark was showing brilliant early season form. Still, I knew there was room for the season to evolve—I had seen Mark devastate his competition in previous years during the spring season, yet we both how those same seasons had ended for him in Kona.”
Mark Allen
“Maybe my choice to focus on qualifying for the Olympic Distance World Championship was reckless. I knew I’d be racing in Kona regardless of whether or not I made the US team or how I trained. But I wasn’t defending anything there, so I could take the pressure off myself when it came to preparing. Dave would be the one with the pressure of going into the race as a six-time champ.
Maybe I was naïve and banking too much on what I’d gained in New Zealand that previous winter. Maybe I was just living on a false hope that I’d hold onto enough of that big endurance base to shift back to a Kona focus in mid-August and get right back on track in parallel with Dave—despite the fact he wouldn’t be letting up his focus on Kona for even one day until the race was finished. But just because I was going to be on the start line in October for IRONMAN®, didn’t mean that race defined my entire year. There was more than one race that held importance for me.”
Dave Scott
During all my previous years racing, I had never used a watch or heart rate monitor. However, I was keenly aware of my splits for each race and whether I had gained or lost time from my competitors. Looking at the World Championships in Kona, I had steadily brought down my marathon time, holding the fastest run splits. But Mark’s 30k run at the Gold Coast had been so much faster than my 42k IRONMAN marathon split, I knew it was entirely possible he might have a fast run again in Kona.
Post Gold Coast, I contemplated what a battle against Mark on the run in Kona could look like. What time could I run for the marathon? Was Mark capable of pulling off a run that would rival my expectations for myself? I wasn’t sure of the answers. But I was sure if we started the run together in Kona, it would be a showdown.
Mark Allen
Getting to Avignon, France, for the Olympic-distance race would be different than anything I’d done in the sport. I had to make the US Team, which meant I had to win one of three qualifying races to guarantee myself a spot. The first of those would happen in Dallas shortly after I returned from winning the long-distance race in Nice. It was my sixth victory in Nice out of six starts. I had that dialed in as much as is possible to say you have a race dialed in. So much has to go your way on top of all the training for wins to happen. Nice was a place where I was just naturally in sync with the demands of the race and of the place. Kona was not like that for me, needless to say. During the span of those six Nice Triathlon victories, I had zero wins in six outings at the IRONMAN in Hawaii.
Getting to Avignon to compete in the World Championships would be pressure of a different kind. If I won the first qualifying event, I’d be off the hook for having to do another of the three selection races. If I didn’t win, there could potentially be two more races I’d have to train for and compete in before I could even get to the August World Championships in Avignon.
Thinking about all this brought my first moment of questioning whether this was a good idea or not. I was pretty sure I could be mentally ready for one qualifying race. I doubted I would be as excited if I had to go on to the second or third. And I knew that if that happened, the training for and competition in those qualifiers would eat into the mental reserve I’d need later to get psyched for Kona training.
The reality of what a plan gone bad could mean for my overall season started me questioning my path.
“Narrow it down,” I told myself. “Bring the focus back to today.” If I focused on today, then I knew I could put the small bits in place that were a size I could chew.
That was the moment I stopped thinking about Kona.
I’d go to Dallas and just see how it turned out. If I could somehow make the team there with every other top Olympic distance triathlete from the US on the start line, the pressure would be off. If I didn’t make the team, I would need to reassess and ask myself if I still felt it was important to go to Avignon. It would mean adding in more qualifying races. I rarely add unscheduled races into my calendar once a season is underway. I could measure what that goal might cost me overall and if trying to get to Avignon would still be worth it..”
Dave Scott
Throughout the early ‘89 season, I relished the notion that to beat me in Kona, someone would have to run faster than me. I felt my marathon times in 1986 and 1987 were slow (under 2 hours 49 minutes) and I knew lowering these times and running 2:37 was well within my capabilities.
In early August, I would race the Japan IRONMAN. I had several invitations to race in Japan and after a win at the 1985 Japan IRONMAN, I was eager to return in 1989. The hot, humid climate would replicate the conditions in Hawaii and I felt that competing in Japan would help ensure that I peaked in Kona. The critical balance would be to not overtrain for the first IRONMAN in Japan and come back with a renewed vigor for the IRONMAN that meant the most: Kona.
That said, I wanted to have a stellar race in Japan. The motivation was not redemption after losing to Mark but simply to reset my internal switch so I would be ready for Hawaii. My previous six victories in Kona were based on my physical buildup. But of equal importance was to develop the mental tenacity to prevail in Kona. If I did not prepare properly, my vulnerability would be exposed to myself and this would certainly erode my confidence. This year, I knew there needed to be a new heightened level of confidence. Maybe it was my intuition or the fact Mark was on a roll.
Mark Allen
There was something creeping into the remote recesses of my brain, though. It was those barely audible alarms going off in my head telling me where my body was. It was starting to feel like I was asking too much. I’d done long training early in the season, then was now going to have to do a lot of fast training in the middle of the year. And then without a break I’d have to switch back and go long again for those intense 6-8 weeks of training for Kona. It was beginning to seem like to much. I started to feel I could have a major meltdown, either physically or mentally, well before I even got to Hawaii in October.
I wasn’t worried about making the shift away from long race training, but I was worried about my overall balance. I had seen that winter in New Zealand what I could do with the right type of focus. But I also knew I was far from indestructible. Maybe training for Avignon and easing off the volume would give me a recharge before one more big round of training for Kona. But “hoping” that something will work is not a great strategy.
Dave Scott
Knowing there was a possibility I would take a training hiatus after Japan and wanting to elevate my training upon returning home from the Gold Coast, I convinced my wife to travel to Boulder, Colorado, for six weeks. She was not happy—she was in her third trimester of pregnancy and not looking forward to the scorching early summer in Boulder. Nevertheless, we left Davis, California, together with the sole purpose of elevating my fitness.
Having an undisturbed solid block of training was my singular mission. I had traveled to Boulder the three previous summers for shorter blocks of summer training. The mountains and altitude were invigorating and my mindset was enriched by the training atmosphere. Boulder was a mecca of runners, cyclists, and triathletes. I found the environment ideal for my preparation.
With a large block of time to train and be ready for Japan, I knew this time in Boulder would also be a strategic block for Kona. The timing from late May to early July would allow me to maximize my intensity and volume. Unlike a lot of triathletes, I generally went into a six-week training cycle fresh and capable of handling both the prescribed intensity and the volume. My singular mission was to meet all of my intuitive and measurable goals: cycling the super climbs in the Rockies, running the steep pitched trails, elevating my strength training, and swimming faster. In the grand scheme of things, I had one relentless pursuit—gain more fitness.
For the first time in ten years of training in the sport, I started using a wrist watch on my runs and rides to see my splits. Seeing the numbers ended up being a huge motivator and the added value of knowing training splits and times was immeasurable for my physical and psychological goals. To add even more to my determination, I heard through the triathlete grapevine that Mark was also training in Boulder.
Mark Allen
My race in Dallas went better than I could have ever dreamed. It was a hard race, yes. But I didn’t need to dig as deep as I thought I would to pull off a victory. I was on the team heading to the first ever World Championship!
I was only about three weeks into doubling up on my speed work, but without the long days that I would normally be doing with Kona weighing on my mind, the work seemed easy. Mentally, I was feeling even fresher.
The victory made me the first person to qualify for the US team. It also freed the upcoming weeks to dial in my training and be ready for the World Championships the first weekend in August. IRONMAN could wait. I knew Dave was probably doing everything he could to build towards October. I’d have to do the same once Avignon was in the books. But for the moment, going to Kona and racing Dave one more time seemed like this very abstract thing that was way out there in the future somewhere. Yes, it would be pressing soon. But for the next few weeks I’d take a sabbatical from even thinking about it and a bigger break from doing anything in training that was focused on the IRONMAN.
Dave Scott
During my six weeks in Boulder, it was inevitable I would collide with Mark. There were two times we ran into each other. Once on a brief segment at an intersection on the bike. We rode into town together at a hearty clip, neither one of us showing any signs of fatigue, heavy breathing, or a sense we were in discomfort. Our conversation was polite with no suggestion or link to our fitness. Nonetheless, I was grateful when the conversation ended.
The encounter was similar to two prize fighters that would merely mask their emotions with an expressionless face. I wanted to know what Mark was thinking but it was hardly a time to speculate or to offer the invitation for any insight. We kept our game faces and finished out the ill-timed ride. Having his company for the final thirty minutes of my ride was not in my plan. Solitude and singular focus was my psychological game-plan. Meeting up with my nemesis was not.
The second time we encountered each other came at a high-powered Masters swim workout. Mark was flying with his hand paddles and pull buoy during the main set. At the time, I measured the use of swim equipment as a softer way to finish the workout. My take as an athlete and coach is that a pull buoy provides floatation and minimizes core stability. Not to mention that paddles will add 3-10% speed from the added surface area. Using this equipment was, in my eyes, an easy way to survive the workout. You couldn’t use these “aids” in the Ironman! I’m sure Mark had a different mindset and ultimately neither one of us was going to be intimidated by this one swim session anyway.
Finishing out the training block in Boulder, I was getting stronger each week and establishing new training records at the 1700 meter altitude of Boulder. My preparation for Japan and more importantly for Kona took an exponential step forward.