Kyle Hummel’s dangerous path

September 29, 2014

At Ironman 70.3 Mont Tremblant Kyle Hummel won the M30-34 age group with a 4:08:00 effort but thanks to a variety of accidents and other setbacks over the last years it has not been a smooth path for this San Diego resident.

Slowtwitch: Good to chat with you Kyle.

Kyle Hummel: Thanks, I appreciate your time.

ST: You’ve had a little while since your fine race in Mont Tremblant. What have you been up to?

Kyle: A little recovery which is always tough for me to do, but I decided I really needed to just take a week of easy workouts and enjoy an accomplishment like this because they only happen a few times in a racers career. So I took the first week easy, but now I am back killing myself.

ST: Can you actually sit still?

Kyle: When I sleep.

ST: When and why did you move to San Diego?

Kyle: December 2010 from Missoula, Montana – I hate the snow and could not take one more of those winters and riding in my garage every day for 4-5 months straight. A work opportunity came along where I could move to San Diego and train and I did not even hesitate, so here I am.

ST: What was that work opportunity?

Kyle: I was approached by our company to see if I would be interested in being our West Coast claims analyst, giving me the opportunity to live and work anywhere that I wanted on the West Coast. I checked out the best cities for triathlons and San Diego was the place to be.

ST: In 2009, while training for an Ironman you were hit by an SUV while riding your bike. How much do you still remember from that day?

Kyle: Thankfully less and less as time has gone by. I had never really been injured before, and it was my first broken bone. But one moment that I will never forget is looking up at my leg after being hit and seeing the tibia bone sticking out, and having no doubt my leg was shattered. The very first thought that went through my mind was that all of my hard work is down the drain, I will never compete again.

ST: We are glad that you were wrong about that, but how long before you swung your leg over a bike again?

Kyle: LOL, you should have seen me. I lived in a townhouse with my garage on ground level and my living room and bedroom on the 2nd floor. I had my trainer set up in the garage with my left shoe (broken leg) already clipped in. I would crutch down the stairs with my boot on to the garage. Take the boot off and swing myself over onto the bike. My first ride was for 30 minutes. This was probably four or five months after the wreck happened.

I kept a diary with some notes in it. Did not write down 1st bike, but I did for the run. My first run was on December 14th, 2010, 16 months after the wreck. I ran on the treadmill and I remember tearing up within the first couple of minutes because there was no pain. It was such an amazing feeling to be able to run again. I ran for 15 minutes and wanted to push the tempo after like 5 minutes because that is just me.

ST: And what was the race you were preparing for?

Kyle: I was training for Ironman Canada. What is crazy is that I got into this sport thinking you had to do an Ironman to be a triathlete and that is so just not true. The thought of just trying to survive for that distance does not sound like fun at all to me. I race to kill myself, not to survive.

ST: Has that incident changed how your ride your bike in public spaces?

Kyle: Yes, I can still close my eyes and imagine that yellow SUV driving straight at me. I am still not as cautious as my family would like, but nothing will stop me from putting the work in.

ST: Was there not another hit and run incident this spring?

Kyle: Oh yeah, I had just finished double peak repeats, which is always brutal. Exhausted, Lesley [Paterson] and I were riding up the road in the bike lane and a car's side mirror lit up my arm and just kept on driving. Somehow I did not go down or run into Lesley. I took a great photo in the ER where you can see my forearm bone before the doctors put 7 stitches in. Just another scar on the body.

ST: Yikes. But I guess that did not keep you from training too long.

Kyle: Hell no, I ran 90 minutes the next day. I just could not swim until the stitches were out.

ST: Is the lesson here, stay away from Kyle on a bike ride?

Kyle: Yeah pretty much. You can call me train wreck!

ST: In Mont Tremblant your 4:08:00 gave you the win in M30-34. Talk about that day.

Kyle: Man, it was one of those amazing days where the body feels no pain. I had no expectations going into Mont Tremblant, especially after being hit again and having lung surgery.
I had a 27 minute swim, which is about average for me, and came out of the water in 39th. I was happy with the swim, and just excited to pound the pedals on the bike. I felt great from the get-go and started passing groups of guys with ease and moved into the top 10 at the turn around out on the freeway (about 30km / 18 miles in). I came off the bike tied for second and could just tell my legs felt good for the run. I came up on the leader around mile 5 and a saying my dad taught me as a young runner ‘Make a move and do something with it’ popped in my head and I knew I had to make surge. I was able to put a decent gap on the guy and settled right back into my pace. I felt like I could have held that pace all day long and it was an amazing feeling. I passed my wife at mile 12 and she said I was in first and I was just praying that she was right. I crossed the line unsure what exact place I was in, but knew I had a monster day and gave it my all. It was not until I checked the official results at the finish where they confirmed that I had in fact won.

ST: When you came by did he try to match you?

Kyle: No, I saw him at the turn around and could just tell that I was moving faster than him already, so with an added surge when I went by there was no way he could go with me.

ST: After that lung surgery in late June, that was very impressive.

Kyle: Thank you, I am very thankful for my doctors, my coach, my family and for God’s grace.
I had honestly given up on my chance to race Worlds this year. I was in the hospital for six days, eating donuts, milkshakes and fried food. I thought my season was over, the doctors told me my season was over… but my wife refused to cancel the plane tickets or let me quit on myself.

ST: But clearly you had already put in the work before you were put on the lung break.

Kyle: Yeah. What I have really learned is that you don’t get fast during race season it is during the off season, the winter months. I hit it hard the week of Thanksgiving and both December and January were monster months of training for me. That training block really set up the rest of my year. A great training base that I always knew I had in me.

ST: And eating donuts, milkshakes and fried food might be the secret to success.

Kyle: Very possible, just don’t tell my coach, she is kind of a health nut.

ST: Your bike is a Scott Plasma 3 I believe.

Kyle: What's crazy is that was my fist race on the Scott, only 2nd race on those Enve wheels. Yes it is a Plasma 3. I never felt a bike set up go like that during a race, felt like no one could go with me on any flat or descent. I was told wind tunnel testing showed most aero to have no water bottles on the frame for Scott, so that is what I did. One cage between aero bars, one behind seat.

ST: The result in Mont Tremblant was quite a change from your race at 70.3 Worlds in Vegas the year prior, and surely it wasn’t just the rain.

Kyle: Honestly, the rain had a lot to do with it. When you are racing in Las Vegas you are ready for the heat which I love. When I woke up and it was pouring rain I got a real negative attitude and that killed me, even before the race started. A huge difference from last year to this year is my maturity as a racer. I am now able to handle and cope with just about anything life has to throw at me.

ST: The 2014 season began for you with an age group win in Panama – your first race outside the USA I believe. How or why did you choose that specific race?

Kyle: The season before I was in such great shape in February and it killed me to be so fit and not have a half Ironman for over a month. With no races in the states in February, we looked out of the country.

ST: Crazy fast swim times. I believe you were sub 20 minutes, and looking at your numbers you tend to swim in the 27 range.

Kyle: Yeah, it was awesome. Swimming with the current is great!

ST: Will that race be on your calendar again?

Kyle: Most likely, it is a great early season test to see what kind of shape you are in. Plus it is the only race that I have done where above ground pools are set up as ice baths right after the finish line. And that race is hot and humid, best thing ever.

ST: Although you are not from San Diego, the Oceanside race must have felt a bit like home turf.

Kyle: Oh yeah, just because I am able to train on the course, sleep in my own bed, and don't have to worry about traveling. Plus all my wife’s friends show up as my groupies.

ST: Plus you got married in San Diego. So I suspect it will hold a special place in your heart.

Kyle: Absolutely, I love San Diego, it’s the greatest city in the world. Randi and I got married outside the day after Christmas, it was 80 degrees in the middle of the winter, can't beat that!

ST: Is there anything else we should know.

Kyle: Yes, I’d like to thank my amazing coach Lesley Paterson. She has put an amazing Braveheart Elite Racing team together and I am super blessed to be a part of that. Our sponsors have been amazing in supporting what we are trying to accomplish with body AND mind training. I have to thank Scott, Enve, Powertap, Powerbar, Xterra wetsuits, Tommie Copper, On Running, Oakley.