Race Report: Hawaii 70.3

I had way more fun today than I thought I would...it was a really good race and an amazing course. I did pretty well following my mental notes from my race plan (for example, "Damn, my chapstick just flew out of my bento box...IN HAWAII," "One of the lenses from my sunglasses just popped out on the run...IN HAWAII..." "The water is salty and I think I swallowed a little...IN HAWAII").

Race day started when I heard Julie switch on the coffee maker at 4:00 a.m....snoozed a little, then got up and had plenty of time to caffeinate, eat a bagel, assess the wind blowing around the palm tree tops at the condo, and go to the bathroom at least 5 times. Then Glen took us to the race shuttle and we were off to the race as the sun came up. We had the perfect amount of time at Hapuna to prep and get body marked before the 7:00 start and it was a beautiful, albeit blustery, morning.

When I got to my bike and started getting situated, I noticed a very cute, small praying mantis on my bento box...I thought he was so cool that I had to show my next door neighbor triathlete, (#482). She seemed to think he was cute, too, and said that he was good luck...pretty soon another woman across the bike rack saw him and also said that he was good luck. I fussed over him a little longer, did not impede his progress at all as he walked around my saddle and top tube, and he did, indeed, turn out to be a good omen for the day.

Swim: I put 2 pieces of cinnamon gum in my mouth at the start...which did exactly nothing to combat the salt (IN HAWAII). I didn't notice my aversion to salt water quite so much today, however...swimming with about 1,300 other people in race conditions gave a few more stimuli to attend to compared to my totally solo swim earlier this week. It was a mass start and a clockwise course...not too much combat, but a bit of contact here and there. As we rounded the second buoy into the longest straight-away of the course, a healthy headwind kicked up...it was a pretty challenging swim. I also had a hard time seeing the buoys and was at the mercy of the pack to stay on course for a few minutes...fortunately, that worked well (i.e. somebody was going the right direction and not leading us all toward Maui) for the 2 buoys I couldn't sight and then I could see where I was going again. It felt like the field was fast and I didn't think I'd be in the front where I usually am, but this was the first grasshopper (ok, praying mantis, but grasshopper sounds better) gift of the day. I was 7th in my age group out of the water and 171 overall. Good swim and I actually saw some fish (wonder what they thought with 1,300 humans thrashing around their house).

T1: "Calm and efficient: mantra worked...a long way up the hill from the beach to the bikes with a shower on the way, but not bad at all. I didn't want to wear gloves, but was totally paranoid about flat tires on this ride since Julie has flatted here twice in prior races...and I have a hell of a time getting my tire back on even with gloves. So I figured I better take the extra few seconds and wear 'em just in case. Was the only nerd out there with gloves on, but...2nd grasshopper gift: no flats.

Bike: It was blustery in places...but honestly, I thought we got more than we gave in terms of wind benefit. A lot of sidewind that could be heard whistling through the spokes, but it really wasn't as awful as I'd anticpated, not by far. There were a few miles just before the turn-around when it was uphill with a headwind and I was pulling about 9mph (IN HAWAII)...but not for long, and seeing the other bikes flying on the way back--including Duncan who'd passed me long before at mile 12-- made it quite bearable since I knew we were paying it forward. A wonderful volunteer handed me a powerbar at the turnaround and I was flying back down that hill. Lots of pretty scenery and I kept trying to stay in the moment, take the gifts of the course (coast downhill!), and my other mantra of the day was "do what's in front of you..." Just one piece at a time, get it done. Some chunks definitely better than others, but I was happy out there riding in the sun and my legs showed up.

T2: Also pretty smooth...I actually changed my socks, but it didn't eat too much time. Also visited the porto on my way out of transition, but congratulated myself on the fact that this was necessary because it meant I'd hydrated well on the bike. Nutrition was spot on today...no stomach issues and enough energy throughout.

Run: One of the most beautiful courses ever...with the exception of purgatory imitating hell for 2 miles between 10-12, but we'll talk about that in a minute. The run course is a whole bunch of out and back loopy things, many of which are on the golf course. At one point, we ran along the pool/beach front of the resort and it is really beautiful. This course was extremely well supported with lots of great aid stations and friendly volunteers. I think I chomped through the equivalent of my body weight in ice out there. I walked through every station and got gatorade or cola, and took lots of the cold sponges and dumped water on myself. I also took a cup of ice along and ran with it every time... put ice in my hat and in my shirt...and in my mouth. It really helped to keep hydrating and to dilute/absorb the syrupy gatorade from the stations. There is nothing like an ice cold sponge...I was completely soaked the whole race from dumping cups of water and sponges on myself. Most people did the same and many of us could be heard squishing along in our wet shoes...when I took mine off at the finish, my feet looked like raisins!

The wind continued on a lot of the run and, at times, there were some clouds, so it wasn't completely killer hot the whole time. Yesterday at the athlete meeting, the guy had warned us about mile 9 and how "none of it was flat..." I remembered this and was bracing for it, but found that mile to be one of the most enjoyable of the course...up and down on the golf course. What they really should have discussed in more detail was the road Duncan had warned us about...the one I now call Purgatory leaning toward hell. At about mile 10 there is a llllooonnnggg out and back on a boring-ass hot not-fun road (I know, I know, IN HAWAII, but this one is a tougher sell). This is the only place the entire day where palm trees cannot be seen. They fool you by having some really great disco music at the aid station where this road starts...yes, I sang a little "Brick House" to the guy who handed me gatorade here...and happily trotted down the road hearing "upside down, boy ya turn me..." I thought the grasshopper was now providing a disco soundtrack. Unfortunately, the music faded long before the purgatory road did...things in my legs were getting tired and slower. I saw Duncan coming back on the road well before I turned around...I knew I had quite a ways to go. Just after the turn though, I saw this guy running about my pace in Hawaiian board shorts...very very cool. So I had to compliment the look (actually I asked, "dude, those are really cool, but aren't they chafing the hell out of you?" Nope, good news, he'd used lots of vaseline). Anyway, we chatted and ran together and, when finally approaching the disco tunes again, shared our affection for the 80's (he graduated high school 3 years after me), and we both sang a bit of "PYT" as Michael Jackson increased in volume. My pace really picked up on this mile. We agreed there should be a Rock 'N Roll 70.3 and we started to smell the barn and kept up the pace. The last mile I had some kick left and hit it hard for the finish...felt good at the end, but pushed really hard the last 50 meters or so and felt almost like I had asthma and almost couldn't breathe for a couple seconds when I hit the chip pad at the finish line. But it was really fun to feel strong at the end.

I came in just under 6:10 and was really really happy with all 3 segments of the race as well as my nutrition, hydration, transitions, and head game...It was a really really fun day! All 4 of us were happy with our races and none of us had flats!! Whoo-hooo!!

Swim: 34:16
Bike: 3:23:10 (Avg. 16.54)
Run: 2:04:28 (Avg mile pace: 9:30)

Overall, I felt really good through the whole day and had a lot of FUN. I'm a little afraid that this means I need to work harder on the bike, but for now I'll take it.