I thought our entire trip to Hawaii was a bit impromtu, having made arrangements less than 4 weeks before the trip, but then on Tuesday before our Thursday departure I decided to sign up for the Honu 70.3 on Saturday.  I had no desire whatsoever to do a half-Ironman before Monday, and my training reflected that.  I hadn’t run over 12 miles since I ran the Boston Marathon in 2008, and even hitting the 12 mile mark is a rarity.  The biking is a bit more pathetic, as the longest ride I’ve done this year was the 3 hour and 40 minute pain train with Sonja and Michelle a few weeks ago.  I usually don’t spend more than 2 hours on two wheels.  The swim would be fine though! 

We stayed in an awesome rental house really close to the race site (our original reason for going to Hawaii was to chill out and watch our friends race).  From the moment we landed in Kona I think I was waterlogged.  We spent a lot of time swimming in the crystal-clear water (visibility was 200ft) watching tons of fish and even some honu (sea turtles).  It was awesome.  Maybe we spent too much time in the water that first day because I somehow developed an eye infection, making wearing contacts almost impossible for the rest of the trip.  Of course I didn’t know my eyes were infected until after I got home and now I’m not allowed to wear contacts for awhile (read: no open water swimming).

The race was AWESOME!  By far the most well-organized triathlon I’ve ever done.  The volunteers were the best part, showing a ton of enthusiasm despite spending enough time in the heat to make most delirious!  T1 and T2 were about 6 miles apart, and both were immaculate: you couldn’t have anything on the ground, and anything you had (running shoes, gels) went into the bag they provided you.  Not thinking, I had set up my bike in T1 with no bag, since I had my shoes on the pedals, my helmet and sunglasses on the bars, and gels and bloks taped to the frame.  While making a mad dash from the swim to my bike I realized I had no place to leave my goggles and my cap.  The cap is one thing to leave behind, but my Sable goggles?!  I threw them to the side of the path where people with bags could drop their stuff in the bags figuring I would never see them again.  Later, when I fetched my bike after the race from T2, my goggles and cap were wrapped neatly in their own plastic bag, hanging on my bike.  Amazing volunteers!!

Mass swim starts are crazy.  For the first 400m I couldn’t figure out what all the hubbub was about as everyone had warned of the mass start frenzy, but rounding the second buoy I found out.  I was getting pummelled left and right, of course managing to be surrounded by all dudes who must’ve weighed at least 70 pounds more than me.  It was pretty brutal.  For the first 200m I was able to watch all the fish swim beneath us, they looked totally spooked and I’m sure were wondering why 1300 people had decided to get in and splash around all at once.  They probably thought it was the apocalypse.  After that I didn’t see anything but bubbles and splashing, caps, arms, and feet for the rest of the swim.  It was a frenzy.  I got out in 28:41, ok but not great.

I heeded all of Jordan’s advice on the bike, staying controlled and having the “buffet” aka copious amounts of calories.  The staying controlled part was unfortunately too easy to do because I had some nasty pain in my lower back whenever I went aero.  It started about 8 miles in and made for a very uncomfortable and not very aggressive 48 remaining miles.  But it did give me plenty of time to eat.  I had 3 gels and 4 shot bloks and at least 4 bottles of water/gatorade…a lot for me since I usually can only muster 1 gel in an olympic distance, and I always throw it up.  Mmmmm!  I spent 2 hours and 56 minutes looking foward to the run, when I could stretch my back out and make some use of the pop in my legs.  The last 2miles of the bike were the worst, my legs lost the pop they had been saving up and everything started cramping up.  I questioned if I would be able to finish.

 

 

 

I took a long time in T2, tenderly putting on my shoes and being extra gentle to my cramping legs.  Oh yea, and a volunteer ran just ahead of all the racers after they dismounted their bikes, leading them directly to their spot.  Pretty amazing.  I popped a salt tablet and went out on the run.  Mile one: 7:00, mile two: 7:00 and it was feeling easy, so I picked it up just a bit, and surprisingly started to hit some 8:30s…whaaa?  Up and down over the golf course hills and steamy grass.  I was able to climb up about 25 places…just focusing on getting from one aid station to the next.  I had my method: take sponges, tuck them into my race suit, take ice, pour it down into my race suit, take a cup of water, pour it over my head, take a cup of gatorade, sip it, and take a cup of water and drink it.  It was a lot to accomplish in 30 feet, but I got it done, throwing in a gel twice too.  On the “highway to hell”, a 2 mile out and back section that is straight and slightly downhill for the two miles on the way out, and flanked by lava fields, I stopped passing girls.  It was brutal.  I felt like I was in an oven set on broil.  After a couple more miles on the golf course I crossed the line, ending with a 1:42:47 half-marathon, and a total time of 5:12:13.  I was 24th overall female including the pros, and 4th in the 25-29 age group.  I thought on a perfect day I would be in the 4:50s, but after my slow bike that wasn’t possible, especially given the brutal run course.

Probably because I was so on-top of my nutrition and hydration, I felt fine after the race, and even in the days following.  That afternoon, Jordan and I swam around with the honu and fish for awhile…the perfect post-race activity =)  

The rest of the trip was spent swimming with fish, eating, running around the lava fields, and riding up to Waimea, 2700ft up in the clouds!  It was perfect.

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