Honu 70.3 Ironman
053108. It ain't fast or pretty -- here it is…
Well, looking back at the photos now, I'm surprised they let someone so pale onto the islands!! Reminder to self… next time, build-a-base-tan BEFORE flying to Hawaii….
Truth be told, and all my training partners can attest to this… training (consistently), itself, is somewhat foreign to me. Earlier this year, with the 70.3 in my sights (after SUMMER Bond talked me into signing up for the damn race), I thought I'd be able to get my butt in gear because the islands do hold an intimidation factor for me. But… True to form, I was sporadic at best with my training, and left for the event feeling completely under-prepared and anxious. In reverse, Maxine Bahns and I would compare notes about how little we'd trained, as opposed to how you often hear elites comparing notes about how well they've trained!
Max and I landed on the island on Thurs afternoon… we checked in at the Fairmount Orchid (beautiful, below) the neighbor to the Mauna Lana (host hotel).
We checked out our beautiful room (ocean view), and immediately threw down our bags to walk next door and check-in. The trail to the next hotel is about a 10-minute walk, along the sea. The one thing we immediately noticed was the WIND. WIND, WIND, WIND… the entire time we were there, whipping the palms around. We kept talking about it, trying not to be bothered.
Check-in was sooooo super smooth, and surprisingly mellow. The guy at the timing chip table tried to sell me a neoprene chip strap (vs. the free plastic one for your ankle, and I was having none of it! I didn't bring a neoprene chip strap, but I'd worn plastic before, so figured, "this guy isn't going to get $5 out of me for nothing! - more on this later). Of course, athletes were all checking each other out… but, Max and I had to laugh, because we felt lucky to be there to participate, never mind "race" the event… We purchased a few souvenirs and visited our bikes in TriBike Transport, and decided to leave them there another nite. We LOVE TriBIKE transport. The best $$ we spent.
Next morning. Wind. More wind. WIND, WIND. Hard to describe how this looks & feels when you're pre-race. You try to be cool about it, but my insides were all torn-up with nerves. When it's windy here in LA on a given weekend, I've been known to flake on my ride.
Max and I ate an over priced breakfast at the Orchid, telling ourselves we had to "fill the tank", since it was the day-before. Somehow, even thought we were entirely focused on race-prep, we managed to skip lunch both days before the event. It's obvious and essential to eat regularly, but we found ourselves running all kinds of errands and just not being very smart with pre-race nutrition.
We had in mind to ride our bikes to the pre-race bike drop (Honu is a point-to-point event), but, got the tip from several veterans that it would be better to stay out of the wind / off the bike, and just drive them over. So, that's what we did… and, BOY were we glad we did!! When we arrived at the bike drop, the wind was sooooo strong, it was difficult to walk! (not kidding), it was blustering everywhere. (now, I was really freaking out, but still trying to be cool).
That night, we ate pasta in our rooms, and it just felt like labor to eat… But, Wendy Ingram had told Max to make sure we "filled the tank", so again, we figured, why argue with the expert??
At this point, I should tell you about my "NEW on Race Day" list… As we all know, you're not supposed to do anything new on race-day… but, I've had some scheduling challenges… so, basically, (1) I was in brand-new, never used, never run-in-at-all, never-even-worn-the-brand-before New Balance running shoes…. (2) Additionally, before the event, I had to take a trip for work, and therefore had to drop my bike off at TriLAB early for TriBIKE transport. At the time I dropped my bike off, mechanically it was having an issue: it wasn't going into my big ring (at all), so I left it in their hands to get it working for me, for the race, but, I wasn't able to ride it before the race more than a mile, so I was hoping it was mechanically sound for the actual event… (3) I had to get a brand new, never-worn before pair of cycling shoes… on top of that, I didn't pick them out myself… Lloyd at TriLAB selected them, based on looking at my mess of used shoes I left for him… so, until Thurs before the
race, I had never even put the shoes on my feet, never mind ride a mile in them… (4) lastly, Max and I got XTERRA Velocity Speedsuits (so smart, if I say so myself!!) just before we left, but, we hadn't tried them on yet, never mind gone for a swim in them before… So, all these things became X factors…
FIVE STAR HONU 70.3 TIP-of-the-TRIP…
Take a cab to the race. Freaking Brilliant. Stress-free. $25 bucks well spent.
So, race morning, we took a cab from the Orchid. We got to the race site just about an hour an a half before start. The WIND was almighty present, but at this point, you're just ready to get going… We got body marked by Liz Kollar's Dad with big chunky numbers, and pee'd about 2x, wished Macca and all the clubbers we saw a good-race, and got our swim caps and headed down to in-water, mass-start (completely NEW to me).
THE SWIM. I was so happy to have the Xterra Speedsuit - that was a great call, it gave me confidence and kept me warm. Now, I've never done a boys & girls mass in-water start before. I was a little concerned about how that would go… but, I have to say, the swim went amazingly smooth for me. I enjoyed every stroke. I often found myself a Liz sandwich between one dudes butt and another dudes head/arms… but, overall, I felt that there was plenty of space, and I had room to do what I needed. The water was so clear, it was easy to follow the group…
I really liked starting all-together, because that meant, you were always around boys & girls, which is kinda an ego boost when you're in front of "the boys" out of the water. The only two negative moments I had during the swim included getting whacked by a strong muscle dude in the back of the head, after which he did not stop to see if my skull was bleeding. I yelled at him. I popped up, and said as loud as I could, "that was not very nice!", and, got back to it… The second low-point was when a chick "whipped" my goggles off my face. That was a bit of a bummer, b/c until then, I had prefect goggle placement… but, after that, I dealt with a little water in the eyeballs. My finish ended completely strong, with me easily running out of the water, up the beach, and to the showers on the way to transition. At this point, I admit I hung around a little slow in transition, looking for Summer and Max, thinking maybe we could "ride together"… but, eventually I gave up on that and just went ahead, afraid of what the islands had in store for me with the wind on the road…
THE BIKE. Hauling my 135lb self, on my poor SCOTT CR1, up a slight incline, against the wind… I thought I was done-for. I was d-y-i-n-g. I had "no-go" at all, and the headwind was nuts. I felt so heavy, and had no power, and was basically freaking the heck out about what was in store for the next 55.
Now, I was really wishing I'd waited for Max or Summer… b/c at least we could have turned this ride into a social tour… but, honestly, with the winds (never mind USAT rules) there is no way we could have ridden "with" anyone. The wind took your full attention… Now, here is where I'll tell you that I ride a triple. I love it. I try to stay out of it when I train, but I love it in races… I mean, without it, I'm not sure where I would have been on this hill, in this race… Keeping my cadence "average" was only possible because of this "gimmie-gear".
Once I got going, I actually felt really good. I was surprised. I felt generally strong, and the wind, even though it was whipping all around, didn't really bother me AT ALL until I'd been going 15-miles or so… I'm not the technical one, and math is not my forte, and, I wasn't really thinking straight… but, at about mile 25/26, I saw a gal beside the side of the road, with her drawers down, white butt totally showing, taking a little potty break. It was so surreal. Not like I haven't seen that before, but she didn't try to get out of view, so that was the surreal part. After I saw her, all I could think about was a potty break for myself… so, I kept checking out the side of the road for a better choice of shrubbery for this purpose… but, it's kinda grassy and overgrown, and there really wasn't much to hide in… and, I really didn't want to stop… but, the selection process occupied my mind, until I finally hit the turnaround, where there was a water-station and a porta-potty at about mi 28 or so.
Coming back from the turn was literally, a breeze. I averaged 20-ish there, several times hitting 33 or 35 mph, with the wind behind or beside me, and we were heading DOWN… It felt GREAT. I ate a little…. And, was singing in my head, and the beautiful water was as blue as ever… At one point, I let my mind wander too-much, and was blown off the road into the gravel… but, was able (thank god) to clip out before coming to a complete hault, so I didn't fall over…. I did hit my knee, but that kind woke me up.
The last 10-12 miles, for me, were really painful. I realized, at that point, that the plastic timing chip strap I was wearing was cutting a hole into the back of my ankle. It had been buggin me, but I really wasn't thinking right, and I didn't actually realize what it was until the last quarter of the ride. As of today, I still have a hole, the size of a quarter, on the back of my ankle.
Note to self: Spend the $5. on a neoprene chip strap!
The shoes
Lloyd at TriLAB selected worked out GREAT. No drama there, thank goodness!! Annnd, my bike mechanics were PERFECT. THANK YOU, LLOYD & TriLAB!
THE RUN. Now, I'm not a runner. I've run a lot, but, never really picked it up. On top of that, I've been contending with stress fractures in both my feet for over a year (although, MUCH improved in the last 4-months thanks to regular PT), but, they did keep me from doing much running at all in prep for this event. So, I knew, going into the run that I'd be lucky to do much, if any, running at all. So, this leg of my journey was just really slow. Not much else to say about that…. It was a beautiful course, taking us all around a golf-course, with birds and other animals here & there (since I was basically alone on the course by this time, I saw lots of animals… a perk to being slow, I guess). I walked every support station, I wore lots of sponges (which Macca made cool when he finished with them at Kona, '07), I drank soda (yum), which I've never done before, which gave me burps, which I've never had before in a race… so, that was all very interesting.
Highlights on the run included seeing familiar faces on the out-and-backs, which were ALL OVER this course. They kinda sucked, but seeing people you knew rocked. So, I saw Heather Richards hammering way ahead of me on the run, then Summer passed me like a wind, then I saw Brian on an out-and-back, and Max too. It always gives you a lift when you can share a hi-five with a buddy.
Kate - I wore your visor… I was trying to channel you while racing, I figured, the island gods really seem to like you…
Early in the event, I thought I'd could post a 7:15 or a 7:30… but, without a run, it soon became clear that I'd be lucky to post a sub-8. With 3-miles to go, I decided I'd like to PR… so, I picked-it-up. My prior PR was 7:59:59 at Wildflower. Not kidding. 7:59:59… so, I drank one last soda, and plodded my way to the finish with a 60 year old mountain climber fella for company.
With much gratefulness and enthusiasm, I threw my hands-in-the-air at the finish, as if I'd won my AG, and I was so happy to see Brian and Summer on the side-lines waiting for me to cross.
All-in-all it was a tri-event to remember, surrounded by almost 30-clubbers who also made the trip… The wind was both a blessing & a curse during the race… it held you back, and it pushed you, it keep you cool, and it made you focus. At last, my feet ached, my muscles were spent, but I had that adrenaline in my system that we all crave… It was wonderful.
We celebrated with Mai Tai's in the beautiful Hawaii sunset that night, and I slept like a baby. The next day, many of us met at the beach to swim with the turtles again (they were everywhere in the waters, during our entire trip). I finally felt at peace. Nothing like post-race R&R and good company.
YES - As of now, I imagine I'd like to be back in '08. Challenging, but beautiful and highly recommended race (note: expensive). Of course, I'd like to work on my RUN (among other things, like shedding a few lb's), and, just post a more solid effort at this event… Stay tuned!!
Humbly:
46:15 Swim
2:19 T1
3:51 Bike
6:49 T2
3:01 Run
7:52 Finish
SPECIAL THANKS to… Keith & Glynn at
Xterra Wetsuits, Greg Welch, Lloyd and the team at TriLAB, and TriBIKE Transport!!
My photos.
Liz Kollar's photos.Summer & Brian's photos.
