Honolulu Tinman Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

I thought I would be a little more nervous about this swim since I haven't been swimming at all until the last 2 weeks. But it turns out that I was really calm, and totally forgot about my shoulder being injured. Actually, I think it's very close to 100% as far as tri sports are concerned. I just tried to stay smooth and not use up too much energy. I was very pleased to see a sub 16 minute time. My first tri (4 months ago)was the same distance, and I paced 2:28 per 100m, so this was a big improvement and my fastest pace in any tri.

There wasn't too much contact other than me touching some feet, and some people tickling my feet...but I suppose I'm just getting more used to swimming in the masses and learning to adjust my speed and effort to those around you. You can't just swim the same pace all the time.

Not crash my bike and hurt my shoulder 7 weeks ago.

Good T1. It was a long run from the beach to transition, but I noticed my legs felt much better than normal. I was actually running. Struggled a bit with my race belt. The rules in this race requried you to wear a number on your back during the bike...so I had to put the belt on before I unracked my bike. Normally I only wear the belt for the run, and can put it on while running out of transition without losing time.

Also didn't take any time to rinse my feet with my spare bottle.

Not fuddle with my race belt so much. I was worried about putting it on backwards and such...I should have just put it on however I grabbed it.

This was the toughest bike course I have done in a race. Not that it was really tough in general, but tough because all my other races were on really flat courses, and this had 4 decent climbs to deal with. As soon as I got on I started hammering and probably went out too hard the first 3 miles. I mashed up Diamond Head and passed tons of people.

But once we got onto Kalanianaole, things got dicey. There was a strong head wind, and tons of people bunched together riding 3 wide. I think as people caught up to other riders, they got into their draft, then tried to make the pass...but once they got out of the draft and into the wind, they couldn't complete the pass properly and move back to the right. So for about 6 miles we had a group of about 15 guys riding 3 wide. I dropped the hammer a couple times to try and pass the whole bunch...only to have them repass me because they were basically working like a peloton. It was pretty furstrating, and as they repassed me, I found myself soft pedaling as they couldn't sustain the pace it took to pass me, and I didn't have enough energy to repass the whole group in one shot. I knew a marshall was going to come up eventually, and he scoleded the whole group...but no penalties. I don't think any of it was intentional...but people were not riding at a steady pace...and with the headwinds...it made for a situtation where groups of people were constantly leap frogging each other.

Anyway...we reach near the halfway point which is "heart break hill". I decided that I would ditch this group on this hill to avoid getting a penalty on the second half since we were all warned. So I drop to the small chain ring, but stay in a middle cog and stary mashing. Might not have been a good idea...but I dropped the group bigtime. Once we got back to Kalanianaole, we had a slight tail/crosswind, and I tried to keep the pressure on the pedals. My average power was slightly dropping, but overall I was very pleased with my time. I was hoping for around a 1:10 or 1:11, so I smashed that goal.

I probably benefited from the congestion on the first half of the bike course...but there was honestly nothing I could do about it. The only way I could stay out of the draft was if I coasted. And I could tell other riders were getting just as furstrated.

I also made a big mistake with the race number attached to my top tube. I should have secured it better as it was flapping all over the place in the wind. I'm sure it negated any aerodynamic benefits of my P2 frame.

Good transition.

Nothing

Surprisingly good run. My plan was to go hard on the bike, then cruise the run, but I was having none of that. I got my running legs at about 1 mile in...which is right where the hills started. It was at this point that I realized I had a shot at sub 2:20 with a decent run. So I tried to push the pace going up Monsarat.

The portion down Kilauea was mind numbing. I don't run that area too much, so I had no idea how I was doing pace wise. There were absolutely no mile markers...which was a bit disappointing. Once I got back to Kahala Ave, we were back on the Honolulu Marathon route...so I knew I had a chance once I got there...but I would have to push hard.

Going up Diamond Head, I started to pass a couple of people that passed me earlier, and it gave me a little boost. Coming down Diamond Head I tried to keep my legs turning over fast even though it hurt like hell.

As I approached the fountain near Kapilani Park, I knew I had about a half mile left...and less than 4 minutes to get to the finish line to go sub 2:20. At this point, I ALMOST packed it in and cruised to the finish. I figured in my head I would need to run the last half mile at a 7:15ish pace and didn't feel like I had it left in me. But I told myself I would suffer trying...and I was just making excuses in my head about how I haven't been running, so I don't deserve a good run time.

Just then a lady passed me. It was the first female that passed me since getting out of the water...and I was having none of that. I let her pace me for a couple of minutes, then gave it all I had the last 300 yards as I knew I now had a legit shot. I blew by the lady and passed about 10 more guys. One guy saw my move and sprinted just ahead of me to the finish. I think I could have blown past him the last 50 feet...but I knew I had my sub 2:20, so I was more focused on crossing the finish and having my picture taken without making me look like I was passing a kidney stone. Turns out the guy wasn't even in my AG...so no big deal.

Considering I have only run about 4 miles in the past 5 weeks...that's right...a whopping FOUR MILES...as in less than 1 mile per week...I was very pleased with this run. I would rate it a better run that my last Oly which was on a much flatter course. And I was only 1:59 slower.

Drank some water, ate an apple, met up with some other guys and chatted for a while. Stuffed my face with McDonald's breakfast, and took a nap.


I would be lying if I said that I thought I could go faster than this if I properly trained the past 7 weeks had I not crashed my bike. But it would have been interesting to see what would have happened.

I honestly thought that 2:30 would have been a really good time for me going into today.


Overall a good race. Well organized and lots of volunteers. Not much as far as post activities, but still very well run. I love the fact that they had local radio DJ at the finish who called out your name. That was a nice touch I have not experienced yet.