Ironman 70.3 Hawaii - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Absolute chaos on the swim. I don't think anyone knew where the heck they were going. I almost gave up on the first buoy things were so nasty and crazy. People got spread out super far after the turn to the outer part of the circle, and criss crossing the masses because of confusion. This led to a lot of squeeze outs & people clawing and kicking each other all the way. So much for Aloha swimming. It was not a fun swim IMHO. the loose buoy messed up everyone, apparently and the gusty winds kicked up the chop.. Did not see many (Or any) lifeguard/volunteers herding us. Lots of people turning way too far out. Just a crazy swim, and was damn glad to be done with it.

decent attempt to run from the beach to transition, and minimal fumbling around to get out to the mount line.

I knew I was in for a tough day at about 8 miles into the bike. The winds were surprisingly strong so early in the ride. They didn't let up, sometimes headwind, and mostly gusty cross winds. By far the hardest to deal with were the cross winds. This continued all the way to Hawi. To make it more fun, it rained hard on us for about 8 miles from Hawi, which of course plagued us on the return. Wind gusts estimated at 40+ in places, blowing the bikes all over. Eating, grabbing bottles were ridiculous ideas, and passing became a risk. Held on in the aero bars as best as possible, and a few points just too damn scary. My 404 front was just all over the road at times. Amazing how much this takes a toll on your core muscles fighting the side to side gusts.

Yet, managed to pull off a decent bike, but not as good as I hoped.

Ride regular front wheel in conditions like this. 404 was too much.

fairly fast T2. Self rack this year. Long run in thick grass to the exit.

Wish I had a little more gas, but the winds exhausted me on the bike.
Although not as hot this year, the high winds made it very hard to run well.
Some parts were give and take, going into the wind on a downhill and then being pushed from behind on the uphill, but other sections were just extra hard because of the wind.

ate my Ironman hamburger with gusto!


strength to handle the wind conditions.


Amazing event, very challenging this year due to the extreme winds.
Being my third Hawaii 70.3, it was a humbling experience compared to the first two. Although I managed to be within a minute of my last year's time, there wasn't much I could in terms of PR. Mentally I feel I PR'd but the clock tells all.