Ironman 70.3 Hawaii - Triathlon

You would think that when the split the men and women starts, there would be less contact. Fuck no...there was contact the entire swim. The first 200 meters I fully expect there to be chaos, but I had to fight for space the entire swim, and every turn buoy was a log jam.

Unlike last year, the winds were not calm in the morning so while the first 80% of the swim felt normal, the last 400 meters in were straight into the current and chop. I took a peek at my watch a few minutes after the last turn buoy and saw 32 minutes thinking I was going to have an awesome swim time in the 36-37 minute range but that last leg just took way too long. I seriously thought there was a jet ski or boat next to us causing waves.

Despite the conditions, I was completely comfortable in the water. Breathing was under control, pull felt strong, etc. When I got out of the water seeing 39 minutes, I knew sub 5 was going to take a really solid bike...and here begins the adventure we call Honu 2013.

Can't say I would do anything differently. Considering my training partners who normally smoke me out of the water either only beat me by a few minutes or actually came out of the water behind me, I can't complain. The lead pros swam 2+ minutes slower than last 2 years.

Goal was to move faster this year. It was a longer run through the soft sand by about 30 yards, so that added some time but I was still about 20 seconds faster than last year. I passed a lot of people on the run up to the bike racks. Got everything pretty efficiently and made my way to the mount line.

Mount line is on a pretty steep hill. There really is no other way to do it, but it's just chaos. Guys trying to get clipped in or slip into their shoes on a 5% grade. I got in ok, but a guy up ahead to my left decided he would ride completely perpendicular to the road to try and get clipped in. He almost took me out as I rode 3 inches from the edge of the road and accelerate hard to avoid him. I'm not the best bike handler in the world, but I'd say 75% of triathletes in my situation would have gone off the lip and crashed into the gravel...or wouldn't have had the power to accelerate hard enough to get past him before taking out your back wheel.

Nothing. I did what I set out to do and I was aware of the dangers at the mount line.

Goal was to ride at 210 watts and around 160 HR. I fucked both of those up right off the bat. I forgot to calibrate the quarq on race morning and I forgot to sync my HR monitor with my Garmin 500 since I put in a new battery. I did sync it with my 910, but with my hand position on the aerobars, I can't see shit on my 910 while riding.

Out of the gates I'm probably riding a bit too hard. Ok...settled down to about 210 watts within 8 minutes or so...but suddenly 210 felt too hard. It was at this point I realized I had not calibrated my PM and it could be reading low, so I decided to play it on the safe side and go by RPE for the first hour and see if I can build back to 210. I was waiting for my HR to kick in as it normally doesn't work right out of the water, when I finally realized my second goof up. For some reason I couldn't get it to sync through the menu options and I didn't want to fuss with it any longer as it might cause me to crash. So from there on out I would just go by RPE and use power as a general guide, but not shoot for an exact number.

I was passing people in bunches as I expected, and I was looking for some of my training partners assuming they had gotten out of the water before me. Turns out only Astro and Randy got out before me, and not by much. I skipped the first aid station as I had one bottle of water and one powerade, but I took way too long to drink that. I was already 45 minutes into the race before I started taking in calories. Whoops. I did end up taking in everything I planned to, and my stomach handled it fine, so no excuses there.

As I descended to Kawaihae, I noticed I was spinning out and tucked in at 47 mph. WTF...I don't ever remember going that fast. My avg speed was around 22 mph which was also a bit fast despite power being at 200 watts. Ok...just roll with it right? The climb to Hawi wasn't that bad (I passed Astro pretty convincingly at this point)...as I hit the turn around still averaging 20.5 mph...where last year I was at something like 19.0. I got a little excited thinking I was going to SMASH the bike...until I got a punch in the face both literally and figuratively.

At the turn around aid station, I asked for a bottle of water, pointed out to the guy holding it so we made eye contact. I held out my right arm to give him a target, but for some reason he decided that no matter where my hand was, he would just hold the bottle out with his arm fully extended and make me adjust to it. Not so bad if you do that 10 yards in advance...but sucks when you do it about 5 feet before I get to you. The bottle hit me square in the face, and I was able to pin it against my face preventing from dropping it. I also went into a little bit of a wobble on my bike, but didn't crash. I'm not sure how. I normally would have yelled out a "WTF", but the guy is just a volunteer, and I decided a simple "oh my god" would get the message across that he needs to think about how he hands off bottles next time. I can laugh about it now, but that would be a shitty way to crash in a race.

Ok...back to racing. So the descent from Hawi and basically all the way back to Mauna Lani is supposed to be a cross tailwind. Umm...I didn't get the hints along the way that wasn't going to be the case. It was a relentless cross headwind and explained why my first half speed was so fast. Normally on the way back you can do a lot of tucking and coasting at 30+ mph to give your legs a rest but some downhill portions you had to pedal just go keep it near 20 mph. I say again...the wind was just RELENTLESS. It wasn't as "strong" as last year, but the direction of it was perfect to make the race as hard as possible. The climb back up Kawaihae was a grind to stay above 7 mph even though it's only about a 3-3.5% grade. I did have enough gearing with 34/26, but I thought I wouldn't use the 26.

After that climb, I knew my bike split was toast. I was still on pace to have a faster split than last year, but only at the expense of trashing my run, so the last 10 miles was simply damage control. My power was also dropping off pretty badly as my legs were starting to revolt a bit. It was at this point that a handful of riders started to pass me...which has never happened at this point of the course before. I'd say about 20 total passed me, with 15 coming in the last 12 miles.

It was at this point that anything close to 5 hours was completely out the window. And considering how my legs felt, I knew the run was going to be a struggle, but I was trying to ease it in to still give me a shot at running 1:52 ish.

Got to the dismount line and saw my cheering squad as I shaked my head...

Calibrate the PM and set up the HRM on the 500. Still though, I biked too hard. My ego got in the way, and I was about to get served some humble pie.

I had an awesome T2 spot right at the end of the rack so I didn't have to run far with my bike. 2 seconds faster than last year even though I fumbled with my shoes a little.

Nothing.

I ran out of T2 thinking that Randy was already ahead of me. I know I out biked him, but I assumed he was out of the water so much ahead that I didn't pass him on the bike. Well...I have no clue where I passed Randy on the bike, but I got word from Darrin that I was the first one from our group to hit the run.

Running legs felt good at first as they always do, and I forced myself to settle down early into the low 8's. As usual at Honu, I had to pee within the first mile of the run. I don't know why, but I just do, but luckily I can go while running. So I just let loose while nobody was around.

I noticed the wind on the run course wasn't nearly as bad as last year, which meant less wind to run into, but hotter. Got to mile 3 still holding pace and HR was in check at 170ish. First out and back and I finally see Randy who is about 5 minutes back and Astro about a minute behind him. I'm still holding pace at the second out and back when finally reality sets in as my effort goes up. HR climbing to 174 and I see Randy is only 3 minutes back now with Astro still about 6 minutes back. I knew Randy would hunt me down even on his worst day, but I had to manage my effort.

From there though, I don't know if I just broke mentally, or what, but I decided that I couldn't push the envelope today. I knew deep down that I biked too hard and would pay for it...so once I saw the 5 mile marker I decided to walk for 20 seconds. It helped...I got back to running in the 9 mm range and I was in pure survival mode from there on out. Randy passed me just before mile 6 and said he wasn't ever doing this race again. That at least confirmed it was a hard day.

I walked the aid station after mile 6, then I walked a lot more here and there. I thought it was a lot worse than it actually was, but it took me 27 minutes to get through a 2.1 mile stretch where I simply walked whenever I felt like it. The short steep hills and downhills on the golf course just wouldn't stop during that section and I actually couldn't wait to get to the "road to nowhwere" as it's not as rolling. It was during this time I actually had thoughts of walking the last 6 miles. I wasn't cramping, I wasn't injured, I wasn't overly sore...I was just exhausted. A few times while I was running I almost rolled my ankle from running to close to the edge of the road or path. I was fully aware of what I was doing, but I could have gone to a bad place if I pushed it.

So I took the time to thank a lot of volunteers, cheer on other racers, and just look around and enjoy the beauty of the Big Island. I mean, how many people can say they get to race in Hawaii...I get to do it all year, every year. Astro passed me at this point. He was struggling too, but he managed to run most of the way and I give him credit for toughing it out. The roles were reveresed last year when I caught him on the run as he struggled to a 2+ hour HM, so it was a little bit of payback for him...LOL.

A blister was forming under my right foot from all the water and ice I was dumping on myself, but it wasn't that bad. When I finally got to the last out and back, I knew I could at least finish without dying or spending hours in the medical tent so I decided to run more. I ran between aid stations and then finally saw Stan and Duane coming down about 5 minutes back. I figured as long as I kept a 10 minute pace, I would force them to run 8:20's to catch me before the finish which didn't look like they were capable of.

I continued to run except for the aid stations and the last short steep hill but I looked back with a mile to go and saw someone who was wearing the exact same kit as Stan about 100 yards behind. WTF...how did he make up 4 minutes on me in less than 2 miles? I picked up the pace and was running as hard as I could. I probably ran the last mile close to 8:15 which tells you just how easy I was cruising those middle 4 miles just to make sure I could survive.

I crossed the finish feeling pretty good as far as pain in my legs, but just exhausted. For nutrition, I didn't take anything in but water and cola. A few sips of perform, but I didn't touch my gels. I also had 2 salt tabs. I don't think nutrition was an issue at all.

Not bike so hard. Race on a day with less wind.

When I found out Crowie won with a time of 4:05, it made me feel a lot better. I also noticed the bike times were a lot slower, and my finishing time of 5:17 would have been good enough for 145th this year where it was 214th last year. My overall and AG placings were pretty similar given how crappy my run was.

Food and lots of beer.


I bike way too hard. The conditions today were tough. Crowie said that it was the worst wind he ever rode in. Probably not the strongest, but the wind was in such a way that it just beat the shit out of you. This was no day for time goals. Check your ego in at the door and the smart ones prevailed today.

I never walked so much in a race before. It's only the second time I ever walked and the first time was because I couldn't even stand up on two feet. I made the decision that I wasn't about to wreck myself for this race by pushing the limits. I fucked it up royally on the bike, and there was nothing really for me to gain by seeing how little I could walk on the run.

I probably could have managed to come close to Astro who finished 5:26, but it wasn't worth it to me. I do this for fun, and that was not going to be fun trying to do that. I just wanted a cold beer, which I got lots of at the finish. I was actually surprised I didn't finish closer to 6 hours. Kona chewed me up and spit me out.


This year was by far the hardest of the 3 years I've done Honu, and the hardest race I have ever done overall. It was simply RELENTLESS...I'll use that word again. I was completely humbled by Kona on this day. The co-emcee and former IM world champion Greg Welch has said at the pre race meeting every year that this is one of the toughest 70.3's on the circuit. I have nothing else to compare it to, but I always thought that was bullshit given some of the other course profiles and conditions. Honu doesn't seem that bad on paper, but I'm becoming a believer that it's at least in the top 7-8 toughest 70.3's. Maybe not by finishing time, but just because the race is HARD. The wind, the heat, the grass, the short steep hills on the golf course, etc.