Ford Ironman 70.3 Honu - Triathlon1/2 Ironman


View Member's Race Log View other race reports
Mauna Lani Resort, Kohala Coast of the Big Island, Hawaii
United States
USAT
85F / 29C
Sunny
Total Time = 5h 41m 14s
Overall Rank = 278/958
Age Group = 35-39
Age Group Rank = 58/141
Pre-race routine:

Up at 0300 for 0700 start. Lubed up with suntan lotion night before. Had normal coffee intake and two bags instant oatmeal. Put on Polar CS200 HR strap. Lubed up with Chamois Butt'r in nether regions and Body Glide in pits (for swim). More Coppertone SPF 50 on (except calf and biceps). Sugoi tri suit. Was waiting at 0415 for hotel shuttle to event parking lot. Got up to lot around 0445 but no shuttle up to Hapuna until after 0500. Got up to transition around 0530?
Event warmup:

Couldn't take bike out of transition for a WU and I didn't have pack an extra pair of running shoes (had to turn in race pair with T2 bag at reg yesterday) so settled for a quick run up and down the beach. Only did one up and down (about 7') because was afraid of bruising barefeet or doing something funky in the sand. Also took a quick swim just to get wet.
Swim
  • 36m 51s
  • 2112 yards
  • 01m 44s / 100 yards
Comments:

The swim director recommended at yesterday's meeting that it was better to start at pin end in the water. I went out five minutes before and treaded water easy off the line a bit. A lot of people piled up on the beach and then ran through the gate and down the beach, I guess to shorten the swim distance but I was pretty happy with where I started. I'm not entirely sure that it wasn't a false start. I never heard the canon but all of the sudden everyone was going so I just started too. The director had also said to go wide on the first buoy to avoid the inevitable pile up. I aimed a little wide and ended up in position to swing around. The pack near me then seemed to turn too much and maybe mistook the third buoy for the second so I bailed out of the lemming frenzy and headed for the second mark. There were still a lot of people around but the pack sort of settled out at this point. I just navigated and tried to conserve energy while putting out a good effort.

My navigation was pretty good. I tried to site the next mark but a few times just had to follow the pack due to sun angle on water and distance to mark. Amazingly, the water was still beautifully clear so I could site the buoy then look down and orient myself for a bit based on the angle of the sand ripples on the bottom. That was wonderful. I did get off course and lost the pack over at the short leg back towards the beach in the north cove but just vectored back.

I was able to draft quite a bit and found one draft for the last leg that I slowed down a bit for just to conserve energy. I snuck out for a minute and was able to see the incredible difference it made in effort and decided it best just to save myself for the rest of the day.

It was over before I knew it! I can't believe my time given the effort I put out. I had been a little freaked about the shot gun start when Matt told me about it a week ago but I felt good when I got down to the beach. The conditions were so good and it felt like a dawn surf patrol

The sun was well up by the time we started so I used the smoked lens goggles with J&J for anti fog. Oh swim director also had a great tip - put your goggles on first and then your swim cap so if you get kicked, your chances of losing them is less.
What would you do differently?:

More pool time would have helped me but given where I was at, I can't say I would change much.
Transition 1
  • 03m 25s
Comments:

It was a bit of a run up the hill to T1. I did stop and take a quick rinse with provided hose shower and then hoofed it up to transition. I didn't have to change because I went with tri suit option. This was a good call. All I really had to do was throw my swim cap and goggles in my provided transition bag. It was empty because I had already put my helmet with glasses and camp chamois towel in it on top of my aero bars. It was a little dicey jumping on bike out of transition because it was straight up hill out of park. Matt had told me a couple of days earlier to maybe try pedaling on top of the shoes until getting up the hill and onto the Queen K. I did this and then got into my shoes. I think this was a good call.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing.
Bike
  • 2h 44m 44s
  • 56 miles
  • 20.40 mile/hr
Comments:

I had a good ride. Nguyen passed me pretty early on and I thought about chasing him but I decided that would be foolish. While I could have perhaps pushed a little harder, I think it may have spelled disaster for me on the run. He went on to have a stellar day with a 5:01 race, scoring a spot to Kona. That kind of race was not in my cards.

My legs started feeling a little crampy on the last few hills up to Hawi and I was getting a little concerned. My hydration was good as I took water at each aid station and I figure I took in around a hundred ounces, perhaps 124. I took the bottles, squeezed them into my aero bottle, took a swig, sprayed some on my head and then tossed the bottle. My down tube cage had six scoops of Perpetuem mixed in a 28 ounce bottle and marked with nine ounce marks for each hour. I finished the first two alloted sections as planned but still had maybe three ounces in bottle at end but then I finished ahead of my three hour plan. I took two Endurolytes per hour. I had two hammergel shots as well. Figure around 310 cal/h.

I had hoped for anywhere from 2:50 to 3:10 so am pretty pleased with my time. I bombed the downhill back down from Hawi and bridged the gap back up to the next group. At this point came the pee question. I was so hydrated that it was clear I was going to have to go at some point in the race. I decided to go for it because I figured I would need all the time I could get when it came time to run. It was perfect because it was downhill and an aid station was coming up so I could somewhat rinse off. So yes ladies and gentlemen, I was flying downhill, out of the saddle, with one leg stuck out trying to channel the flow somewhat away from my shoes. Sad to say, this was mostly unsuccessful for my right shoe. But it was worth it! And yes, Tizz, I checked twice to make sure no one was behind me;)

Oh I remember asking a race volunteer to remove the hill just past Kawaihae and back up to Queen K:)
What would you do differently?:

I would have liked to try hammering a bit harder on hills but as I said, I think this could have been disastrous later.
Transition 2
  • 03m 43s
Comments:

I was a little cooked so I took a little longer sorting through my stuff. Its a bit of blur but I remember looking in my bag or checking on something twice. The pavement was hot! I had to jump on top of my shoes to put my socks on. I rolled them again and that helped. Oh I remember what I fumbled on...I had been a little uncertain about nutrition on run so had stuffed some extra gel packs in my other pocket. First pocket had a four shot gel flask. Then I realized that I needed the other pocket for my Fuel water flask so I ditched the gels. I also put in my little ziploc of Endurolytes from my Bento bag.
What would you do differently?:

Nail nutrition needs better so I could be better organized.
Run
  • 2h 12m 33s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 10m 07s  min/mile
Comments:

I came out and ran an 8:43 on the first mile. I wasn't used to running in a group and it seemed the entire world was passing me so my pacing was off. I didn't really intentionally slow down so much as survival instinct kicked in when I realized that there were 12.1 of these puppies left to hunt down before the bad man would go away.

After the first aid station, I started walking them or right out of them so I could fill my Fuel bottle. I did two Endurolytes right off the bat and then two more around mile 4(?) before I lost the bag when I pulled one of the flasks out of the pocket. I was overheating and my legs felt horrible after about three miles. The sponges helped but I ended up with soggy shoes around mile four. My laces felt loose once I was soggy.

I wanted to stop really badly a few times but other than the aid stations, I only allowed myself to walk the hills. I walked the top of one hill but was able to kick it back in. It was amazing to see so many people yo-yo past me. All guys, one minute on fire, the next minute walking, then they'd pass me again later. I just wanted to do a slow steady pace. A 75 year old guy passed me just to add to my sense of well being. I didn't mind that. The 51 year old guy who was talking to himself about pushing harder and sounded like he was going to have a heart attack while he stabbed his toes into the ground -squeak squeak- welllll thats a different story. He went behind me around mile 5...only to return about mile 11.5. I tried to heat it up when I heard those poor sneakers squealing in pain but then just let him go. This was either right before or right after the final attack by a guy who I'd been yo-yo'ing with. I thought he was in my AG but looking at the results now, he wasn't. But on his heels was my new Bataan Death March buddy, Chris. Chris was definitely in my AG as we'd been commiserating and cheering each other on for the last seven miles. I let them go because it was a long, slow up hill (hellish) and my IT was starting to show preliminary signs of acting up. I maybe could have gritted it out but usually when it goes, it goes and thats it. I didn't want to have to walk the last mile and I definitely didn't want to screw up my future training with an injury. I was bummed about not responding to that attack after the race...until just now when I saw that the lead guy wasn't in my AG. I'm good with conceding a place to Chris. The male ego is such a complicated thing:)

Around mile ten, I started to feel like I might cramp up or like I wasn't getting enough water. I started taking the evil Gatorade along with water at this point.

Laps by mile
1 8:43
2 9:16
3 9:39
4 9:47
5 9:17
6 10:32
7 10:09
8 10:45
9 11:08
10 10:53
11 11:28
12 11:10
F 9:43 (13.1)
What would you do differently?:

Uhhhhh run faster. No seriously, I guess I just need to continue to increase my running fitness/endurance. I also need to figure out what went on with liquids. Did I overhydrate the last few days? I don't think so. Did I not take in enough salt and electrolytes the last few days? I don't think so. I think I only took 2-3 gel shots on the run though and that could have been part of it. I could have trained on more short, steep hills as well as in more heat. I was glad that I had run the soccer field at King though. That helped when we were running the sections on the grass of the golf course.
Post race
Warm down:

Yeah right...Sheila was waiting at the finish line and I bailed out right at the end of the gate. I leaned over to regroup and then headed straight over to the shade. I slowly revived with water, bananas, pretzels and Endurox. I couldn't take all the Endurox as it tends to upset my stomach when I've pushed beyond my limits.

We pigged out on a nutritious dinner of pizza, fries and a Blizzard at Waikoloa Village because we didn't feel like selling someone's child to eat another meal at the hotel :)

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Experience and my run.

Event comments:

Totally psyched!




Last updated: 2006-12-06 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:36:51 | 2112 yards | 01m 44s / 100yards
Age Group: 65/141
Overall: 367/958
Performance: Good
Suit: Sugoi tri
Course: Rectangle with beach or water start. They had a range on one side of the line which helped.
Start type: Deep Water Plus: Shot
Water temp: 79F / 26C Current: Low
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Good
Waves: Navigation: Average
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 03:25
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: Yes
Getting up to speed: Good
Biking
02:44:44 | 56 miles | 20.40 mile/hr
Age Group: 42/141
Overall: 186/958
Performance: Good
HR 149/165 kcal 2065 cad 92/115 Hit lap button at Hawi turnaround (more than halfway because we went south on Queen K to Mauna Lani out of T1) HR 152/165 & 145/158 speed is obviously junk cad 93/91 wow dude, my computer apparently suuuuucks. Ride time is right but it said I only did 43 miles. Hmmmmmm I've been starting to wonder about that. I did check to make sure the right wheel dimensions were in a few weeks ago. Depending on how long this has been going on, I have been further and faster than I thought. Hmmmmm I'll have to figure whats up. I think it could be the angle of the fork sensor in relation to wheel magnet as its not square. Interesting that most people complain about the Polar cad sensor but not the speedo. I seem to have opposite problem.
Wind: Some
Course: Out of T1 at Hapuna and south on Queen K to Mauna Lani exit, turnaround and head to Hawi then back to T2 on Mauna Lani grounds.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence: 92
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 03:43
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes Good
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Average
Running
02:12:33 | 13.1 miles | 10m 07s  min/mile
Age Group: 72/141
Overall: 404/958
Performance: Good
AHR 158
Course: All I can say is that it was freakin' hot and whoever decided we should run the hills on the golf course needs to have their head examined. Oh ma god man. But big points for Hooters girls at a few of the aid stations:) Beginning of course was relatively flat but from like 5-9 was roly poly.
Keeping cool Below average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5] 4