The grin on my face started here. I looked around at all the people, and couldn’t help it! I could feel the excitement and nerves of people around me. At this point, I was not nervous—I just wanted to get on with the day. The start was a little confusing. Some athletes took off before the cannon fired. The announcer looked at them, and said, “I guess we’re started”. So, the rest of us took off. Not the most graceful of ways to start the race, but it worked.

You could start on the sand or in the water—it was sort of a diagonal start. I chose to start in the water in the hopes that it would be less congested. It was. There was some traffic, and I was slowed down a bit until I hit the first buoy, but it was not as bad as it could have been considering that this was my biggest mass start to date. I did have to defend my space a bit at some points, but I am getting better at that. As I rounded the first buoy, I tried to stay to the left of the pack—which I did…too well. I took me awhile to realize that I was swimming about 15 feet to the left of the buoys. I didn’t need that much space! So, I swam back towards the pack, and I found a pair of feet to draft off of. I kept at that for awhile until I realized that the man (and myself) were again about 15 feet off course. So, I headed back to the pack again for the last couple of buoys. (The man I was drafting off of followed me back). I took it easy on the swim, and focused on efficient technique. I didn’t want to tire myself out trying to push myself here. The weather was beautiful. The water was flat. Visibility in the water was AMAZING. It was such a beautiful swim.


Sight more often.

I got out of the water feeling good, relaxed, and ready for the bike. I saw my mom as I passed the swim finish line. I flashed her a thumbs up as she cheered me along. I rinsed off, jogged up the hill to transition, and got ready for a bike ride. As I exited T1, I heard my dad yelling for me, and that made the grin on my face that much bigger!

Nothing.

I knew that everyone and their grandma was going to pass me on the bike. I prepared myself mentally for this. I wasn’t, however, prepared for wonderful view I would have of the incredible bodies of the hundreds of people that passed me! It was nice. And VERY inspiring. The plan was to go easy for the first hour, a little harder the next hour and a little harder for the reminder of the ride. I stuck with the plan! As people were passing me, I had to continually remind myself to go easy and ride my own race. Most of the people who passed me were really friendly and encouraging, so it wasn’t as horrible as it could have been. About 20 minutes into the race, I started getting this weird sensation (above my hamstrings, but below my glutes). It wasn’t painful (yet), but it was not comfortable. I did my best to remain calm, and take it easy for the first hour. The second hour, I was able to up the effort a bit, but that weird sensation was getting a little more painful. I wasn’t able to push as much as I planned for the last hour and 15 minutes because I couldn’t go longer than five minutes without having to change my position for a bit. But, I still went faster on my way back (a lot it was downhill, but I’ll take what I can get). I even passed a few more people! I think that I didn’t have my seat entirely centered…that’s the best idea that I have about that weird pain. The volunteers along the course were great, and I wanted to stop and hug the lady that told me “7 miles left”! I was happy to get off that bike. I’m pleased with my bike time. For me, that was rather speedy! My nutrition was right on, and other than that funny pain, my legs felt pretty good.

Check and make sure that my bike seat was correct. I think that I just need more time in the saddle so I can figure out my race paces for various distances.

T2 wasn’t as smooth as T1. I got to my bike rack quickly. Again, the volunteers were great in directing traffic, they told you which row to go to, and had someone at your bike place yelling your bib number so you would know exactly where to place your bike. T1 and T2 were at different areas, so this really helped. I got my bike gear off and my run gear on smoothly. My mistake happened as I was reapplying sunscreen. First, I didn’t remember to take off my sunglasses until I had already sprayed my face. They were smeared for the rest of the race. I took off my sunglasses and tried again, and this time I managed to get a whole bunch in my eyes! Ouch! It took awhile for it to go away. I wonder how many people along the run course thought that I was winking at them? I heard both my mom and dad at T2, but as I scanned the crowd, I didn’t see either of them. So, I waved in the direction of their voices, and hoped that I was right.

Remove sunglasses before I put on my sunscreen.

This was a tough course. It was hot, and the trade winds did not want to come out and play. I’m not sure how, but the pain that I had on the bike was pretty much gone by the second mile. I tried to take in a banana and water at every aid station (and three endurolytes every hour). I made the mistake of taking an orange in at mile 1, and felt a little nauseous until mile three. After that was gone, my body felt pretty good. I upped my pace at 4.5 miles because my body felt pretty good. I kept that up until mile 6. And for some reason, I could hear my pulse really loudly in my ears. I didn’t like that, so I slowed down until it was not as loud. So, that was my pace monitor until mile 11. I would go until my heart was pounding in my ears, and then I would back off. I did manage to jog the whole time. Everyone on the course was encouraging each other. I lived for those aide stations. Some volunteers offered a splash or a “shower”. I took one every time it was offered. I tried to thank every volunteer that I could. They were sooo awesome and supportive. At mile 8 I began throwing coke into the mix of things to take at the aid stations. I lost my positive thinking at mile 8, and didn’t get it back until mile 10. Somewhere along that point I got the song “you’ve got to have heart” stuck in my head, and it didn’t go away ‘till the end of the race. At mile 11 I started to push it, and by the time I got to mile 12, I was ready to see that finish line! The last aide station was there with ¾ of a mile left. I didn’t take anything that was offered, but I told one of the kids that I would love to be splashed with water. I think all of the kids there heard me, so I got about 7 cups of water thrown on me! I giggled. As I was approaching the end, I saw mom and dad. My mom yelled, “70.3 right over that hill, Nani!”. I cheered, and gave it all that I had to the end.

Well, I'm a slow runner and would like to work a lot on my running. Also, I need to learn more about race pacing. I tend to not push myself. I'm told that'll come in time.

I found my parents. Took pictures. Stretched. Drank a lot of gatoraide and water. Ran into another BTer...literally out of the hundreds of people, what are the odds that I would sit down near Airwreck?! Went to back to my hotel. Went to the hot tub with my parents. Drank a Guinness. Went to the awards banquet. Ate a burger, three beers, two cookies. Watched the speedy people get their Kona slots! Went back to the hotel. Got back in the hot tub. Watched the sunset.


I'm a newbie. My secret goal time was 6:12:00. I wasn't very far off of that! I would have liked to be closer to the middle of my age group, but that's what next year's for, right?


If you are considering doing this race, I give it two thumbs up! It's an amazing course, and a great experience. It was a great first HIM for me, and I'm already itching to try it again next year.