The Hawaii 70.3 Race Report

Where do I start - What an amazing experience! My Wife, Family and Friends, The Kona wind,the heat off of the lava fields, the clear Hawaiian water....simply amazing - and I can't wait to do it again.

The day started off at 3:45am - I had to get up to eat my ritual breakfast of cream of wheat mixed with a Gu packet 3 full hours before race start (I've cut it a little close before and the results were not pretty). We piled in the rental and were off with one hitch - the dome light wouldn't go out. Who else has issues with rentals? I mean this shit is comical...push this, twist that and the next thing you know mom has been ejected out the sun roof and your spraying down an oil slick a la Spy Hunter . After a few painful minutes we figured it out (it took 4 of us) and I put my head phones in and proceeded to crank up the Coheed and Cambria.

We arrived at Hapuna with plenty of time for me to setup and mentally prepare myself. I was worried that my time in Thailand was going to hurt - but all the same I was confident that I was prepared and my base was solid - I willed myself to rely on my training.
I signed up for this race in October of last year. My original goal was just to finish...but, that wasn't enough - I wanted sub five. With recovering from the Asian crud, 3 weeks in Thailand, and another two in Korea I realized it just wasn't going to happen - and I was OK with that. I was OK with the fact that I was racing for me - and it was awesome.

People I work with asked for pictures of everything - so bear with me, 'cus your going to get them too.

Notice the rubber bands on my already clipped in shoes - big help as it kept them upright for the run out of T1. The next thing I want to point out is an Idea from my wife: the Cliff Shot Bloks on my seat. They were the first thing I ate after I got out of the water and ran out of the transition area. (Note: * eat them prior to mounting your bike) It worked out really well - I run with my bike while holding the saddle and the Bloks in all of their sticky goodness were ready to be eaten.

The Swim:
1200 of your closest friends starting in mass - It was wild! And for some freakish reason, I loved it. I went out with a quick pace in an attempt to get behind the lead group and draft off of them. I made it out to the first buoy at a 1/4 mile mark and settled into a manageable rhythm. The conditions were as close to perfect as they can get: light wind, flat water, clear skies...I almost pulled off the course to go snorkeling. I came out of the water 299th with a time of 35:23.

T1: Was quick, even with a long run up the hill off of the beach. Time: 2:33

The Bike: Very hilly, very hot. The course started moving south for a quick 5 miles before the first turn around at Mauna Lani (Chris McCormack sighting #1). The Queen K has had a recentt face lift: wide shoulders, new blacktop. However, it is still wicked hot out there and can get very windy as the Trades come down over the lava fields. I haven't seen my bike splits, so I don't know what time I made it to the turn around at Hawi (Chris McCormack sighting #2 and the final one). There was a good head wind near the turn around - along with one long slow climb...maybe it was just me? Regardless, the head wind at the turn around also made for one awesome tailwind and the following downhill section was much needed at that point in the race.
I was able to maintain my focus on my hydration and food plan and it worked out well - minus a few botched hand offs at the aid stations I was always stocked full of supplies. I could feel it getting hotter as the day went on - I had to force myself to down the fluids. The local weather man predicted the temperature to get into the 90s by the time we hit the run. With no flats, no mechanical problems, and not bonking on the bike I rolled into T2 with a time of 2:44:31.

T2: The flying dismount went well...that is to say I didn't loose any gear or eat shit as I got off the bike(it could have looked sexier but, it worked!). The pavement was HOT! So I had to hop around while I put on my socks (I went with the Injinji's for this). I was afraid that if I sat down I would lock up, or worse yet not even get up. I slipped on my Brooks T5 Racers (weighing in at a measly 4.5 oz.) and was off.

The Run: Holly shit....It.Was.Hot.

Coming off of the Bike I felt good - all of the bricks were paying off. I recognized one of the women running out of T2 with me (she always beats me in the local races) said hi and watched her run off ahead of me... again. I tried to stay with her, but it just wasn't happening today. There was an aid station every mile and it made the difference. I took all they were giving out - water, ice, sponges, Gatorade, Power Gel, Coke..it didn't matter. I made the mistake of trying to run through the first one while drinking - I lost all of the Gatorade over my chest and ended up using the water to rinse it off. I walked through the remainder of them.

I was good until mile 6 - the heat was getting to me, I tried to down some Coke but, ah...it came back up(yummy - Coke twice!). I struggled on to mile 9 when I hear some people ahead of me talking as they passed each other on an out and back stretch of road. "Hey, what mile are you on? 11!" I looked to my left and mean mugged the mile 9 marker. The road ahead of me was 2 miles of heat, dry wind and NO shade. Fuck it - I told myself, and went for it. I pick up my pace until I hit mile 12. The last guy at that aid station was there solely to get people fired up and he did it for me - that little spark of motivation was all I needed to run that last mile. I finished the run with a time of 1:54:26

and Finished the race with a total time of 5:19:36.

I was stoked.

The last (and most important) thing I want to do is give out a huge mahalo to my #1 fan, my beautiful Wife (the angry dragon) my Mother and Father in-law, my Parents, my friends J&H (thank you guys!). It was great having you there and I couldn't have done as well as I did with out all of your support. You are all wonderful people and very special to me. Thank you.

I'll be back for this race next year - along with the Geckos

so now what?.....It only seems like the natural progression