After the race Saturday in Hawaii, I felt compelled to let everyone know who had commented and gave encouragement going into the race it that it hadn't turned out as planned. I wanted to Twitter... "I suck!" but realized that was probably too strong and too brief to convey my exact feelings at the time. So, I'll go ahead and begin to tell the story and perhaps you'll understand why I was a bit... no, a lot, disappointed in my race.
PRE RACE:
Given the fact a half Ironman race is a grueling endurance event it requires plenty of proper training. My coach had set out an appropriate training schedule to which I was following and making progress... that was until the first of May! This month has been rife with interruptions and travel to the east coast. Two out of the four weeks leading up to the race I was without bike and pool and very limited for run time. The other two weeks had quick trips to Southern California for a conference and a memorial service. Generally speaking this lack of focused training wasn't going to keep me from finishing but it would have it's affect on a focused finish! I had high hopes for this race. Knowing it was going to be a competitive field, on a moderately difficult but one I liked, course; I felt that I could really take some time off my previous 4:58:00 three years prior.
When we arrived in Hawaii on Thursday morning we noticed things were... hmmm shall we say different. It was very hazy and cloudy! But it's the big island and the weather is pretty unpredictable and cloud cover is actually a good thing, so didn't think much of it at first. When we arrived at Fred and Laura's place off of Ali'i Drive (from where I'm currently writing this report) we were warmly greeted by our dear friends, shown our comfortable accommodations and asked what we thought about the Vog? "Vog... you say?" Yes... the vog was the cause of the clouds and haze... As most know Kiluaea, the active volcano on the big island, has been spewing lava into the ocean for decades now. This has settled to a stream or a flow of which this past year developed into another flow so now there are two and the plumes of toxic, volcanic ash are creating havoc for the islands.
Friday morning brought an early wake up call and drive to Hapuna Beach where I was to swim in the warm waters at race start, then a 45 minute bike and 15 minute run. When I got to the beach at 7am the crowds were already forming however there were no swim buoys in the water so we all just took off in the direction of the route and enjoyed flat, calm conditions in pristine clear water. After exiting the water and putting on my bike gear I noticed the cloud cover was keeping the temps down but humidity high. There was little breeze, which is unusual on the Kohala Coast, leading one to a good news, bad news scenario for the morning but I reminded myself, "This is the big island... you can never predict the weather!" After the workout was done, without incident, I traveled a mere 4 miles to the Fairmont Orchid Hotel to check in for the night, check in for the race and wait for Joy to arrive.
The registration, Bikeworks expo and hotel check in was a well oiled machine... which makes me pause and give a shout out to Diana Bertsch and her team. There is something to be said about the same people who put on the Ironman World Championships; they know what they're doing... which meant we had to have our bike to run transition bags prepared and turned in by 2:30. It was here I ran into Mitch Gold, my former coach from the desert. Mitch was hosting his Honu Camp with nearly a dozen athletes preparing for Ironman Cour d 'Alene... he said it was going well with nearly 500 miles of cycling in a week (that's a lot!). Along with catching up with a few other folks from the desert, like good friend, Lori Travis, I was off to take final steps to get my bike to the beach, dinner secured and a good night's rest. Lights out and a decent sleep began at 8:05 pm and continued until the alarm went off at 4:45 am.
RACE DAY:
Getting to the swim venue was especially easy since we had a car and avoided the shuttle from the hotel. Unlike the last time here parking was a breeze and soon I was standing by my bike making last minute checks on tire pressure, gearing, shoe, helmet and race belt placement. My position was actually great; way up front right next to the pros! I had a chance to chat briefly with Chris Lieto. We wished each other a great race. Then heading down to the beach; body marking is unlike the usual find-someone-with-a-black-permanent-marker-pen because here they have tables where they use ink pads and block numbers to press on your arms. This year something a bit unusual... no age marking on your calf! Huh? How would I know if I needed to run someone down? We will later see this became a moot point.
Swim - the waters of Hapuna Beach are spectacular! A perfect 81 degrees, which means you're not allowed to use a wet suit. So, as I was getting ready to jump in to warm up I noticed a TRIbe Triathlon teammate walking toward me. It was great to meet Todd as we had heard of each other but not met until then. He wasn't racing but there to cheer on his girlfriend... I think he said something like, "I'm glad I'm not doing this #@&%*! race. It's gonna be hotter 'n hell out there today!" With a nod I bid farewell for the calm Pacific.
The start at this race is unusual for a half Ironman distance race... it's a mass start as opposed to a wave start. Also, you can either start in the water and swim, start at the waters edge and run in or run along the beach and jump in... there is no advantage and the faster swimmers tend to start in the water and that's were I go. Treading water I looked over to see Mitch right next to me. We wished each other well and then the canon and the splashing begins!
I was surprised how smooth the swim was going out to first buoy but that is as far as it went being smooth from there on it was a slug fest for the next five hundred meters. I don't know why or what happened to make it like that I've been in much worse condition with more people and didn't struggle as much. In fact what should have been the open backside/long length of the swim seemed the most congested! Lori had made a comment that someone who swam the course the day before thought it was long... who knows, but I will admit I was disappointed to finally get vertical on the beach to notice that I had a blazing 35 minutes (that's sarcasm) on my watch. slogging away up the sand toward T1 I crossed the timing mat at 35:53 exactly the same time as Lori... I had no idea I was right next to her. Getting into transition was a little slow because it was a bit crowded and many folks just walking their bikes out. When I finally got out to the bike mount area there was Lori right in front of me having some difficulty getting into her pedals and I comment about needed some help... she gave me a funny look until she realized it was me. We rode out together to the highway and said our goodbyes.
Bike - Almost immediately you could tell the humidity was stifling and the "vog" beginning to accumulate. It would take the twenty-plus miles per hour on the bike to keep comfortable; which began as soon as the course turned south on the Queen K highway for about 5 miles to the entrance of the Mauna Lani Resorts then U-turns back to a constant grind north through Kawaihae then up to Hawi. It's a rolling terrain with uphill thrusts to the Hawi town limits. Unlike the Ironman this course doesn't quite go into the quaint little town and as the turn around approaches the speed diminishes with the climb. Again at the turn around with no air flow it was extremely stuffy and I looked down to notice I was already crystalline white and sweating as though I had just walked through a water fall. Taking on my mix of Edurolytes and Thermolytes (Thermolytes add more sodium for these extreme humid conditions) I realized that the humidity was going to be a factor later in the run.
The ride down out of Hawi was fast and steady. I chose to change the big chain ring from my usual 53 to a bigger 55 since most people run out of gear and can do nothing but coast down but there was little wind to push from behind so I wasn't given much of an advantage but did have one none the less and went he rollers began again I started a cat and mouse chase with about 5 other athletes. At the bottom going into Kawaihae harbor there is a deceptive 1 1/2 mile up hill back to the highway... this is my least favorite part of the bike course because you just feel like you're standing still and with the humidity still climbing it became harder for me to do the same. Getting to the top there's only about 8 miles left and here it's just pace yourself to ready your legs for the run... I remembered thinking my back, legs and lungs all felt good coming into the Fairmont... T2 (which I had not seen before) was a picturesque location just outside our hotel room where I quickly came upon the dismount area, heard Fred in the distance giving instructions to where my bike rack location was located and had my bike to run gear placed. Running my bike down I usually look from my time but forgot to look. I was in the throws of shock as the heat and humidity was punching me in the throat like an Ultimate Cage fighter. Time on the bike 2:37:36
Run - getting my gear out of my transition bag goes something like this... 1. open 2. dump 3. put in or on appropriate places... Hammer gels in pockets, visor on head, socks on
(I opt for sock during half IM's only on the run)... socks on; oh crud I forgot to turn them outside-in before hand and individually in each shoe. Rookie mistake! Okay everything in place I stand upright and start running. I could hear Joy, Laura, and Todd yelling and encouraging on the way out... especially memorable was Fred saying, "remember how great that rib-eye's gonna taste!" thinking I would gladly trade the rib-eye for an iceberg lettuce salad right now! Wow, was it hot!!
The run takes place on the golf course and roads around the resort. Before the course was slightly up and down with a good section along the beach catching a nice breeze but not anymore. This course was headed straight inland and up and up. when it went down it did so sharply and often. By the time we hit the road I was checking heart rate and mile pace. Holding @ 8:35 pace for the first few miles I shrugged it off to the heat as that's been about 45 seconds slower than training brick workouts but by mile 5 things were slowing down even further. I was grabbing cups of ice and holding ice in my left hand, a technique thought to keep body temps lower... it didn't appear to be helping. By mile 7 my heart rate was a whopping 164! and I just managed a 9:50 mile. Not only did that discourage me I was getting a bit dizzy and started to lose my balance a bit. DANGER!!! Although I knew I was probably in podium position I had to make a decision. keep this up and run slower out of contention and most likely DNF or slow it down, meaning walk (I can't run much slower than 10 min. mile pace) and finish. This was too eerily like what happened in France last year but at least there I had already run an half marathon. Here I was just half way! So the walk began and continued until half way down to "Hell's Kitchen" the Honu equivalent of the Energy Lab where it's nothing but lava and pavement everywhere. But I was starting to feel good and my HR finally dropped below 120 while walking so I started a jog... which turned back to stride and by the turn around I was feeling normal again... and the last two miles actually felt like kicking myself for ever walking as I was holding a 7:50 pace (albeit it's slightly downhill here and partially shaded)! When coming into the finish the crowd was loud, view incredible and there before you know it! I was glad to be done yet incredibly disappointed but not regretful for the decision... I really wanted to finish more than podium. Total run time 2:10:41. Up until then my slowest triathlon/half marathon was 1:50... so yeah, 20 minutes stings besides that's the difference of my making it on the podium but 14th place regardless is respectable and as one guy said to me as we were waiting for a massage along the beach... "Hey man... 5:28 would be a huge PR for me."
One thing for certain. I've got my work cut out for me come August in Louisville. It is a hot and humid race and obviously I don't do well in these conditions but I am determined to come back to the island in October and now have, as my youngest daughter used to say, a great "owie in my heart!"
Post Script: The after party of this race is top notch! I loved the location, atmosphere, organization and staff/volunteers; absolutely the best and worth every penny! I want to again thank our hosts Fred and Laura Keener, dear friends who made EVERY effort to make our stay so "stressful!" Finally, to my travel companion, who sits next to me now reading over my shoulder... "thanks for letting me do this. We have good times together, don't we?"
Now, it's back to the grind and lots of training!
