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Hawaii Ironman 70.3

pigboy

pigboy

in a galaxy far, far away
Nov 19, 2003
713
167
freeriding the cracks of your cranium
in a fit of stupidity or inspiration (jury is still out) I signed up for a couple of triathlons this year. On Saturday I did the second one. Two days later I can still proudly attempt to stand up and before I get 25% of the way out of my seat I am grimacing and saying "Ouch!" and "Damn I'm sore..." and "Why am I so **** stupid?"

Race:
Hawaii Ironman 70.3 (aka the Honu Half Ironman)
Location:
Kona/Kohala coastal area of the Big Island of Hawaii

swim: 1.2 miles
bike: 56 miles
run: 13.1 miles

being that this is a ride report I'll stick to the ride segment of the race.

Conditions:
80-95 degrees
sunny
15-30mph winds

Terrain:
rolling hills
mostly good/excellent pavement (there were a few potholes)

equipment:
Cannondale Slice 5 Time Trials/Triathlon bike w/aero bars (carbon fiber frame & fork, mostly using the stock 105 components with an ultegra derailleur and dura ace pedals, stock mavic wheels @ 120psi)

average speed: 20.24mph
time on the bike portion of the course: 2:46:02
places picked up on the bike: 85!!!!

living near the course, practicing on it and knowing it was probably key to being able to catch so many people. I passed so many people on the uphills who were trying to power their way up while standing instead of staying in the saddle and keeping their cadence high. I tried that one day during a training session and bonked way before the end of the ride.

excellent race course. the Ironman organizers run an awesome race with tons of aid stations, volunteers, gifts for finishers, etc.

all told it was an excellent day.
 
McGRP01

McGRP01

beer and bikes
Feb 6, 2003
7,793
0
Portland, OR
Very cool Ben! I have friends that have qualified for and attend for the full Kona Ironman Championships as well as the XTerra Championships out there. Some serious athletics going on, props to you!
 
pigboy

pigboy

in a galaxy far, far away
Nov 19, 2003
713
167
freeriding the cracks of your cranium
swim: 1.2 miles
conditions: calm with some occasional chop
time: 0:36:52
speed: 1:56/100 meters

swim was a deep water start between two buoys. deep water meaning at least six feet deep. this was my second triathlon ever so having no real idea where to seed myself I took a spot right on the start line (there was no one else there so I figured "What the heck, must be my spot."). After the singing of the Hawaiian State anthem and the National Anthem the start cannon went off and all 1300 competitors started thrashing arms and legs in one huge mass start. I churned out of the gate with everyone else keeping my head more or less up so that I could find a gap to settle into. Then it was heads down and grind it out. Swimming is not necessarily my strong suit and I did the least amount of prep work for this leg of the event. I sighted for the turn buoys every 20-40 seconds and kept more or less on course and wasn't being passed much until halfway between the 2nd and 3rd buoys. Then a slow but steady stream of faster swimmers began to creep by me. At the third buoy we turned directly into the 7:20am sunrise and I got off course slightly as I could not see the next buoy due to glare on the water. Probably only cost me 20 seconds to correct and get back on course. After that turn it was smooth sailing to the final buoy and the left turn into the beach. I came out of the water about 10-15 seconds behind my teammate who had been hit by a car the previous day (he got a few bruises and his bike got some beauty marks, he was VERY lucky). The one other notable thing about the swim: my triathlon shorts ballooned at the back and probably slowed me down. Next time I do some test swims in my race gear to fix that before the race.

swim to bike transition took me over five minutes. a few tips for any of you who might do your first triathlon this year: wear your shirt on the swim, don't have unnecessary crap in your transition bag. Putting on a tight triathlon shirt over a wet torso is a pain in the ass and eats time. Every item in your transition bag is another few seconds of pawing through crap that you will have to accomplish before getting on your bike.

bike: as previously reported. fast and furious. one thing I forgot to mention: I didn't remember to feed myself Hammer Gel every 25-40 minutes on the bike leg. This bit me in the ass on the run.

bike to run transition:
3 minutes. not bad. not excellent. slugged down about 4 or 5 shots of hammer gel from the flask in my transition bag. this was a bad move. far better to have kept the gel schedule on the bike leg per my original plan.

Run: 13.1 miles
conditions: hot, humid, sunny at first, some cloud cover starting at mile 8
course: pavement, golf course, concrete golf cart paths, a few very brief stretches of soft beach sand
time: 1:56 (8:51/mile)

At the very start of the run I felt fine. Shortly after the first mild uphill I started to burp a lot and wonder if I was going to throw up all that hammer gel. After two miles it was very clear that I didn't have much energy and I was not going to run anywhere near the 7:00-7:30/mile that I had set as my goal. Or that if I tried to do so I would be decorating the roadway with a mixture of hammer gel, water and stomach acids. So I ran a pace just below my barf threshold and after taking in water, gatorade, and oranges at the first four aid stations I decided that I'd stop putting crap in my stomach as it just seemed like it was perpetuating the "i wanna barf" symptoms. BTW, this race has aid stations up the wazoo. Ironman events seem to be REALLY well organized and supported. Somewhere around mile five the tide turned from me passing more people than were passing me to the other way around. Oh well. At the mile 8 marker a guy passed me and asked "Where's the cloud cover they promised us anyway?" I said, "It's on island time. It'll get here late," and right after I said that we got cloud cover. And thank jeebus for that. At around the 10 mile marker we departed the relative luxury of golf course running for a 4 mile loop of running along a desolate, scrubby, dry, hot road that led out into the wasteland around the Mana Lani resort. About halfway out there I came across the owner of my local bike shop (Hilo Bike Hub, great mt bike shop) under a little pop up shade structure. He and his companions cheered me on and it was nice to have the local support. Around mile 11 my soas muscle on the right side started to hurt. By mile 12 it was a nice stabbing pain. At various points in the 12th mile I resorted to gasping for breath to reduce the stabbing pain. Somewhere in there I passed a young woman with a boombox and a cheerleader pompom. It was a nice disctraction from the pain, but all too brief. But soon enough I was on the final few hundred yards so I took off my hat to make sure my mohawk would be visible in the finish line photos and hoofed it up the last hill to the line.

i'm so glad that I have a week off training this week. my legs are very, very sore.
 
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