THE RACE!

I know it is blurry - but it the only picture we have of all 3 of us!

Life is seriously moving along too quickly. All of a sudden it was the night before the race. We had a great week with Aaron’s brother and our niece in town, but it has been seriously busy. I had been planning to sneak in my 20 minutes of each run, bike and swim during the week – but there really was no good time. I got 6 days of ‘rest’. I think the more difficult thing was that my focus was so far away from the race. I wouldn’t go back and change it, but we just might say it wasn’t ideal for being mentally prepared for the race. We had a wonderful time playing, celebrating Camry’s birthday, seeing the stars at Mauna Kea and even did a complete circle around the island Friday and Saturday. I took off from Volcano on Saturday after lunch and gave myself 2 hours to get to Kona for the mandatory race meeting. I thought that was plenty of time, but should have left 20 minutes sooner. It turned out to be fine and I only missed a few minutes of the meeting. I got my race packet, got my arms stamped with my number and headed back home where everyone was. We headed out to one last dinner before taking Jeremy and Camry to the airport. It was beautiful sitting on the deck of the Royal Kona Resort overlooking Kailua Bay. We headed to the airport a bit late, got them on their way and headed back home. Autumn fell asleep at 7:15 in the car and transferred into her bed and she slept the rest of the night. I packed my bike up in my car and headed to Angie’s to leave the bike there to load in the truck and eat some quinoa pasta. We talked about random race things, the craziness of the week and our excitement for the morning. I left at about 8:30 to get all my other race things together. I’m glad I looked up a tri packing list on line, as my brain was not up to the task of figuring it all out. Swimsuit, goggles, cap, sunscreen, bike helmet, gloves, shorts, shirt with number pinned on and a snot rag, socks, shoes, towel, running shoes and hat, wash cloth to carry and another sunscreen (there were 2 transition spots).

My biggest mistake – not thinking about what I was eating the 2-3 days before the race and especially Saturday. We had pretty much been on the go since Thursday and so we had eaten out many of the meals. Sushi, Thai, eggs, burger, quesadilla’s… My digestive system really needs fiber and eating out doesn’t usually provide this without a lot of conscious focus on ordering the right thing. I knew my system was backed up a little bit – but it hit me Saturday night that I was going to have to proactively get things moving to be comfortable for the race. Ughh.. Saturday night before bed I had a cup of decaf coffee and ate applesauce with flax meal and bran. Expected some results and didn’t get them. Woke up with a stomach ache, had weird dreams and finally crawled out of bed at 4am. Decided prunes and regular coffee was my best bet to be able to race on an emptied system. I was right. Once I knew it was working I also had a small shake with berries. I was a bit worried that I’d crash from the coffee since I don’t usually drink it – but it ended up being okay.

I got my stuff together, put on my suit and warm clothes, then hopped in the truck with Angie and Isaiah. 5 ½ hours of sleep and coffee and prunes for breakfast– thought this could be pretty interesting! We parked and got our bikes set up. We drove over to the Keauhou Beach Resort where T2 and the finish line were to set up our running gear. We caught the shuttle back over to the bay and I made a pit stop. At this point I was getting a little nervous I’d over done my ‘medicine.’ The sun was coming up and we hung around prepping our bike stuff a bit more, putting on sunscreen and talking over our nerves. We went to the water and warmed up a little bit before the start. They were starting us in waves.

Us women got pink caps and put at the end of the wave line. Kind of weird since many women swim faster than the guys. Oh well. After the first two waves of racers took off, we swam out to the start to tread until the start. It was a nice warm up. I think about a 1/4 mile just to get to the start. No turning back, here we go! A high five with Angie and "BANG!" Race gun went off and so did we!

Swimming in the ocean with a bunch of other people is interesting. My goal when I started training in May was to swim as much of it as I can in free style. I think I transitioned to breast stoke about 5 x, mostly to look ahead and only once to rest. I felt like I did a pretty good job of staying with the pack, but I definitely slowed up when little bubbles got too close to my face! The water was stunningly beautiful and got really cold the last 1/3 of a mile as we must have been over some freshwater outlets. I got to the finish and ran up the coral in path in 34 minutes and 49 seconds. I put a watch on my wrist and started at the gun so I'd know where I was at for total race time. I was happy, as I wanted to swim it in under 35 minutes.

Transition 1 was the most challenging transition - your wet and have so much bike gear to get on. After pulling my shirt on, my shorts on and having also put on gloves, hydration backpack, helmet, sock, shoes and sunglasses - I was a bit envious of those who had a tri-suit on and just threw on their shoes, sunglasses and helmet and took off. I also was rightfully worried about 1.5 hours in the sun after swimming. I quickly put on another layer of sunscreen on my arms. After I was on the bike I remembered that I didn't lube my legs - too late now! Up the big hill I went.

The race starts off at the bottom of Kamehameha III Road and climbs up to 650 feet in about 2 miles with 4-6% grades. This was the 4th time I had rode the hill in the last month and if felt about the same as without the swim, just long and slow. They stopped all traffic for us - it was awesome! No stopping, slowing or thinking about cars! They even closed the steepest part of coming down the hill into town - so we had the whole road to ourselves! I honestly don't remember much passing or getting passed - I think maybe 6-10 people went by me and I passed a few. I tried to push my speed, but honestly zoned out a bit. I wish I had focused on using my up swing a bit better - oh well - I did just keep going!!! Getting to OTEC felt pretty good - the first 13 miles. It felt a bit up hill and so I thought getting back into town would be easier - wrong! The wind was straight in our face and I struggled to go 14 mph. At about this time my back got tired and my bum was starting to get really numb. I looked forward to getting on Alii and feeling close to the next transition. We rode down the big hill on Kaiwi and didn't have to stop at the signs - so much fun! Once on Alii I tried to crank but hung out around 17-18 mph. I was happy with that and felt pretty good when I got to the transition. I hoped off, ran to my stuff, racked my bike, took off the backpack, switched shoes and put on another layer of sunscreen. I got to the start of the run and the lady sent me back for my race number I forgot to put on my front - opps. Okay - now I was on my way. Switching from biking to running is so hard for my legs. It is like they don't work right. I think running backwards might be easier and possibly faster! Other than the lead legs I felt okay. Right after you start the run - they run you up a wicked 150 foot incline in less than 1/3 of a mile. Most people were walking up it and I had decided I wasn't allowed to walk any of the run. I didn't go much faster and my calves were on fire. The next 6 miles were certainly going to be interesting! Once at the top of the hill I tried to stretch my stride out, but really my legs decided the speed they could go and I followed their lead. Mile 1 passed and then it felt forever to get to mile 2 - even though it included the down hill. Surely my watch was lying! At that point I decided that not walking and finishing was sufficient for success - 11-12 minute miles were going to have to be okay. After the downhill they ran us out on a lava trail run for a mile or so. I felt lucky to have not rolled my ankle - I didn't really train for that terrain and it is a bit different than the road! From the lava until we got back to the bay we ran on either grass or the golf cart path along the ocean. The scenery was stunning! I had to keep reminding my self to look around and enjoy it! After we ran through the Sheridan, we ran towards the bay and then just for fun they ran us up a little path straight up hill and back down. It was pretty, but I could have gone for a loop around the flat parking lot instead. Next we went across the little bridge, through the sand volleyball court, next to where we exited the swim and up Kam III. WHAT - I have to run up Kam III - it was only a couple of minutes, but ughhhh... at mile 4, this about did me in! One last golf course crossing and the finishing line couldn't be too much further. I smiled and gave shakas to the cameraman and got really excited to hear the people at the corner of the golf course and Alii say a 1/4 mile!

I could tell there was someone close behind me and decided I didn't want to be passed. I think was likely the fasted section of the race for me - I even passed a guy once I was on the hotel grounds. I'm glad I didn't fade and was able to keep the faster pace all the way to the finish line!! My watch said 3:19 and my official time was 3:20:09! The gal behind me was 6 seconds later and actually in my age group - now I'm doubly glad I didn't let her pass me! (-: Aaron, Autumn, Tosh, Angie and Isaiah were there to greet me at the finish! Done! I made it!

I knew stopping wasn't a good idea. My body wanted to collapse and my brain wanted to keep moving. After a few minutes of hugs and stretching we gathered our stuff to take to the truck and get a shower. Luckily it was a long walk and then we showered at Kahaluu. My body appreciated the walk and although tired - it didn't hurt too bad. I really wanted a massage and I really wanted food - food won! We laid out the grass mats, piled our plates with food (only the racers got food included) and shared! We watched the top finishers awards! Angie got 4th in her division (which ended up being same as mine, we later found out) and got a lei and bracelet on the podium!! So so cool! So proud of you Ang!!!

My thoughts! Why an Olympic triathlon? I'm not real sure to be honest. We life gaurded the race Ang did in 2008 and there I said I'd like to do one someday. Angie and I have talked about e-training together for one over the past several years and it didn't happen. We were going to shoot for the April 3rd Waikoloa Lavaman - but Aaron's wisdom that training while working full time in the winter was unlikely to be successful was heeded. Angie called me in mid-May and said lets do the Keauhou Lavaman - and I signed up and paid that day. We were a go! It was perfect timing - I'd have time to train when I wasn't working too much over the summer in Colorado and we'd be close enough to do the event in August. (at the time I signed up we thought we'd be moving to Maui, not Kona) I was also excited because it would be before I turned 30 or wanted to start trying for another baby.

Total Mileage since May 2011

Total miles biked : 267

Total miles run: 86.4

Total miles swam: 10.3

I knew an olympic triathlon is quite a race - not something I'd be able to do without proper training. It is hard enough to be a challenge, but not outside of the realm of possibility. When people ask me how it was I respond by saying that if it had finished after the bike I would have touted about how easy it was. After the run, I find the race nothing other than difficult and character building. It certainly gets to go on my list of 'most challenging physical things I've ever done.' I don't see my self getting too much more into the triathlon scene any time soon - as it is a time sink - but it is a really nice balance with the 3 sports. I felt like my body was both more worked and more rested while training than when I have done only running. Who knows what the distant future holds??? You can't help but wonder in your mind if your body could be capable of doing a 1/2 ironman or even a full one! (-: