Ironman Hawaii 70.3

Well.... :)

I must say that today, for me, this race was brutal!

Everyone agreed, as Samantha McGlone put it, that Mt. Pele let us all know who was boss today on the Big Island.

The Swim was rough, and choppy.

The Bike was insanely windy! Seriously Crazy windy!

The Run was super hot!

So it came down to a battle of the elements, and it almost won against me today.

I knew it was going to be tough just based off of the conditions we've been experiencing over the past couple of days. Everytime I got in the water or on the bike it was truly rough conditions on both.

My goal for the swim today was to push myself a little harder than I normally do. Being that the swim isn't my "thing", I think I tend to get caught up in all of the fury of it all and lose focus sometimes. So today I was going to swim a little more aggressively, stay focused, and push a little harder....

And I did. The water was really very rough. To the point that I only twice sighted buoys. Every other time that I looked up in an effort to sight, all I could see was the giant wave that was about to come down on me. It was a wading start and everyone took off at the same time. I tried to position myself around some that I thought I might could draft off of. I know I swam a little on the outside based on where I kept seeing the pack of people and when I once passed a buoy. But everytime I would find myself worrying too much about positioning and what not, I'd push it really hard to get right back in there and find some feet. I wanted to come in under 37 min. Which I KNOW isn't fast at all. But it would have been a decent time for me, and I ended up coming in at 35:45 so I was feeling ok with that.

Transition was LONG... Up hill run of course, but still focused and running and just thinking I'll get situated on the bike....

The bike was ridiculously hard. I have never experienced wind before like that in my life. The course was from the South Kohala area up into Hawi. Basically the second half of the bike course for the Kona race. The windy half. Into Hawi you ride rolling hills but basically climb up mostly and the entire way there there was either an ongoing headwind or a serious crosswind. So I was pushing the biggest gear I could hanging on without destroying my legs for the run. On the way back the crosswinds were so bad there were times my bike and I and everyone else I could see around me were seriously tilted. I was afraid that as soon as the wind stopped, we'd all topple over! So I fought HARD! My hr was probably way up there, so my nutrition wasn't great. I was VERY thirsty before even starting the race despite my trying to stay hydrated as much as possible, so I kept drinking as much as I could. But if you let go of your bike with one hand for even one second you better be prepared, so getting nutrition in was tricky. And when my hr gets really high, I just can't take it in. So I backed off a bit.

My bike split ended up being 2:54. And this is my strong point. I ended up coming in 9th in my age-group on the bike and nobody's split was super fast. But I don't think I've ever had to work that hard on the bike before. My back and apparently a lot of others around me by the looks of it, was killing me for trying to hold our balance!

So basically I knew I wouldn't have a super fast time, but I was still feeling ok with my splits as I came into T2. This was a little weird in and of the fact that T2 was in a completely different location than T1, so I had no idea where my spot was. But the volunteers were really good about helping you get to where you needed to be. I got my stuff together and headed out and knew immediately that I was in for a long run.

I was completely dead.... right from the start.

My legs felt like I couldn't move them... and I felt like I had nothing left in the tank whatsoever.

My thoughts were to try to pull it together. Work on nutrition, and let my legs settle in. I tried to pace myself in the first 4 miles, hoping things would work themselves out by then, but it just didn't happen. The run felt worse and worse and the heat was HOT! I ultimately ended up feeling like I'd bonked. The best way I can describe it is I felt like I had the flu. My entire body ached, I was nauseous, and felt like I couldn't move. I was hot and cold all at the same time, which is weird I know, but true. I resorted to walking and resorted to the idea that at this point all I wanted to do was finish... even if that meant walking the rest of the race. Fortunately I willed/forced myself to run from one point to another and would walk a little when I could go no further all the way to the end. Ultimately I came in with a 2:13 run, which of course I'm not thrilled about, but I promised myself out there that I wouldn't let myself be disappointed in myself when I finished, because I KNOW that I gave it everything that I had. I never gave up, and pushed as hard and as much as possible.

I'd be lying if I didn't say I wasn't disappointed in the situation. However, there was no training, no more fitness, nothing that could have been done that would have better prepared me for this race. I honestly feel that I came in today lacking 2 important keys:

Experience, and the ability to combine suffering with speed.

Oh don't get me wrong.... I suffered! Tremendously! :) I just have to figure out a way to keep moving at that goal pace while doing it!

So it was an emotional day to say the least. I ended up with a 5:50 race time and 12th in my age group. I'm burned to a crisp, despite my wearing sunscreen. My body is sore and exhausted and my mind is a little too.

BUT... The wonderful news is that by the grace of God... I QUALIFIED FOR 70.3 Worlds!!

I couldn't believe it happened. They gave away 2 slots in my age-group and since it was a double qualifier where you could get slots to Kona, several of the top girls didn't stick around for the Clearwater spots. But they called up the 25-29 girls who wanted Clearwater spots and we were fighting over them. It was a close call, but I got one, and I'm SOOOO excited!!

As I told Adam, it's an opportunity for me to redeem myself! :) I know that when looking at that race time, it doesn't demonstrate where I am at right now. I finished Florida 70.3 last year in a 5:26, and I KNOW that I'm much fitter and experienced now than I was then. So hopefully with some continued fine tuning and work, I can go down to Clearwater on November 8 and ROCK that course!!

So despite my slight disappointment in my time, I'm proud of the fact that I seriously completed today what was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. This race today was harder for me than even my Ironman event that I ran over 13 miles with a broken foot on!! And that means a lot to me.

Thanks so much to all of you for your support and cheers. It honestly did help me out there today make it to that finish line!!

Aloha~ K